israeli apartheid?

so it's Israeli Apartheid week on campuses across Canada, and the media hasn't had this much controversy since Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament. This is an issue which has captivated people around the world, yet at the same time has misguided multitudes. It seems the popular thing to adopt the attitude of those who call out and condemn Israel for its attacks on Palestine. To so many, Israel is the schoolyard bully, the oversized ruffian who gets it thrills from picking on those smaller bespectacled loners.

When CUPE called for a boycott of Israeli academics earlier this year, it pointed the finger at Israel for its continued bombing of Palestine. What few people seem to realize is Israel's justification in trying to safeguard its citizens. Do they expect Israel to sit on her hands while Palestinians launch rocket attack after rocket attack into the homes of her people? It would seem so, as Israel remains the scapegoat for this conflict while Palestine sits quietly in the corner, wiping its eyes every now and then and plotting its next rocket attack.

I find it ironic how so many people are willing to condemn a state for its tactics of self-defense, when the United States has been involved in an unprovoked war for the last 7 years. They went in and attacked Iraq without provokation, without justification, and without care for the thousands of civilians who would die as casualties of Uncle Sam's incessant thirst for oil.

When millions of Tutsis were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide, how many people sat up, paid attention, and condemend the United Nations for standing by? Very few. Yet we are willing to look upon Israel and condemn her for protecting her people from Palestine's aggression. This campaign against Israel is nothing more than a new face of anti-Semitism. No longer are people targeting Jews as a people, but rather the focus is on the Jewish state. People are looking for a way to Other-ize it, to cast it as this giant aggressor that will strike fear into the hearts of people.