Apartheid: Deja vu

On 2 November 1917, Lord Balfour wrote a letter to Lord Rothschild in which he conveyed the decision by the British government to support the formation of a Jewish homeland in the British mandate of Palestine [1].

An important sentence read as follows: "...it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,"

In 2002, Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary, had this to say about the British handling of Palestine in the first half of the 20th century: "The Balfour declaration and the contradictory assurances which were being given to Palestinians in private at the same time as they were being given to the Israelis — again, an interesting history for us, but not an honourable one". Indeed.

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the US Congress, with a certain confidence that could only be found in the surprising support from the US for a state that is blatantly practising Apartheid. It has been repeatedly expressed by Israeli leaders that the aim of drawing the borders of Israel - unilaterally if needed – is to ensure a Jewish majority. It is building a wall - called a security fence - between itself and Palestinian areas. From 1948 until 1994, the South African Nationalist government attempted to form a country with borders that would ensure a white majority. The world condemned it and pressured it into submission.

Such double standards leave one dumbstruck. Today, institutionalised discrimination against Arab people living in Israel is documented [2] by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International [3]. Endless hardship is visited upon thousands of Palestinian people having to live under occupation since 1967.

The very formation of the State of Israel is fraught with mishandling and blatant land grab. Invoking visions of mystical proportions, such as “this is our promised land given to us by God”, Europeans of Jewish culture suddenly stepped forward as a Jewish “nation” and migrated into Palestine at a tremendous rate between 1917 and 1948 [4].

The conflict that ensued is understandable if regrettable. Wherever there is unfair treatment and competition for land, there is potential for conflict. The pandering of the West to Israeli sentiments and whims only fuels the arrogance with which the current Israeli government approaches the situation. The shadow of the Holocaust is ever ready to be let out of the bottle whenever the Zionist lobby groups detect any sign of opposition. It is shameful how the tragic lot of millions of Europeans can be abused for the socio-political goals of the modern Jewish culture. Even worse is the blatant neglect regarding consistency in the opposition to Apartheid schemes across the board when it comes to Israel.

Deja vu: One would have thought that those who suffered discrimination of the worse kind would know better not to inflict discrimination and cruelty onto the indigenous on their doorsteps.