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Couple of decent recent reads from opposite ends of the Israeli political spectrum:

This is on the Israeli response to the second intifada and the gutting of the peace camp -https://www.stateoftelaviv.com/war-has-consequences-20-year-scars-of-the-second-intifada/

This is on the significance of the exposure (primarily via recent documentaries) of war crimes committed by the IDF for Israeli society -https://www.972mag.com/schoolyard-film-lebanon-israel-nakba/

And on that latter topic:



appreciate the post buddy.
 
@lefty_jakobz & @Fearless - I would be interested in your views on how to restart the peace process ? What are some of the tangible steps that need to be taken to realistically bring both sides to the negotiating table ?
 
Sorry to post this question again, but I fear it got lost amongst the debate.

I have given to UNWRA for a few years now, but does anyone have any suggestions for other (better) charities? I am fairly ignorant as to which ones will do the most good with donated money.

Any and all suggestions very welcome. Thank you.
Medical Aid for Palestinians if you're based in the UK.
 
Persuade me then......
Point. By. Point


Point by point - where and how do you refute the following -

1) Israel's apartheid against Palestinians - Amnesty International
2) Apartheid | B'Tselem (btselem.org)
3) A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution | HRW

These are 3 of the largest / well known human rights organisations - where do you disagree with their findings, point by point?

4) Israeli apartheid factsheet | War on Want
5) Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territory is ‘apartheid’: UN rights expert | | UN News
6) Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid – UN human rights expert | OHCHR

Here's an additional resources. To be honest, there's loads more.
 
Sorry to post this question again, but I fear it got lost amongst the debate.

I have given to UNWRA for a few years now, but does anyone have any suggestions for other (better) charities? I am fairly ignorant as to which ones will do the most good with donated money.

Any and all suggestions very welcome. Thank you.
Medical Aid for Palestinians if you're based in the UK.
Palestine | MSF medical and humanitarian aid aswell.
 
They also change because of public sentiment, which was the case on SA in the 80s. That dynamic doesn't exist on Israel-Palestine, nor will it any time in the near future because both side are currently driven by factions who don't want a long term peace deal.
I mean, this is just not true. @neverdie has already shown you statistical proof that young Democrats are changing their perceptions of Israel, and generally the perception of the country is trending downwards across the country when we look at the views of young Americans:



https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/11/americans-are-increasingly-critical-of-israel/

Just as @Carolina Red said re apartheid South Africa, the movement re Israel and holding it to account is not going to be a flash in a pan, but something that will most likely take decades to accomplish, but the signs are already there that it will need to be at the very least, considered seriously, and not just dismissed out of hand like you are doing in this thread.
 
I mean, this is just not true. @neverdie has already shown you statistical proof that young Democrats are changing their perceptions of Israel, and generally the perception of the country is trending downwards across the country when we look at the views of young Americans:



https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/11/americans-are-increasingly-critical-of-israel/

Just as @Carolina Red said re apartheid South Africa, the movement re Israel and holding it to account is not going to be a flash in a pan, but something that will most likely take decades to accomplish, but the signs are already there that it will need to be at the very least, considered seriously, and not just dismissed out of hand like you are doing in this thread.

Exactly! And the worst possible thing we can do to bring about an end to what Israel is doing is to just stop bringing the obvious injustices into the public consciousness right as younger generations of westerners are learning about the conflict. To draw on another historical parallel… As bad as things are with race relations in the US South, I don’t want to think about bad they could be if folks just threw their hands up about desegregation and said “well, folks don’t support this now, so what’s the point?”
 

That's not in any way a refutation. Just left-wing opinions based on bending the term apartheid to suit their absurd narrative.
While in reality, Pakistan is far far nearer to SA's apartheid because if it's systemic legal abuse and persecution of Ahmadis etc.

No such racist legislation exists in Israel.
 
Yes, the absurd narrative of [checks notes] Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, and Israel’s own B’Tselem.

Your posts are the absurd narrative.

Still not persuaded. I'll give you a chance to disprove the following instead of hiding behind mutations of what happened in SA.

Which one of the below points is factually inaccurate???

 
That's not in any way a refutation. Just left-wing opinions based on bending the term apartheid to suit their absurd narrative.
While in reality, Pakistan is far far nearer to SA's apartheid because if it's systemic legal abuse and persecution of Ahmadis etc.

No such racist legislation exists in Israel.
:lol: Embarrassing.
 
Still not persuaded. I'll give you a chance to disprove the following instead of hiding behind mutations of what happened in SA.

Which one of the below points is factually inaccurate???



Doesn't the graphic only apply to Israeli citizens, not Palestinians in the WB and Gaza ?
 
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Doesn't the graphic only apply to Israeli citizens, not Palestinians in the WB and Gaza ?

Exactly. And that's only the starting point as to why it's incomparable to South Africa vis a vis it's black citizens, whereas the Palestinians (who are not Israeli citizens) are self-governed by Hamas/PA.
I'm not suggesting that the IDF presence is a bed of roses, but the situations are so wildly different that the apartheid analogy is born of spite, not fact.
 
Exactly. And that's only the starting point as to why it's incomparable to South Africa vis a vis it's black citizens, whereas the Palestinians (who are not Israeli citizens) are self-governed by Hamas/PA.
I'm not suggesting that the IDF presence is a bed of roses, but the situations are so wildly different that the apartheid analogy is born of spite, not fact.

Maybe that's the issue then, given that proponents of the term view it as applying to all Palestinians - such as the harsh restrictions in place in Gaza and ever expanding settlements in the WB.
 
Maybe that's the issue then, given that proponents of the term view it as applying to all Palestinians - such as the harsh restrictions in place in Gaza and ever expanding settlements in the WB.

Probably. I mean, which Palestine supporter in their right mind wants to hear about Israeli Arabs (the ones that magically avoided ethnic cleansing) having a better, freer life than anywhere else in the ME?
 
Probably. I mean, which Palestine supporter in their right mind wants to hear about Israeli Arabs (the ones that magically avoided ethnic cleansing) having a better, freer life than anywhere else in the ME?

How do you propose the non-Israeli arabs, as in the Palestinians in Gaza and the WB factor into this equation given that their lives are severely restricted by Israeli policy ?
 
Exactly. And that's only the starting point as to why it's incomparable to South Africa vis a vis it's black citizens, whereas the Palestinians (who are not Israeli citizens) are self-governed by Hamas/PA.
I'm not suggesting that the IDF presence is a bed of roses, but the situations are so wildly different that the apartheid analogy is born of spite, not fact.

It's not the an carbon copy of the apartheid, which is just an easy word to use.

But it's a different kind of terrible.
 
There is also the important legal point as to whether someone is using Apartheid in the historical sense of South Africa, and the crime of apartheid in international law. The two are not coterminous.

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as:
Article 7 Crimes against humanity
  1. For the purpose of this Statute, 'crime against humanity' means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
    1. Murder;
    2. Extermination;
    3. Enslavement;
    4. Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
    5. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
    6. Torture;
    7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
    8. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
    9. Enforced disappearance of persons;
    10. The crime of apartheid;
    11. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
Later in Article 7, the crime of apartheid is defined as:
The 'crime of apartheid' means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.
 
It's not remotely like apartheid. I don't remember black South Africa trying to invade anywhere.
They attacked places and caused disturbances outside their designated Bantustans. They needed permits to travel or work outside their designated Bantustans. Their schooling could only be done in schools inside their Bantustans. They were arbitrarily denied exit visas to travel outside of SA.
 
There is also the important legal point as to whether someone is using Apartheid in the historical sense of South Africa, and the crime of apartheid in international law. The two are not coterminous.

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as:

Later in Article 7, the crime of apartheid is defined as:
I imagine the citation of international law here in this thread will be treated the same way it was the last time that was cited.
 
Exactly! And the worst possible thing we can do to bring about an end to what Israel is doing is to just stop bringing the obvious injustices into the public consciousness right as younger generations of westerners are learning about the conflict. To draw on another historical parallel… As bad as things are with race relations in the US South, I don’t want to think about bad they could be if folks just threw their hands up about desegregation and said “well, folks don’t support this now, so what’s the point?”
Yup. But I suspect Captain America here knows that all too well and is just being deliberately facetious