Latour can try and backpedal all he wants. The simple facts are this: Israel Aparthied Week are a put-up job that are a slimy combination of warfare, racism and fraud. Another antisemitic concoction just like the meetings held in Tsarist Russia by the "Black Hundreds" preceding violent pogroms, or the candlelight rallies of Hitler's third Reich.

The inception appears to have it's origins with the UN antiracism debacle in Durban in 2001, when a toxic brew of far-leftists and Jihadists decided to "brand" Israel in this ugly fashion.

None of this does the Palestinian people or their emerging plans for statehood any good at all. Once again it shows that they and their supporters are more interested in killing Jews, hijacking planes and suicide bombing day care centres than sitting down at a table and working out the outlines of a state.

And those who push the apartheid lie are obviously thugs and clowns and obnoxious fanatics.

The universities need to follow the example set by the Toronto public school system and simply ban all of this violent racist and politically charged garbage from their campuses.

One more thing.

per above re: "History will absolve me."

Latour should have at least attributed this radical phrase to the politician who made it well known. Fidel Castro of Cuba.

But that would be ethical. Even scholarly.

Remember the updated and more accurate definition of racist:

Racist: 1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive term for a white person. 2: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, if promoted by white people. 3: a belief that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, if promoted by white people.

Thank you for speaking; bigots will always seek to justify their bigotry. Stay with us, and history will absolve you and leave those who choose to avoid understanding (and enough of a vocabulary to make intelligent comments on your posts) the ultimate perpetrators.

Well written! I applaud your cause. Knowing little about this group, all that I can say is that between the two sides (IAW and it's opposers), only one side has been inflamatory, rude, disgusting, berating, discrediting, slanderous, etc., etc.

I will pass this to everyone I know, and I will encourage people to join this movement everywhere I travel. This is Apartheid, and it needs to end.

Oh, one more thing:

I enjoyed Harry Abrams comment. What a disgusting attempt at propaghanda! (I prefer Propaghandi, also from Manitoba, but clearly mroe educated than Mr Abrams.

The talk of peace in the future needs to stay on track. Keep civil dialogue going! Name calling and bating and bashing lead nowhere. @pax_101

Jeez, Brian, you clear the air only to have it fouled again by some rude, willfully-blind anti-IAW bigots. Truly a Sisyphian task you've set out for yourself.

Since the Turkish occupation and ethnic cleansing of Greek Cyprus began in 1974:

• at least 55 Greek churches have been converted into mosques
• another 50 Greek churches and monasteries have been converted into stables, stores, hostels, museums, or have been demolished
• the cemeteries of at least 25 Greek villages have been desecrated and destroyed
• innumerable icons, religious artifacts and all kinds of archaeological treasures have been stolen and smuggled abroad
• illegal excavations and smuggling of antiquities is openly taking place all the time with the involvement of the occupying forces
• all Greek place names contrary to all historical and cultural reason were converted into Turkish ones.

Why doesn’t anyone howl about the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus? People have been driven out of their homes, churches have been converted into mosques, and the thriving resort of Famagusta transformed into a ghost town. Nobody cares. Instead, academia obsesses over the trumped-up plight of “Palestinians”– an invented nationality, committed to eradicating a sovereign state in the name of Islamo-supremacism.

VIDEO: Famagusta, The Hostage Ghost City of Europe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcfBJ7DimB8

The Saudi Ambassador to the UN, Fawzi Shobokshi, called Israel a “racist, terrorist state.” Yet Israel has 24% non-Jewish citizens while Saudi Arabia has no Jews and no Christians… only Moslems! So which is the racist State? Also, no Israelis flew planes into the World Trade Center Towers while 15 of the 19 Arab terrorists who DID were Saudis! Talk about Deception, Denial and Deflection of Guilt! This is Chutzpah AND typical Arab propaganda against Israel.Contrary to myth and propaganda, Israel is not an apartheid state. The largest practitioner of apartheid in the world is Islam, which practices both gender and religious apartheid. Those who accuse Israel of Apartheid are the true practitioners of Apartheid!

VIDEO: Before you boycott Israel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saeky9I5T9c

We at Texans for Israel would like to help interested students boycott Israel properly.

First, you need to get rid of your laptop. The Intel chip that allows it to run was developed in Israel. If you are really bent on taking down the awful war machine that happens to have the most museums per capita in the world, you must power down immediately. If you happen to have a PC, make sure it does not run a Windows operating system, because the three most recent were developed by Microsoft Israel.

If you are forced to use your computer, make sure you do not use AOL Instant Messenger, Gmail chat or any other instant-messaging system. The patents for these systems were developed in Israel, and we wouldn’t want to support that under any circumstances.

Next to go should be your cell phone. The first cell phones were developed in Israel, and it would be a tragedy if we made this a boycott of convenience. If we are really committed to bringing down the nation that produces more scientific papers per capita than any other country, we can’t be brought down by our imperialistic cell phones.

If you are concerned about the environment, boycotting Israel could be difficult. Many solar power plants use technology that was invented by Israelis, and many of them were even installed by these terrible people. On the upside, the increased fossil fuels you will use will support freedom fighters such as Hamas and al-Qaida who are dedicated to bringing down the evil country that has the most Ph.D.s per capita.

If you are a farmer, particularly in dry areas of Texas, do not use drip irrigation on your fields. This method of irrigation that saves thousands of gallons of water per year was developed in Israel.

If you go to a hospital, you are going to have to take many special precautions to ensure that you are not aiding Israel. If you have a gastrointestinal disease, make sure that the doctors do not use a “pill cam” to diagnose you, as these were developed in Israel. If you are going to be screened for breast cancer, make sure you request a method that uses plenty of radiation. The radiation-free scanning method was developed in Israel, and exposure to radiation is a small price to pay to take down the Jewish state.

If you are involved in any human rights issues on campus, boycotting Israel will be very difficult. Israel has the best women’s rights record in the Middle East and is the only country in the region in which gay marriages are recognized. Also, Israel is the only country in the region that offers asylum to Darfur refugees.

So there you have it. You are now armed with all the necessary information to destroy the country that has given us Bar Refaeli, Natalie Portman and voicemail. Good luck!

Great article Brian! I would like to add that Israel and Palestine are in no means equal; Israel has one of the most advanced armies in the world with airplanes, warships and nuclear weapons. Palestinians have stones. Israel claims it is surrounded by enemy states while in reality Jordan is a very friendly state and Egypt is building Israel a wall to block the Gazans from four sides, Saudi Arabia is trying to get close to Israel, it was SA that issued the Arab peace plan which Israel slammed down, the gulf states including United Arab Emirates invite Israel dignitaries all year round to attend various conferences, Morocco has strong relations with Israel, Israel is a member of the UN and is recognized by the world, while Palestine has two parts (west bank and Gaza) and neither is a state and has no foreign relations, simply because Israel don’t allow them to. Israel has set more than 600 barriers and checkpoints in the west bank, which makes life impossible even to children, not to mention daily harassments by Israel soldiers. Israel claims it has 20% non Jewish population, well they do but they are 2nd class citizens with less tax money spent on them and enjoy less civic rights compared to Jewish citizens and they have to hear everyday warnings and announcements by politicians that those non-Jewish will be ‘transferred’ and their citizenships annulled. Palestinians are a varied nation of Muslims, Christians of all denominations, Druze and others, all are equal. Israel holds more than 10,000 Palestinians captive in prison with daily torture, some 100 of them are women and some 473 are children under 18, majority aged 12 -13 years old. Since the beginning of the second Intifada in 2000, the Israeli authorities have arrested 6,700 Palestinian children. Palestinians have one male Israel soldier caught in Gaza for exchange of prisoners. Israel has murdered civilians with F-16 war plane, rockets, bombs, warships, artillery and tanks, Palestinians have primitive weapons including guns, knifes, rocks and man made rockets that have no real aim and most times miss target, but show the despair and hopelessness that regular Palestinians live with and are shouting to the world to hear their cries, yet you only hear in the news about the town of Sderot, but Gaza which is itself a refugee camp, blockaded for two years and in 2009 thousands of civilians murdered using illegal weapons, including white phosphorus, not to mention that international courts in UK, and Europe have issued warrants for Israeli ministers and generals, who have carried this war crime.

I have great sympathy for all the victims of the Holocaust, but why must Israel commit similar actions to people that their only crime is wanting to live on the land of there ancestors. Palestinians are people who merely want to live, farm their land, and children go to schools safely.

Might I remind some people here that the Palestinians were the first to set trusts and funds to help the poor refugees from Europe in the early 1900s, but these refugees had their eyes on the land and wanted to scare the Palestinians by using gangs such as Irgun committing massacres such as Deir Yassin in 1948 which Albert Einstein condemned, (google: Deir Yassin Einstein) and many other crimes, last big one being the Attack on Gaza 2009.

Israel does not want peace, why are there 300,000 settlers in the west bank, and Palestinian houses being demolished in the thousands in East Jerusalem. This is unfair, mainstream media is very biased, you need not to look far to understand why just read (google): John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt the Israel Lobby.

Great piece Brian! I really want to thank you for reinforcing the truth on the Palestinian plight. It is very sad to see how people are close minded and somewhat blind to those truthful facts mentioned in your article. It is all common sense and perhaps hard to accept for some people.

Cheers.

Omar slings alot of lies and slanders above. Tiny Israel has the most advanced regional military for a reason-- her Arab enemies have waged ceaseless jihads on her since her founding. The lie that Arabs have only "stones" is absurd on its face. Arabs rain thousands of mortars and rockets annually on Israeli cities while conducting brutal terrorist attacks on her civilians. Pretending otherwise conflates the terrorist aggressors (jihadists) and their state-sponsors (OIC) with peacekeepers (IDF) and their allies (America).

Don't be a Hamas-hugger your whole life, Omar.

Israel is surrounded by belligerant enemies who openly and repeatedly attack her and continue financing terrorist proxy wars through Hamas and Hezbollah.

VIDEO: What Really Happened in the Middle East

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/files/What-Really-Happened.swf

Don't be a lying Hezbollah tool your whole life, Omar.

There is no such creature as a “Palestinian.”

Gaza inhabitants are Egyptian-Arabs and are ethnically distinct from Jordanian-Arabs. If every Israeli disappeared tomorrow (in Omar's wet dream), do IAW Leftists imagine those rival tribes wouldn’t return to slaughtering each other?

But while Jordanian-Arabs only aspire to render Judea (the so-called “West Bank”) completely Judenfrei, only the Islamo-fascists of Apartheid Gaza have rendered Gaza 100% Judenfrei– a fact unacknowledged by Leftist-fascists committed to destroying multi-cultural, democratic Israel.

Don’t be an ethnic cleansing advocate your whole life, Omar

“Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” [Matt 23:24]

Omar's thinly veiled anti-Semitism slips when he cites the discredited Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s anti-Semitic screed. Their work has been ripped apart by both prominent scholars and literary figures showing it to be an intellectual fraud being passed off as serious scholarship. The scholarly issues surrounding the Walt and Mearsheimer piece are now part of the public discussion. What has been far and away less discussed is how it is possible for two scholars to produce with the imprimatur of two great universities—an imprimatur since withdrawn—a study that is so patently racist that David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, displays it prominently on his website. And therein lies another story, one about political science specifically and social science generally in the contemporary university.

By engaging in infamy and racism, they have accomplished what academicians salivate after, some recognition that they are not irrelevant. Indeed, they no longer are. Hate websites from Mecca to Damascus and those of various racial supremacy groups from Sweden to New Orleans will now make them relevant far beyond the mere fifteen minutes of fame they craved. Anti-Semites have now found the new Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Don't wallow in the sewer of bigotry your whole life, Omar.

The association of Israel with apartheid is a propagandistic fabrication. Anyone even remotely familiar with Israel and apartheid South Africa would immediately recognize that this is an ignorant defamatory comparison. It is made not to de-legitimize Israel's occupation of the West Bank but to de-legitimize the State of Israel itself and to pave the way for a Middle East without Israel. This is what these people are talking about. Those who allow their activities, unwittingly, or not, are partaking in this war against Israel. This is sending the Middle East peace process back by half a century.

The comparison of the apartheid South African ruling minority with the Jews of Israel does not hold any water for many reasons, but firstly because of the diametrically opposed demographic reality whereby the Jewish Israelis are the overwhelming majority in their country, which the whites never were in South Africa. The Palestinians in pre-1967 Israel constitute about 17-18 percent of the total population. Whatever one may have to say about Jewish-Arab relations in Israel, and they are not flawless nor free of tensions and problems of inequality and discrimination, as in many multi-ethnic societies, they are not founded on a legal infrastructure of racial discrimination.

Moreover, as is well known, the Arabs in Israel are equal citizens of the state by law and have equal access to the political process, the courts, the education system, universal health care and social welfare. One man one vote was an essential component of the Israeli political system from the day it was founded. None of this applied in apartheid South Africa where the black majority, which was some 85 percent of the population, was lorded over by a miniscule white minority, had no vote and could not share the same hospitals, stores, universities, buses or even park benches. The comparison is preposterous.

The occupation of the West Bank is an anomaly and like so much else a product of war and conflict between Israel and the Arabs and not an ideology of racial discrimination. The two-state solution that should replace this anomaly is precisely what these enemies of Israel oppose. It is not an agreement with Israel that they seek but a world without Israel. Their campaign, therefore, has a sinister purpose. It is the preparation of world opinion for the undoing of Israel as the State of the Jewish people. Israel was founded on the basis of a UN Resolution that called for the establishment of two states in Palestine -- one Jewish and one Arab. The Arabs elected to go to war to defeat the resolution and lost, but make no mistake, the objective of those who presently pronounce Israel's fundamental illegitimacy is still the same, only to be obtained by other means, political, diplomatic and quasi-legal.

The apartheid slur is demonizing and dehumanizing. After the spate of suicide bombings in Israel at the beginning of this decade Israel built a security barrier which its detractors like to call the "Apartheid Wall." That would suggest, as Israel's critics naturally intend to do, that the barrier was constructed for racist reasons. The barrier/fence/wall was put up after eleven hundred Israelis had been slaughtered in the restaurants and the buses by suicide bombers. Referring to the fence as if it were a racist exercise ignores Israeli losses as if Israeli lives were worthless, no more than human dust. Placing the fence in a context of racial discrimination deliberately distorts reality, removing it entirely from its conflictual context, completely devaluing the lives of Israelis, as if their humanity was imaginary.

Moreover, the fence, as Israel's detractors often complain, is an inconvenience to the many Palestinians who live on both sides of the barrier. While it saves Israeli lives, it is most regrettable that it also causes inconvenience to so many Palestinians. But if there are so many Palestinians on both sides of the barrier, it might inflict all sorts of impositions, but a racist apartheid wall it just cannot be.

This apartheid campaign against Israel is about dehumanization and elementary prejudice. Prejudice is recognized by its three constituent practices: it singles out its subject; it then applies a double standard to the subject's behavior; which is, of course, forever guilty. Israel's detractors, in many cases, and especially the proponents of the apartheid calumny are the epitome of prejudice. They single Israel out for special treatment, apply a standard to Israel that applies to no one else and pronounce it guilty as charged.

It is a sad state of affairs that reputable and otherwise enlightened liberal-minded institutions of higher learning allow these demonstrations of hateful prejudice and dissemination of falsehood to take place on their campuses. Their laxity flies in the face of the most fundamental principles of academic integrity that such institutions should uphold.

Israeli citizens are white, black and everything in between; they include Arabs and Jews; Muslims, Christians, agnostics and atheists; they are Kurdish, Ethiopian, Russian, Polish, Iraqi, Yemenite and more. And every Israeli citizen can vote, participate in political life, and share beaches, bars and park benches.

As philosophy professor Bernard Harrison notes, "Israel is in fact, for better or worse, almost a textbook example of a multicultural society."

And that truth by itself exposes claims about supposed "Israeli Apartheid" as laughable and — it's hard to think of a diplomatic way to put it — a big lie.

Well written! It true any claim of disapproval to the polices Israeli are then accused of being anti semitic or Jew haters. When in reality is its not about Jews or Muslims/Christians, its about human rights.

I am glad to see your event went successfully. Its important to educate at least one person of the reality of the Muslim/Christian Palestinians plight.

I think Brian is a closet anti-semite who hides behind the veil of a "champion for human rights" well he has no sympathy for Israel. He doesn't mention the fact that Israel has offered the Palestinians a state numerous times that included : 97% of the West Bank(with a 3% land swap in Israle proper), East Jerusalem, 100% of Gaza, and a bridge to connect Gaza and the West Bank. No all Brian Latour cares about is dehumanizing Israel and the Jewish people. Maybe he should have attended the Israel-Palestinian Comedy Tour the week before..but oh wait that's right instead of going out and having a good time at this event(which included alot of Jews and Arabs) he sat at home reading Mein Kampfh.

TO: "Brian Latour is an idiot".

You can get your point across without calling anyone names. It just makes you seem immature and incapable of arguing like a normal person. Also, it makes you seem like you really do not know what you're talking about. Also many of your facts are wrong, including the claim about East Jerusalem - as we speak Israel is planning on building 1600 housing units on Palestinian land part of East Jerusalem.

Open your eyes, and get yourself some logic. You probably have all the personal reasons in the world to defend Israel, but reacting defensively and making your brain smaller won't help you see any larger - as proven by your rude, empty comments. It is probably normal for you to react this way, as you were most likely brainwashed your whole life and probably have no other choice than to defend Israel's dirty actions, due to the fact that you identify yourself completely to this so-called "country".

But maybe you should stand up for something else than what you've been taught your entire life, perhaps rationality and human rights for all. Maybe it will make you see things in a different way and educate you into responding politely to such a great, reasonable, righteous article such as Brian Latour's. Open your eyes, just open them.

The article is perfect. The responses are an embarresment to humanity. I hate Winnipeg.
Can I move to Israel and get a house if I convert? The Messiah has been around since 1948.
Can someone ask him?

"...and a bridge to connect Gaza and the West Bank..."

How about a really really big slingshot?

re:From Good Job Brian. It is quite odd that two comments ago someone stated, "You can get your point across without calling anyone names", yet during their whole response they used biased, insulting language. E.g. "It just makes you seem immature and incapable of arguing like a normal person", or, "reacting defensively and making your brain smaller won't help you see any larger - as proven by your rude, empty comments", etc.
They proceeded to call him "brainwashed", having no choice but to agree with Israel's "dirty" actions. Well, if you accuse that person of being "brainwashed" and having no choice in what he thinks then what is the point of even responding? We are all biased to a certain extent and biased based upon what we have experienced: no one is an island unto themselves. The way that you called Israel a "country" was interesting, because it sort of makes me wonder about several things. First of all, it seems as though this person believes Israel is either imaginary or invalid as far as a state is concerned. Considering the use of insult & bias in their own response and the fact that we shouldn't have double standards, the writer of that response is, "reacting defensively and making their[sic] brain smaller won't help them[sic] see any larger - as proven by their[sic] rude, empty comments". I completely agree with them on that account.

Why does Alia howl about "the Muslim/Christian Palestinians plight"? The systematic persecution of Christian Arabs living in (so-called) "Palestinian" areas is being met with near total silence by the international community, human rights activists, the media and NGOs.

Palestinian Christian activist stabbed to death in Gaza http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/910184.html

Expert: 'Christian groups in PA to disappear' http://www.israelcatholic.com/content/view/76/92/lang,en/

Christian population dwindles in Muslim Middle East, thrives in Israel http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=1672

Palestinian Muslims desecrate Christian graves http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/05/palestinian-muslims-desecrate-christian-graves.html

The evidence clearly demonstrates that jihadists persecute "the Sunday people" just as they do "the Saturday people." Apartheid Gaza apologists of IAW need to take some ownership of the consequences of their hate-mongering agenda.

Return occupied Constantinople and the sacred Hagia Sophia (Christendom’s 2nd most holy cathedral)— then victimhood cultists can howl about the alleged “rights” of Muslim invaders to other lands (from the Phillipines to Morroco) from which apartheid Islamo-supremacists extirpated native populations through genocide.

Those interested in exploring the history of apartheid Islamo-supremacism in a more scholarly manner may read, "The Legacy of Jihad" http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj/

The Buddha called— he’d like his Bamiyan monuments back.

Return Muslim-occupied Cyprus and the Hostage Ghost City of Famagusta (home of the desecrated St. Nicholas Cathedral)-- then victimhood cultists can howl about the alleged “rights” of Muslim invaders to other lands (from the Phillipines to Morroco) from which apartheid Islamo-supremacists extirpated native populations through genocide.

VIDEO: Famagusta, The Hostage Ghost City of Europe @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcfBJ7DimB8

Those interested in exploring the history of apartheid Islamo-supremacism in a more scholarly manner may read, "The Legacy of Jihad" @ http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj/

St. Nicholas called— he’d like cathedral back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nicholas_Cathedral_Of_Cyprus

IAW in 3 words: "Blame the Jews"

Haven't we heard that one already?? Hmm when was that again.....

Brian Latour is either really crazy and niave or he is just another typical white racist that would make inviduals such as Joseph Goebbels proud with his radical and racist propaghanda he uses agaisn't Israel and the Jewish people.

At the IAW events he would make this little speech how IAW is all about being "anti-racist", but would then try and brainwash the crowd why Israel should cease to exist as a Jewish State which is itself a very racist remark.

No one can rationalise with him or his radical group, heck on his facebook page he is bashing Gary Doer and the NDP of all people. How can someone who is so radical being taken so seriously ? Well in Brian Latour really loves the tyrannical regimes of the Middle East so badly maybe he should go live in Gaza or Saudi Arabia or Iraq or any of those countries. Oh wait that's right he would be killed for his radical way of thinking because the states he and his group stand up for are agaisn't the following things : Jews, Christians, Bahais, LGBT, Athiests, Agnostics, Non-Muslims, Blacks, Kurds(even the Muslim ones), and everyone else who doesn't follow their radical way of life. Brian Latour and his group ActLeft have alot in common with Nazism.

like other derogatory terms that rely on their ability to appeal to people’s emotions, using the word “apartheid” to describe the situation in Israel is factually inaccurate.

On a literal level, the word “apartheid” suggests certain practices. While there is no doubt that prejudices exist, the claim that Israelis ascribe to or practice ethnic supremacy over Palestinians is simply incorrect. Compare what children are being taught in the schools of the West Bank and Gaza to those in Israel. The Israeli education system is politically neutral and operates in an egalitarian environment, teaching subjects such as math, history and language. In contrast, in numerous Arab curriculums and textbooks, it is commonplace to teach hatred of Israel and of Jews specifically.

The false parallel that some students have deliberately drawn between the racist and discriminatory laws in South Africa to those of modern day Israel is flawed. During the apartheid in South Africa, the white minority ruled over a large black majority with strict segregation laws while denying equal rights and opportunities. Blacks were not allowed entry to white-only trains, beaches and hospitals — no such segregation exists in Israel.

Roughly 20 percent of the population in Israel is Arab and enjoys the exact same legal rights and opportunities as Jewish neighbors, including the right to vote, to live and to work. Additionally, Arabs hold numerous positions in the Israeli Knesset legislature and other governmental bodies, including the judiciary.

The inaccuracy of the comparison additionally demeans the plight of the millions of oppressed black South Africans who endured the brutal and unequal system of real apartheid. Certainly, it is true that Palestinian Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza are not Israeli citizens — nor do they wish to be. Instead, Gazan Palestinians live under the brutal terrorist regime of Hamas, which systematically liquidates political opponents, suppresses free speech and oppresses its women. No Jewish-Palestinian segregation exists in Gaza; no Jews live there following the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces. Meanwhile, a historically corrupt and oppressive Palestinian Liberation Organization rules in the West Bank, but is now struggling toward building elements of a democratic society.

Many cite Israel’s security fence as proof of an “apartheid” system. But the Israeli government built the security barrier in 2006 as a measure to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Israel, not as an attempt to disadvantage Palestinians. The statistics speak for themselves: Between 2001 and 2003, before the security barrier was built, terrorists infiltrating from the West Bank and Gaza murdered 399 Israeli citizens. During the next two years, when the wall was partially built, the number of murdered citizens was significantly reduced to 78. In 2008, only one such death was recorded.

This attack on Israel is also curious considering the rampant political, religious and gender-based oppression that exists in the Palestinian territories. Here, women are not allowed to vote — in fact, Israel is one of two countries in the Middle East in which women can vote at all (the other being Iraq). Palestinian officials make no effort to protect women from domestic violence, homosexuals are often tortured, beaten and killed and the Christian minority in the West Bank has been persecuted for decades.

Moreover, it is interesting that these students choose to target Israel when Palestinians suffer far greater legal discrimination at the hands of Muslim “Brothers” in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Many are denied political and employment rights. Additionally, the number of Muslims suffering for deviating from the “true path” in Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and India is many multiple times greater. Have students decried these atrocities as well, or is the actual focus of the protests on Emory’s campus to defame Israel?

Distorting facts and propagating hatred against Israel will not save lives, promote democracy or bring peace to the Middle East. These misguided tactics, particularly the use of inflammatory misnomers such as “apartheid,” work against the millions of Israelis and Palestinians who together want and deserve peace. Passionate students on campus — as well as interested members of the media and blogosphere — should strive to engage one another in a productive and respectful discourse. Promoting the sharpening of emotional divides, on the other hand, only prevents the dialogue from moving forward.

There is blatant apartheid in the Middle East.

Claims of “Israeli Apartheid” ignore that while Israel has 20% Arab Muslim citizens with equal rights and opportunities, Arabs demand ethnic cleansing of all Jews from Judea, which they eventually hope to govern. And they condemn to death anyone selling or renting to Jews.

How can charges of ethnic cleansing and apartheid by Israel be reconciled with a growing population of Arab-Israelis? Conversely, the numbers of minorities has steadily fallen in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority.

Israel has Arab citizens in the government, judges, army, police, business, arts, academia, and all sectors of society. Education and medical care are available to everyone and freedom of religion is a government policy. Arabic is an official language along with Hebrew and the number of all religious minorities is increasing.

I agree that Apartheid exists. Islamo-supremacist Apartheid has been suppressing the religion and culture of Jews, Berbers, Christians, Kurds, and others across the Middle East and North Africa since the onset of Arab invasions and colonization.

Read, "The Legacy of Jihad" @ http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj/

Today, Jordanian-Arabs of The Palestinian Authority demand that no Jewish communities be allowed wherever they hope to govern (aka, removal of "settlements"); and Egyptian-Arabs in Hamastan have ethnically cleansed Gaza of every ethnic Jew. It would appear that people demanding the ethnic cleansing of Jews from these disputed territories envision one country (Israel) where Jews, Muslims and others may live as equals and another (Palestine) where Jews are verboten. If that isn’t Islamo-supremacist Apartheid, I don’t know what is.

Victims of Arab propaganda have proven Joseph Goebbels right- if lies are repeated often enough, then people will come to believe them.

Here are some religious demographics for IAW to consider and some questions for IAW to think about as they study these figures:

1) What happened to all the Buddhists who once dominated Afghanistan's demographics? 2) What happened to the Christians who once dominated Turkey's demographics? 3) What happened to the Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews who once thrived in the Arabian Peninsula? 4) What happened to the Animists and the Berbers who once thrived in Somalia and Algeria?

Saudi Arabia: 100% Muslim/Not one non-Muslim citizen. Iran: 98% Muslim. Turkey: 98% Muslim. Afghanistan: 100% Muslim. Pakistan: 95% Muslim. Somalia: 100% Muslim. Sudan: Estimated 70% Muslim. I wonder how long the genocide will continue before it is 100% Muslim? Libya: 97% Muslim. Yemen: 100% Muslim. Mauritania: 100% Muslim Algeria: 100% Muslim. Israel: 75% Jewish. 16% Muslim with the Muslim population the fastest growing.

Good Job Brian!!

I am so proud of what IAW became, and how much of a success it was on this campus, not to mention many other campuses in Canada and around the World. It is funny to me to see all the previous comments. Some people are so afraid of the truth that they start to get personal with you, talking about your political views, your facebook page, things that have nothing to do with this topic at all!

People can go on and on about the fact that Israel respects gay rights, and different religions, and women, but Israel does not respect basic human rights. Israel might be a leader in the world for technology, medicine, woman and Gay rights, but that is on one side of the wall. Ignorant people have the tendency to forget what's going on on the other side of the wall, afterall we can't blame them if they keep listening to zionist movements, and bias media.

ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE. Some might think that it is nothing like South Africa, but there are different degrees to the meaning apartheid. Apartheid means (by the UN): "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." Therefore I reinforce Brian's point by saying that Israel is an apartheid state: -Israel does not give the right to return to Palestinian refugees, -Israel does not provide Palestinians with electricity, roads, infrastructure, not to mention they destroy homes and farms, -Israel kills innocent people on a daily basis, -Israel imprisons innocent people daily (400 children as we speak are imprisoned illegaly), -Israel denies the right to freedom, with the APARTHEID WALL, -Israel treats Palestinians as second class citizens, -Israel does not allow Palestinians to travel freely, -Israel builds settlements illegaly on Palestinian grounds (more than a 1000 units in East Jerusalem as we speak), and the list GOES ON. -Israel harasses women on a daily basis at checkpoints (talk about women rights)

Israel is occupying illegal territories that belong to the Palestinians. Al Nakhba (The catastrophy) reminds us of the way Israel took the land away from the Palestinians.

Open your eyes, and look deeper than CNN and fox news. If you disagree with me or Brian, you are clearly bias and need to do some more research into Israel's crimes against Humanity.

Hey ´Texans for..¨ I like your post.

So

Who here is genuinely interested in making PAX not war? And really, you can make me, I am a simple cardboard robot.

Promoting peace, through the internet,

Pax Robotica

Check me out on Twitter or Facebook at Pax_101.

@V: Saudi Arabia is an apartheid state: -Saudis do not give the right to return to native Jewish populations extirpated from the Arabian peninsula, -Saudis do not provide their Arab brothers occupying Judea with electricity, roads, infrastructure, not to mention they support their Arab brethren's destruction of Gaza greenhouses donated by Israelis, -Saudi terrorists kill innocents on a daily basis, -Saudis rape innocents daily (thousands of innocent children as we speak are illegally "married" to old Saudi perverts), -Saudis deny freedom through APARTHEID Islamo-supremacist sharia law, -Saudis treat dhimmis as second class citizens, -Saudis do not allow non-Muslims to travel freely, -Saudis finance Arab concentration camps illegally in Judea and Gaza (millions of their Arab brethren are trapped in abject poverty while superwealthy Saudis live in luxury), and the list GOES ON. -Saudis harass women on a daily basis throughout the Apartheid Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (talk about women rights)

Saudi is financing Fatah terrorists in Judea that belongs to Israel forever. Al Nakhba (The catastrophy) reminds us of the hypocrisy of Islamo-supremacist invaders who extirpated natives populations through genocide in lands from the Phillipines to Morroco.

Don't be a Hamas-hugger your whole life.

It's just shocking to me that people even argue this.

YOU cannot go into another land and just TAKE OVER!

ITS ILLEGAL !

and when we want to make people aware of the injustice; we're called racist.

yea, makes sense.

im happy that apartheid week went on, and we should keep going on to show our support to those who are oppressed in Palestine.

To Anonymous that Replied to my first comment:

WHO MENTIONED SAUDI ARABIA, THIS IS NOT ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA, DONT TRY TO DISTRACT EVERYONE WITH YOUR NON SENSE. THIS IS ABOUT ISRAEL SO TALK ABOUT ISRAEL. NOT SAUDI ARABIA.

And to Mumtaz Mirza,

I totally agree with you!! Theres nothing to argue about, but those ignorant people will always find little things to talk about, and avoid the truth.

FREE PALESTINE

@Mirza: I agree... "YOU cannot go into another land and just TAKE OVER!"

Now gather your Muslim brethren and get the hell out of occupied Constantinople, Cyprus, Kashmir, etc. (ad nauseum)-- then victimhood cultists can howl about the alleged “rights” of Muslim invaders to other lands (from the Phillipines to Morroco) from which apartheid Islamo-supremacists extirpated native populations through genocide.

VIDEO: Famagusta, The Hostage Ghost City of Europe @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcfBJ7DimB8

Those interested in exploring the history of apartheid Islamo-supremacism in a more scholarly manner may read, "The Legacy of Jihad" @ http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj/

St. Nicholas called— he’d like cathedral back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nicholas_Cathedral_Of_Cyprus

@V: WHO MENTIONED ISRAEL, THIS IS NOT ABOUT ISRAEL, DONT TRY TO DISTRACT EVERYONE WITH YOUR NON SENSE. THIS IS ABOUT ISLAMO-SUPREMACIST APARTHEID SO TALK ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA. NOT ISRAEL.

/quod idiota demonstrandum

To Good St. Nick:

What does the article talk about? Saudi arabia or Israel? ISRAEL so any comments that dont relate to Israel can be written in your little personal journal if you wish.

/Quod Idiota Demonstrandum

Wow look I sounds smart now because I speak latin!

@V: The article talks about Apartheid. Any comments about Israel don't relate to Apartheid and will be ignored as anti-Semitic hate-mongering.

/dance, monkey, dance

Those interested in exploring the history of Apartheid Islamo-supremacism in a more scholarly manner may read, "The Legacy of Jihad" @ http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj/

@ Good....

These comments directly relate to Israel and its Apartheid Regime.

Theres no need to argue about this, the evidence is there.

@V: These comments demonstrate that there is no way to relate Israel to Apartheid.

Don't defend Apartheid Islamo-supremacism your whole life.

/checkmate