Last week, the Israel-based human-rights group B’Tselem declared the Jewish state guilty of “apartheid,” a claim American and European media quickly and uncritically disseminated. Yoseph Haddad was not persuaded:
How dare they say that I, an Arab Israeli who served along with Jewish soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and [later] managed hundreds of Jewish employees, live under an apartheid regime? How can anyone say [Arab-Israeli] society is living under an apartheid regime when among us you will find doctors, judges, and even lawmakers? . . . [T]o compare Israel to an apartheid regime for its racial laws is not only a distorted lie but an insult to all those South Africans who actually lived through apartheid.
I am not here to claim that everything in Israel is perfect. Some things need to be fixed. But . . . . I look around at our neighbors in the region and thank god I was born in the state of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. . . . When B’Tselem’s director Ḥagai El-Ad, who is Jewish, decides that I, my Arab family, and my Arab friends are all living under an apartheid regime, he and his organizations are basically telling us they see us as second-class citizens.
To my delight, Israel will likely be the first country to exit the coronavirus crisis, and in a few months, people from around the world may be able to come here and see what apartheid looks like in Israel for themselves. Then they will be able to hear Hebrew and Arabic spoken in the Nazareth marketplace, they will see mosques, churches, and synagogues alongside one another in Jaffa, and see the coexistence of the Israeli mosaic across the country. And maybe, just maybe, their visit here will make them want to live under an apartheid regime.
Read more on Israel Hayom: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/what-apartheid-2/