Israel’s education minister is banning groups that call the country an “apartheid state” from making school visits to present information to students, CBS News has reported.
Yoav Galant tweeted yesterday that he had instructed the ministry’s director-general to “prevent the entry of organizations calling Israel ‘an apartheid state’ or demeaning Israeli soldiers from lecturing at schools.”
B’Tselem head defies ban, addresses students https://t.co/4rPAVB1So7
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 19, 2021
The move follows the publication of a report last week by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The organization branded Israel an “apartheid” state that “promotes and perpetuates Jewish supremacy between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.”
Echoing the UN’s 2017 report which concluded that Israel was practicing apartheid, B’Tselem dismissed the popular misconception that it is a democracy within the Green (1949 Armistice) Line.
Rights group B’Tselem undaunted by Israeli ‘ban on speaking in schools’ https://t.co/lbfR98Yf3l
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 18, 2021
It argued that after more than half a century of occupation, the state should be treated as a single entity guided by the core racist organizing principle of “advancing and perpetuating the supremacy of one group – Jews – over another – Palestinians.”
B’Tselem said that it will not be deterred by the minister’s announcement. Director-General Hagai El-Ad spoke at a school in Haifa earlier today.
Israeli Education Minister @yoavgallant cites "democratic values" in decision to ban country's students from meeting with anyone who refers to Israel as Apartheid state. https://t.co/0jbiAjYoRy
— Partners for Progressive Israel (@Partners4Israel) January 18, 2021
“For many years we’ve exposed our students to a broad variety of opinions from across Israel’s political spectrum,” said the Hebrew Reali School. “We respect the students’ right to express their opinion and are proud of their involvement in issues at the heart of Israeli society. We hold respectful dialogues and intend to continue this tradition.”
Established in 1989 during the first intifada, B’Tselem documents human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.” B’Tselem is determined to keep with its mission of documenting reality, analyzing it, and making our findings known to the Israeli public and worldwide,” it insisted.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
