Amnesty International and Israel
By Hal Lindsey
The world’s strange and unreasoning hatred of Israel continues. It is especially shocking to see this hatred among those who have appointed themselves to be the world’s arbiters of social justice. This month, Amnesty International became the fourth major “human rights organization” to call Israel an “apartheid state.” That assertion is not only inaccurate; it is disgusting.
South Africans began using the word apartheid in 1948. It represented a specific system of discriminatory laws fully institutionalizing racial segregation. It lasted until the early 1990s. During those years, the word came to evoke a powerful emotion of repulsion in fair-minded people around the world.
Amnesty International and other groups do not use that word because it accurately depicts Israeli law. It does not. Instead, they use it for its emotional impact. They use it because they want people to feel repulsed at the very thought of Israel. They want to incite hate against a nation they hate.
Israel is far from perfect. Israelis are as human and prone to error as the rest of us. But they have created the fairest, most democratic nation in the region, and one of the fairest on earth. Amnesty International ignores real injustice toward Palestinians in the region. For instance, Palestinian refugees in nearby Lebanon are barred from entering thirty-nine professions including law, medicine, accounting, engineering, and even daycare.
For a long time now, Israelis have worked toward a two-state solution. The Oslo Accords are a result of that work. The accords gave the Palestinian Authority governmental control over Gaza along with much of Judea and Samaria. You want to see something that looks a lot like apartheid? Look in those places. Eugene Kontorovich wrote a Wall Street Journal commentary titled, “There’s Apartheid in the Holy Land, but Not in Israel.” He pointed out that, “Palestinian law makes selling land to Jews a crime punishable by death, often without trial.”
Palestinian elections are postponed year after year. The world gives Palestinians vast amounts of money in an attempt to help them end widespread poverty. But corrupt Palestinian leaders use that money to line their own pockets, fund terrorism, or strengthen their political positions by rewarding those loyal to themselves.
Amnesty International complains that there are checkpoints going in and out of the Palestinian controlled areas. Of course there are. Before those checkpoints were in place, large numbers of Palestinians engaged in wholesale murder and mayhem in two massive “intifadas” (uprisings) against Israel.
Worst of all, Amnesty International paints Israel as the fruit of a poisoned tree. That say it was an apartheid state from the very beginning in 1948. Their report makes clear that they believe Israel cannot be anything but an apartheid state as long as it remains a Jewish state.
Their report has received relatively little attention in the United States. But in Europe it is being used to delegitimize Israel. In America, only a small percentage of the population sees Israel as an apartheid state, but those who do have a disproportionately large influence on the young. They include political leaders like Bernie Sanders and the squad, as well as entertainers and educators.
The Bible says that during the last of the last days, the whole world will turn against Israel. But God has also said that He will bring that nation to safety, both physically and spiritually. And His ancient promise to Abraham still holds. God blesses those who bless Israel.
