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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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August 1, 2018
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Bogus
Apartheid Claims Follow Passage of Israel Nation-State Law
by Ariel Behar • Aug 1, 2018 at
1:45 pm
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Anti-Israel groups in the United States are using a recently passed Israeli law to ramp up false claims of
apartheid. The "nation-state" bill defines Israel as "the
national home of the Jewish people" with Jerusalem as its capital.
"Israel arrogantly enshrines Jim Crow laws," the Students for
Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at New York's New School blasted on Facebook.
"Apartheid is a legal term, not an insult. It's the most suitable
label to describe Israel's treatment of millions of Palestinians over the
last seven decades," read a graphic shared via Facebook by Jewish Voice for
Peace (JVP).
SJP and JVP are known for their animosity towards Israel. The groups normalize hate, promote anti-Semitism, and previously hosted convicted-terrorist Rasmieh Odeh at a
national conference in 2017.
"What this law really does is it enshrines racisms and
discrimination and like you said apartheid into the foundational
constitutional law of the state of Israel," JVP Executive Director
Rebecca Vilkomerson said in an interview with MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin.
"So that means the 20 percent of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish
are being told, and the state is actually now obligated with this law to
treat them unequally."
"Formalizing de facto apartheid, the Israeli Knesset passes the
racist nation-state law, which officially designates Palestinian citizens
of Israel...along with all other Palestinians living in historic Palestine
under Israeli sovereign power—as second-class citizens," claimed Columbia University's Students for Justice in
Palestine chapter.
Apartheid is a term used by anti-Israel activists and groups to smear and delegitimize Israel. And unlike apartheid
South Africa, both Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis receive full voting
rights, hold elected office, serve in the military and prominently on Israeli courts.
The nation-state bill passed the Knesset in a 62-55 vote. Israel's Druze
community voiced concern over the bill. But President Reuven Rivlin assured
a delegation "that is the basis of the state we founded – the Zionist
movement in full partnership with all who live here in this good land,
which is good for all of us and where we can exist in equality without any
problem."
Still, the bill's passage prompted Stanford University SJP member Hamzeh
Daoud, a residential assistant, to threaten to "physically fight" pro-Israel students.
He later changed the wording in his Facebook post from
"physically" to "intellectually" and noted that "I
edited this post because I realize intellectually beating Zionists is the
only way to go. Physical fighting is never an answer to when trying to
prove people wrong."
Both Daoud's Facebook and Twitter accounts have been deactivated.
Most analyses conclude the law is more symbolic than substantial. It
does nothing to change the rights of Israeli Arabs, although many are
displeased at its recognition of Hebrew as the country's official language,
seeing it as downgrading Arabic.
People are free to criticize Israel and the bill. But it's clear that
groups like SJP and JVP will do anything to bash Israel and delegitimize
its existence.
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