In 2001, Nelson Mandela wrote to the US columnist Thomas Friedman an
open letter about the state of Israel, which he believed was racist and
organised on the basis of Apartheid policies.
Dear Thomas,
I know that you and I
long for peace in the Middle East, but before you continue to talk about
necessary conditions from an Israeli perspective, you need to know
what’s on my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964.Let me quote my own
words during my trial. They are true today as they were then: “I have
fought against white domination and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society
in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.
But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Today the world, black
and white, recognize that Apartheid has no future.
In South Africa it
has been ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace
and security. That mass campaign of defiance and other actions could
only culminate in the establishment of Democracy.
Perhaps it is strange
for you to observe the situation in Palestine or more specifically, the
structure of political and cultural relationships between Palestinians
and Israelis, as an Apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly
think that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was demonstrated
in your recent column “Bush’s First Memo” in the New York Times on
March 27, 2001.
You seem to be surprised
to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most
important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian
refugees. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of
military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established
“normally” and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians
are not struggling for a “state” but for freedom, liberation and
equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa.
In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour
Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it
occupied in 1967; that Settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under
exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an
independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with
Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea.
Israel was not thinking
of a “state” but of “separation”. The value of separation is measured in
terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not
to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to
become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it
would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national
state, or to turn into a state of Apartheid not only de facto, but also
de jure.
Thomas, if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years,
you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population
who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the
nature of “I hate Arabs” and “I wish Arabs would be dead”.
If you also follow the
judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against
Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 Occupied Territories
you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that
represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian
life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different
approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not
recognized as private property because it can be confiscated.
As to the Israeli
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The
so-called “Palestinian autonomous areas” are Bantustans. These are
restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli Apartheid
system.
The Palestinian state
cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the
Jewish purity of Israel. Israel’s racial discrimination is daily life of
most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are
able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian
Arabs have no place in a “Jewish” state.
Apartheid is a crime
against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their
liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial
discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and
tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of
international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian
population, in particular children.
The responses made by
South Africa to human rights abuses emanating from the removal policies
and Apartheid policies respectively, shed light on what Israeli society
must necessarily go through before one can speak of a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East and an end to its Apartheid policies.
Thomas, I’m not
abandoning Mideast diplomacy. But I’m not going to indulge you the way
your supporters do. If you want peace and democracy, I will support you.
If you want formal Apartheid, we will not support you. If you want to
support racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, we will oppose you.
When you figure out what you’re about, give me a call.
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