Over 700 Academics Equate “Israeli” Occupation with Apartheid

By Staff, Agencies

More than 700 academics and public figures have signed an open letter equating “Israel’s” occupation of the West Bank with apartheid, signaling what supporters say is a “watershed moment” for how “Israel’s” occupation is viewed.

The letter, which began circulating on Friday, has received around 200 signatures per day with “more coming in, quite literally, by the minute."

The letter featured 752 signatories at the time of publication.

The authors said there was a direct link between “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to overhaul “Israel’s judiciary” and its illegal occupation of millions of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

“The ultimate purpose of the ‘judicial overhaul’ is to tighten restrictions on Gaza, deprive Palestinians of equal rights both beyond the Green Line and within it, annex more land, and ethnically cleanse all territories under ‘Israeli’ rule of their Palestinian population,” the letter said.

Notably, the letter made a clear reference to “the elephant in the room: ‘Israel’s’ long-standing occupation that, we repeat, has yielded a regime of apartheid.”