Israeli Apartheid Week
The Israeli Apartheid Week is held annually in February / March in the form of rallies and university events in the United States , Canada , England , South Africa and other countries in about 100 cities. The action began in Toronto in 2005 and, according to the organizers, was driven by " Palestinians , Jewish anti-Zionists and South Africans". It serves to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign worldwide .
target
According to the organizers, the aim of the events is to mobilize the international public against what the organizers call the " apartheid regime " Israel and to call for a general boycott against Israel and the withdrawal of foreign investments, following the example of the sanctions against the South African apartheid regime in the 1980s. The organizers are calling for full equality for Israeli Arabs , the removal of the Israeli barriers, and the end of the Israeli occupation and the "colonization of the occupied territories". Another point is the right of return for the Palestinian refugees , the organizers refer to UN resolution 194 .
Speakers at Israeli Apartheid Week included Knesset MP Jamal Zahalka in 2007 and former Knesset MP Azmi Bishara . According to Zahalka, there is an apartheid situation in the West Bank : “There are streets exclusively for Jews, there are checkpoints and a curfew. The population is separate. The human rights of the Palestinians are being completely violated ”.
criticism
Critics describe the series of events as an open manifestation of anti-Semitism . Israeli Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor commented on the Daily Telegraph :
“Israel is facing an intensified campaign of delegitimization, demonization and double standards. Britain has become a hotbed of radically anti-Israel attitudes and an oasis for dishonest demands for a 'one-state solution' - a euphemistic name for the demand for the destruction of Israel. "
John Mann , British Labor MP and chairman of the bipartisan group against anti-Semitism, highlighted the discriminatory practice of calls to boycott Israeli Apartheid Week:
"Boycotts in no way help to establish peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, but rather keep Jewish students, academics and their colleagues in British universities isolated and harassed."
From the Israeli side it was called "crude propagandism, pure hypocrisy and cynical manipulation of the student body" (crude propaganda, pure hypocrisy and cynical manipulation of the student body).
According to Manfred Gerstenfeld, anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism are regularly mixed at the events . In 2008, for example, the anti-Israel activist Ward Churchill , a former university professor who was dismissed in 2007 for academic misconduct, claimed during a protest march that the mass murder of the Jews was "not an integral part of Nazi politics."
Avi Benlolo, webmaster of friendsofsimonwiesenthalcenter.com, described the events as:
"Fallacy and travesty, that promotes anti-semitism on canadian university campuses."
"Deception and travesty promoting anti-Semitism at Canadian universities."
This allegation was denied by David Naylor , President of the University of Toronto , pointing to the unique role universities have in providing safe space for controversial discussion.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://apartheidweek.org/
- ↑ Israeli Apartheid Week 2010: Media ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Worldwide events mark 'Israeli Apartheid Week' , Ynetnews . February 9, 2007. “There are roads for Jews only, there are checkpoints, and there is a curfew. The population is separated. The human rights of the Palestinians are completely violated "
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3559316/Britain-is-a-hotbed-of-anti-Israeli-sentiment.html
- ↑ a b Manfred Gerstenfeld : 2007 - 2008: Another year with anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism at universities worldwide. jer-zentrum.org, October 30, 2008, accessed May 14, 2010 .
- ↑ Criticism by the Israeli ambassador Alan Baker ( memento of the original from March 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Brett Clarkson, SUN MEDIA: Israel Apartheid Week stirs controversy , March 4, 2009
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (not available)
