Arab Media Debunks the Palestinians' Apartheid Lie

Submitted by Don (United States), Aug 5, 2022 at 12:21

Saudi magazine highlights success of Israeli Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, who choose to join the IDF and defend Israel.

By Israel Today Staff | July 28, 2022 | Topics: Israeli Arabs

[IDF Lt. Col. G., the first deputy chief of Israel's elite Unit 8200, the Military Intelligence Directorate's main information-gathering unit. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit]

Who better to debunk the lie championed by the Palestinians and their apologists that Israel practices "apartheid" against Arabs than mainstream Arab media in the Middle East?
That's what happened this week when a Saudi monthly magazine ran a feature story highlighting the success of Israeli Arabs in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Of course, if Israel were truly an "apartheid" state, then Arabs wouldn't be allowed in the IDF, much less actively recruited to join its ranks. But as the article's author, Kurdish-Swedish journalist and researcher Suzan Quitaz, pointed out, Israeli Arabs are being actively and successfully recruited, even though Israel's laws make military service mandatory only for Jewish citizens.

Published in the Saudi monthly Al-Majallah, the article notes a rise in recent years in the numbers of Arab Muslims and Christians signing up to defend the Jewish state alongside their Jewish countrymen.

As an example of this phenomenon, Quitaz wrote about Ella Waweya, a decorated and high-ranking female Arab officer in the IDF. "Ella's story is an extraordinary one—she was born in 1989 in the Israeli Arab town of Qalansawe, a few miles from the city of Netanya," explains the article. "She joined the IDF in 2013 and completed her training as an exemplary soldier and participated in many operations.

In 2015, she received the President's Outstanding Medal," continued the report. "In September 2021, Ella was promoted to the rank of major in the Israel Defense Forces and became the first Arab Muslim woman to attain this rank." The original article was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). With reporting by JNS.

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