🇮🇱 Rabbi Zvi Solomons 💛💙🕎 Profile picture
Rabbi, Zionist @JCoBerkshire's Jewish community, Reading’s Jewish Chaplain, Jewish News Writer, speaker, broadcaster. “Judaism: a positive force in the world.”

Dec 22, 2021, 15 tweets

There is a daft idea going around beloved of antisemites that Israel is an Apartheid State.

Let’s look at this on a factual basis.

Here you have a beach in Apartheid South Africa. These signs are typical.

Apartheid separated people by race.
Thread👇🏼1/14

Of course this doesn’t happen in israel because it’s not an Apartheid State. Nobody bans Arabs from the beach, they’re citizens.

Israel is quite content even to have burkini clad women on the beaches.

These are normal Israeli scenes. 2/14

Let’s look elsewhere. Perhaps there are limits or quotas on who is able to be a doctor, who can treat whom, if Israel really is an apartheid state. That’s what Russia did to Jews. What Iran does.
Quotas.
Here in South Africa there were Black only clinics and hospitals. 3/14

In Israel Arabs are (compared w their population) better represented than Jews in the medical professions.

It’s not only unrestricted but Arabs thrive in Israel.

That’s cos Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.

Jews & Arabs together.
4/14

m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-c…

What about the parks? The toilets?
We all know about the Apartheid benches like this one in South Africa.
We all know about the whites only toilets.
5/14

Nope, no such thing in Israel. You can roam the whole country and not find a single “Jews only” sign as this never happens.

Jews sit with Arabs and nobody bats an eyelid.

The apartheid slur is just outrageous.
6/14

Lifts in South Africa, even shops were segregated.

Look at the sign assuming black people were “tradesmen” and could jostle with the dogs.

Roam the length snd breadth of israel, there is not a single sign like this.
7/14

Jews and Muslims share the streets of Israeli cities.

Of course there’s tension. There are attacks on Muslims - hate exist everywhere.

Of course there’s injustice - Israel is not perfection. Criticize the real bad!

But we’re talking Apartheid.
None exists in Israel.
8/14

There is no Apartheid in Israel. This is simply a lie.

Nothing like these South African Apartheid signs, nor a legalised government separation is present.

All Israeli citizens are equal. Better still…
9/14

Arabs participate in the Israeli army and police, where they command Jews

This could never happen under Apartheid.simply unthinkable!

10/14

bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…

Arabs are on the Israeli courts at every level, a Christian Arab judge even sent the former President of Israel to jail for sexual assault.

This is the opposite of Apartheid.
11/14
jpost.com/national-news/…

Arabs are celebrated in Israel.

So much so today that the Government of Israel includes the Ra’am Arab Muslim party who participate as Ministers of the State of Israel - equal citizens.

An apartheid state where the oppressed minority rule?
🤪😳🙄🤔
12/14
time.com/6073019/mansou…

The next time some illiberal ignorant extremist starts with “Israeli Apartheid”, let them parse this:
What do you want call someone who claims a democracy is a dictatorship?
That a free society is restrictive?
That liberation is oppressive?
That inclusivity is exclusive?
13/14

Although israel is not perfect, it is the best country to be an in a minority in the Middle East.

1000 times so if you are female, gay, Christian Druze or Baha’i.

Israel is not unlike Italy in its approach to civil rights.

Italy Apartheid Week anyone?

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1473791…

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