The HyperTexts

The NAKBA: the Holocaust of the Palestinians
The Elders: Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinians

by Michael R. Burch, an editor and publisher of Holocaust and Nakba poetry



What do three Nobel Peace Prize laureates and Elders of the human race have to say about Israel and Palestine? Jimmy Carter is a former president of the United States who won the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office. Nelson Mandela is a former president of South Africa, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Here are their thoughts. I have italicized important points below. I have also included pertinent comments by other Elders like Gandhi, Einstein and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On the similarities of the Nakba and plight of the Palestinians to the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, and South African apartheid and bantustans:

"Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their humiliation? Have they forgotten the collective punishment, the home demolitions, in their own history [i.e., the Holocaust] so soon? Have they turned their backs on their profound and noble religious traditions?"—Desmond Tutu

"As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza . . . the so-called 'Palestinian autonomous areas' are bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli apartheid system."—Nelson Mandela, in a memo to Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times

"I equated the ejection of Palestinians from their previous homes within the State of Israel to the forcing of Lower Creek Indians from the Georgia land where our family farm was now located; they had been moved west to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears to make room for our white ancestors."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

I have Cherokee ancestors who walked the "Trail of Tears" and I feel the same way about what happened to more than 700,000 Palestinians during the Nakba ("Catastrophe") of 1948. When we see multitudes of innocent women and children being ethnically cleansed from their native land, and forced to suffer and die in dire poverty in squalid refugee camps, we should shudder that our government has funded and supported such atrocities, to the tune of hundreds of billions of American taxpayer dollars. It was wrong when it happened to Native Americans at the hands of white settlers; it was wrong when it happened to black slaves at the hands of white slaveowners; it was wrong when it happened to Jews at the hand of Nazis, and it is just as wrong when it happens to Palestinians at the hands of Israelis and Americans. But the other Holocausts are long over, while this Holocaust of the Palestinians continues and steadily worsens.—MRB

On the parallels between South African apartheid and Israel apartheid:

On a Christmas visit to Jerusalem in 1989, Desmond Tutu said that if the colors and names were changed "a description of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank could describe events in South Africa." He also said that he was "very deeply distressed" by his visit to the Holy Land, because "it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa." He made similar comments in 2002, speaking of "the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about."

"General [Yitzhak] Rabin described the close relationship that Israel had with South Africa in the diamond trade (he had returned from there a day or two early to greet us) but commented that the South African system of apartheid could not long survive."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

There is a curious blindness on the part of many Israelis, who see the errors of racism and apartheid elsewhere, but not in themselves or in Israel. Tutu, Mandela and other South Africans have often pointed out the terrible similarities between apartheidist South Africa and apartheidist Israel.— MRB

The real problem is government-sanctioned racism, which Americans are afraid to mention in public, although it is more than obviously practiced daily in Israel, just as it was in the American South only a few years ago:

" . . . if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of "I hate Arabs" and "I wish Arabs would be dead". If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 occupied territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated.—Nelson Mandela, to Thomas L. Friedman

Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian Arabs have no place in a "Jewish" state. Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged war against a civilian population, in particular children.— Nelson Mandela, to Thomas L. Friedman

But as Albert Einstein pointed out, there is no such thing as a purely Jewish race: "I have conceived of Judaism as a community of tradition. Both friend and foe, on the other hand, have often asserted that the Jews represent a race; that their characteristic behavior is the result of innate qualities transmitted by heredity from one generation to the next ... The Jews, however, are beyond doubt a mixed race, just as are all other groups of our civilization. Sincere anthropologists are agreed on this point; assertions to the contrary all belong to the field of political propaganda and must be rated accordingly."

Einstein also recognized that widespread anti-Semitism on the part of Arabs was not a historical fact, and that friction between Jews and Arabs was due in large part to legitimate fears and grievances on the part of Arabs who faced a host of problems due to the migration of large numbers of Jews to Palestine (many of them with the obvious intention of taking over). Einstein said, "There could be no greater calamity than a permanent discord between us and the Arab people. Despite the great wrong that has been done us [the Holocaust], we must strive for a just and lasting compromise with the Arab people ... Let us recall that in former times no people lived in greater friendship with us than the ancestors of these Arabs."

On what Israel must do if it truly wants peace and security:

"Israel should withdraw from all the areas which it won from the Arabs in 1967, and in particular Israel should withdraw completely from the Golan Heights, from south Lebanon and from the West Bank."—Nelson Mandela, during a 1999 tour of Israel

Israel must "strive for peace based on justice, based on withdrawal from all the occupied territories, and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on those territories side by side with Israel, both with secure borders."—Desmond Tutu

"At that time, Foreign Minister Abba Eban was the best-known Israeli, famous for the eloquence of his speeches in the United Nations, and I was excited when he invited us to meet with him. Not surprisingly, he was full of ideas about Israel's future, some of which proved to be remarkably prescient. He said that the occupied territories were a burden and not an asset . . . The detention centers and associated punitive and repressive procedures necessary to govern hundreds of thousands of Arabs against their will would torment Israel with a kind of quasi-colonial situation that was being abolished throughout the rest of the world."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

"My view is that talk of peace remains hollow if Israel continues to occupy Arab lands."—Nelson Mandela, after a lengthy meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy in 1999

Desmond Tutu said Israel would "never get true security and safety through oppressing another people."

"Today the world, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no future."—Nelson Mandela, to Thomas L. Friedman

"And now a word to the Jews in Palestine. I have no doubt that they are going about it the wrong way. The Palestine of the Biblical conception is not geographical tract. It is in their hearts. But if they must look to the Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs."—Mohandas Gandhi

Einstein said, "... it is for us to solve the problem of living side by side with our brother the Arab in an open, generous, and worthy manner." He also said, "In my opinion, we must endeavor above all that psychological understanding and an honorable will towards cooperation take the place of resentment towards the Arabs. The overcoming of this difficulty will, in my opinion, be the touchstone that our community has a right to existence in the higher sense. I must unfortunately openly acknowledge that the attitude of our [Zionist] officialdom, as well as the majority of public expressions in this connection, appear to me to leave much to be desired."

What Carter, Mandela, Tutu, Gandhi, Einstein, Eban and Rabin all seem to see, and agree on, is the fact that an apartheidist system cannot and will not work in the modern world. Since 1776, the idea of all human beings having equal rights has swept the world, and no one is willing to be another man's serf. But Israel has never taken the vital, mandatory step of abandoning racism and Jim Crow laws. One contributing factor is the incredible ignorance, gullibility and hypocrisy of the average American. Jimmy Carter has been vilified in public for simply stating the obvious: if racism and apartheid were wrong for Americans, Nazis and South Africans, then they are just as wrong for Israelis. All the rest of the world sees and agrees that racism and apartheid are wrong. Only the ignorant, gullible, hypocritical American taxpayer insists that such things are acceptable because Israel is a "special case." This "special exemption" for Israel has been a primary factor in 9-11, thousands of American deaths and hundreds of thousands of Muslim deaths (far too many those of women and children), and more than a trillion tax dollars down the tubes.—MRB

On what the United States must do, if it wants peace and security:

I believe it is time to listen to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once again, and understand that equal rights are not an "American thing," but a "world thing." It is not good enough for Americans to practice equality at home and inequality abroad. We need to understand that the "fierce urgency of Now" is for all the earth's children, not just for American children, and that we cannot afford the "tranquilizing drug of gradualism" when the lives of any children are at stake. When we practiced "more equal rights" for white Americans than for black Americans, we created racial disharmony at home. Now, as long as we practice "more equal rights" for Americans and Israelis then for Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims, we create racial and religious disharmony abroad. Today, we need to re-hear the ringing words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and think in terms of equal rights for all human beings abroad, as well as at home. He can tell us how to achieve racial and religious harmony abroad. The path abroad is exactly the same as it was at home: equal rights and justice for all human beings. But still Americans and Israelis cling to the primitive idea that they can have "more equal" rights than Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. This attitude is as much a recipe for disaster abroad as it was at home. So let us listen once again to Dr. King, and understand that he was not only talking about equal rights for American children. Imagine for a moment that he is speaking to Americans about Palestinian children: are they not also God's children? Are Palestinian men and women not included in Thomas Jefferson's "all men"?

"We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt ... We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children ... The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges ... No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream" ... And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The path to peace self-evidently requires equal rights, fair laws and fair courts for Palestinians as well as Jews:

Einstein denied any superior rights for Jews, calling for "complete equality" for Palestinian Arabs as the "most important aspect" of Jewish policy: "The most important aspect of our policy must be our ever-present, manifest desire to institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst ... The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people."Only cooperation with Arabs, led by "educated, spiritually alert" Jewish workers, he wrote, "can create a dignified and safe life." What saddens me is less the fact that the Jews are not smart enough to understand this, but rather, that they are not just smart enough to want it."

"Palestinian human rights must be protected as generally recognized under international law, including self-determination, free speech, equal treatment of all persons, freedom from prolonged military domination and imprisonment without trial, the right of families to be reunited, the sanctity of ownership of property, and the right of non-belligerent people to live in peace."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

"I have come to join you today to add our own voice to the universal call for Palestinian self-determination and statehood. We would be beneath our own reason for existence as government and as a nation, if the resolution of the problems of the Middle East did not feature prominently on our agenda."—Nelson Mandela, "The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People", Pretoria, South Africa, December 4th 1997

"When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, it was asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."—Nelson Mandela, "The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People", Pretoria, South Africa, December 4th 1997

We left [Israel] convinced that the Israelis were dominant but just, the Arabs quiescent because their rights were being protected, and the political and military situation destined to remain stable until land was swapped for peace. I was excited and optimistic about the apparent commitment of the Israelis to establish a nation that would be a homeland for the Jews, dedicated to the Judeo-Christian principles of peace and justice, and determined to live in harmony with all their neighbors. Although aware of the subservient status of the Palestinians, I was reassured by the assumption that Israel would withdraw from the occupied territories in exchange for peace. I was reminded of the words of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann: "I am certain the world will judge the Jewish state by how it treats the Arabs."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

Albert Einstein, who was offered the presidency of Israel but turned it down, also said that Israel would be judged by how the Arabs were treated. But unfortunately Carter's hopes went unrealized and the leaders of Israel have never bothered to establish equal rights, fair laws or fair courts for non-Jews. Any non-Jew (not just an Arab) is a second- or third-class citizen of Israel. Arabs and Bedouins are treated shamefully. Muslims and Christians are treated shamefully. And now, as class distinctions are being drawn between Jews of different ancestry, many Ethiopian and Yemeni Jews are being treated shamefully. Racism and bigotry will inevitably eat away at a society, like a cancer, until it is eradicated or the patient dies. There is really no way to define what the term "Jew" means, in any rational way. Most Jews and most Arabs are Semites, so a DNA test will not keep a "Jewish state" afloat. But if "Jewishness" depends on religious beliefs, some Jews are ultra-orthodox, while others are atheists. It seems to me that Israel is already showing the symptoms of a serious malady: institutionalized, government-sanctioned racism and religious intolerance. No one knows what "Jew" means, really, and the competition to define the term seems likely to result in increasing chaos. What Israel must do is become a state of its citizens, rather than defining itself as a Jewish state, because a "Jewish state," by definition, is racist, intolerant, and therefore illegal. Asking an Arab Muslim to pledge fealty to a Jewish state is like asking a black Protestant slave to pledge fealty to a White Catholic Government. Racism and intolerance led the United States into a terrible Civil War, followed by a hundred years of Jim Crow laws and public lynchings. The same types of things seem bound to happen in Israel, unless Israel changes its ways. But Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons and is surrounded by 1.5 billion Muslims, so a serious misstep could have catastrophic consequences for the world. The only time the nuclear arsenals of the US and the USSR were put on high alert was over Israel, during the 1973 war.—MRB

Why Americans are a big part of the problem:

Desmond Tutu has spoken of the political power of pro-Israel factions in the United States, saying: "People are scared in this country, to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful, very powerful. Well, so what? The apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no longer exists. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic, and Idi Amin were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust."

"The Unites States stands almost alone in its undeviating backing of Israel ... People of most other nations strongly condemn the excessive destruction and civilian casualties [caused by] Israel [just as] they deplore the deliberate provocation of Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah."—Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

Why are Americans afraid to stand and speak for their own ideals of equal rights, fair laws and fair courts for all human beings? Why should we be afraid to require Israel to do what Americans did ourselves, starting with the American Civil Rights Movement? Why should American soldiers die as proxies for Israelis in Afghanistan and Iraq, and American taxpayers pour trillions of dollars into Israel and fruitless wars, rather than Israel simply doing what every civilized nation must do?—MRB

The main impediment to peace is not the Palestinian people, but the government of Israel, which has recklessly continued to steal more and more land from Occupied Palestine, by creating and expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank, while being propped up by the spineless government of the United States and the ignorant, gullible American taxpayer:

In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea. Israel was not thinking of a "state" but of "separation". The value of separation is measured in terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national state, or to turn into a state of apartheid not only de facto, but also de jure.—Nelson Mandela, to Thomas L. Friedman

Israel has continued to steal land and water from the Palestinians, while denying them equal rights and justice, and refusing to allow Palestinian refugees to return to land they owned only 60 years ago, while allowing Jews to return from anywhere in the world after an absence of 2,000 years. In order to become a true partner for peace, Israel must comply with the main points of UN resolution 242 and those raised by Jimmy Carter in his book:

Israel's acquisition of territory by force is illegal, by international law.
Israel must withdraw from all occupied territories.
The refugee problem must be settled. Why should Jews be allowed to return, but not Palestinians?
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are "illegal and obstacles to peace."
"There has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years."

Israel has not been an honest partner for peace in the past. Israeli leaders have told the ignorant, gullible American public what the public longs to hear, while recklessly pursuing a racist, oppressive agenda. This became apparent to Jimmy Carter, who noted in his book:

"Menachem Begin replaced Yitzhak Rabin as prime minister . . . Begin had put together a majority coalition that accepted his premise that the land in Gaza and the West Bank belonged rightfully to the State of Israel and should not be exchanged for a permanent peace agreement with the Arabs . . . He [had been] the leader of a militant underground group called the Irgun, which espoused the maximum demands of Zionism. These included driving British forces out of Palestine. He fought with every weapon available against the British, who branded him as the preeminent terrorist in the region . . . I realized that Israel's new prime minister, with whom I would be dealing, would be prepared to resort to extreme measures to achieve the goals in which he believed . . . For Menachem Begin, the peace treaty with Egypt was the significant act for Israel, while solemn promises regarding the West Bank and Palestinians would be finessed or deliberately violated. With the bilateral treaty, Israel removed Egypt's considerable strength from the military equation of the Middle East and thus it permitted itself renewed freedom to pursue the goals of a fervent and dedicated minority of its citizens to confiscate, settle, and fortify the occupied territories. Israeli settlement activity still caused great concern, and in 1980, U.N. Resolution 465 (Appendix 5), calling on Israel to dismantle existing settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, was passed unanimously. We all knew that Israel must have a comprehensive and lasting peace, and this dream could have been realized if Israel had complied with the Camp David Accords and refrained from colonizing the West Bank, with Arabs accepting Israel within its legal borders.

This section of Carter's book should set off all sorts of alarm bells for Americans. And Jewish intellectuals and humanitarians themselves confirmed Carter's sentiments. Below is an open letter written to the New York Times, which was signed by prominent Jewish voices of conscience including Albert Einstein, Sidney Hook, Hannah Arendt and Seymour Milman. The letter appeared in the Times on December 4, 1948. It said:

Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our time is the emergence in the newly created state of Israel of the 'Freedom Party' (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy, and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine.

The current visit of Menachem Begin, leader of this party, to the United States is obviously calculated to give the impression of American support for his party in the coming Israeli elections, and to cement political ties with conservative Zionist elements in the United States. Several Americans of national repute have lent their names to welcome his visit. It is inconceivable that those who opposed fascism throughout the world, if currently informed as to Mr. Begin's political record and perspectives, could add their names and support to the movement he represents.

Before irreparable damage is done by way of financial contributions, public manifestations in Begin's behalf, and the creation in Palestine of the impression that a large segment of America supports Fascist elements in Israel, the American public must be informed as to the record and objectives of Mr. Begin and his movement.

The public avowals of Begin's party are no guide whatever to its actual character. Today they speak of freedom, democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly preached the doctrine of the Fascist state. It is in its actions that the terrorist party betrays its real character; from its past actions we can judge what it may be expected to do in the future.

Attack on Arab Village

A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. This village, off the main roads and surrounded by Jewish lands, had taken no part in the war, and had even fought off Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES), terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants (240 men, women, and children) and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. But the terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicized it widely, and invited all the foreign correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and the general havoc at Deir Yassin.

The Deir Yassin incident exemplified the character and actions of the Freedom Party. Within the Jewish community they have preached an admixture of ultra-nationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority . . .

During the last years of sporadic anti-British violence, the IZL and Stern groups inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community. Teachers were beaten up for speaking against them, adults were shot for not letting their children join them. By gangster methods, beatings, window-smashing, and wide-spread robberies, the terrorists intimidated the population and exacted a heavy tribute.

The people of the Freedom Party have had no part in the constructive achievements in Palestine. They have reclaimed no land, built no settlements, and only detracted from the Jewish defense activity. Their much-publicized immigration endeavors were minute, and devoted mainly to bringing in Fascist compatriots.

Discrepancies Seen

The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party, and their record of past performance in Palestine, bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike) and misrepresentation are means, and a 'Leader State' is the goal.

In the light of the foregoing consideration, it is imperative that the truth about Mr. Begin and his movement be made known in this country. It is all the more tragic that the top leadership of American Zionism has refused to campaign against Begin's efforts, or even to expose to its own constituents the dangers to Israel of support to Begin.

The undersigned therefore take the means publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and his party, and of urging all concerned not to support this latest manifestation of fascism.

Signed by Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, et al.

With the election of Menachem Begin, the preeminent terrorist in the region who espoused the maximum demands of Zionism, Israel was about to extract billions of dollars from American taxpayers while paying lip service to the Camp David Accords, so that Jewish settlers [i.e., robber barons] could colonize the West Bank by stealing land and water from Palestinians. This would lead directly to the 9-11 attacks and the subsequent wars with Afghanistan and Iraq. When Lee Hamilton, the vice chair of the 9-11 Commission, in the commission's concluding session on June 16, 2004, asked FBI special agent James Fitzgerald the motivation of the men who planned the 9-11 attack, Fitzgerald replied that they identified with the Palestinians and with people who oppose repressive regimes [with Israel obviously being at the head of the list.] However, this testimony was stricken from the published findings of the commission. Why? Probably because certain pro-Israel interests didn't want dumbass Americans putting two and two together, and discovering that 9-11 and two horrendously bloody and expensive wars could have been avoided if only Israel had bargained in good faith, kept its promises, and had treated the Palestinians as equals instead of robbing them blind, while humiliating their women and children. But page 147 of the 9/11 Commission Report says: "By his own account, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel." So there you have it. All the piece of the puzzle now fall neatly in place. Americans were duped into providing Israel with billions of dollars in financial aid and advanced weapons. Israel never wanted to trade land for peace, since the day Begin took over. Instead, Israel wanted to take as much free land and water as possible from Palestinians who were already living on the margins of existence. Muslims like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were able to do what Americans were unable to do: they put two and two together. Who was unjustly causing the suffering of millions of Palestinian women and children? Israel, with the full backing of the US government. That's the main reason for the animus so many Muslims feel against the US. And it's not Americans they hate, it's our stupid, hypocritical government, which preaches "equal rights" and "democracy" to all the world, while denying equal rights and democracy to Arabs groaning under  Israel's lash on a daily basis. Is there anything Americans can do? Yes, but it would take common sense and a small dose of courage. But how can ignorant, gullible, cowardly Americans stand up to Israel? How I wish the question was rhetorical.—MRB

When people are subjected to extreme injustice and violence, they have the right to resist forcefully:

I am not defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regarded as an unwarrantable encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.—Mohandas Gandhi

Of course everyone wants to avoid violence, and particularly violence directed at innocent women and children. But the state of Israel has practiced large-scale, systematic, government-sanctioned terrorism against the Palestinians for more than 60 years. Leaders of Israel like Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon committed acts of terrorism against the British, Palestinians and other Arabs. There is not point in blaming the Palestinians solely for acts of violence, when Israel is waging a crushing war against millions of defenseless women and children. There are around 10 million Palestinians, virtually all of them abused in one way or another by the Jewish state of Israel. Even Jewish tour guides understand Israel's real policy toward the Palestinians. One Australian peace activist's tour guide told her, "We politely make it impossible for them to live here [in the West Bank, their territory, not Israel]." But of course there is nothing polite about home demolitions, or children being cursed and spat on by racist adults, as they trudge to school. White American adults once committed such sacrileges against small black children. We had to teach the racists to behave, or go to jail. When will Israel take this simple but vitally necessary step toward civilization?—MRB

Nelson Mandela Memo on Palestine
MEMO
March 28, 2001

To: Thomas L. Friedman (columnist for the New York Times)
From: Nelson Mandela (former President of South Africa)

Dear Thomas,

I know that you and I long for peace in the Middle East, but before you continue to talk about necessary conditions from an Israeli perspective, you need to know what's on my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964. Let me quote my own words during my trial. They are true today as they were then:

"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Today the world, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no future. In South Africa it has been ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. That mass campaign of defiance and other actions could only culminate in the establishment of democracy.

Perhaps it is strange for you to observe the situation in Palestine or more specifically, the structure of political and cultural relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, as an apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly think that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was demonstrated in your recent column "Bush's First Memo" in the New York Times on March 27, 2001.

You seem to be surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established "normally" and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not struggling for a "state" but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa.

In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea.

Israel was not thinking of a "state" but of "separation". The value of separation is measured in terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national state, or to turn into a state of apartheid not only de facto, but also de jure.

Thomas, if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of "I hate Arabs" and "I wish Arabs would be dead". If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 occupied territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated.

As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The so-called "Palestinian autonomous areas" are bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli apartheid system.

The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the Jewish purity of Israel. Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian Arabs have no place in a "Jewish" state.

Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.

The responses made by South Africa to human rights abuses emanating from the removal policies and apartheid policies respectively, shed light on what Israeli society must necessarily go through before one can speak of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and an end to its apartheid policies.

Thomas, I'm not abandoning Mideast diplomacy. But I'm not going to indulge you the way your supporters do. If you want peace and democracy, I will support you. If you want formal apartheid, we will not support you. If you want to support racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, we will oppose you. When you figure out what you're about, give me a call.

Nelson Mandela

[This memo was written in 2001, shortly before the 9-11 attacks. Several of the men who engineered the attacks, including Osama bin Laden, said that they were motivated by the suffering of the Palestinians. Why have the governments of Israel and the United States colluded to cause millions of completely innocent Palestinian women and children to suffer so terribly, for more than sixty years, while hypocritically trumpeting the glories of "democracy" to the rest of the world? If the world would only listen to men like Nelson Mandela, and follow their lead, world peace might become possible in our lifetimes. But if the most powerful nation on earth is going to pay lip service to its ideals, while perpetuating the suffering of so many innocents, we will necessarily remain doomed to never-ending cycles of violence and retribution, because Muslim men will never accept that Muslim women and children can be treated like slaves or feudal serfs. If we want peace, we have to understand that we cannot mistreat other men's women and children. Every time Jews and Christians try to make Muslims the "exception" to this universal rule, which is only common sense, all hell is bound to break loose, eventually, as it did on 9-11.—MRB]

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