israeli-racism-in-theory-and-practice

CONCLUSION
The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination states that “the term “racial
discrimination” shall mean any distinction, exclusion,
restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent,
or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or
effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment
or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural or any other field of public life.” 51 Accordingly,
there can be no doubt that Israel is a profoundly racist
state. Racism is a corner stone of Zionism in Israel rooted
in its religious and ideological foundations, guaranteed
by its Basic Law and systematically institutionalised
through acts of parliament and the practices and policies
of the state. It reaches beyond sectarian differences, is
pervasive and comprehensive manifesting itself in popular
attitudes, words and actions and adversely affecting the
civil liberties of all non-Jews living in Israel.
Zionism’s racist supremacist notions have provided the
intellectual and moral justifications for its occupation,
colonisation and apartheid like regime in Palestine. At the
heart of this institutionalised inequality is the desperate
desire to maintain the demographic, political and material
hegemony of Jews over non-Jews in a theocratic state
that favours them in all ways.
Israeli Racism in Theory and Practice
Middle East Monitor | A Report | October 2009
43