King Features
http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/columns/creese/about.htm
It is Absurd to say Israel is not a Racist State
By Charley Reese
c. 2001 King Features Syndicate
September 5, 2001
It was no surprise that the United States and Israel walked out of a United Nations conference on racism as soon as Israel came in for criticism. It is, however, a disgrace. Israel certainly is a racist state. Its own human-rights advocates call it that. The claim that Israel doesn't discriminate against non-Jews is absurd on its face.
Suppose, for example, the U.S. Congress passed a law that said the United States is a Christian, Anglo-Saxon nation and that any Christian, Anglo-Saxon person anywhere in the world is automatically eligible to become a citizen. Do you seriously think the Anti-Defamation League would not have a conniption fit and scream racism?
Well, Israel has such a law for Jews. Thus a Russian Jew, for example, can become a citizen, but a Palestinian driven out of his own country in 1948 cannot return.
Suppose, for another example, a group of wealthy people established the Christian National Fund. This fund would be used to purchase property. Once purchased, the property could never be sold to, rented to or leased to a non-Christian. Would that not be called discrimination? Well, there is such a fund called the Jewish National Fund, which has all of those restrictions on the property it owns. It played a great part in establishing Israel.
And, of course, if American officials routinely issued building permits to Christian Anglo-Saxons while denying them to Jews or other groups, that would be considered racist. And neighborhoods that denied non-Christians an opportunity to buy or rent would likewise be considered racist. All of these forms of discrimination are practiced in Israel against Palestinians.
The language that caused the United States to leave the conference was in a resolution passed by 3,000 non-governmental organizations in 44 regional and interest-based caucuses, according to the Indian Express. Some American news reports have made it seem like it was an Arab-only move. I'd say the United States is definitely in a minority, as it usually is when it defends Israel -- not on the basis of facts, but on the basis of the power of the Zionist lobby in the United States.
Fortunately, a growing number of American Jews are beginning to defy the slanders of the Zionist lobby and speak out against the human-rights abuses Israel inflicts on the Palestinians.
That indeed is the duty of all people of conscience. Acts that would be unacceptable in the United States cannot be condoned simply because they are done by Israelis to Palestinians. That in itself is a racist attitude.
In the meantime, much of the American press is allowing the Israeli government to dictate its language for propaganda purposes. If the Israelis wish to refer to assassinations as "targeted killing," that's their business, but American journalism should call them what they are -- assassinations. Assassination of political opponents, collective punishments inflicted on innocent people, confiscation of property, restriction of movements and employing military engines of destruction against an unarmed population are all considered crimes against humanity. Employing tanks against unarmed demonstrators in the West Bank and Gaza is no different than employing tanks against unarmed demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
You might want to meditate on why the American reaction is different even though the circumstances are similar.
It is also useful to keep George Washington's warning constantly in mind: "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence -- I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens -- the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government."
Zionism is foreign influence.
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