Israel an apartheid state? A majority of Jews say yes

AFP Photo / Said Khatib

Source: Russia Today

A majority of Israeli Jews admit they are living in an apartheid state, a recent survey claimed. Many also believed that Palestinians should be denied the right to vote, and suggested that Jewish citizens should be given preferential treatment.

­Some 500 Jewish adults took part in the survey, answering questions put together by a group of civil rights activists and academics, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday. The survey’s findings revealed that 39 percent of respondents believe there is a ‘slight’ form of apartheid in the country, while 19 percent admit that there is ‘heavy’ apartheid.

A different question suggested that the number of those in favor of ethnic segregation is higher, with 74 percent of those surveyed in favor of separate roads for Jews and Arabs in the West Bank.

On the contentious issue of the West Bank, 38 percent of respondents wanted to annex the territories with settlements, and 48 percent opposed that policy. A followup question on voting rights for Palestinians saw 69 percent of respondents in favor of denying 2.5 million of Palestinians the vote if West Bank territories were annexed.

More than a half of those questioned said Jews should be given preference over Arabs when applying for jobs in the government sector. And slightly under half favored legalized discrimination of Arabs, saying that the state should “treat Jewish citizens better than Arab ones.”

­The term ‘apartheid’ emerged in South Africa in the late 1940s, when the country’s ruling National Party introduced a policy of strict segregation and the racially based denial of human rights.

Under apartheid, black South Africans were largely disenfranchised, and forced to use separate beaches, buses, hospitals, schools and universities. Mixed marriages were denied and even subjected to persecution.

The survey also revealed that people of ultra-religious views demonstrated more discriminatory attitudes, with 82 percent saying Jews should be given preferential treatment over Arabs. Secular responders generally expressed more pluralistic views.

In its report, Haaretz claimed that the survey was initiated by the New Israeli Fund, a US-based NGO. But the NIF denied any involvement, saying the poll “was not commissioned or sponsored or in any way related to the New Israel Fund,” but set up by Goldblum Fund, an organization with which it had only indirect links.

The Israeli press generally reacted with outrage to the results, questioning the survey’s methodology and its coverage in Haaretz.

“The Haaretz article acknowledged that the survey conductors say perhaps the term ‘apartheid’ was not clear enough to some interviewees,” The Times of Israel said on Tuesday. The newspaper also noted that the reporting on the survey results and the followup opinion piece were both written by Gideon Levy, “a Haaretz columnist known for fierce criticism of Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians.”

The Jewish Chronicle lashed out at Levy, saying he “deliberately fed the international media a skewed and biased reading of a poll, in order to promote his treachery.”
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Israel threatens to escalate attacks against Palestinians in Gaza

A column of Israeli tanks take up position near the Gaza border. (File photo)

Source: Press TV

Israel has threatened to escalate its deadly attacks against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli siege for many years.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak said on Wednesday that more Gazans are going to suffer because of the rockets fired from the territory into Israel.

"Hamas will receive its punishment for what has happened here," said Barak, referring to the Palestinian resistance movement which governs Gaza.

"If they cannot be calmed, and the rockets continue,” the Israeli military will respond, Barak said.

Since Tuesday night, at least four Palestinians have been killed and several others injured in the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Palestinian resistance groups have been firing the rockets in retaliation for Tel Aviv’s deadly raids on the coastal enclave.

He also said no “element responsible for causing damage in Israel or to Israelis will be spared."

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

Israel’s US-funded Iron Dome system has failed to intercept many of the projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip.

On July 27, US President Barack Obama signed a piece of legislation ratified by Congress that had Israel another $70 million in military assistance, on top of the $3 billion the United States had already pledged to provide to the Israeli military this year.

Obama signed the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which provides more US taxpayer dollars to help Israel expand its Iron Dome short-range missile system.
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Largest US-Israel military drill under way

Source: Press TV

The U.S. and Israel simulated rocket attacks during their largest-ever joint military drill Wednesday.

U.S. military officials insisted the joint exercise, called Austere Challenge 2012, was planned long before.

It comes at a time when Israel and the U.S. have openly debated the merits of a strike on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities, and as U.S. support for Israel has emerged as a central issue in the upcoming American presidential elections.

In this week's presidential debate, President Barack Obama cited the joint drill, calling it testament to the strong military cooperation between the two countries. Presidential contender Mitt Romney has claimed that the Obama administration has undermined Israel as it faces threats from Iran and Arab countries.

About 1,000 troops brought in from the U.S. are in Israel alongside a similar number of Israeli troops. An additional 2,500 U.S. troops based in Europe and the Mediterranean are participating in the drill. The exercise will continue for about three weeks.

"Make no mistake. The U.S. is 100 percent committed to the security of Israel. That commitment drives this exercise," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin in a news conference at a training site near a beach in the Tel Aviv area.

Reporters were invited to view a large parking lot near the beach where large camouflage-colored trucks and a Patriot air defense battery launcher were deployed for Wednesday's exercise. ABC News

FACTS and FIGURES

The joint Israeli-American drill is being conducted throughout Israel and off-shore by the two sides comes with a combined bill of close to $40 million.

The U.S. has pledged $30 million to the exercise and the Israelis estimated their exercise costs at 30 million shekels -- around $7.9 million, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A Congressional Research Service report shows that between 1968 and 2008, the United States gave Israel more than $67 billion of taxpayer-funded military aid grants and loans. In 2007 the Bush Administration signed an agreement with Israel to provide an additional $30 billion in weapons from 2009 to 2018. NBC News