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Israel and the Apartheid Slander
(New York Times) Richard J. Goldstone - It is important to separate legitimate criticism of Israel from assaults that aim to isolate, demonize and delegitimize it. One particularly pernicious and enduring canard that is surfacing again is that Israel pursues "apartheid" policies. The use of "apartheid" is meant to evoke the situation in pre-1994 South Africa. It is an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel, calculated to retard rather than advance peace negotiations. In Israel, there is no apartheid. Equal rights are the law, the aspiration and the ideal; inequities are often successfully challenged in court. Those who conflate the situations in Israel and the West Bank and liken both to the old South Africa do a disservice to all who hope for justice and peace.