IS THERE APARTHEID IN ISRAEL : And the world looks on.

What Israel is doing to Palestinians in the occupied territories is un-conscionable and defies international law and all UN calls to stop annexing Palestinian land.

There can be no debate over Israel’s right to exist in peace as a sovereign State. But not at the expense of Palestinians. As Jewish illegal settlements expand, the Palestinians are being driven away. Nobody dares challenge Israel, for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. Such blazen blackmail.

When former President Jimmy Carter likened Israel’s policies towards Palestinians to apartheid in South Africa, he was attacked and vilified. But he hit the nail on the head. The truth hurts.

In the meantime, mobile homes for young Jewish settlers are sprouting all over Palestinian land. Israeli soldiers daily herd the West Bank’s Palestinians out of the rural 60% of the territory officially known as Area C.

On some days the Israeli army declares a patch of land to be a live-fire military zone. On other days they say Palestinians must move because of an impending archaeological dig. On yet other days, Palestinians are evicted so that hilltop stations can provide antennae for Israeli mobile phones — but NOT for palestinians. The Israeli government’s endorsement of these acts of lawlessness is, to say the least shameful and must be condemned. The re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu is simply bad news for Palestinians and peace in the Middle East.

In the last 45 years of Israel’s occupation, the army has distributed around 70% of the West Bank land designated as state-owned either to Jewish settlers or to the World Zionist Organization, and only 1% of supposedly state-owned land to palestinians. Where is justice in this? Banditry must be pointed out, and condemned in the strongest possible terms.

Israel’s policies towards Palestinians are the reason there can not be peace in this region, and their continued dehumanization of a People a sure recipe for more wars. The continued reversal of Palestinian development, (most of them funded by the UN and the EU) denial of housing and water, remind me of the ugly face and inherent evil of apartheid. Yes, I said it.