{"id":2873,"date":"2023-12-10T13:54:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T21:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/?p=2873"},"modified":"2023-12-10T14:00:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T22:00:07","slug":"stop-israeli-apartheid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/stop-israeli-apartheid\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Israeli Apartheid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stop Israeli Apartheid<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

by Peter Bohmer,\u00a0\u00a0 December 9, 2023<\/p>\n

I want to thank the organizers of this important event. We are living in a time of many crises. Let\u2019s draw strength from gathering together in community and solidarity.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I will talk about anti-apartheid activism<\/strong> for Palestine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Apartheid was the name given to the institutionalized segregation in South Africa–from the land where one could live, to voting and employment. Every aspect of life was dictated by apartheid. \u00a0It was legal and institutionalized from 1948 until 1994 when Nelson Mandela became President.<\/p>\n

Zionism means a Jewish State where the laws, educational system and major institutions favor Jewish people, and Palestinians are second class or non-citizens. It means Palestinian families expelled in 1948 and their offspring cannot return to Israel, inside the Green Line, even though they lived there for generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is apartheid. So is the illegal and immoral occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem where Palestinians have been displaced, imprisoned, and killed by the Israeli military and settlers.\u00a0 Gaza is an open-air prison that has become a concentration camp.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let Israel define antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Many Jews are anti-Zionist, e.g., JVP, and some Zionists, e.g., many Christian evangelicals, are Zionist and<\/u> anti-Jewish.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m anti-Zionist which is fundamentally different from anti-Jewish. The Netanyahu-led Israeli government, most Republican and Democratic politicians, and some Jewish groups in the U.S. undermine criticisms of Israel and support for Palestinian self-determination by calling criticism of Israel, antisemitic.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not<\/strong> let them get away with it!<\/p>\n

I recently completed a civil rights tour of key sites in Mississippi and Alabama of the powerful 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s Black Freedom Movement. The connection between Israeli apartheid and Jim Crow in the South was undeniable. The bravery and resilience of Black people and civil rights activists is analogous to the courage of Palestinians resisting occupation. My \u201cEnd Israeli Apartheid\u201d button resonated with most Black people we met.<\/p>\n

In the 1970\u2019s, a powerful social movement against South African apartheid developed globally. Activists supported the many levels of struggle inside South Africa. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We boycotted South African goods, pressured universities and cities to divest from stock and bonds of complicit companies and pushed for sanctions against corporations profiting from Apartheid. This is BDS. \u00a0It isolated South Africa and contributed to the eventual end of apartheid although racial oppression continues.<\/p>\n

Nelson Mandela, the leader of the anti-apartheid movement made the connection to Palestine: \u201cWe know too well that our freedom is incomplete without<\/u> the freedom of Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a history of global movements against Israeli occupation and apartheid that continues today. It includes those of us here and courageous local activist, Rachel Corrie, who led by example. In 2003, Rachel went to Rafah as part of the ISM. She was murdered by the IDF for protecting the home of the family she was staying with.<\/p>\n

Her death is mourned all over the world, her life, celebrated. She inspired our local food co-op, who donated to tonight\u2019s auction, to be the first co-op in the US to join the BDS movement. Let\u2019s honor Rachel\u2019s legacy of Palestinian solidarity which has taken great leaps forward since October 7th<\/sup> by our actions.<\/p>\n

Across the world, including in the US, millions are mobilizing against Israelis genocidal policies and the US Military\u2019s support. On November 4, 3000 people participated in a demonstration in Olympia. Two days later, hundreds of protesters delayed for hours a ship headed to Israel with munitions.<\/p>\n

This movement is multigenerational, multiracial, and practices a diversity of tactics. More want to get involved. Every Monday night, 80 of us have been organizing Palestine solidarity actions including tonight\u2019s benefit. Talk to me later if you\u2019re interested in planning actions targeting corporations supporting Israel\u2019s war or future fundraisers.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s movement gives me hope for the future, but Palestine cannot wait. Two apartheid movements have been defeated. Let\u2019s join the fight to make it three.<\/p>\n

Since 1967, I have been in solidarity with Palestine and actively opposed U.S. military aid and ideological support for Israel. My history of lifelong activism stems in part from being Jewish.<\/p>\n

My parents grew up in Vienna, Austria. My dad was 22 when he was incarcerated and frequently beaten by Nazis for being Jewish. My parents escaped Europe and eventually were admitted to the U.S. in 1939. My grandfather and many relatives were killed in concentration camps.<\/p>\n

I grew up believing Jewish people wouldn\u2019t oppress others because of our history of oppression. I was na\u00efve. Sadly, most Jewish people in Israel and around the world support a Jewish dominated state. I don\u2019t want this done in my name. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We live in the U.S. Our government\u2019s backing made this mass-murder possible. The more we fight for the end of Israeli occupation and against U.S. support, the more we have the right to criticize Hamas\u2019 killings and taking of 240 hostages. However, history didn\u2019t begin October 7th<\/sup> but with British colonialism and the 1948 Nakba.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the US shamefully vetoed a UN resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire. To call Israel\u2019s ethnic cleansing \u2018self-defense\u2019 as the US does is grotesque. A ceasefire and end of the siege are important but insufficient.<\/p>\n

A solution, whether it\u2019s one state or a real two state, must center economic and political justice and equality for all, especially Palestinians. This includes the right of Palestinians to return to inside the 1948 Israeli imposed borders.<\/p>\n

Educate yourselves, friends, and family about Israeli settler-colonialism. It\u2019s catastrophic. \u00a0Our responsibility is to do what we can to change fundamentally, U.S. policy. We are the majority and beginning to have an impact.\u00a0 Khader Hamide, a Palestinian activist said, \u201cPalestinians are losing their land, and their lives and Israelis are losing their humanity.\u201d This is even more true today.<\/p>\n

A common slogan among Jewish people is \u201cNever Again\u201d, usually limited to only Jewish people. The holocaust against Jewish people was horrendous but so is the holocaust against people of African descent, Native and indigenous people, and now Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Let us mean \u201cNever Again\u201d for Everyone. This is the moral and strategic position.<\/p>\n

Stop the war on Gaza, end Israeli apartheid and occupation!<\/p>\n

Solidarity!<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m anti-Zionist which is fundamentally different from anti-Jewish. The Netanyahu-led Israeli government, most Republican and Democratic politicians, and some Jewish groups in the U.S. undermine criticisms of Israel and support for Palestinian self-determination by calling criticism of Israel, antisemitic.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not let them get away with it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[4,5,8,9,1,10],"tags":[17,55,57,68,85],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2873"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2877,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873\/revisions\/2877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}