Israel As Racist Society

When the retired Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, described Israel as an apartheid society, it was in reference to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Such accusations have been brushed off on grounds of Israel's security. If Israel is mistreating Palestinians in order to  ensure its own security, on which grounds is Israel mistreating Ethiopian (Black) Jews? Many Ethiopian Jews and their supporters in Israeli society thronged onto the streets of Tel Aviv last weekend to protest the treatment of Ethiopian Jews as second class citizens in the land of their ancestors. This show of force was brought about by the ignominious assault of an Ethiopian Jewish soldier by a White policeman. One would think that the police and the military would be on the same side in a particular society because their goal is to protect the citizens of their society. That is not the case, however, when the behemoth of racism is the dominant modus vivendi of a people.

That Israel has become a racist society is one of the profound travesties of modern societies given that Israel has never been a racial idea. Israel's history is one of mixture of peoples from Mesopotamia to Africa. That it has become a racist society today is not only confounding but also shameful. Jews everywhere ought to protest this travesty.