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Apartheid in Israel?

[JTA] Reda Mansour - A few years ago I began an initiative at the Israeli Foreign Ministry aimed at opening a dialogue with Muslim communities in the West. When the first delegations of European and American Muslims started to arrive, they were amazed at the coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel. In Haifa, the Muslim delegations visited a major university with an Arab Muslim vice president and many Arab students. They went to markets and offices and observed Arabs and Jews peacefully going about their daily lives. They met some of the more than 100 Islamic family court judges and talked with the imams who provide religious services; both groups are paid by the Israeli government. In a regular Israeli parliament session, there are an average of 15 Arab members. The facts on the ground show nothing even remotely close to a racist system. Before the first Palestinian uprising in 1987 more than 120,000 Palestinians worked in Israel. In every Palestinian household there was at least one person who worked in Israel. The workers entered the country freely and their standard of living was among the highest in the Middle East. Israel, like any other country, is not perfect. But apartheid? You must be joking. Palestinians need to understand that violent action will never yield the results they want and that serving as a useful distraction for the regime in Tehran will never bring prosperity. The writer, an Israeli Druze, is consul general of Israel to the southeastern U.S.
2009-04-03 06:00:00
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