Author: Raphael Mimoun
Affiliation: Human Rights Activist
Organization/Publisher: The Washington Post
Date/Place: May 21, 2021/USA
Type of Literature: Opinion
Word Count: 935
Keywords: Palestine, Israel, Apartheid, and Zionism
Brief:
Raphael Mimoun was a member of a Zionist youth movement for 12 years and lived for four years in Israel. He describes how Zionism is rooted in trauma and fear, and how the movement emphasizes the safety and well-being of Jewish people even at the expense of others. The author believes that the Israeli occupation is an apartheid regime; for instance, there are two legal systems for Jews and Palestinians. So, if a Jew and an Arab commit the same crime in the West Bank, the Arab faces a military court and the Jew a civil court. The author maintains that this discrimination is reasonable for Israelis, who frame it as an issue of “self-defense.” He describes how his Jewish community’s narrative is detached from reality, and how Israelis not only dehumanize the Palestinians but also blame them for the Gaza blockade. To end the apartheid, the author stresses that external pressure is needed as was the case in South Africa, including international sanctions on Israel, and global boycott. The importance and necessity of external pressure is that the Israeli apartheid will not voluntarily change itself without pressure.
By: Fadi Zatari, CIGA Senior Research Associate
