ViDevi

Apartheid? This is Mansour Abbas, voting today with his wife in Israel's elections. He is an Arab citizen and a member of Knesset, and he leads a party that sat in Israel's government. Keep this picture in mind the next time someone calls Israel an "apartheid state." Abbas is running on "change." The West calls him a moderate and a pragmatist. So let's ask what those words mean. "Moderate" Palestinian pragmatists say they have already compromised by acknowledging that Israel exists. Now they want an Israeli leadership ready for "change," meaning ready to compromise in return. And the compromise they expect is recognition of the Muslims' exclusive right to the entire Temple Mount compound. That is no small concession. The Temple Mount is where the First and Second Temples stood, before layers of history, including Islamic history, were built on top of them. It is the heart of the Jewish people's biblical, historical and archaeological bond to this land, and after 1967 Israel uncovered abundant evidence of that bond. Today the UN calls the site "occupied territory." From 1948 to 1967 Jordan ruled it, and no one called that occupation, even though Jews were barred from the Old City and the Western Wall for nineteen years. The Temple was called a house of prayer for all peoples. Today Jerusalem is open to every faith, and ironically the only people restricted from praying on the Temple Mount are Jews. Still, the "moderates" demand total Muslim exclusivity. In April 2025, during Passover, "moderate" Mansour Abbas shared the statement below from his party, the United Arab List, and its parent body, the Islamic Movement. It condemns an Israeli lawmaker for "storming" Al-Aqsa, and his offense was praying on the Temple Mount. It calls the record number of Jewish visitors that Passover "intruders." It accuses the police of protecting these "incursions" and warns of a religious explosion with dire consequences. It declares the site the exclusive right of Muslims alone, every grain of its soil, every courtyard and plaza. And it calls on Arab citizens of Israel and on Jerusalemites to flock to Al-Aqsa "in the face of all conspiracies." Strip away the pious wording and you'll recognize the script. Jews are "storming," the holy site is in danger, the faithful must mobilize. Hamas named its October 7 massacre "Al-Aqsa Flood." Asking Israel to surrender its holiest site is asking it to surrender its claim to the land, its very right to exist. That is not a two-state compromise. It is a one-faith claim. This is what "change" means. Which other country lets a man who rejects its very foundations sit in its parliament, or serve in its government? Again: apartheid?