A Bedouin Arab Slams Apartheid Week
Ishmael Khaldi is the Israeli vice consul based in San Francisco. Khaldi is also, as he explains in a recent SF Chronicle Op-Ed, “a Bedouin and the highest-ranking Muslim representing the Israel in the United States. I was born into a Bedouin tribe in Northern Israel, one of 11 children, and began life as shepherd living in our family tent.”
The Op-Ed is not about his life, though. It’s a message to student organizers of Apartheid Week, a gathering of anti-Israel extremists who seek to delegitimize the Jewish state.
This, among other things, is what he has to say to them:
• “You are part of the problem, not part of the solution.”
• “You deny Israel the fundamental right of every society to defend itself.”
• “Your criticism is willfully hypocritical.”
• “You are betraying the moderate Muslims and Jews who are working to achieve peace.”
He elaborates thoughtfully on each point, so it’s worth reading the entire piece.
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