TREAT ISRAEL LIKE SOUTH AFRICA

That's right you read it right, treat Israel like South Africa. You know for years, leftists and Arabs, and all kind of anti-Semites compared Israel to South Africa. Lately they've even begun urging investors to divest from Israel as was done against South Africa.

Many Jews shrugged off the comparison, or hid from it. And most decent people of all persuasions, argued, "No it's not true, Israel is a democracy, and South Africa has apartheid."

But it dawned on me tonight that the comparison makes some sense. Not between Israel - the embattled victim of morally degenerate suicide bombings - and the once racially segregated South Africa. Not between Israel, the victor in a defensive war - that pitted several enemies against it, attempting a second Holocaust in 1967 - and a cruel divisive South African regime that pitted one group against another for racial supremacy. But between Israel the country that since 1948, has wanted to live peacefully with its neighbors; between Israel who has won all the wars that were forced upon it and still made agreements to return territory captured - territory that gave it much needed strategic depth - in return for promises written on paper; and the new racially diverse South Africa of Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and the current President Thabo Mbeki.

You see Nelson Mandela - winner of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize - and Desmond Tutu - winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize - called for reconciliation between groups in South Africa. After Mandela's release from 28 years of imprisonment in 1990, the first thing he DIDN'T do was call for killing whites. Being elected President in the first multi-racial election in South Africa in 1994, Mandela also knew how to step down after 5-years in office; instead of like Arafat - the infamous Nobel Peace Prize winner - who recently appointed puppet Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Desmond Tutu has set up the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. As opposed to what one envisions Yasser Arafat doing upon retirement, "The Yasser School of Safe Explosive's Use", maybe?

Here's the issue, current plans put forward by The Quartet - US, EU, UN and Russia - the so-called 'roadmap' to Middle East peace, envision the first case of 'Ethnic Cleansing' of the 21st century, this time internationally legitimated. I understand that if most countries would have favored the Nazi attempt to commit genocide against the Jews, or most of the world supported forced racial segregation - Apartheid - in South Africa, that would have made them OK to do. You don't agree? So why is it OK to close Jewish 'settlements', uproot several 100,000's Jews from Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - and Gaza, in the name of 'Peace', when the world is being promised an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a democratic Palestinian State? Forget Apartheid, they're planning a racially-ethnically pure Arab state free of Jews!

If the 'Peace Plan' everyone envisions, requires uprooting whole communities; towns and villages of thousands, expelling families from their homes, destroying everything built - schools, community centers, businesses, people's lives - in the last 36 years, where may I ask is the reconciliation? Where is the Peace? When the blacks in South Africa finally gained power, they didn't throw the whites out, or try to murder them!

If 'Palestine' has to be 'Judenrein' - free of Jews - then it won't be democratic but NAZI!

'Palestine' won't be an Apartheid State, but a Nazi state, not racially supremist but racially pure. And that's a far cry from the vision being presented to us by all those nice people who say, "we have to solve the Palestinian problem" or "The solution is two states living side by side in peace". The Palestinian Authority till now has done little - some say nothing - to stop the Oslo Terror War for close to three years. Plenty evidence indicates they've actually helped carry it out. The expressed purpose of the terror groups is to drive Jews out of their homes. But Jews have a longer history - almost 4,000 years - with these ancient Holy Places - Hebron, Shechem, Bethlehem, Shilo, Tekoa, Elon More, Jericho as the indigenous population - than the Arabs do. Most of whom came into the area from the surrounding Arab countries in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Why should the Jews have to leave? If Arabs can be equal citizens in Israel, electable to the Knesset - parliament - why can't Jews be equal citizens in the democratic Palestinian state in the making, with full rights, responsibilities, and privileges?

The comparison between Israel and the old South Africa doesn't fly, but the comparison between the Palestinian state that they're trying to sell us, and the old racist South Africa goes quite well. On the other hand, the correct comparison is between Israel and the new multi-racial South Africa. The population of South Africa today is about 75% black, with the remainder made up of white, coloreds, and Indians. Israel's population is about 80% Jewish, with the remainder Arab, Druze, Bedouin, Circassian, Armenian, etc. Both are democracies with a dominant majority and minorities sharing equal rights.

The proposed Palestinian state will have an estimated population of between 2.4 and 2.9 million people, and almost 10% of the population is Jews. In Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - there are about 1.5 to 1.8 million Arabs and almost 250,000 Jews, or about 15%. When you include the post-1967 parts of Eastern Jerusalem; that brings the total number of Jews to about a half a million, or almost 20% of the proposed Palestinian state. So why exactly can't Jews stay in Palestine?

In Hebron for example, the media always tells you that there are 500 Jews living among 100,000 or 120,000 Arabs. BIG LIE! What they 'forget' to tell you is that the population figure for the Arabs, is for the greater metropolitan area of Hebron, surrounding villages - suburbs - and all, and if you include all the Jews living in the same areas - Kiryat Arba, and the Hebron Hills towns and villages - there are close to 10,000 Jews living there, or about 10% of the total population. Cities in Judea and Samaria like Ma'ale Adumim with almost 35,000 Jews and Ariel with 22,000 - the size of Anytown, USA - they're going to be expelled?

Why can't all these Jews stay living in Palestine, just as the non-Jews live in Israel? Real peace doesn't mean 'Ethnic Cleansing', real peace means reconciliation, respect, and mutual trust. If there aren't any of these, THERE ISN'T ANY REAL PEACE! So, why are the Jews being forced from their homes exactly?

Why does the world want to 'Ethnically Cleanse' Palestine of Jews? Why would the world voluntarily create - at best - another old South Africa - at worst - a Nazi Arab state? Does the world somehow have lower expectations from the Arabs? That Arabs somehow can't live peacefully among others? Does the world have racist attitudes that somehow Palestinians can't live in democratic societies and share? Or, does the world not care about persecuted Jews? Just like in the time of the Holocaust!

Where are all the 'Great Souls' of the world, morally outraged by a 'Peace Plan' that calls for the expulsion of people from their homes? Where are all the anti-apartheid activists, who saw such evil in the old South Africa? Why aren't they protesting this latest injustice? Why not divest from Palestine?

So, I challenge you Desmond. I dare you Nelson. Stand up for those high morals everyone has attributed to the two of you. Don't just sit back and watch as 100,000's of Jews get 'Ethnically Cleansed' from their ancient homeland. Remember Desmond the Land of Israel, Canaan or Judea, that place described in your Bible? Certainly men of such high moral fiber as yourselves, and all the others like you, will call out for 'understanding', and 'tolerance', and 'peace' and 'reconciliation', between Arab and Jew in a democratic Palestine. And certainly, you will all oppose expelling people from their homes, even if they are only Jews!

Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko

(c) 2003/5763 Pasko