Those Jammy Palestinians

Came across this embarrassing effort in the FT yesterday. There's some fairly stupid shit in there, as you'd expect from a rambling tirade about questioning Israel's legitimacy that conveniently forgets the Nakba, and that thinks "no more rogue than America" qualifies you for a fucking medal or something. But here's the highlight:

There is simply no parallel between apartheid South Africa – where the white minority wielded power over the black majority – and the occupied territories, taken by Israel only after it was invaded by its neighbours. To make such a link is not only inaccurate, but offensive. If Arab Israelis were deprived of civil and franchise rights, that would justify such hyperbole, but of course they have the same rights as every Jewish Israeli.

I've seen this excuse trotted out a few times. The Palestinians can't claim Israel's racist because Arab Israelis have the same rights as proper ones, that sort of thing. Lovely little sleight of hand there. It's so easy to see this conflict in terms of Muslimarabpalestinian vs Jewisraeljew that we miss the distinctions, and so "Arabs have more rights in Israel than in any Arab country", if you're not paying attention, sounds an awful lot like "Palestinians have nothing to complain about". Until you remember Palestinians don't fall under Israeli law, are not Israeli Arabs and do not enjoy their rights. Just one to watch out for.