Pappe - Israel and South Africa : the many faces of Apartheid

MORE PRAISE FOR ISRAEL AND SOUTH AFRICA

It is clear from this finely crafted collection of essays that Israel has much in common with white-ruled South Africa. Indeed, Israel and South Africa provides abundant evidence that Israel is worse than South Africa was, and that Israeli apartheid will be more enduring than the South African variant. This smart and informative book should be read by every person who cares about Israel and its victims.

JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, AUTHOR OF THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

One of the most important volumes on the issue of Israeli apartheid. Skilfully incorporating perspectives from various disciplines, the authors provide an excellent and extremely relevant examination of the systemic infrastructure of the Israeli states colonial and apartheid enterprise.

FARID ESACK, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG

This is an exceptionally important contribution to contemporary debates on Israeli apartheid. There is simply no other collection out there that brings such historical and comparative breadth to bear on this question a must read!

ADAM HANIEH, SOAS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

A terrible evil makes the apartheid comparison between Israel and South Africa a valid exercise, that is, the intentional prevention of shared life. On this basis, this book tasks the comparative method as a tool to challenge the dismal reality in Palestine.

MARCELO SVIRSKY, AUTHOR OF AFTER ISRAEL

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Illan Papp is professor of history at the University of Exeter, and was formerly head of the Emile Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies in Haifa. A veteran of the Yom Kippur War and two time Knesset candidate, Papp left Israel in 2007 after his endorsement of an academic boycott of Israel led to calls for him to resign from his post at the University of Haifa. He remains one of Israels most prominent and outspoken anti-Zionist academics. His previous books include The Modern Middle East (2005), Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israels War Against the Palestinians (with Noam Chomsky, 2010) and The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel (2011).

ISRAEL
AND
SOUTH AFRICA

THE MANY FACES OF APARTHEID

EDITED BY ILAN PAPP

Zed Books
LONDON

Israel and South Africa: The Many Faces of Apartheid was first published in 2015 by Zed Books Ltd, Unit 2.8 The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR, UK

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Editorial copyright Ilan Papp 2015

Copyright in this collection Zed Books 2015

The right of Ilan Papp to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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CONTENTS

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Amneh Badran is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science at of Al-Quds university. Her recent book is Zionist Israel and Apartheid South Africa: Civil Society and Peace Building in Ethnic-National States (2013).

Oren Ben-Dor is a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Southampton School of Law. His publications deal with law and art and the one-state solution. His books include Constitutional Limits and Public Sphere: A Critical Study of Benthams Constitutionalism (2001)and Thinking about Law: In Silence with Heidegger (2007).

Jonathan Cook is a British writer and a freelance journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Middle East and, more specifically, the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. His books include Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State (2006); Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008) and Disappearing Palestine: Israels Experiments in Human Despair (2008).

Leila Farsakh is an associate professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Massachusetts. She has published extensively on Palestinian labour and the peace process. Her book, Palestinian Labour Migration to Israel: Labour, Land and Occupation was published in 2005.

Steven Friedman directs the Centre for the Study of Democracy at both Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg. He is a South African academic, newspaper columnist, widely quoted public intellectual, activist, former trade unionist and journalist. He was appointed the national head of the Independent Electoral Commissions Information Analysis Department during preparations for South Africas 1994 election. His books include Building Tomorrow Today: African Workers in Trade Unions, 1970-1984 (2010); The Long Journey : South Africas Quest for a Negotiated Settlement (2010) and Race, Class and Power: Harold Wolpe and the Radical Critique of Apartheid (2014).

Ran Greenstein is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. His books include Geneaologies of Conflict: Class, Identity, and State in PalestineIsrael and South Africa (1995) and Zionism and Its Discontents: A Century of Radical Dissent in IsraelPalestine (2014).

Ronnie Kasrils is a South African politician. He was minister for intelligence services and now is a political activist. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress from 1987 to 2007 as well as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party from December 1986 to 2007. Kasrils has written several early books on Bertrand Russell and poetry as well as many articles on politics, defence and water and forestry issues. His autobiography, Armed and Dangerous, was first published in 1993 and updated and republished in 1998 and 2004. First published in 2010, The Unlikely Secret Agent gives a personal account of Ronnies late-wife Eleanors courage against the apartheid powers. It won the 2011 Alan Paton Award.

Anthony Lwstedt is an assistant professor in the Media and Communication Department in Webster University in Vienna. He is the author of Kultur oder Evolution?: Eine Anthropologische Philosophie (1995) and Apartheid Ancient, Past and Present (2014).

Virginia Tilley is an American political scientist specialising in the comparative study of ethnic and racial conflict. She is chair and professor of political science at Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale. Her books include The One-State Solution: A Breakthrough for Peace in the IsraeliPalestinian Deadlock (2010) and Seeing Indians: A Study of Race, Nation, and Power in El Salvador (2005).

INTRODUCTION

The Many Faces of Apartheid

ILAN PAPP

In recent years, a common item in the Palestine solidarity campaign in the West has been the Israel Apartheid Week, which was often organised by students on campuses in Europe and the United States. This activity was one of many reflecting a wish to compare the reality of present-day Israel with that which existed in Apartheid South Africa. Activists all over the world felt that the analogy was not only valid but also inspirational for the continued struggle for peace and liberation in Palestine.