08/29/06 "Information
Clearing House" -- -- The question of Israel as
an apartheid state has received increasing attention over the
last years as Israel has continued colonial expansion in the
West Bank while simultaneously attempting to diverge itself from
the Palestinians. The purpose of this article is to highlight
the growing systemization of apartheid in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories (OPT) with particular reference to
Israel's policy of unilateral disengagement. The need for this
debate is highlighted by the effective outcomes of disengagement
which has already resulted in the segregation of Palestinian
communities and delineation of exclusive Jewish space by means
of the segregation barrier. Furthermore the creation of
Palestinian enclaves or ghettos in the OPT bears a striking
resemblance to the South African policies during the apartheid
era which sought the establishment Bantustans as a means to
facilitate segregation and to secure privileges for an ethnic
minority.
The term "Bantustan" refers to an apartheid
regime policy which set about the creation of "independent"
homelands for black South Africans. These homelands possessed no
genuine sovereignty and consisted of fragmented pieces of land
in which the white authorities attempted to force people to
live. Boundaries of the Bantustans were typically drawn to
exclude valuable resources and arable land. The Bantustan policy
was policy designed to facilitate the control of natural
resources, exploitation of black South Africans and the
delineation of excusive "white" space.
Expression of the term "apartheid" has been
used to describe Israel's policies by a variety of prominent
individuals including anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu,
Israeli academics, left wing members of Israel's parliament and
Palestinian human rights campaigners. Comparing the Bantustan
policy to Israel's creation of Palestinian ghettos in the OPT
shows the similarity of Zionist agenda to the racist ambitions
of the South African apartheid regime. Enclaves in the West Bank
are defined by the segregation wall, Jewish colonies, by pass
roads, Israeli military orders and land restrictions. The
Palestinian ghettos like the Bantustans are designed
specifically to separate the native population for their land
and resources and to enable the growth of Israeli settlements.
In addition to this, the creation of enclaves surrounded by
Israeli territory enables enhanced monitoring while acting as
captive markets for Israeli goods and services.
Origins of Israeli apartheid date back to
the occupation of West Bank and Gaza. Colonization of these
areas immediately raised the question of what to do with the
native inhabitants who would be act as an obstacle to colonial
expansion while presenting a demographic threat to Israel's
Jewish character. Up until the fist Intifada, the Zionist elite
did not attempt to comprehensively address the Arab question.
For instance, mass forced transfer of Palestinians was discussed
but ultimately not adopted. Instead Israel preferred to ignore
the presence of Arabs and continue building settlements and
appropriating resources; attempting to create "positive"
conditions in the OPT for the continued out migration of
Palestinians particularly in East Jerusalem and along Israel's
border regions. In this sense apartheid has not been an official
policy of the state of Israel. Instead it has gradually
manifested in the OPT as the logical conclusion to Zionist
colonial ambitions which wants the land without the people.
Israel's unilateral disengagement is the
final phase of the systemization of Israeli apartheid and
adaptation to the social and political realities of occupation.
The first Intifada sent a message to the Zionist elite that
Palestinians would no longer tolerate occupation and the denial
of their rights. More importantly it highlighted that in
Palestinian areas would be difficult to control thus
necessitating some form of disengagement.
Prior to the fist Intifada Israel was
opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state considering all
of Palestine to be rightful property of the Jewish people.
However, with the emergence of resistance the two-state solution
has been assimilated within Zionist colonial ambitions as a
means of finally addressing the "Arab question". The creation of
Palestinian "Bantustans" has enabled Israel to appear to be
appeasing Palestinians by ending the occupation and giving them
an independent "homeland". However, its ultimate purpose is to
facilitate the preservation of Jewish space while increasing
Israel's territory and control over resources for the benefit of
its Jewish citizens.
Despite the apparent "closure" of
unilateral disengagement, by observing population and social
trends, this policy will ultimately fail in addressing Israel's
security and demographic concerns. Palestinian populations in
both Israel and the OPT are rapidity increasing and will
continue to challenge the validity of a Jewish state where a
sizable proportion of the population will be non-Jewish.
Furthermore, as Israel continues colonization there is no
guarantee that Palestinians will stop fighting for their rights
and accept the "state" that Israel hands them. In twenty years
time we might be seeing the Palestinian struggle less in terms
of a national liberation movement but something similar to the
black South African struggle against apartheid within a single
state.
Owen Powell lives in Bethlehem,
Palestine and is an assistant researcher at the Applied Research
Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ).
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