JERUSALEM -- The report, Israeli Practices Toward the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid, concluded that Israel has established an apartheid regime. The report, which has raised a lot of dust, was written by Richard Falk, a former U.N. special rapporteur to the Palestinian territories, and Virginia Tilley, professor of political science at Southern Illinois University. It was published by the U.N.’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The authors of the report concluded that Israel has established an apartheid regime aimed at dominating the Palestinians.

In the report the Palestinian people are divided into four distinct groups:

• The first group includes roughly 1.7 million Palestinians who are full citizens of Israel, but who, according to the report, live under “martial law” and are subjected to oppression because they are not Jewish.
• The second group identified is the estimated 300,000 Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem, a mostly Arab area. They “experience discrimination in access to education, healthcare, employment, residency and building rights.”
• The third group includes the 4.6 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza. The Jewish residents are governed by Israeli civil law, while Palestinians live under military rule. “This dual legal system, problematic in itself, is indicative of an apartheid regime,” said the authors.
• The last group are the millions of Palestinian refugees who live outside Israeli territory and who are prohibited from returning to their homes in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territory.

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres distanced himself from the findings, while spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the report was published without any prior consultation with the U.N. secretariat.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, welcomed the report and said:

“The problem is not the report but the facts that it contains. There's no other word to define what is going on here other than apartheid,” said Erekat, a longtime peace negotiator.

The report caused opposing views, especially between a pro Muslim/Arab source and one from a pro Jewish/Israeli source. The article from israelnationalnews.com quotes -- This report could change everything for the Palestinian Authority (PA)… For the PA, this opportunity could be the breakthrough it needs to conquer Israel. For Israel, becoming 'Apartheid' could mean the end of its legitimacy. There are 18 members in the ESCWA. They are: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  This group (ESCWA) is a monolithic bloc. It entertains only two points of view: to do what's best for Islamic nations--and to help the Palestinian Cause. They think that these Islamic states came up with a “blood libel”. The purpose of a blood libel never changes. It's to destroy what's Jewish--in this case, Israel.

On the other hand, an article from The New Arab states: A UN report concluded that Israel has established an “apartheid regime,” drawing quick condemnation from Tel Aviv and Washington on Wednesday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres distanced himself from the report but US Ambassador Nikki Haley said it should be scrapped altogether. "The United States is outraged by the report," said Haley in a statement.

Photo Credits: Foreign Affairs