In my previous post, I mentioned a review by Orthodox Anarchist Daniel Sieradski, in which he deemed Israel’s policies comparable to the South African apartheid. The accusation of Israeli apartheid is not an unfamiliar one at Indiana University. For example, one Indiana Daily Student article casually refers to Israel’s “apartheid wall”. A Palestinian activist, Ali Abunimah, drew the apartheid comparison in a lecture at Woodburn Hall during 2002’s Palestine Week.
If you want to decide for yourself if the accusations are accurate, I suggest reading the following informative links - they all look at the facts on the ground, rather than simply delivering an emotional message. I have tried to represent a variety of views. All of the links are biased in some way or another, so I will note any (alleged) biases of the publications or writers featured:
- Allegations of Israeli Apartheid - an article by Wikipedia discussing both sides of the argument. Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but this article has several useful links to the various views on the subject.
- Do Not Treat Israel Like Apartheid South Africa, written by Ian Buruma in The Guardian (2002). This article is critical of Israel, but even more critical of accusing its leaders of apartheid.
- The Analogy to Apartheid, written by Ian Urbina in the Summer 2002 edition of the Middle East Report, a publication by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). Although MERIP strives for accuracy, it is worth noting that the publication is consistently biased towards a critical view of the United States and Israel.
- Why We Should Not Boycott Israeli Academics, written by Juan Cole in 2002. Cole, a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history, is generally conisidered a “strong critic” of Israel, but in this article he criticizes the accusations of apartheid.
- Worlds Apart and Brothers in Arms - Israel’s Secret Pact with Pretoria
- Articles in the controversial two part series on Israeli apartheid by The Guardian’s reporter Chris McGreal, both published in 2006. Several pro-Israel media outlets, have issued critical responses to the article. The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) published Professor Alex Safian’s criticism, while the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), a pro-Israel lobby in Britain, published a two part criticism (Read Part I, Read Part II). Critics of CAMERA argue that it hides behind its claim to a non-partisan agenda. The Guardian as a whole has also been criticized by Alan Dershowitz (a left-wing supporter of Israel) and several others for fostering an anti-Israel bias. - Israel is a Democracy in which Arabs Vote - Not an Apartheid State, an article written by Benjamin Pogrund, a South African-born anti-Apartheid activist currently living in Israel. Pogrund also has an article hosted on jewschool, Is Israel the New Apartheid? (2004). Pogrund’s criticism of McGreal’s article (mentioned above) was featured in The Guardian in 2006.
- Israel’s Apartheid, written by Flore de Préneuf and published by Salon in 2000.
- Israel and Apartheid: The Big Lie, an article published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2005. The ADL is often criticized for overstepping its bounds by associating anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment with anti-Semitism.
I hope this information helps you come to your own opinion, whatever it is. My only advice is that we continue the debate using reason and facts, rather than basing our arguments solely on emotional sentiment. If you have any links you’d like me to consider adding, let me know in the comments.


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