Apartheid State

Well I'm done my seminar with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some may call it propaganda, but I would say that our "cousins" would do the same.... wait in fact they do it worse.... see Paliwood (it's rather disturbing). What do I have to say at the end of the day after visiting the "Apartheid Wall"[which is actually more of a fence, in fact about 5% of it is a wall and that is where terrorists were taking sniper shots at those using the highway below] after being given the tour by the man who built the wall, literally, after hearing him say he hopes to be the first one to be able to knock it down, after hearing a settler from Gush Etzion speak, after hearing a Palestinian from the Panorama Centre which strives to bring order and a sort of democracy to the territories and a lasting peace between the territories and Israel, after visiting the Beit Gefen Arab Centre and understanding that co-existence is actually possible and seeing that our cousins have no idea what Apartheid actually is I have come to this conclusion: Israel is in the wrong with it's treatment of Palestinians, it's in the wrong with its treatment of Arab Israelis and Ethiopians. What I've also learned is that it is striving to become a better state, to make life better for Arab Israelis and Ethiopians, to create a separate state for the Palestinians so that they can govern themselves, instead of "occupying" (which they are only "occupying" one of the territories, remember disengagement of Gaza- Sderot certainly does b/c they have been having Qasams raining down on them EVERY week from there- but why would that make International news, not sensational enough, not enough people dying) the West Bank Israel would gladly create a Two State Solution, One Israeli One Palestinian, the unfortunate thing is that the West Bank proves too strategic for defense, especially given the fact that Hamas has proven itself untrustworthy in Gaza. I've also learned that despite all the hardships Arab Israelis have a hell of a lot more rights then most Arabs in the countries surrounding Israel- bull shit you a might say? How about Freedom of Press? (yes there is, in fact Israeli newspapers are the harshest critics of the Israeli gov't) Certainly there is freedom of religion? - same is true elsewhere? hmmm... let's talk about the slaughtered Bahai, or the ever looming shiite sunni conflict, never mind the millions of Jewish refugees who were kicked out of Iran, Iraq, Jordan...the list goes on.... the right to vote, the right to approach the court if they want to protest the location of the security fence. It's not that Israel is always right, no that's not the issue here, it tries, it makes mistakes, it tries to make up for such mistakes. The issue is that you would think that Israel is the only country in the whole world who has these problems. Look at Darfur, look at Pakistan, right of return only exists in Israel? ha, look at France (it's harder then Israel) or Germany.... the list goes on.
At the end of the day, I've realized that Israel has a lot it needs to do, but to call it an Apartheid State and to equate Zionism with Nazism and all the wonderful bull shit the Anti-Israel lobby spews forward is the new Anti-Semitism. Questioning policies of the state of Israel not wrong, questioning it's very right to exist as Jewish State, putting a spot light on Israel the way the Anti-Zionist lobby does is Anti-Semitism. It's a new form. And it's scary b/c it's becoming more and more acceptable.