Khaled Abu Toameh on Israel Apartheid Week.

Khaled Abu Toameh gave a very interesting talk tonight about what it means to be pro Palestinian, IAW, and Israeli-Palestinian relations in general. I'll just introduce his background, and then summarize some of his main points.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an Israeli Arab, who works for the Jerusalem Post and many other media organizations. He used to be a journalist for the PLO, but felt it would better to work in the international media, where one could actually write freely.

Some of his points:

1) Saying one is pro Palestinian by participating in IAW is a useless label. He said IAW is just fanning hatred on both sides, and does little to actually help Palestinians. The Palestinians are in their terrible situation because of Palestinian corruption, more than Israeli 'Apartheid'. He said one should advocate for reform and democracy in Palestine, rather than delegitimizing Israel. As an aside, I have always thought events like IAW is just an attempt by people to say I'm helping Palestine without actually helping them. Slandering Israel may make one feel good, but doesn't help anyone.
2) Freely admits Israel has done terrible things, this does not make it an Apartheid. One has to realize that both sides are in a war. There is a cycle of violence. He asked the group how would you react to 8000 rockets?
3) Says the peace process can only move forward once a stable and transparent partner is found. How can Israel make peace if there is both Fatah and Hamas? Although he said Fatah would collapse without Israeli support.
4) Said the Goldstone Report does nothing to help the situation. He can understand why Israel acted in the way it did.
5) Said Gaza also borders Egypt. Why do they never help the people of Gaza. He says why should Israel have to support the Palestinians. Where are the other Arab countries?
6) Says when terror stops, Israel will loosen its restrictions.
7) Said both sides are there, and must be respectful of each other.
8) Believes Israel truly does want peace, but is just looking for a partner.
9) Jamal Zahalka, a member of Knesset, is speaking at IAW, saying Israel is an Apartheid state. Says Zahalka should be focusing on helping Israeli Arabs, i.e his job. All his words are doing is making the Israeli Arabs look like a fifth column. He is actually hurting them.

In summation, he was very critical of corrupt Palestinian politicians, and says the Palestinians must take responsibility of their own future. They should earn a state, not have one handed over to them. Unilateral moves by Israel will not work. Says calling Israel an Aparthid state inflames passions. Inflamed passions leads people to become suicide bombers.

This was a very interesting speech, and I actually do think it may have changed some people's perspectives.