The report issued by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) that labelled Israel an apartheid state was the topic that captured headlines in the region.
For Israel to claim that the report is ‘a Nazi propaganda publication that was strongly anti-Semitic’, does not necessarily change the reality, said the UAE’s Al Khaleej.
“There is no denying the racist practices of Israel, and its indifference to them does not mean it is innocent of these acts. The report is merely a part of series of similar condemnations and resolutions issued by international authorities and organisations. However, the problem is not in the resolutions pertaining to Israel’s crimes, but rather in their actual implementation on the ground and ensuring that Israel respects them and abides by them. Yet Israel is protected by the US and the West and is capable of avoiding the consequences of any international resolution, no matter how many countries back the resolution.”
Despite the repeated attempts to beautify Israel, whether it is by applying pressure on international organisation or its employees, the racist face of Israel remains due to clear tangible realities, said Oman’s Al Watan.
“The most recent attempts is the situation regarding the resignation of ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf following a report that concluded with overwhelming evidence that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid. A report is not necessarily to prove the racism of Israel; it is a tangible reality that is experienced on a daily basis by the Palestinian people through arrests, raids, public execution crimes and the confiscation of Palestinian lands for colonists, in addition to the land and sea blockade of Gaza.”
The declaration that Israel’s policies and practices against Palestinians amount to de facto apartheid is an unavoidable conclusion and common knowledge, expressed at different times, by different organisations, in different forms and terms, said the Jordan Times.
“The Israeli policies and practices have been widely criticised and condemned as grave violations of human rights, but Israel had not been stigmatised officially by the term ‘apartheid’ yet, which must have added a sting to ESCWA’s report. It is a shame that the capable leader of a respected organisation should be let go to accommodate the whims of a racist state and its obliging ‘ally’.”
The ESCWA report was important because for the first time, the UN called a spade a spade, said Lebanon’s Daily Star.
“The UN, however, and its decidedly pro-Israel members on the Security Council, have recently found criticism of the Jewish state by the world body’s agencies increasing–and increasingly embarrassing. This time Israel has gone one better and forced the head of the UN to bend to its will, which Khalaf said she expected all along. But unlike UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Khalaf proved she has a spine, standing by the ‘first of its kind’ report and reiterating that ESCWA sheds light on ‘the crimes that Israel continues to commit against the Palestinian people, which amount to war crimes against humanity’. If only the rest of the UN and its new secretary-general could say the same.”The conclusions of the report that concluded that Israel is a racist state also serves as a compass on terms for achieving real peace, breaking down mechanisms of racism and establishing a unified democratic state for the Palestinian people, said the London-based Pan-Arab paper Al Quds Al Arabi.
“The fact that it was issued by the UN is sufficient enough, making the report a very risky and internationally legitimate document. And if, as Khalaf said, Guterres did succumb to US pressure to pull the report, then this is a clear indication of his weakness that is not in accordance with his high position.”
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