Daily Tar Heel - Letter to the Editor
Dismissing comparisons to apartheid is premature
1/30/08

TO THE EDITOR:

I am writing in response to Charles Dahan's column, "Apartheid comparison overstates the reality" (Jan. 29). Dahan boldly states that "comparing the conflict in Israel to the struggle in South Africa is not only incorrect; it is disgusting."

As a Peace Corps volunteer serving in South Africa for more than two years and as a Ph.D. student conducting research in South Africa recently, I've had the opportunity to hear the opinions of South Africans from all walks of life on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

South Africans are divided on these issues. Many still remember Israel as a supporter of the Apartheid regime, offering training, weapons, intelligence and advice to the South African Army, while many South African Jews are fiercely loyal to Israel.

Some of those who suffered under Apartheid think of that institution as uniquely South African; others who were "violently oppressed and fully dominated" see something very familiar in the current Palestinian situation and have not forgotten that much of the world once labeled Nelson Mandela a terrorist.

I don't claim to be an expert on the appropriateness of the use of the term 'Apartheid' as an analytical tool to describe the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which is exactly why I will be attending the panel offered on Thursday.

If South Africans find this a valid and challenging topic for debate, then why shouldn't we?

Tamara Johnson
Graduate Student
Geography

[Access the original article]