Doc's Talk: Apartheid Shmapartheid

Monday, August 12, 2013

Apartheid Shmapartheid

Nurit Greenger

Willing to pay the price for being honest.

Many all over the world claim that Israel is an Apartheid state. How true it is you can ask MP Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, a 19 years veteran member of the South Africa government and the head of the African Christian Democratic Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Christian_Democratic_Party_%28South_Africa%29) and his wife Lydia and daughter Esther.

It is very frustrating to the many people who support Israel to constantly hear those claiming that Israel is operating a governance Apartheid system. They are insulted and humiliated but they have no tool to refute or dismiss this claim.

A group of these frustrated people gathered at the beautiful and hospitable Beverly Hills home of Daphna Ziman and Don Sherwood to get a first hand explanation what Apartheid is all about and how to rebuttal this libel against Israel. After all Rev. Kenneth Meshoe, his wife Lydia and daughter Esther are people of dark skin who have all lived under the South Africa Apartheid regime. They have been to Israel ten times so they can clearly and easily dismiss this accusation.

From L-Lydia and Rev. Meshoe, Rachel Neuwirth, Don Sherwood and Daphna Ziman

Every fair minded and honest person needs to hear the Meshoes'. Every Israeli of all walks of life needs to hear the Meshoes'.

When you hear the Meshoes' speak you are mesmerized, not only because they are impressively looking people, but also because of the truth and core belief they speak out. Each one, on his own, is an advocate for Israel. They are not only fighting on behalf of Israel, they are fighting their own government that has been, since the Apartheid system was abolished, following anti-Israel policies.

From L-Lydia, Rev. Kenneth and Esther Meshoe

The daughter Esther, and how appropriate her name is, is the rebel and a self appointed PR officer of the family. Around her neck she is wearing, ostentatiously and with pride, a Star of David-Magen David-Menorah combination medallion. "I wear and expose my Magend David medallion while many South African Jews will not dare to wear such Jewish symbol," she tells me. "I am not afraid of anyone. I am proud to be associated and a defender of Israel."

In South Africa the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, which the Zionist Organization of American (ZOA) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) call anti-Semitic, are a small group with a very loud mouth. Rev. Meshoe works relentlessly to quiet their big mouths. "People in South Africa government know the truth about Israel but they are scared what they opposition will say so they chose the easy road out of being politically correct," he states.

"To me Israel is a second home and standing for Israel is a great cause," exclaims the Reverend. "If something is incorrect, the Meshoes' will fight to correct it."

"We have become a society dominated by taking the easy road and buys into lies. It is not able to tell the truth and is afraid of it and thus it compromises its own soul, " states Rev. Meshoe.

The Meshoes' are Christians who love Israel, the mother land of their religion. Their love for Israel is rooted in what they believe to be the truth. They believe that too many good men and women are too scared to stand for what they believe. They are not. They do what they do for the interest of Justice and the truth.

MP Meshoe has taken a short break from politics to establish his new organization DEISI International, its name stands for Defend, Embrace, Invest, Support Israel and it is designed to seek and use Israeli innovations.

DEISI International business card

The organization's dictum is 'Health Before Politics' and its actions are to strengthen Israel, the exact opposite of what the BDS movement is set to do, to undermine and weaken Israel.

Rev. MP Meshoe is willing to put his head on the block for the truth. Recently the South Africa government decided on passing a law to label products from Judea and Samaria as been made in 'Occupied Territories.'

(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167041#.Uge9uHLn-M8)

That did not sit well with MP Meshoe's party. They found the possible law to be flawed. The law was alleging that the labels will state the goods come from "alleged occupied territory" of Judea and Samaria; however, one cannot have a law that is based on the word "alleged." Also, according to the South Africa Consumer Protection Act, the government made a mistake in the section on which the law is based, which applies to goods coming from a country and 'Palestine" is not a country. MP Meshoe organized a protest, based on the facts, to which 2000 people, Christians and Jews showed up wearing a t-shirt on its front was printed: "Stop Attempting to Crush Israel" and on its back "Africans for Israel". So far the law has not been passed, all because people are dedicated to the act of their conviction.

To Rev. Meshoe and his family giving up is not an option.

The African National Congress (ANC), the Republic of South Africa governing political party is regularly trying to blame Israel for the what is happening in the Middle East. To rebuttal this, as of recent, MP Meshoe's and his African Christian Democratic party have made an amendment to the party's constitution, now allowing Jews to join the party. Now Jews and Christians can fight the wrong perpetrated against Israel together.

"Wherever I see things are going against Israel I stand up," says Rev. MP Meshoe. He wants to see African countries, influenced by anti-Israel Islamic ideology, turn around and cooperate with Israel. He believes that South African is powerful enough to take the lead this effort.

Many technologies that the African continent needs come from Israel. The most urging ones are water purification and pharmaceutical and health related, even such as modern circumcision device and contact lenses.

This is where DEISI International, its logo is a flower in the shape of the Magen-David, Jewish star and the Israeli national blue and white is its colors, comes in. It is set to convince African countries' leadership that health comes before politics. Expose South Africans and throughout the African continent to Israeli technologies so badly needed in their countries.

Other mission of the new organization is send graduates to Israel to see firsthand that Israel is not an Apartheid states. Once they are convinced, these young leaders will return back home and will face the government and the people with facts and demand to end the misleading and lying. They will tell their government they are wrong and become spokesperson for the truth. "When the sting – the Apartheid - is taken out of the BDS movement their days are numbered," he says.

MP Meshoe's blames the politicians for the problem. "But you must fight them with a smile as it is difficult to fight anyone who has a smile on his or her face," he says.

Being a devout Christian, MP Meshoe believes that Christianity's roots are in Judaism and Israel. If you cut the roots the tree dies. He does not want to die so he fights, really fights against the many odds. Also he goes by the Biblical phrase: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. ~ Genesis 12:3

When one of the participants asked Rev. Meshoe how come even Nelson Mandela and Rev. Desmond Tutu speak at times bad about Israel, he replied, "People who are not principled can be bought. So when Tutu and Mandela have said bad things about Israel they were bought by the Arabs. Jews suppose to be light unto the nations, I am light unto the Jews."

When I raised the question, how he will deal with Abbas declaration that he is seeking to establish the state of Palestine to be Judenrein, free and cleansed of Jews - and also Christians - Abbas wants 'not a single Israeli' in future Palestinian state - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/30/us-palestinians-israel-abbas-idUSBRE96T00920130730, Rev. Meshoe's reply was, "The United Nations Organization (UN) is not committed to justice. You cannot have a state where certain people are not wanted. A Palestinian state will not be able to exist without Israel. Wanting an Apartheid state is illegal and unrealistic, wrong and will fail."

From L-Lydia, Rev. Kenneth and Esther Meshoe and the writer

Esther Meshoe frequently uses the motto, "It is better to die defending truth than to live as a prisoner to lies."

And that is what the Meshoes' live by and fight for, dismissing the lies and replacing them with the truth. And who will not join them in their righteous fight?

The world is made of many good people who need to end their silence and the Meshoes' are leading the list of those who are not silent.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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