JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Israel’s parliament yesterday any comparison between the Jewish state and apartheid South Africa was “sickening”, drawing a standing ovation – and an angry walkout by two Arab legislators.
Visiting at a time when even members of the government have raised fears of a boycott of Israeli goods if talks with Palestinians do not progress, Harper said some critics of Israel were indulging in a “new anti-Semitism”.
“Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state,” Harper told the Knesset in Jerusalem after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
“Think about the twisted logic and outright malice … It is nothing short of sickening. But this is the face of the new anti-Semitism,” he said, prompting applause from the floor and heckles from two Arab-Israeli lawmakers, who then stormed out.
Israel’s 20 per cent population of Arab citizens often say they are discriminated against and Israel has been accused by the Palestinians of employing an apartheid policy toward them.
Most countries deem Israeli settlements in territories captured in 1967 illegal and international boycott campaigns against products made in Israeli enclaves in the occupied West Bank have rattled Israeli politicians.
