To notice the true insult and injury in its fullest sense

Israeli Checkpoints in the West Bank

(2002)

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RE: Israel's apartheid II Perfect letter by Keren Batiyov
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/send/s_489219.html

Dear Editor,

Great to read Keren Batiyov's perfect letter concerning political Zionism's many cruel crimes against the people of Palestine.

I knew that the illegally occupied territories are being intentionally divided and destroyed by a combination of (generously subsidized and heavily armed) Jewish-only settlements reached by Israeli only roads, which given the nature of Israel's own self declared identity as the supposed Jewish State really must be called "Jews-only roads". But it never occurred to me to count the actual miles- to notice the true insult and injury in its fullest sense.

And that is only one insult and injury among many.

Thankfully Jimmy Carter has moral courage to step up and call this insane Israeli made situation exactly what it is- Apartheid. That particular term really fits because of all its horrifying associations. However I suspect in time 'Zionist' will be the word deployed to explain and scorn institutionalized bigotry and injustice.

Through out the 1950s, when both Israel and South Africa punitively implemented official laws meant to segregate and impoverish "others", the world's news broadcasts were very much black and white and limited in scope and reach. Nowadays we live in a much more modern world with instant news everywhere accompanied by real time Satellite interviews and images. Our social expectations and economic investments really should reflect the fact we now live in a full spectrum of living color: And we really should do all we can to free Palestine and peace!

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Israel's apartheid II : Perfect letter by Keren Batiyov, published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Reivew

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/send/s_489219.html

Israel's apartheid II

Friday, January 19, 2007

That someone of consequence in the world of American politics has finally had the courage to use the "A" word in regard to Israel's treatment of Palestinians is to be commended. Jimmy Carter's, not the tuck-the-tail-and-run resignees from his museum board, is the principled stand.

What does one call more than 300 miles (and growing) of Jewish-only roads in the West Bank?

Or the recently enacted law that forbids Israelis from transporting Palestinians in their vehicles within the West Bank unless they have a permission slip from "the clerks of the occupation"?

What does one call the law that forbids an Israeli Palestinian who marries a Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza from residing together in Israel? And then there's the wall that is strategically placed to grab Palestinian land and, more important, water.

As for Israeli Palestinians, books have been written on the government-sanctioned discriminations that they face at all levels within Israeli society. And these examples only skim the surface.

As an American Jew of conscience, I admit that I do have a problem with Carter's new book, but it's not with his use of the word "apartheid."

Archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu noted that what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is far worse than apartheid. Ethnic cleansing and slow genocide are more appropriate terms.

But I am delighted that Jimmy Carter has spoken out and broken the political taboo of calling Israel to account. And like most truth-tellers, he is suffering for it.

Keren Batiyov
Arlington, Va.