ALBAWABA - Israel is not an apartheid state despite what Amnesty International states. No, despite its discriminatory practices which the human rights organization detailed in its recent lengthy report it is not an apartheid state.
Terribly awkward news for @amnesty:
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) February 10, 2022
Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List and a part of Israel's governing coalition, said he would not use the word apartheid to describe relations between Jews and Arabs within the country.https://t.co/Z8zBieurPc pic.twitter.com/nFnOS8Py2J
How come? Well, Islamist Knesset member Mansour Abbas has shocked many when he came out and plainly said Israel is NOT an apartheid state. But he may well say that not because of his credentials as head of an Israeli Islamic Party - United Arab List - and one would have thought he would castigate the Jewish state.
النائب بالكنيست الاسرائيلي #منصور_عباس وصف سابقًا الأسرى الفلسطينيين في سجون إسرائيل بـ "المخربين" ..
— هـيـفـاء الـروقـي (@haifaotaa) February 12, 2022
اليوم هو عضو الائتلاف الحاكم الإسرائيلي ويرفض وصف #إسرائيل بدولة الفصل العنصري ..
السؤال :
- شفتوا مظاهرة من شباب غزة ضده ؟ pic.twitter.com/1koSp3Z9ep
But it is because he is a member of the current Israeli government of the extremist Naftali Bennet as prime minister, and he decided to support the cabinet ever since it was formed in the middle of last year against long-time coalition ruler Benjamin Netanyahu.
His comments quickly got the online comments buzzing with everyone on the social media platforms, in both Arabic and English, trying his hand either to denounce and/or appreciate what he was saying. Of course these are Israelis as expected. But isn't Israel an apartheid state? It must be the case since Amnesty said so with providing examples.
There is no apartheid in Israel, Arabs and other minority groups have equal rights
— キリちゃん? ? ? ⚰ ? (@netoneko) February 15, 2022
An Arab Muslim party is part of the government coalition https://t.co/fSCTEIP6Sq
But Abbas says no! “I would not call it apartheid,” he said during a virtual talk he gave at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy according to the Jerusalem Post. He said he was "not a fan" of labels and said would need to look at the situation objectively and need to tackle each case separately and there was a need to solve discrimination.
A whole lot of people have been triumphantly quoting Mansour Abbas saying Israeli is not an apartheid state, but leaving out the part where he says, “well, of course it is according to international law, but that’s not useful to talk about...” pic.twitter.com/hOATrhrZN3
— Raphael Magarik (@RaffiMagarik) February 15, 2022
Many of the reports suggest he was talking about Israel proper and the relations between Jews and Arabs there and he was not talking about the West Bank. "When it comes to the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Abbas said that he tends to rely on the framework set by the international community and international law" as stated by Israeli English daily newspaper.
