(Canada Free Press) Beryl Wajsman - At Israel Apartheid Week we saw the usual collection of Islamist apologists and their fellow-travelers who sought to portray Israel as an apartheid-era South Africa in relation to its Arab citizens. These propaganda campaigns are the psychological and intellectual germ warfare of the naked aggression of hate. And they debase our public discourse. The propagandists are engaged in an effort to destroy the legitimacy of one specific nation, a sister democracy, that is the free world's frontline guardian against the spread of theocratic tyranny. There are a dozen Arab Muslim members of the Knesset representing several Arab political parties. In fact Israeli Arabs, overwhelmingly Muslim, turn out to vote in greater percentages than North Americans do. Arabs serve in the diplomatic corps with no glass ceiling. Israel's Ambassador to Finland is Arab. In May 2004 Salim Jubran was appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel. Arabic is an official language in Israel, even posted on all road signs, which is more than we can say for English in Quebec. In 1948 there was only one Arab high school in Israel. Today there are hundreds. Israel is exercising the same rights in international law as France and the U.S. did after the Second World War of holding onto territory acquired in its own defense after surviving an aggressive attack until peace is achieved. And under Israeli occupation, Palestinians have the highest percentage of university students; the lowest infant mortality and the longest life expectancy of any front-line Arab state. The writer is president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal.
2010-03-05 08:12:30Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive