By
Zulaikha Abdullah
Researcher / Editor, Middle East Monitor, London

In recent years, and particularly since the carnage wrought in its offensive on Gaza, Zionist Israel's discriminatory practices and treatment of Palestinians has become subject to increasing scrutiny and criticism by the international community, human rights and humanitarian organizations all reflecting a growing world-wide consensus and repulsion. Israel as a military occupation that implements racist policies against the non-Jewish populations both inside its borders and within the territories it occupies acts in flagrant breach of numerous UN resolutions and is condemned by various international conventions against racism. Yet, meaningful public debate of this pressing issue remains taboo and its very existence is generally ignored.

'Israeli Racism in Theory and Practice' explores the foundations, justifications and manifestations of Israeli racism in Israel. The endemic nature of this collective phenomenon within a celebrated democratic society cannot be easily explained away. From religious zealots to staunch secularists to the politicians who brazenly declare their unwavering support for Israeli supremacism, it is entrenched. The trend appears to stem from a variety of underpinnings, most significantly religious and ideological that belie its secular veneer. For this reason, much of Israel's politics is largely incomprehensible to foreign observers and thus necessitates examination. However, the smokescreen which surrounds it, created by propaganda, deception, the unwillingness of so many to confront the truth and through the thwarting of open discussion and critique, the prevailing totalitarian mindset among many Israelis and their western supporters alike is nurtured.

Racism is a corner stone of Zionism in Israel rooted in its religious and ideological foundations, guaranteed by its Basic Laws and systematically institutionalized through acts of parliament and the practices and policies of the state. It reaches beyond sectarian differences, is pervasive and comprehensive manifesting itself in popular attitudes, words and actions and adversely affecting the civil liberties of all non-Jews living in Israel. Zionism's racist supremacist notions have provided the intellectual and moral justifications for its occupation, colonization and apartheid like regime in Palestine. At the heart of this institutionalized inequality is the desperate desire to maintain the demographic, political and material hegemony of Jews over non-Jews in a theocratic state that favors them in all ways.