There is a widespread allegation, really a slander, that Israel is an apartheid state.

That notion is simply wrong.

It is inaccurate and it is malicious.

And it will not help to promote peace and harmony in the Middle East.

Its only purpose is to demonize Israel and to isolate her in an attempt to delegitimize

Israel's existence.

And because it is so inaccurate, it betrays the memory of those who suffered through a real

apartheid.

As a Black South African, who was born under apartheid, in the administrative capital of South Africa,

Pretoria, I know what apartheid is.

I've experienced it.

My parents experienced it.

But having been to Israel on a number of occasions, I know that nothing is happening

in that country that I've either seen or read, that can be compared to apartheid in South

Africa.

Let's remember the major reason Nelson Mandela went to prison, why he was involved with

Armstrong.

He was fighting for the right to vote, for the right to choose the leaders who believed

in, for the right to move and travel freely, to live wherever one wants, to be educated,

and to be admitted to the hospital or medical facility of your choice.

All these things Mandela fought for, because Black people never enjoyed any of them in their

very own country.

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