Since the recent war with Hamas, there has been an upsurge in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities in the US, particularly on college campuses. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush have accused Israel of apartheid and war crimes, while calling for sanctions against the Jewish state.
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But the sudden groundswell of concern for Palestinians rings hollow when considering that Palestinians have been suffering from apartheid almost since the establishment of the State of Israel – not in Israel itself, but in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries.
Israel's detractors loosely toss around the term "apartheid," with a seemingly infinite number of definitions depending on who is talking and who they are talking about. As far as the UN is concerned, the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (herein, Convention) describes apartheid as "any legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country and the deliberate creation of conditions preventing the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including the right to work, the right to form recognized trade unions, the right to education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association."
The Convention adds that apartheid includes legislation "designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages among members of various racial groups, the expropriation of landed property belonging to a racial group or groups or to members thereof."
Today, there are an estimated 500,000 Palestinians in UNRWA camps in Lebanon, descendants of the 100,000 Palestinians that arrived in Lebanon following Israel's War of Independence. Including the generation that came as refugees, Palestinians are now in their fourth generation in Lebanon.
Yet per Lebanese law, Palestinians are not allowed to become citizens of Lebanon, including those that are third-generation Lebanese. This is a clear violation of the Convention's prohibition against laws limiting a particular racial group or groups from participation in the country's political life.
Lebanese Palestinians cannot own a business or work in a number of well-paying professions. This is the law despite the fact that Lebanon grants work permits to non-Lebanese individuals from a variety of countries.
Palestinians cannot own real estate in Lebanon. They cannot participate in the country's social security pension system even if they pay into the pension fund. They cannot participate in the country's national health insurance system. They must live in the UNRWA refugee camps unless they receive a travel permit. Finally, Lebanon's Palestinian children are limited in their rights to an education.
These limitations, all violations of the UN Convention on Apartheid, have been in force for over 70 years – and not just in Lebanon, but also in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries. Yet progressive lawmakers or anti-apartheid campus groups are silent on these policies. Had the parents of Rep. Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, immigrated to Lebanon instead of the US, her family would be stateless – meaning that a non-Arab state grants her family citizenship while an Arab country refuses to do so.
Israel found itself with 220,000 additional residents following the War of Independence: Palestinians who chose not to flee. Among Israel's first acts as a new sovereign nation were laws making these Palestinians citizens of Israel, Arabic an official language and Sharia courts recognized for civil purposes (parallel to rabbinical courts for Jews). Land titles were recognized, as well as Palestinians' right to acquire real estate in general.
Arabs and Muslims vote in Israeli elections, sit in the Knesset, sit on courts (including the Supreme Court) and serve in the executive branch. They attend Israeli universities, work in white-collar professions, hold executive positions in Israeli companies, hold positions and appear in Israeli television and the press in general, and work as actors in Israeli entertainment productions. In the current political situation, the Israeli-Arab political party Ra'am held the balance of power between the right- and left-wing camps that formed a new governing coalition. Nevertheless, Israel's critics accuse the country of apartheid while remaining silent about the real apartheid occurring in Arab countries.
Why have the Palestinians suddenly taken center stage? When all else fails, Christian and Muslim leaders blame the Jews. Today the Christian left has found common ground with the Christian right in attacking Jews, each from a different angle. Neither camp within the Christian community seems to have a unifying message for their followers, so Jews become the focus of their attention. The good fortune of the Palestinians is that their fight is with the Jews. We should have pity for the Kurds and Yazidis, whose fight is with other Arabs and Muslims.
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