I recently spent two weeks on a Zionist Organization of America Student Mission to Israel with 37 campus leaders from colleges across the United States. The mission’s purpose was to provide a Zionist foundation for these students, equip them with information that is generally lacking in conversations about the Middle East and set the record straight on Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria (“settlements”).
Here are five important facts we learned on the trip that everyone — particularly college students, leftists and U.N. officials — should know.
1. It has become common wisdom in many circles that Israel discriminates against its Arab population. This could not be further from the truth. Of course, all societies suffer from individual cases of racism and prejudice, and Israeli society is no different. However, Arabs have the same individual rights in Israel that Jews do. In fact, Israel is so accommodating of its Arab residents that it is actually Jews who are discriminated against in some circumstances — for their own safety, and to appease the local Muslims. As such, there are certain places in Israel where Jews are not allowed to go, or where their actions are restricted.
Jews are not allowed in 97 percent of Hebron. You read that correctly. Jews are restricted from entering the vast majority of Hebron. It is against the law for Jews to enter these areas, let alone to own property there. In contrast, there are no places in Israel where Muslims are prohibited from entering because of their religion. Has J Street condemned this injustice?
2. Israel has a tacit agreement with the Waqf — the Jordanian religious authority — to prevent any overt displays of prayer by Jews on the Temple Mount, which is considered by many Jews to be the holiest place on Earth. Jews are allowed to enter the Temple Mount under strict supervision and security, for protection from Muslim worshippers. Jews whose actions there could be interpreted as praying are immediately removed from the site by security forces. Could you imagine if Israel outlawed Muslims from praying at one of their holy sites in Israel? The New York Times would run endless front-page stories condemning this blatant discrimination. However, when Jews are the victims, the mainstream media doesn’t seem to care.
Under Israeli control of Jerusalem, all Islamic holy sites are completely open to Muslims. However, when Jordan illegally occupied Jerusalem for nearly 20 years before the Six-Day War, Jews were ethnically cleansed from the Old City and forbidden from visiting the Western Wall or loved ones buried on the Mount of Olives. This is just one of many reasons why dividing Jerusalem should not be considered.
3. The first law the Palestinian Authority instituted when it was created in 1994 was to prohibit Palestinian Arabs from selling land to Jews. The penalty for breaking this law is death. Could you imagine Israel instituting a law whereby Jews selling land to Arabs would be put to death? The international outcry against this would be deafening.
4. Like every other modern society in the world, when people want to build a house or structure in Israel they must first get a permit from the local government. In Jerusalem, there are currently 40,000 illegal Arab structures, which have not received local municipal approval. But don’t expect the United Nations or the Obama administration to condemn this. They get upset only when Jews build legally in Jerusalem.
5. Khaled Abu Toameh, the prominent Arab Israeli journalist known for his journalistic integrity, spoke to our students, and had perhaps the best quote of the trip: “I feel less threatened in the presence of the PLO and Hamas than on [American] college campuses where I receive threats, and need security guards.” If you’ve been to a pro-Israel event at a U.S. university this probably doesn’t surprise you, as Israel defenders are routinely shouted down and harassed on campus.
Do anti-Israel speakers on college campuses feel threatened and need security? I don’t think so. This should cause every self-righteous, left-wing, anti-Israel student some cognitive dissonance. They should ask themselves why their side is so intolerant and malicious that it causes a Muslim Arab citizen of Israel to feel less threatened in the presence of Hamas than with them.
These instances of Palestinian Arab anti-Semitism, discrimination against Jews and intolerance displayed by Israel’s critics should be widely disseminated, and emphasized by Israel’s defenders every time there is a debate about Israel in the media or on campus.
Sam Levine is the executive director of Zionist Organization of America West Coast. He lives in Lafayette.