Myth 5: Israel is a classic democracy. There are no similarities to the erstwhile Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Whereas the discussion revealed a large number of similarities between what was the essence of Apartheid and what has been happening in Israel over the past half century, there was one important difference which I cannot gloss over.

In estwhile Apartheid South Africa, the "not us" were not allowed to vote. In Israel the Palestinian Arabs who live in and are citizens of Israel DO have the vote.

But given the Knesset's massive preoccupation with the ethnic ratio (it should not rise below 70:30) this vote is relatively toothless. Still I must admit that the fact of vote eligibility is a noteworthy if practically impotent difference to Apartheid.

On the other hand, all the other important characteristics of the Israeli style and that of Apartheid are the same. For a list of these see
http://www.politicalforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=25285
which includes forced removal of peoples; restrictions on freedom of movement; pursuing the opposition into neighbouring sovereign states without permission; creations of walls and fences to keep "not us" out; invasion of neighbouring States; creation of walls and fences to "keep the murderers out"; use of overwhelming force against acts of far lesser impact; assassination of opposition political leaders; acts of violence against innocent civilians both in the Apartheid State and abroad; complete disrespect for political borders; detention without trial; etc.

In conclusion, other than for the toothless vote, Israel exhibits all the main characteristics of an Apartheid State.