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| Anti Israel |
Anti Israel Apartheid - The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has apologised for warning that Israel risked becoming an apartheid state f it did not reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, following a barrage of criticism in America.
Without denying he used the word "apartheid", the statement insisted on Kerry's history of support for Israel over the past 30 years.
"First, Israel is a vibrant democracy and I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one," he said.
The Daily Beast reported on Sunday that Kerry had made the remarks referring to the risk of Israel becoming an "apartheid state" at the closed door meeting on Friday.
Kerry has invested significant time and energy in bringing the two sides to the negotiating table with the goal of reaching a deal, but has blamed both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a lack of progress.
While Israeli political leaders have not commented publicly about Kerry's remarks, the secretary of state has faced fierce criticism in the US.
Democratic senator Barbara Boxer was also critical of Kerry,, saying in a tweet: "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and any linkage between Israel and apartheid is nonsensical and ridiculous."
If there’s no two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soon, Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state,” Secretary of State John Kerry told a room of influential world leaders in a closed-door meeting Friday.
Senior American officials have rarely, if ever, used the term “apartheid” in reference to Israel, and President Obama has previously rejected the idea that the word should apply to the Jewish state. Kerry's use of the loaded term is already rankling Jewish leaders in America—and it could attract unwanted attention in Israel, as well.
Kerry also repeated his warning that a failure of Middle East peace talks could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry told the group of senior officials and experts from the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Japan. Former president Jimmy Carter came under fire in 2007 for titling his book on Middle East peace Palestine: Peace or Apartheid. “It is an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel, calculated to retard rather than advance peace negotiations.”
“There’s no doubt that Israel and the Palestinians have tough issues to work out to get to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security, but injecting a term like apartheid into the discussion doesn’t advance that goal,” Obama said.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told The Daily Beast that Kerry was simply repeating his view, shared by others, that a two-state solution is the only way for Israel to remain a Jewish state in peace with the Palestinians.
“Secretary Kerry, like Justice Minister Livni, and previous Israeli Prime Ministers Olmert and Barak, was reiterating why there's no such thing as a one-state solution if you believe, as he does, in the principle of a Jewish State. “The only way to have two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution. “While we’ve heard Secretary Kerry express his understandable fears about alternative prospects for Israel to a two-state deal and we understand the stakes involved in reaching that deal, the use of the word ‘apartheid’ is not helpful at all. Kerry has used dire warnings twice in the past to paint a picture of doom for Israel if the current peace process fails. Last November, Kerry warned of a third intifada of Palestinian violence and increased isolation of Israel if the peace process failed. In March, Democrats and Republican alike criticized Kerry for suggesting that if peace talks fail, it would bolster the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
“It’s in the Palestinian playbook to tie Israel to these extreme notions of time being on the Palestinian side, that demographics are on the Palestinian side, and that Israel has to confront notions of the Jewishness of the state,” Harris said.
Kerry on Friday repeated his warning that a dissolution of the peace process might lead to more Palestinian violence. Kerry criticized Israeli settlement construction as being unhelpful to the peace process and he also criticized Palestinian leaders for making statements that declined to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.
It’s very difficult for any leader to deal under that cloud,” Kerry said.
Kerry gave both Israeli and Palestinian leaders credit for sticking with the peace process for this long. Take it or leave it,’” Kerry said.
