An internet search using the terms “Israel apartheid” will result in finding that international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have determined that Israel is an apartheid nation. So has B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, which has declared Israel an apartheid state and that it is committing genocide in Gaza.
Yes, an Israeli human rights organization has declared Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide. A boycott of Israel is consistent with the boycott of South Africa and the 1955-56 boycott in Selma, Alabama.
In the upcoming election, I will vote Yes on the advisory referendum to inform my elected representatives in the Illinois Senate and House that they passed bad legislation in 2015. It is a bad law because, to the extent of Illinois power, they have tried to ban any boycott of Israel unconditionally. Reasonable conditions for boycotting would be international human rights organizations’ determination of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. These conditions have been established.
I am unclear how voting to oppose apartheid and genocide has anything to do with Oak Park being welcoming. Many leaders of the Vote Yes campaign are Jewish. Voting Yes is not evidence of antisemitism; rather it is consistent with supporting international human rights, consistent with Oak Park values.
Finally, while it is clear that Jewish residents are split on this issue, in the interests of making all feel welcome, I suggest we ask our Palestinian-American, Middle Eastern and Arab neighbors how welcome they feel.
Sources:
Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/19/world-court-finds-israel-responsible-apartheid
B’Tselem: https://www.btselem.org/publications/202507_our_genocide
Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid
James Madigan
Oak Park
