(Kohelet Policy Forum) Prof. Eugene Kontorovich - The Apartheid accusation in Btselem's recent report is classic anti-Semitic rhetoric: it accuses Jews, uniquely among the peoples of the world, of one of the most heinous crimes, while also judging the Jewish state by a metric not applied to any other country. There are no racial or ethnic distinctions in Israeli law. In Israel and all territories under its jurisdiction, Palestinians patronize the same shops and restaurants as Jews do. Indeed, it is Jews who are excluded from Palestinian-controlled territory. The Palestinian government was created by the Palestinians themselves and is recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by almost every country in the world. The Palestinian Authority governs 90% of the Palestinian population, as provided in the Oslo Accords. Israeli Arabs have full voting rights for the Knesset, while Palestinians in the territories have voting rights for the Palestinian Legislative Council. The writer is director of George Mason University Law School's Center for the Middle East and International Law and a scholar at Kohelet.
2021-01-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive