The labeling of Israel as a “racist state” began years before the settlement enterprise in the territories made the headlines. Many remember how in 1975 the UN decided to define Zionism as racism. Then-Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog tore up the resolution on the podium, and US Ambassador to the UN Patrick Moynihan called it “a great evil.

The UN’s resolution from 1975 was indeed revoked in 1991, but the campaign demonizing Israel as an “apartheid state” gained momentum around the world, and even among intellectuals in Israel. This week, Palestinian organizations are marking the 10th anniversary of Israeli Apartheid Week on campuses in the United States and Europe. These are serious and even violent incidents of glowing hatred, calling for the elimination of the Jewish state, allegedly out of liberal motives. Against this background stood out the clear voice of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who declared at the Knesset that those calling Israel an apartheid state are infected with malice and anti-Semitism.

Harper is one of the few leaders to strongly condemn the apartheid discourse. On the other hand, in Israel of all places a number of academics and even politicians adopt the apartheid regime in South Africa as an analogy when discussing the occupation and the State’s “racist” nature.

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