Talking Points on Anti-Apartheid framework
- Land Confiscation
- The
South African apartheid regime broke the country into 10 noncontiguous
Bantustans made of 13% of the total land, these were to be “homelands”
for the black population. Israel’s “separation wall/fence” and
settlements have broken the Palestinian territories into 12
noncontiguous cantons representing only 12% of the West Bank, Gaza
Strip and East Jerusalem.
- Freedom of Movement
- Palestinians
rely on Israeli-issued “permits” to travel through a system of more
than 600 checkpoints in the occupied territories (not within Israel
proper). In apartheid South Africa Blacks could be arrested to being
outside of Bantustans and townships without government issued “passes.”
- Israeli refusal to issue permits regularly prevents Palestinians from getting to schools, jobs, and even hospitals.
- Civil Rights
- Black
people in South Africa could not be citizens, and Colored people were
only granted limited citizenship rights. Palestinians in the occupied
territories are not citizens of any state, and Palestinian citizens of
Israel have different citizenship documents and rights than Israeli
Jews.
- Separate Is Never Equal
- Under
apartheid Black South Africans had separate educational and legal
systems and there were very few if any public services. Under Israel’s
hafradah policies Palestinian neighborhoods inside of Israel proper
have less access to government services.
- East
Jerusalem and the West Bank are splintered by a series of roads leading
to illegal Israeli settlements; these roads can only be used by
Israelis, while Palestinians must use older, often unpaved roads.