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A possible boycott of Israeli institutions renews the debate over whether the occupation can be compared to Apartheid, writes Emad Gad

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Many in the media are addressing the growing trend among international organisations to boycott Israeli institutions for supporting the occupation, raising the possibility that Israel may be the object of targeted international isolation like that which ultimately led to the collapse of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The boycott issue has renewed the debate over whether Israel's occupation and rule of the Palestinian people can be compared to the South African Apartheid regime. This prompted some Israeli writers to offer their own vision of the conditions that must be fulfilled to support Israel's status in the region and turn it into a normal state.

Israeli press coverage makes it clear how sharp the debate is over comparisons between Israel and Apartheid South Africa, which ultimately fell under pressure of international sanctions. One voice in the debate, Meron Benvenisti, wrote an article entitled, "Apartheid misses the point", published in Haaretz on 19 May. Benvenisti argues that the use of the term Apartheid and the comparison between Israel and South Africa under minority white rule "are taking over public discourse". He gives several instances of the prevalence of the term observed just over the past week: "The separation fence was described as an 'Apartheid fence'; the amendment to the citizenship law limiting Palestinian family unification was described as worse than the Apartheid regime; the academic boycott of Israeli universities and faculty members was compared to the boycott of South Africa, which contributed (or not) to the collapse of Apartheid; the disengagement plan and establishment of cantons under Palestinian control were referred to as 'bantustans', like the homelands that South Africa established in the macro-Apartheid era."

But Benvenisti sees important distinctions between the two regimes that make the comparison meaningless as a framework of debate. "The Apartheid regime was completely isolated, considered a pariah by the international community. But Israel receives massive, unshakable support from a unified Diaspora Jewry and American aid and -- as a result of guilt over the Holocaust and anti- Semitism -- is not the object of effective sanctions," he writes. In the end, he argues that using the term simply sidelines the core issues that need to be resolved. "Why divert the disagreement to the unimportant question of whether or not this is Apartheid?" Benvenisti asks in the end.

On the same day in Haaretz, Roman Bronfman wrote "The Hong Kong of the Middle East", describing what he sees as Israel's core problems and his vision of Israel's future in the region.

"Two substantial problems dictate our behaviour. One (which is built-in) is the definition of the state as 'Jewish and democratic', and it contains an underlying logical contradiction; the second (which is acquired) is the ongoing occupation of the territories," Bronfman wrote.

"The Israeli world view ranges between two extreme schools of thought: an Apartheid regime in the occupied territories on the one hand and the desire of some Israelis for an Israel as 'a state of all its citizens', on the other... The first eliminates the democratic component in the definition of the state, the second eliminates the Jewish component.

"The solution to this dilemma lies in the end of the occupation. But that is not sufficient. The solution lies not only in the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, but also in Israel's genuinely becoming a part of the cultural and conceptual milieu of the Middle East, and in the Jewish people's gradually freeing themselves from several components of the ethos that has been with us since the establishment of the state -- the victimhood, the sense of persecution and the fear of extermination.

"For decades, Israel has been enjoying the status of a military superpower in the Middle East. This fact, combined with the strategic treaty with the United States, should finally persuade Israelis that there is no existential danger in store for them and for the state. Only then will Israel be able to take it upon itself to be an inseparable part of the region where it is located, including open borders with its Arab neighbours.

"The fulfilment of this vision depends on Israel -- on the integrity and the courage of its leaders, on the atmosphere in Israeli society; but it depends just as much on the Arab world. In light of that, we have to regret the fact that, with the exception of President Moshe Katsav, none of Israel's leaders took seriously the Arab world's proposal for an overall peace, the Saudi Initiative. This document presents a simple and fair formula: an end to the occupation and a return to the 1967 borders, in return for complete normalisation of relations between Israel and all the Arab countries..."

Bronfman notes that the Saudi Initiative offers a comprehensive framework for peace and the normalisation of relations, "on condition that all the sides concentrate on a determined struggle against terror".

He goes on to argue that using such a framework, Israel can rid itself of its contradictions: "Israel can become the Hong Kong of the Middle East, thanks to its financial, technological and scientific strength, as well as its widespread international contacts. It can also contribute to the development of the region -- on condition that the occupation is ended, on condition that Israel is recognised by the Arab countries, on condition that there are international guarantees for its security, and above all, on condition that the rhetoric of war, which is dominant in the Middle East, is replaced by the rhetoric of peace." Ultimately, Bronfman sees these elements as the vital conditions for Israel's continued existence, warning, "without open borders and regional- economic integration, Israel will cease to exist."

For more information on debates in Israel's society, please visit the website of Arabs Against Discrimination www.aad-online.org.