Neil Macdonald misses the very point heuses to call Israel an "apartheid state" in an opinion piecepublished on October 24th on CBC News. He argues "the time has cometo call the duck a duck" and tries to impress his argument by referencing"three former prime ministers, a winner of the Israel prize, two formerheads of the Israeli internal service" and yatta yatta yatta. 

He misses the point, which is that the veryfact that Israelis themselves can self-critique their country about humanrights issues without repercussion means Israel is not an apartheid state. Israel is free and democratic and everyone has a right to articulatetheir views, including Arab elected parliamentarians to Israel's Knesset(parliament). Israeli leaders are speaking out because they are genuinelyseeking solutions to the conflict.

There are few countries in the Middle Eastthat could boast numerous non-profit and civil rights organizations that arefreely working in Israel to promote equity. Israel is the only country inthe Middle East identified by Freedom House as being "Free."  If you look at the map and adjacent reports researched by Freedom House,Israel is surrounded by a sea of purple – which is tabulated as "NotFree" while Jordan is the only neighbour identified as "PartlyFree." 

Israel is imperfect and struggles withmany issues like every other nation. But unlike most nations, Israel hasto secure itself against neighbours which are seeking its annihilation. Unfortunately, Macdonald does not sufficiently address this specialchallenge – how do you secure your borders against a self-declared enemy(Hamas) which wants to murder your citizens? How do you protect your childrenfrom being blown up on buses or knifed while walking home from school? How doyou concern yourself with terror organizations like Hezbollah and nations likeIran that paint the word "Israel" on its missiles?

Macdonald tries to disarm counter opinionsby stating that "energetic pro-Israel activists scrutinize the media, theacademy and polity, ready to declare anti-semitism or incitement at any use ofthe word." This assertion is unfounded and in of itself an attemptto shut down debate and counter perspective. Lively and respectful debates by"energetic activists" should be welcomed and embraced, as they are by Israel'slively media. 

Macdonald is right that "the time hascome to call the duck a duck." The only problem is that he isshooting at the wrong duck. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/israel-slippery-slope-1.4368018