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Apartheid

Apartheid Apartheid

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128 most persistent white intentions, i.e. power- and profit-seeking ventures, especially in Africa, but elsewhere in the non-white world, as well. Whether as a consequence of genocide, apartheid, or colonialism, the very existence of victimization and victims was, and sometimes still is, often repressed and ignored. This is an essential part of the global geopolitical background to which apartheid was reinvented and revived in the modern era, in South Africa as well as in Israel. 1.3. Death Squads, Torture, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Suicide Attacks, and ‘Honor’ Killings Although the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not usually understood as similar to the conflict between Blacks and Whites in South Africa, the basic patterns are in fact the same, and the superficial differences between apartheid under white and Israeli Jewish rule are used to veil those patterns. What if we had supported the apartheid regime of South Africa against the majority black population? What if we had lauded the South African white leadership as ‘hard-line warriors’ rather than racists? What if we had explained the shooting of 56 black protesters at Sharpeville as an understandable ‘security crackdown’ by the South African police. And described black children shot by the police as an act of ‘child sacrifice’ by their parents? What if we had called upon the ‘terrorist’ ANC leadership to ‘control their own people’. Almost every day that is exactly the way we are playing the Israeli-Palestinian war. No matter how many youths are shot dead by the Israelis, no matter how many murders – by either side – and no matter how bloody the reputation of the Israeli Prime Minister, we are reporting this terrible conflict as if we supported the South African whites against the blacks. No, Israel is not South Africa (though it happily supported the apartheid regime) and no, the Palestinians are not the blacks of the shanty towns. But there’s not much difference between Gaza and the black slums of Johannesburg; and there’s not much difference between the tactics of the Israeli army in the occupied territories and that of the South African police. The apartheid regime had death squads, just as Israel has today. 230 The problem of gross human rights violations has long existed in the Occupied Territories (Gaza and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem), mainly due to physical violence, such as indiscriminate killings, assassinations and torture. Lately, Israeli armed forces have stepped up their assassination activities, increased the shelling of residential and other areas, used innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields in attacks on other Palestinians, and used army snipers to fire into groups of unarmed demonstrators. Palestinians, on the other hand, have launched suicide bombing and sniping campaigns against Israeli civilian and military targets since the mid-1990s. But the problem exists since the very foundation of the modern state of Israel. The destruction of the village Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948, stands out with its brutality. 254 innocent men, women and children were killed and the village was razed to the ground by the Israeli Irgun unit, headed by a man who would later become prime minister, Menachem Begin. The village was situated outside the state assigned to the Jews by the United Nations. But the massacre was also typical for the ruthlessness with which the Zionist project was planned and carried out. As in South Africa, in several areas, on several occasions, Palestine was to be emptied of its native population. The Palestinians were to cease to exist, at least as 230 Fisk: When Journalists Refuse to Tell the Truth about Israel: ‘Fear of Being Slandered as “Anti-Semites” Means We Are Abetting Terrible Deeds in the Middle East’, 2001

129 an entity capable of self-determination. There were 23 further massacres of Palestinians during the 1948 war, according to the Israeli historian, Benny Morris, perhaps even more. At least 418 Palestinian villages were ethnically cleansed. Apartheid is in fact never far from genocide and sometimes the two coincide. Most importantly, the rest of the world should be kept ignorant about these crimes. 231 Other acts of genocide include the massacre of between 800 and 3,500 Palestinian refugee civilians – men, women and children – at the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirut in Lebanon on September 16-18, 1982, for which the Israeli state Kahan Commission in 1983 found the then defense minister, Ariel Sharon, ‘indirectly responsible’. The commission’s findings eventually cost Sharon his job. The massacre took place following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, and was carried out by Christian phalangist militiamen allied to the Israelis, with direct aid from the Israeli army which actively prevented both fleeing survivors from escaping the bloodbath and journalists from witnessing the carnage and Israel’s role in it. Israeli soldiers and tanks surrounded the camps entirely on September 15 and installed checkpoints at strategic locations and crossroads around the camps in order to monitor the entry or exit of any person. The Israelis started the massacre by shelling the camps on the same day. Once the phalangists entered the camps, reportedly under direct orders from the Israeli command, Israeli aircraft and artillery lit up the night sky with illumination flares over the camps to assist the other killers. Both the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights in resolutions described the massacre as an ‘act of genocide’ and firmly placed responsibility with the state of Israel. But Israel was never punished, and neither were any of its soldiers or politicians. Although not immediately, Sharon was in a way rewarded for his work at Sabra and Shatila by being elected prime minister in 2001. From 2001 to 2003, the Belgian Judiciary pursued a court case over the massacre against Sharon. The charges included crimes against humanity. A law passed in Belgium in 1999 had stripped all governmental and diplomatic immunity for perpetrators of war crimes and genocide, whatever their nationality and wherever their crimes were committed. Yet, Sharon was never sentenced, the case against him was dropped by the Belgian Judiciary due to intense US and Israeli pressure on another (!) arm of the Belgian state (the government), and meanwhile, the pattern of gross human rights violations carried out under Sharon (and all of his predecessors) continued unabated, in several aspects also intensifying beyond even the genocidal policies of the South African apartheid regime. 232 231 Said: The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After, 2000: 157ff; Pace, Jacob: Ethnic Cleansing 101: The Case of Lifta Village, 2005 232 Nguyen: War Crimes Case Filed in Belgium against Sharon, 2001; Siegel: After Nineteen Years: Sabra and Shatila Remembered, 2001; Law Society: Palestinian and Arab Response to Mary Robinson, 2001; Blanford: Seeking Justice for Victims of Sharon, 2001; Prince-Gibson: The Long Arm of the Law, 2001; N.N.: The International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila, no date; Beaumont: Profile: Ariel Sharon – Israel’s Old Bruiser, 2000. Subsequent research has yielded that up to one thousand Palestinian civilians may have been taken to Beirut’s Cité Sportif stadium after the massacres in the camps and murdered in the following twenty-four hours. See Fisk: New Evidence Indicates Palestinians Died Hours After Surviving Camp Massacres, 2001). A major part of the body-count problem is that the international community has never insisted on the kind of meticulous forensic investigation of what happened in Beirut, as it has, for instance, in the cases of alleged war crimes committed against Europeans in the former Yugoslavia. The resolutions condemning Israel for the massacres are: UN General Assembly Resolution 123 (A/RES/37/123) and the UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution E/CN.4/RES/1985/4. Belgium has yet to issue an international arrest warrant for Sharon. Following an appeal by Israel, the judge handling the case was initially forced to suspend the case. Previously, ‘diplomatic tensions’ had prompted Foreign Minister Louis Michel to propose ‘amending’, i.e. effectively scrapping the 1999 law. See Castonguay: Belgium Suspends Sharon Probe Pending Ruling, 2001. Israel had argued that any proceeding against Sharon breached international laws granting statesmen immunity from prosecution, that the probe breached Israel’s judicial sovereignty because the case had already been decided by the 1983 state inquiry in Israel, which found Sharon indirectly responsible for the deaths. Israel also questioned Belgium’s right to try a foreigner for crimes committed abroad. But Belgium’s Deputy Public Prosecutor, Pierre Morlet, found no legal foundation to these objections. See Nguyen: Belgian Public Prosecutor Backs Sharon Probe, 2001. In July 2001, Elie Hobeika, a former Lebanese minister and the former leader of a pro-Israeli

129<br />

an entity capable of self-determination. There were 23 further massacres of Palestinians<br />

during the 1948 war, according to the Israeli historian, Benny Morris, perhaps even more. At<br />

least 418 Palestinian villages were ethnically cleansed. <strong>Apartheid</strong> is in fact never far from<br />

genocide and sometimes the two coincide. Most importantly, the rest of the world should be<br />

kept ignorant about these crimes. 231<br />

Other acts of genocide include the massacre of between 800 and 3,500 Palestinian<br />

refugee civilians – men, women and children – at the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirut<br />

in Lebanon on September 16-18, 1982, for which the Israeli state Kahan Commission in 1983<br />

found the then defense minister, Ariel Sharon, ‘indirectly responsible’. The commission’s<br />

findings eventually cost Sharon his job. The massacre took place following Israel’s invasion<br />

of Lebanon, and was carried out by Christian phalangist militiamen allied to the Israelis, with<br />

direct aid from the Israeli army which actively prevented both fleeing survivors from escaping<br />

the bloodbath and journalists from witnessing the carnage and Israel’s role in it. Israeli<br />

soldiers and tanks surrounded the camps entirely on September 15 and installed checkpoints at<br />

strategic locations and crossroads around the camps in order to monitor the entry or exit of<br />

any person. The Israelis started the massacre by shelling the camps on the same day. Once the<br />

phalangists entered the camps, reportedly under direct orders from the Israeli command,<br />

Israeli aircraft and artillery lit up the night sky with illumination flares over the camps to<br />

assist the other killers. Both the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human<br />

Rights in resolutions described the massacre as an ‘act of genocide’ and firmly placed<br />

responsibility with the state of Israel. But Israel was never punished, and neither were any of<br />

its soldiers or politicians. Although not immediately, Sharon was in a way rewarded for his<br />

work at Sabra and Shatila by being elected prime minister in 2001.<br />

From 2001 to 2003, the Belgian Judiciary pursued a court case over the massacre<br />

against Sharon. The charges included crimes against humanity. A law passed in Belgium in<br />

1999 had stripped all governmental and diplomatic immunity for perpetrators of war crimes<br />

and genocide, whatever their nationality and wherever their crimes were committed. Yet,<br />

Sharon was never sentenced, the case against him was dropped by the Belgian Judiciary due<br />

to intense US and Israeli pressure on another (!) arm of the Belgian state (the government),<br />

and meanwhile, the pattern of gross human rights violations carried out under Sharon (and all<br />

of his predecessors) continued unabated, in several aspects also intensifying beyond even the<br />

genocidal policies of the South African apartheid regime. 232<br />

231<br />

Said: The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After, 2000: 157ff; Pace, Jacob: Ethnic Cleansing 101: The<br />

Case of Lifta Village, 2005<br />

232<br />

Nguyen: War Crimes Case Filed in Belgium against Sharon, 2001; Siegel: After Nineteen Years: Sabra and<br />

Shatila Remembered, 2001; Law Society: Palestinian and Arab Response to Mary Robinson, 2001; Blanford:<br />

Seeking Justice for Victims of Sharon, 2001; Prince-Gibson: The Long Arm of the Law, 2001; N.N.: The<br />

International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila, no date; Beaumont: Profile: Ariel Sharon<br />

– Israel’s Old Bruiser, 2000. Subsequent research has yielded that up to one thousand Palestinian civilians may<br />

have been taken to Beirut’s Cité Sportif stadium after the massacres in the camps and murdered in the following<br />

twenty-four hours. See Fisk: New Evidence Indicates Palestinians Died Hours After Surviving Camp Massacres,<br />

2001). A major part of the body-count problem is that the international community has never insisted on the kind<br />

of meticulous forensic investigation of what happened in Beirut, as it has, for instance, in the cases of alleged<br />

war crimes committed against Europeans in the former Yugoslavia. The resolutions condemning Israel for the<br />

massacres are: UN General Assembly Resolution 123 (A/RES/37/123) and the UN Commission on Human<br />

Rights Resolution E/CN.4/RES/1985/4. Belgium has yet to issue an international arrest warrant for Sharon.<br />

Following an appeal by Israel, the judge handling the case was initially forced to suspend the case. Previously,<br />

‘diplomatic tensions’ had prompted Foreign Minister Louis Michel to propose ‘amending’, i.e. effectively<br />

scrapping the 1999 law. See Castonguay: Belgium Suspends Sharon Probe Pending Ruling, 2001. Israel had<br />

argued that any proceeding against Sharon breached international laws granting statesmen immunity from<br />

prosecution, that the probe breached Israel’s judicial sovereignty because the case had already been decided by<br />

the 1983 state inquiry in Israel, which found Sharon indirectly responsible for the deaths. Israel also questioned<br />

Belgium’s right to try a foreigner for crimes committed abroad. But Belgium’s Deputy Public Prosecutor, Pierre<br />

Morlet, found no legal foundation to these objections. See Nguyen: Belgian Public Prosecutor Backs Sharon<br />

Probe, 2001. In July 2001, Elie Hobeika, a former Lebanese minister and the former leader of a pro-Israeli

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