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Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/22/israel-injustices-not-apartheid-state
Israel Is Not an Apartheid State
(Guardian-UK) Benjamin Pogrund - During 26 years as a journalist in South Africa I investigated and reported the evil that was apartheid. I saw Nelson Mandela secretly when he was underground, and I was the first non-family member to visit him in prison. I have now lived in Israel for 17 years. Put simply, there is no comparison between Israel and apartheid. The Arabs of Israel are full citizens. Crucially, they have the vote and Israeli Arab MPs sit in parliament. An Arab judge sits on the country's highest court; an Arab is chief surgeon at a leading hospital; an Arab commands a brigade of the Israeli army; others head university departments. Arab and Jewish babies are born in the same delivery rooms, attended by the same doctors and nurses, and mothers recover in adjoining beds. Jews and Arabs travel on the same trains, taxis and buses. Universities, theaters, cinemas, beaches and restaurants are open to all. So anyone who equates Israel and apartheid is not telling the truth.