"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Monday, June 21, 2010

WHAT ABOUT JEWISH RIGHTS TO TRAVERSE ARAB NEIGHBORHOODS?

Hagai Segal writes on Ynet about the sadness of segregation:
Arab Israelis bitterly complained last week that the IDF forbids them from entering the Jewish street in Hebron. Despite the security motive behind the ban (security alone and nothing else,) this is a bothersome phenomenon. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the old South Africa, and it doesn’t only hurt Arabs – many roads in Judea and Samaria are closed off to Jews.

We should note that in Hebron there is one street that is partly closed to Arabs and hundreds of streets that are completely closed off to Jews. If a Jew insists on getting there, he will risk being lynched. Should such Jew be able to get out of there, he will immediately be detained by the police for entering a zone that was closed off via an order signed by a general.

Officially speaking, this order refers to “Israelis,” yet it unequivocally addresses Jews. Arabs possessing an Israeli ID are allowed to enter Ramallah or Nablus as often as they want. Yet Jews are not allowed to do so. Isn’t that apartheid? And what’s the reason for the silence displayed by Breaking the Silence members in the face of ethnic discrimination against Jews?
And Jimmy Carter has the gall to accuse the Jews of being apartheidists? What about the Arabs indeed? No wonder there's been a movement for forming special Jewish marches through Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem lately, to show that we won't be prohibited from where we want to go in Israel.

No comments: