With the establishment of Israel in 1948, a dual system was implemented that, among other things, permitted the expropriation of Palestinian land for alleged security reasons. The land was not returned to the Palestinians.
A dual educational system was established, with Palestinian citizens of Israel receiving inferior and poorly funded education.
Israel has held onto land that it captured in the June 1967 war in violation of international law, resolutions and precedent. Â It then began a process of settling the land, again, in violation of international law.
The Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have absolutely no security, with their homes subject to being destroyed or seized, and their land divided. Â The creation of the so-called Security Wall does not conform to the 1949 Armistice line but goes through Palestinian territory, frequently cutting off Palestinians from their own land.
Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot settle in Israel with a Palestinian spouse who comes from the Occupied Territories.
Israel refuses to accept the right of return for Palestinians who were driven from their land—or vacated their lands ‘temporarily’ (they hoped)—in the 1948-49 war or the 1967 war.  Again, this violates international law.
So, the question is really who or what does this sound like? Â Does this sound like the workings of a democracy? Or, in the alternative does it sound more like the experience of Native Americans in the U.S; African Americans in the Jim Crow South; and Africans in apartheid South Africa?
The Palestinians have the right to compare their struggle with ours based on the profound similarities in experience. This is not a matter of rhetoric or sleight of hand; it is about history and current reality.
(Bill Fletcher Jr. is a racial justice, labor and global justice writer and activist.  He is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies. He can be found on Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.)
About Post Author
