I know Israel practices apartheid because I helped enforce it - by BY RAFAEL SILVER

 Rafael Silver left Israel because he could no longer be a part of a system that practices apartheid against the Palestinian people. "I have seen it in action with my own eyes," he writes. "I have enforced it during my military service in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and supported it as an Israeli taxpayer."

I am a Jew.  I am an Israeli citizen.  I am a veteran of a combat unit in the Israeli army. I left Israel in 2001 and immigrated to Canada where I became a Canadian citizen because I felt that I could no longer be a part of a system that practices apartheid against the Palestinian people.  I do not use the word apartheid lightly but instead reluctantly.  I choose to use this word to describe the reality the Palestinian people have been enduring for generations because I have seen it in action with my own eyes.  I have enforced it during my military service in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and supported it as an Israeli taxpayer.  

The separate roads for Jews that Palestinians in the West Bank are not allowed to use.  The granting of the full gamut of laws and protections of the Israeli state that are given to Jewish settlers in the West Bank yet denied to Palestinians who are living literally right next door. Living under military rule in the West Bank applies only to Palestinians.  This means that restrictions on travel, limited access to water, arbitrary arrest and detention of civilians, confiscation of land, demolition of homes, and the application of collective punishment are applied only to Palestinians and not to Jews. The frequent use of deadly force by Israeli security forces exclusively against Palestinian civilians is a regular occurrence. Even a basic human right recognized the world over, that of family reunification, is denied only to Palestinians. 

RAFAEL SILVER (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

Even within Israel proper, the system of apartheid is baked into the structure of the state in almost every aspect of life.  I know because I have benefited from such an apartheid system within Israel as a Jewish citizen who enjoyed rights that were not afforded to Palestinian citizens of the same country. As a Jew born outside of Israel, I was granted citizenship on the day of my arrival in the country under the Law of Return which applies exclusively to Jews.  Palestinians who were driven from their lands during the wars of 1948 and 1967 have no such right to return.  Even Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot return to their villages that were destroyed as a result of those wars but instead must find housing elsewhere.  As a Jew, even if I am not a citizen, I am entitled to purchase housing anywhere within the state; however, a Palestinian citizen of Israel is not allowed to purchase real estate if it sits on land under the control of the Jewish National Fund. As a Jewish citizen of Israel, I am protected by law against discrimination — be it in housing, employment, or educational opportunities.  Palestinian citizens of Israel have no such protections.  As a member of the Jewish people, I have the full legal weight of the state behind me to allow me to express my collective national rights and expectations. Palestinian citizens of Israel have no such national or collective recognition.  Even my ancestral language, Hebrew, is recognized as the only official language in Israel.  Arabic, the language of the Palestinian people, is not.  

A system that applies separate laws and practices to one group of people yet denies it to another based solely upon ethnicity is apartheid by definition.  It was the case in South Africa in the past and it is the case in Israel today.  The first step to righting an historic wrong is to recognize the reality in front of us.  No society, no state can make a claim of supporting democracy and universal human rights where justice is denied to some while granted to others.  Israel is no exception to this rule.  

Independent Jewish Voices of Canada has recently initiated a public awareness campaign called Together Against Apartheid to inform and educate the Canadian public about the reality facing millions of Palestinians.  Only through increased awareness and broader knowledge about the systemic inequities and injustices facing Palestinians can Canadians begin to influence our government’s policies and actions.  I urge you to join this campaign as I have, in any capacity that you can.  Remaining silent is complicity and allows the discrimination, oppression and injustice to continue.  Raise your voice and make a difference.