The state of Israel has been criticised by many academics and activists for the violation of Palestinian human rights and International Law. Yet, very rarely is the concept of ‘apartheid’ associated with Israel as the Zionist state resists every attempt to be compared to apartheid South Africa. In this indispensable introductory piece, White courageously discusses this issue and explores the definition of apartheid in light of UN resolutions which include, legislative measures calculated to prevent a racial group from participating in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country; including the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, and the right to freedom of movement and residence (p.4). This makes it clear that International Law had defined apartheid even before it was apparent in apartheid South Africa and Israel’s policies since 1948 clearly appear to fulfil the criteria.
White is quick to highlight that associating apartheid with Israel does not mean equating it with apartheid South Africa, despite the friendly relations that unsurprisingly existed between the two states. Rather, there are certain similarities and certain differences. A key difference is that “Israel has not practiced so called petty apartheid – in other words there are no toilets marked ‘Jews’ and ‘Non-Jews’”. Whilst this difference is mitigating from one perspective, White highlights a very important distinction which surpasses the actions of apartheid South Africa. In the former, the settlers exploited the labour power of the dispossessed natives, while in the case of Israel, the native population was to be eliminated and expelled. According to Israeli journalist Tom Segev, “Disappearing the Arabs lay at the heart of the Zionist dream, and was also a necessary condition of its realisation”. (p.18) White explores the change in the Palestinian population and the ‘ethnic cleansing’ that took place. Although this concept has more recent origins, dating from the Balkans conflict, he suggests that the Palestinian catastrophe ‘ticks all of the boxes’.
The book is split into three main parts. The first part explores the history of the Zionist settlement and the subsequent consequences for the Palestinians. This begins with the 1887 meeting that founded the World Zionist Organisation, and follows through to the 1917 Balfour declaration to the 1948 catastrophe and 1967 war. Throughout the book, small ‘stand alone’ boxes present personal testimonies from Palestinians detailing how Israeli apartheid affects their daily lives. White also highlights the instrumental role played by the British Government in paving the way to establishing Israel. The attitude of British Ministers was explicitly racist describing the Palestinians as “some hundred thousand Negroes and for those there is no value”. The remnants of this attitude remain visible in different forms to this day.
The second part of the book constitutes the core controversial subject of Israeli apartheid. There is a detailed discussion in relation to how the apartheid has been maintained over the last sixty years from both socio-political and legal perspectives.
The first subsection deals with how the apartheid has affected ‘Israeli Arabs’. White argues that the term ‘Jewish Democracy’ is contradictory and it is ironic that Israel does not merely identify itself as the state of its Jewish citizens but rather the state for all Jewish citizens across the world (p.43). Whilst there are certain strengths in the Israeli system, the distinction in Israeli law between citizenship and nationality illustrates the nature of the democracy. The Absentee Property Law of 1950 is cited as one of 30 statutes that transferred land from Palestinians to state (Jewish) ownership. This particular statute declared land to be abandoned if the owner was absent for one day. A further example of apartheid is the selection committee system that sets the criteria for who can live in 70% of Israel’s towns. White summarises the three main tools of the apartheid; physical dispossessions, the system for the ownership and administration of public land and the bureaucratic arrangements regulating land development and land use-planning. This discussion is particularly important because the plight of the Israeli Arabs is generally ignored.
The second subsection explores the treatment of Palestinians under Occupation, the illegal settlements and how both contribute to apartheid. White provides a brief overview of the separation wall, the detention and torture, the demolitions, the military brutality, the checkpoints, and the systematic discrimination when accessing and using the water resources of their own land. All this has resulted in the fragmentation of the occupied Palestinian territories economically, socially and physically with only 17% of the historic Palestinian territory remaining under Palestinian control. These are not merely isolated cases of human rights abuses, rather they form part of the ‘systematic policy to consolidate Israeli apartheid’ in the territories. White’s extensive on-the-ground experience in the region makes his judgements all the more credible.
The final section outlines the organisations who are working to combat this apartheid both regionally and internationally. This follows a brief discussion by White on the best way to proceed. White dismisses the suggestion that a compromise should be reached with Israeli apartheid. He concludes that even if it seems unrealistic, apartheid must be eliminated to achieve peace in the region as injustice and domination will only exacerbate the problem; a view also expressed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2002. This will no doubt require determination by the international community. After all, the book is dedicated to ‘the steadfast ones’. The only drawback is White does not elaborate on the process of eliminating apartheid and whilst the problems of the existing negotiations are critiqued very well, a more prescriptive solution would have completed the ‘problem to solution’ end to conclude the discussion.
Overall, the book deals with the issue rationally and uses graphs, charts, maps, tables and relevant introductory quotes to make the read easy and enjoyable. There are three very useful appendixes which enhance the quality of the book; ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, Glossary, and a one page Israeli Apartheid Timeline. The FAQ include: Isn’t singing out Israel for criticism ant-semitic? Haven’t the Arab countries used the Palestinian refugees as a political football, leaving them to rot in refugee camps? How can the Israelis be expected to feel like making concessions when in 2006 Palestinians voted Hamas, a Muslim fundamentalist terror group sworn to Israel’s destruction? This is a strength of the book and demonstrates that the author, despite his personal views, has an appreciation of the Israeli perspective.
As John Dugard suggests in the Foreword, the South African apartheid was discussed significantly more than the Israeli apartheid is discussed today in academia and the media, and ‘herein lies the value of the present work’. This book can potentially awaken the international community and instil realisation that Israel is far from being a democratic, freedom-loving, peaceful state for all its citizens; an image which its allies continue to portray across the world.