Israel is democratic

Response to “Stop pretending on Israel” (May 17 letter, Wayne B. Kraft):

Apartheid is national institutionalized racial segregation. Universities, public amenities, sexual relationships and employment are regulated to enforce segregation. South Africa’s population was 80 percent black, yet they were denied basic civil rights, including the right to vote.

All Israeli citizens enjoy basic civil rights, including the right to vote. Arab Israelis are represented in the Knesset, Supreme Court, government, army and police force. Israel was the first nation in the Middle East to recognize the right of Arab women to vote.

The terrorist organization Hamas, founded in 1987, pioneered suicide bombing missions into Israel as well as kidnapping of Israeli citizens. Their charter states, in part, “Israel will exist … until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

Israel’s security fence has reduced the number of Israeli deaths from suicide attacks by 99.9 percent. Most of the barrier is a chain-link fence; the remaining 3 percent is the concrete portion negatively depicted in the media. Tens of thousands of Arabs cross the border daily to work in Israel.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence states, “The State of Israel … will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants.” Israel is, indeed, a sovereign representative democratic state.

Jerry O’Callahan

Spokane