Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Check out US Campaign National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner and representatives from member groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, CODEPINK, and U.S. Citizens Against War at the AIPAC Convention in Washington, DC:

Want to oppose AIPAC's efforts to promote endless war and endless occupation? Donate to the US Campaign today by clicking here.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas, who was the the first female officer of the National Press Club and the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, talks to Paul Jay of The Real News Networkabout President Obama, Israel's nuclear weapons, and U.S. policy:

Thursday, March 25, 2010

In the steadily growing media debate around Israeli apartheid, a common theme arises: apartheid might exist in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, but certainly not within democratic Israel. An increasing range of commentators--Henry Siegman, Robert Wright, and even Israeli officials such as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak--have hinted that increasing settlement expansion and Israeli military control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories will "lead to" or "eventually result in" or "is increasingly reminiscent of" apartheid. Even Ali Abunimah, writing at CNN.com, tied apartheid to Israeli settlement expansion. On the other side of the debate are those, like Richard Cohen, who vehemently oppose the use of the term "apartheid" to describe Israel's violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.
There's no doubt that--contrary to what Cohen might say--Israeli policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, from settlement expansion to extrajudicial assassination to the detention without charge of Palestinian activists, constitutes a violation of the UN Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. What is often ignored, however, is the structural discrimination and racism practiced against Palestinian Arabs within the state of Israel.
Don't believe me? Here's a powerful video from Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. Entitled "Targeted Citizen," and featuring Palestinian hip hop trio DAM and comic duo Shammas-Nahas in addition to a group of experts on legal, political, social, and economic discrimination within Israel, the 15-minute film captures what it means to be an Arab citizen of "the only democracy in the Middle East"--to be "physically present, with rights absent" in a country that grants "constant legal presences" to those who are physically absent:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Want to see how your tax dollars are being spent?
The Real News Network reports on the killing this weekend of 4 Palestinians teenagers by the Israeli military, as, in the words of blogger Phil Weiss, "AIPAC served wine to congressmen and told them about the great economic development in the West Bank":
More at The Real News, and check out a related article at Electronic Intifada.
News reports like this one are made possible by you, the U.S. taxpayer, and by the billions of dollars of U.S. military aid that we send to Israel each year. Find out more--and learn what you can do to end it--at AidtoIsrael.org

"Finkelstein lost tenure at DePaul. He most recently got disinvited by the Greens in Germany. And this morning, word that the global shunning continues in Chicago, where event organizers report that since he’s not allowed to speak at DePaul (part of his severance agreement-amazingly), they found, and then just lost, an alternative venue:
I’ve been very involved in organizing Norman Finkelstein’s April midwest tour, which will include Purdue, Beloit, Michigan State, and Chicago events (DePaul, Northwestern, UofC). Unfortunately, today I received this news from our friends and partners at DePaul:
As you know, former professor and academic Norman G. Finkelstein is scheduled to speak in Chicago on Friday, April 16th. SJP DePaul and friends have been working diligently for this event, from securing a venue, booking his flight and hotel, and fundraising from scratch to make this event happen successfully. Everything was finally coming together, and we were all excited. Unfortunately, today we received horrible news. The event coordinator received the following email from the venue we had secured for the event:
“Good morning Shirien,
We had a Parish council meeting this past week, I notify everyone on the up coming events that are held at our church, and of course, your event was one of the topics
A few of our board members are attorneys and they are the ones that look into almost everything from the individuals that rent the gym out and if they are covered insurance wise.
they looked deeper into the Professor that will be speaking at our church and they insisted that we couldn’t be affiliated with the ideologies of Mr. Norman Finkelstein so I am sorry to say that the church is going to have to cancel and will not be able to rent the gym the night of April the 16th 2010
Please again I am very sorry for the inconvenience.”
Write a nice note to St. George Greek Orthodox Church to let them know Finkelstein should speak:
Deno Diamantakos
DDiamantakos@tempel.com
And if you have an alternative venue idea for April 16 in Chicago, contact organizer shiriendamra@gmail.com"

"Are you anti-Israel? If you fear that, deep down, you might be, I have important news. The recent tension between Israel and the United States led various commentators to identify hallmarks of anti-Israelism, and these may be of diagnostic value. As you’ll see, my own view is that they aren’t of much value, but I’ll leave it for you to judge."

Wright goes on to point to such "hallmarks of anti-Israelism" as believing that Israel shouldn't build settlements in East Jerusalem and believing that unconditional support of Israeli policy endangers U.S. troops.
His analysis of settlements in East Jerusalem is particularly refreshing in the U.S. media:

"Symptom no. 1: Believing that Israel shouldn’t build more settlements in East Jerusalem. President Obama holds this belief, and that seems to be the reason that Gary Bauer, who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, deems Obama’s administration “the most anti-Israel administration in U.S. history.” Bauer notes that the East Jerusalem settlements are “entirely within the city of Jerusalem” and that Jerusalem is “the capital of Israel.”
That’s artful wording, but it doesn’t change the fact that East Jerusalem, far from being part of “the capital of Israel,” isn’t even part of Israel. East Jerusalem lies beyond Israel’s internationally recognized, pre-1967 borders. And the common assertion that Israel “annexed” East Jerusalem has roughly the same legal significance as my announcing that I’ve annexed my neighbor’s backyard. In 1980 the United Nations explicitly rejected Israel’s claim to possess East Jerusalem. And the United States, which normally vetoes U.N. resolutions that Israel finds threatening, chose not to do so in this case.In short, accepting Gary Bauer’s idea of what it means to be anti-Israel seems to involve being anti-truth. So I don’t accept it."

"Globally, Israel faces a growing campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions just like apartheid South Africa did in the 1980s. A leading Israeli think tank, the Reut Institute, warned the government recently that this campaign "possesses strategic significance, and may develop into a comprehensive existential threat within a few years."

It also stated that a "harbinger of such a threat would be the collapse of the two-state solution as an agreed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the coalescence behind a 'one-state solution' as a new alternative framework." With its aggressive settlement expansion plans, Israel has in effect chosen a one-state instead of a two-state solution -- but it is indeed an apartheid state."

----------
URGENT PLEA FROM UC BERKELEY STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE
Thank you so much to all of the people who joined us on Wednesday night to support the ASUC bill urging divestment from companies that directly fund Israel's illegal occupation and war crimes (General Electric and United Technologies) , and to all who sent letters in support of the bill to senators these last couple of weeks. We could not have accomplished the 16-4 win without the massive support we received from the UC community and beyond.
Now, we need your help one last time to get this bill fully passed.
Tomorrow is the last day ASUC President Will Smelko can VETO this bill and we have believe he is considering such action.
We hope you can find one last surge of energy and put it toward emails to President Smelko. We know he is now receiving a large number of emails urging him to veto the bill. We NEED to counter this by showing him the great level of support behind the bill, which he could not have seen Wednesday as he was not present at the Senate meeting.
Please send an email to President Smelko and let him know that you support this bill and ask him not to veto it. Even a one-liner would help!
President Will Smelko's email: president@asuc. org
--
UPDATE: US Campaign member group Jewish Voice for Peace now has a form email available on their website.

"On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM's mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region, and that Mitchell himself was (as a senior Pentagon officer later bluntly described it) "too old, too slow ... and too late."

"For the first time in the University of California history, the UC Berkeley Student Senate has approved a bill to divest from two US companies in response to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to Israel’s siege and bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Senate bill directs both the UC Regents and the Student Government to divest from General Electric and United Technologies. General Electric manufactures Apache helicopter engines; United Technologies manufactures Sikorsky helicopters and F-16 aircraft engines. In addition, the bill creates a task force to look into furthering a socially responsible investment policy for the UC system."

Congratulations to UC Berkeley, and to everyone who continues working to change the U.S. discourse and take real action for justice, peace, and human rights. Change--real change--is happening in front of our eyes!

As the Corrie family's suit against the Israeli Defense Ministry continues, you can check out trial updates here.
Rachel Corrie speaking two days before her she was killed by a D9 Caterpillar bulldozer driven by the Israeli military and provided by U.S. military aid:
Rachel's 5th grade speech, from US Campaign member group Rachel Corrie Foundation:

Saturday, March 20, 2010

"This afternoon the Israeli military killed 16-year old Mohammad Qadus from Iraq Burin, a village south of Nablus, with a live round on his heart. A second youth, Asaud Qadus, 19 years old, was critically injured after being shot in the head. Mohammad was trying to carry Asaud to safety when he was hit."

Find out more about U.S. arms transfers to Israel and how they are used to killed Palestinian civilians by clicking here. But don't just learn more--take action to end U.S. military aid to Israel.

Friday, March 12, 2010

(I'll be speaking in the Chicago area over the next week, so the blog might be a bit sporadic over the next few days. For updates on the Corrie family's lawsuit against the Israeli Defense Ministry, click here; and click here for resources and events for Rachel Corrie Remembrance Day on March 16. -- David Hosey, US Campaign National Media Coordinator)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

An article in today's Ha'aretz(Israeli daily newspaper) asks "How did U.S. groups react to Biden's condemnation of Israel?" And lo and behold, they look to the US Campaign for answers:

"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's condemnation of Israel's plan to construct 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem was welcomed on Wednesday by advocacy groups and analysts who called for Israel to be held accountable for actions that undermine peace talks with the Palestinians.
The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (U.S. Campaign) lauded Biden's statement "condemning the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem" and his promise that the United States will hold Israel "accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks."
According to Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of the U.S. Campaign, "It's about time that the Obama administration is threatening to hold Israel accountable for obstructing U.S. policy goals to end illegal settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem and lift the illegal blockade of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip."
"The Obama administration must move from warnings to concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing defiance of U.S. policy goals and international law," Ruebner added. "The most appropriate way of holding Israel accountable would be to cut off the $3 billion in military aid to Israel proposed by President Obama in his FY2011 budget request." "

Read the rest of the article here, and take action to oppose $3 billion in military aid to Israel by clicking here.

Two major developments in Europe: The Russell Tribunal on Palestine, which met to examine the European Union's complicity in Israeli occupation, has concluded that the EU should sanction Israel for its violations of international law. The Tribunal is non-binding but includes many EU parliamentarians, policy makers, and jurors: Additionally, the European Parliament has voted to endorse the Goldstone Report on war crimes committed by the Israel and Hamas during Israel's 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip last year. Ha'aretzreports:

"The European Parliament on Wednesday urged its 27-member states to monitor the Israeli and Palestinian probes into alleged war crimes committed during last year's late-winter conflict in Gaza. The resolution backed the findings of a UN-appointed expert panel chaired by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, which concluded that both sides committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the war that began in December 2008 and ended in January 2009. The parliamentary move, which would give the EU an unprecedented role in evaluating the progress of Israel's war crimes probe, was sharply criticized by Israel."

These advances come on the heels of a ruling by the EU high court that products produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not covered by trade agreements between the EU and Israel and are thus subject to import duties.

This month, a civil lawsuit in Israel in the case of our daughter Rachel Corrie will converge with the seven-year anniversary of her killing in Gaza. A human rights observer and activist, Rachel, 23, was crushed to death by an Israel Defense Force (IDF) Caterpillar D9R bulldozer as she tried nonviolently to offer protection for a Palestinian family whose home was threatened with demolition. This lawsuit is one piece of our family’s seven-year effort to pursue accountabiliy for Rachel while, also, challenging the Occupation that claimed her life.

International Day of Conscience – Rachel Corrie Day of Action – Be Visible

In what some will mark as an “International Day of Conscience,” on March 16 (or in days before and after) please help us bring attention to the trial in Israel in Rachel's case and the larger, but connected, issues. Try to be visible - in events, vigils, and actions that call for truth, accountability and justice, in Rachel’s case and link to the following:

Lack of accountability for thousands of lives lost, or indelibly injured, by occupation—in a besieged and beleaguered Gaza and throughout Palestine/Israel.

The Israeli Government and Military assault on nonviolent human rights activists (Palestinian, Israeli, and international).

Lack of access for Palestinians to Israeli courts.

Help us make your effort visible.

Post your event/activity at the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation website: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/form.php?id=131 List it as a March 16-Rachel Corrie Day of Action event. Send word of your event to info@rachelcorriefoundation.org

On March 16th please contact the White House and tell President Obama that if Israel will not break the siege of Gaza, then the United States must do so. Call for the United States to break the Gaza blockade, provide immediate humanitarian aid, and urge Special Envoy Mitchell to visit Gaza. See Congressman Brian Baird's call (after his recent visit to Gaza) for the U.S. to end the blockade. http://www.baird.house.gov/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=1054&Itemid=99

TRIAL INFO

For information about the trial in Rachel Corrie's case in Haifa District Court in Israel, beginning Wednesday, March 10, and to sign up for trial alerts, please visit the Rachel Corrie Foundation website at http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org.

Please pass the word along to others!

We expect this to be a challenging time, but the friendship we have felt from so many of you over the years will help us navigate the weeks ahead. Though the course and outcome of

the trial are unknown, we welcome the opportunity to raise and highlight many of the critical issues to which Rachel's case is linked. Thank you for your continuing support.

Over 20 activist groups, including member groups of the US Campaign, protested a gala dinner aimed at raising support for the Israeli military and featuring IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. Groups organizing the protest included US Campaign member groups American Jews for a Just Peace, Adalah-NY, Women in Black Union Square, Jewish Voice for Peace, ICAHD-USA, Progressive Democrats of America, CODEPINK, and Brooklyn for Peace.
Check out photos of the protest here.
Amer Shurrab, a Middlebury College graduate from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip who lost two of his brothers in last year's 22-day assault on Gaza by the Israeli military, and Dorothy Zellner, founder of Jews Say No, appeared on GRITtv with Laura Flanders to discuss the Friends of the protestL. You can watch the livestream here:
Amer previously appeared with Rep. Dennis Kucinich and US Campaign National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner at a February 2, 2009 policy briefing on Capitol Hill, entitled "Armed and Dangerous: Weapons Transfers to Israel during the Bush Administration."
Find out more about U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and how you can oppose them by clicking here.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a geneticist, author, leader of nonviolent resistance in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, and a past member of the US Campaign Steering Committee, is facing arrest when he returns to the occupied West Bank this week. Mazin writes in the New Haven Register (emphasis added):

On March 1, shortly after I left my village near Bethlehem for a visit home to the United States, the Israeli army invaded the neighborhood and surrounded our house at 1:30 a.m. My mother, sister and wife, terrorized for no reason, told the military I was out of the country but would be “happy” to talk to them upon my return. The soldiers delivered a note demanding my appearance in a military compound five days later — a date I have missed because my ticket was scheduled for a few days later. I thus face the likelihood of arrest, administrative detention or worse when I go back. My story is just a minor manifestation of a disturbing pattern. As civil resistance against Israel’s West Bank apartheid wall and settlement activities have increased, there has been an escalation of Israeli repression of nonviolent protesters.Nonviolent resistance to colonization and occupation are consistent with international law and U.S. policies. President Barack Obama has stated that settlement activities in the occupied territories must stop as a prelude to ending the occupation that started in 1967. Yet, Israeli authorities continue settlement activities apace, while intensifying attacks against peaceful vigils and protests against this indefensible behavior. Obama also gave clear encouragement to nonviolent Palestinian demonstrators in his Cairo speech, yet has remained silent as nonviolent demonstrators have been seized in recent weeks by the Israeli military. Bethlehem has suffered significantly because of Israeli actions. The district is squeezed now by illegal Israeli settlements and military installations on three sides. Bethlehem’s 130,00 residents have access to only 20 percent of the original land of the district. The settlers, protected by the Israeli military, now want to build a settlement in the only remaining open side of Bethlehem — to the east in an area called Ush Ghrab. The people of my village, Beit Sahour, are known for a history of nonviolent resistance, including a tax revolt in 1988 against the Israeli military government. We are a town with limited resources, comprised of 70 percent Christians and 30 percent Muslims, but have a highly educated middle class with more than 300 holders of doctorates among the population of 12,000. Having lost so much land, and being well-informed and connected to the outside world, we decided to nonviolently resist the additional Israeli encroachment on our town. The Israeli response relied on brute force. Our first prayer vigil was attacked while a Lutheran priest was leading us in prayer. As a member of the committee that organized the vigil and another peaceful event a week later, I was targeted. An Israeli officer warned me not to participate and threatened me, noting he knew I was planning to come home to the U.S. for a lecture tour. Given that the Israeli government receives billions in U.S. military aid, my taxes and yours at work, our government should defend those of us who engage in nonviolent protests. I was encouraged last week, therefore, in meeting with the office of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that his office will pursue my concerns with the State Department and the Israeli government. While I fear for myself, I am more worried for other activists who do not have the minimal protection of a U.S. passport. And, I am terribly worried for our future as we are squeezed into smaller and smaller apartheid-like Bantustans. We will not be deterred from nonviolent protest. Despite being let down by numerous governments, we look to the United States and elsewhere in the international community to help defend us from abusive and violent responses to nonviolence.

Here's video of the Israeli army attack on the Ush Ghraib prayer vigil that Mazin mentions in his op-ed: In yet another example of our tax dollars hard at work in the West Bank, last week a 14-year old Palestinian boy named Ehab Fadel Barghouthi was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet while protesting confiscation of the village land of Nabi Saleh by the Israeli settlement of Halamish. Ehab remains in critical condition in a Ramallah hosptial. The United States provides many of the "riot control" munitions that are used by the Israeli military—in one year (FY2007) alone, the United States gave Israel 121,991 pieces of teargas and riot control agents valued at $1,654,536. As Congress begins considering President Obama's FY2011 budget request, which includes $3 billion in military aid to Israel, and tax day approaches, now is the time to oppose aid to Israel and offset our tax contributions to Israeli military occupation. We have to step up the pressure so that Mazin and hundreds of other nonviolent Palestinian activists can do their work without fear of crushing reprisal and repression. We have to step up the pressure so that 14-year old boys don't have to be afraid of being shot by U.S.-made weapons. We have to step up the pressure--for human rights, for international law, and for a just peace. What can you do? 1) Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575 or email them by clicking here (and then select the Email a Question/Comment tab) and ask them to intervene with Israel to prevent the unjust arrest of U.S. citizen Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh and all other Palestinian nonviolent activists who are facing repression for heeding President Obama's call for Palestinians to win "full and equal rights" through "peaceful and determined insistence". 2) Oppose $3 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel in FY2011 by clicking here. 3) Offset your tax dollars to Israeli military occupation by clicking here. 4) Work to change U.S. policy by joining our Congressional District Coordinators network by clicking here. 5) Comment on Mazin's op-ed in the New Haven Register and/or write to the paper thanking them for giving space to leaders of nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation. You can find tips and tools for writing letters to the editor by clicking here.

Monday, March 8, 2010

After a day packed with events in Washington, DC (including a standing-room only event at Busboys & Poets featuring local artist Head-Roc), Palestinian human rights activist and BDS advocate Omar Barghouti headed to the West Coast, where Democracy Now! caught up with him for a debate on BDS and Israeli apartheid with Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center. Check it out:
A couple of comments. First, it's obvious that, as in the South African case, support for Israeli apartheid comes both from governmental sources (half of the uses of the U.S. veto were to defend Israel from criticism; a third of the United States' veto votes were to defend apartheid regimes in southern Africa from criticism) and from economic and corporate sources.
Secondly, we are proud to represent exactly the sort of widespread social movement--a movement that includes Jews, Christians, and Muslims, as well as thousands of concerned citizens--that gives lie to Rabbi Waskow's claim that "Those are the only Americans, aside, I guess, from the big oil, who care about the Middle East."
Third, Omar Barghouti is right--opposing U.S. military aid and working to change U.S. policy is not at all in conflict with the BDS movement. In fact, the US Campaign is working to do just that, within the framework of international law, human rights, and equality for all that is also called for by Palestinian civil society. Even as I write this, hundres of participants in the US Campaign/Interfaith Peace-Builders' Grassroots Lobby Day are on Capitol Hill, meeting with their members of Congress to advocate for a more just and accountable U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine.
Whether you're in Washington DC today or not, you can be part of this movement. Click here to take action against the $3 billion in U.S. military aid that the Obama administration has requested for FY2011. Click here to find out how to get involved in BDS in your community. And click here to learn more about Israeli apartheid and what you can do to oppose it. This movement is moving--and you can be a part of it.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

We're happy to introduce guest blogger Critical Thinker, who has this to say about Richard Cohen's apartheid-denying column in the Washington Post. Find media action resources for your own response to Cohen and other defenders of Israeli apartheid by clicking here.

"A recent op-ed on Israel in the Financial Times employs the word apartheid several times. Some of the time it seems to be applied to the West Bank, but other times it is applied to Israel proper. Either way, this shoe doesn't fit. (Security concerns are not rooted in racism.) The author of the piece is Henry Siegman, a harsh critic of Israeli policies and a former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, so anti-Semitism is not the issue here -- just sound judgment. Sometimes impatience can lead to imprudence.
But anti-Semitism is not so easily dismissed with others. This is "Israeli Apartheid Week" on campuses across the world, and it is clear that what furiously animates many of the protesters are not legitimate grievances but imaginary ones. Israel is not above criticism and the Palestinians have their case, but when that case is constructed out of lies about the Jewish state, it not only represents a wholly unoriginal cover of some old anti-Semitic ditties but also denigrates the Palestinian cause. It does not need lies."

The Convention on Apartheid identifies the "expropriation of landed property" of a particular racial, ethnic, or identity group as one of the "inhuman acts" that constitute the crime of apartheid. The South African apartheid regime broke the country into 10 noncontiguous Bantustans made of 13% of the total land, which were to serve as “homelands” for the black population. Israel’s “separation wall/fence” and settlements have broken the Palestinian territories into 12 noncontiguous cantons representing only 12% of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

The Convention condemns "Any legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country and the deliberate creation of conditions preventing the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including...the right to freedom of movement and residence." Palestinians rely on Israeli-issued “permits” to travel through a system of more than 600 checkpoints within the occupied territories. Israeli refusal to issue permits regularly prevents Palestinians from getting to schools, jobs, and even hospitals. In apartheid South Africa Blacks could be arrested to being outside of Bantustans and townships without government issued “passes.”

Black people in South Africa could not be citizens, and Colored people were only granted limited citizenship rights. Palestinians in the occupied territories are not citizens of any state, and Palestinian citizens of Israel have different citizenship rights than Israeli Jews. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are not citizens of Israel--instead, they have a partial "residency" status, one that can be taken away by the state if an individual is deemed to "no longer reside" in their city of birth.

East Jerusalem and the West Bank are splintered by a network of roads leading to illegal Israeli settlements (where residence is open only for Jewish citizens of Israel); these roads can only be used by Israelis, while Palestinians must use older, often unpaved roads.

Citizenship laws also discriminate against Palestinian refugees, who are denied their right of return while Israel grants citizenship to any Jewish person from anywhere in the world.

Even in language, Israel's policies toward Palestinians resemble apartheid. The Hebrew word "hafrada," which is used to refer to the Wall and to the policy of "disengagement," means separation (as in "separation barrier"). Apartheid is an Afrikaner word which also means separation.

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