We Should All Stop Weaponizing 'Apartheid'
Why 'Palestinian Apartheid Week' is No Better than 'Israel Apartheid Week'
Many of us Zionists are in no way strangers to how disingenuous anti-Zionists can be. Much of the work in the pro-Israel space has to do with combatting and dismantling the systematic lies often told by supposed ‘experts’ in Middle East dealings, from the White House to the universities to pop culture. Of all the lies, both about the State of Israel and the Jewish people, some tend to hijack the historical woes of other peoples. Of those, few are more reprehensible than the false comparison to Apartheid South Africa.
Since the first Durban conference in 2001, Israel’s ideological enemies have been working the candle at both ends, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, declaring Israel an Apartheid state and twisting like a pretzel since 2001 to show ‘evidence’ of their ridiculous claims. Many experts have debunked such claims over and over again, including prominent Black South African leaders, like African Christian Democratic Party leader Reverend Keneth Meshoe, former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, and many other South Africans; not to mention the countless Israelis and diaspora Jews who have worked tirelessly to lay that atrocious notion to rest. For that reason, I will not spend any additional time debunking yet again (the reader is more than welcome to click any of the links above), but I will address another issue that has come to our attention at the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI).
IBSI’s main mission is to strengthen relations between Africa, Israel, and their descendants through education, advocacy, and community engagement. Our board, staff, speakers, and partners comprise Black Americans, Black Africans, Israelis, and Jews in the Diaspora. When we come against the Apartheid lie, we also have a personal stake in the game, as that lie cheapens and trivializes the struggles of the people of Black South Africa. If everything I don’t like is Apartheid, nothing is Apartheid. The lie does not just defame Israel; it makes a mockery of Black South Africans and Africans. This means we will combat the false narrative regardless of where it comes from. In this case, much to our dismay and disapproval, it seems to now be coming from the pro-Israel community. Yes, the very community that spent much time, dollars, and manpower combatting the lie, is now perpetuating it. The very community who called out the weaponizing of a people’s struggle to attack Israel is now weaponizing the same struggle to attack Israel’s enemies. And it is still wrong.
There is a new initiative headed up by our colleagues at Students Supporting Israel (SSI) called ‘Palestinian Apartheid Week.’ This is a new offensive approach to another initiative by anti-Zionists called ‘Israel Apartheid Week.’ An initiative started by proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement against Israel. For nearly two decades, pro-Israel advocates and organizations have been combatting Israel Apartheid Week by having counter events celebrating Israel, holding forums debunking anti-Israel claims, debating, speaking, writing, and more. Now the strategy is to “move from defense to offense.” and “to be the organization that controls the narrative and controls the conversation.” This notion is one I take no issue with. The means with which this notion is being carried out, however, is less than admirable.
The Apartheid claim is not wrong because the Palestinian Authority is an amazing government; it is anything but. It is not wrong because Mahmoud Abbas is such a great leader; he is absolutely not. It is not wrong because Hamas are freedom fighters; they are terrorists, murderers, thugs, and cowards. No, the Apartheid claim is wrong because it is not true.
Apartheid in South Africa was a system of laws in place to ensure that Blacks, Whites, Coloreds, and Indians stayed separated. This system of laws confined Black South Africans to townships and restricted them from traveling freely. By law, Blacks were not allowed to vote, marry interracially, or use the same restrooms as Whites. There were very specific rules in place to determine who was White and who was not, and what those people were afforded to do based on the determination. My father-in-law is a Black South African who grew up under the Apartheid regime, and one of the stories he has shared with me from that era is seeing his father, an elderly Black man being repeatedly kicked by a little White boy, and all he could say to try and stop him was “please stop, little boss. Please stop, little boss.” During Apartheid, a White child was seen as more respected than an elderly Black man.
What is happening to Arab Palestinians living in Gaza is horrendous and a flagrant violation of human rights. Arab Palestinians in Gaza are oppressed by Hamas, but they are not sectioned off based on the color of their skin. Jews are not allowed in certain places in Judea/Samaria (or the ‘West Bank’) because of the Palestinian Authority. Jews are not allowed in Gaza because of Hamas and many other Arab Palestinians who seek to murder Jews. Jews are not forced to live under Hamas’ rule, nor are they confined to poor living conditions with their freedom of movement stripped from them. Apartheid affected a specific population of people living within the area where such laws were forced, making said people’s lives all but unbearable. Another country that doesn’t welcome me as a Black man is a misguided, foolish country, but it is not practicing Apartheid. I live freely in the U.S. and can choose never to set foot in any country that would not welcome me. Black South Africans living in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 did not have the option of simply leaving their country because they were prohibited from doing so. The Apartheid way of life was forced upon them by the threat of imprisonment.
So no matter which angle we think we’re taking in promoting ‘Palestinian Apartheid Week,’ we are playing the same deceitful game we’ve denounced for so long. It is simultaneously a slap in the face to every Black South African who endured Apartheid and to every Black South African who was recruited by pro-Israel advocates to speak out against the false equivalency. It is essentially sending out a 3-tiered message that:
As a pro-Israel community, we actually have no idea what Apartheid is
We really don’t care about the attack on the Black South African struggle, just the attack on Israel
We have no qualms about misappropriating a people’s history, so long as it is done for our benefit
I know for a fact that the intention is not to give out such a message, but the message has been sent and is being received.
We at the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel will continue to defend Israel and strengthen the relationship between Africa, Israel, and their descendants. We do that by telling the truth. We do that by calling out those who abuse our people’s history for their agenda. We will do this no matter who is responsible.