Israel

Israel is no different from South Africa under apartheid. A group of invaders expropriate the land of the local people and then subjugate and dominate them. The Afrikaners actually said, and believed, that the land of southern Africa had been given to them by god. Years ago a writer reported a teenager in the Jewish settlements saying " I'm so glad God has given us this land."

Just like the apartheid government of South Africa forced blacks into townships and required them to use travel passes, Israel has put the Palestinians into ghettos and severely restricted their ability to travel.

The world did not allow apartheid to continue in South Africa; we can't allow it to continue in Israel. We must use sanctions, boycotts, demonstrations and all the different tactics used to end apartheid. No "two state" settlement is possible because Israel won't allow a Palestinian state. Israel has been fundamentally opposed to equal rights for Palestinians and this inequality must end.

All Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem should be made Israeli citizens with voting rights and equal protection under the law. The millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps should be allowed to return home.

All Israeli citizens would have their rights protected under a constitutional democracy. The whites in South Africa have not been deprived of their rights or property since the end of apartheid. If the Palestinians are the majority, so be it. Israel should be a democracy, not a theocracy. We should no more support a Jewish State than a Muslim or Christian state.  Democracy is about freedom of religion; not state imposed religion. 

Without the military and economic aid of the United States, Israel could not continue these policies of apartheid.  We should be fighting for the rights of the Palestinians just as we fought for the rights of black South Africans. It's time for the changes that will make peace possible. Not the continuation of failed policies that make war inevitable.