Israel may not be 'racist'. But what about apartheid?

Although Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was quick to apologise after calling Israel a "racist state" last weekend, her fellow representatives' resolution on Tuesday leaves little room for further discourse on the topic, at least at the congressional level.

Through the resolution, the US House of Representatives has stated that Israel is "not a racist or apartheid state." 

And that may very well be true, at least on the question of racism, since the answer to that depends on the definition of the term. Some argue that while ethnocentrism exists in Israel, strict biological racism is less prevalent. However, according to broader definitions of racism, there are instances where racist views and discriminatory practices can be observed in the country.

Of greater importance though is the stance the US has taken. The vote was 412-9-1 to endorse the symbolic measure, which declares that the US "will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel."

Despite its historical conflicts with neighbouring countries, Israel has found a steadfast and significant ally in the US. Throughout the years, various US administrations have consistently emphasised the importance of their relationship with Israel, often shaping their Middle East policies around it.

The United States' unwavering support for Israel has resulted in the prevention of resolutions condemning violence targeting protesters, the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank since 1967, and even inquiries into the 1990 incident involving the killing of seven Palestinian workers by a former Israeli soldier.

Detractors argue that the unconditional support from Washington towards Israel promotes an imbalanced and excessive employment of force against Palestinians.

The US has always been criticised for turning a blind eye to Israel's actions and supporting it regardless. This questions their role as an unbiased broker. Over the past five decades, the United States has vetoed at least 53 UN Security Council resolutions critical of Israel.

Numerous US officials assert that the United States has a moral obligation to protect Israel, leading to the provision of political, military, and financial aid. This support, coupled with advanced weaponry, has played a crucial role in enabling Israel to establish one of the world's most sophisticated military forces. 

Since its inception, Israel has received approximately $150 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defence funding from the United States. As confirmed by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Israel holds the distinction of being the largest cumulative beneficiary of US foreign aid since World War II.

And US arms deliveries were pivotal when conflicts broke out between Israel and its neighbours. For example, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the US played a pivotal role by providing Israel with a significant shipment of military gear, including weapons, tanks, and jets. 

Ethnocentric apartheid

According to an Amnesty International report, in May 2021, Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, protested against Israel's plan to forcefully evict them from their homes for Jewish settlers. These families, many of whom are refugees, had settled in Sheikh Jarrah after being displaced during the establishment of Israel in 1948. 

Since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah have been subjected to discriminatory laws used by Israeli authorities to dispossess them of their land and homes in favour of Jewish Israelis.

In solidarity with the Sheikh Jarrah families, thousands of Palestinians across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) staged their own protests against the shared experiences of fragmentation, dispossession, and segregation. 

However, these demonstrations were met with excessive and deadly force by Israeli authorities, resulting in numerous injuries, arrests, and detentions.

The events of May 2021 served as a stark example of the oppression endured by Palestinians for decades. The discriminatory practices, land seizures, suppression of dissent, and violence against Palestinians are all part of a system that privileges Jewish Israelis while marginalising Palestinians. And this is apartheid. 

Even racist proponents have been endorsed by Israel. In april this year, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, nominated May Golan, a far-right politician who once boasted that she is "proud to be a racist", as New York consul general. "If I am racist for wanting to defend my country and for wanting to protect my basic rights and security, then I'm a proud racist," she said at a political rally in 2013, reports The Guardian. 

Legalised segregation, illegal racism

Israel has laws and policies that are perceived as discriminatory by critics. 

For example, the Israel Lands Law stipulates that ownership of state lands can only be transferred between the government and quasi-governmental agencies like the Jewish National Fund, which leases land exclusively to Jews. 

Additionally, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law prevents Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza married to Palestinian citizens of Israel from gaining residency or citizenship status. 

According to Human Rights Watch, racism on the part of Israeli Jews against Muslim Arabs in Israel exists in institutional policies, personal attitudes, the media, education, immigration rights, housing, social life and legal policies. 

According to a 2001 Human Rights Watch report, Israel's school systems for Arab and Jewish children are separate and have unequal conditions to the disadvantage of the Arab children who make up one-quarter of all students. Israeli law does not prohibit Palestinian Arab parents from enrolling their children in Jewish schools, but in practice, very few Palestinian Arab parents do so.

The report stated, "Government-run Arab schools are a world apart from government-run Jewish schools. In virtually every respect, Palestinian Arab children get an education inferior to that of Jewish children, and their relatively poor performance in school reflects this."

In 2009, study from the Hebrew University School of Education demonstrated that the Israeli Education Ministry's budget for special assistance to students from low socioeconomic backgrounds "severely" discriminated against Arabs. 

The study found that because there were more needy Arab students, but fewer Arab students overall, educationally needy Jewish students receive anywhere from 3.8 to 6.9 times as much funding as equally needy Arab students.

On the other hand, Israel has anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination by both government and non-government entities on the basis of race, religion, and political beliefs, and prohibits incitement to racism. 

The Israeli government and many groups within Israel have undertaken efforts to combat racism. Israel is a state-party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and is a signatory of the Convention against Discrimination in Education. 

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin announced to a meeting of academics in October 2014 that it is finally time for Israel to live up to its promise as a land of equality, time to cure the epidemic of racism. "Israeli society is sick, and it is our duty to treat this disease," Rivlin stated. 

How much of that solution has been reflected in practicality is a question. 

In April 2015 an Ethiopian soldier in the IDF was the victim of an unprovoked and allegedly racist attack by an Israeli policeman and the attack was caught on video. The soldier, Damas Pakedeh, was arrested and accused of attacking the policeman. He believes the incident was racially motivated and that if the video had not been taken, he would have been punished. 

The Jerusalem Post notes that in 2015 "there have been a series of reports in the Israeli press about alleged acts of police brutality against Ethiopian Israelis, with many in the community saying they are unfairly targeted and treated more harshly than other citizens."