Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Amazing how quickly supposed anti-racism can tread over the line into racism itself. Nadine Gordimer, South African author and anti-apartheid activist discussing her attendance at the first International Jerusalem Writers Festival:
...Then they talked about the "a" word. Gordimer said that it was incorrect and wrong to paint Israel and South Africa with the same brush. "White people can not lay claim to a single inch of Africa," she said. The Jews, on the other hand, have a historical claim on the land of Israel. "In this, they are not at all comparable and Israel is not an apartheid state." However, she continued, "The police actions in the occupied territories, the forced removals and such, are exactly what happened in South Africa in the so-called 'reserved areas.' "...
No, "white people," surely cannot, but some white individuals can, surely.
