Holding South Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable - John Dugard

John Dugard discussed what accounts for the international community's disparity in its treatment of South Africa and Israel for applying substantially similar policies. How effective have Israel and its foreign lobbies been in claiming that opposition to Israel's behavior is due to anti-Semitism? Why did South Africa's Jewish community go from opposing apartheid in their own country to vilifying Jewish South African Judge Richard Goldstone for his report on Israel's 2009 attack on Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead? What are the prospects and best approaches for ending Israeli apartheid?

John Dugard is a South African professor of international law and an outspoken critic of apartheid. The son of a headmaster at a missionary school attended by Nelson Mandela, he earned law degrees from Stellenbosch and Cambridge Universities. From 1978 to 1990 he was director of the University of Witwatersrand’s Center for Applied Legal Studies, which seeks to promote human rights in South Africa. Dugard was professor of international law at University of Leiden, 1998-2006.

Professor Dugard became a member of the U.N.’s International Law Commission in 1997. From 2000 to 2018 he served as Judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice, and from 2001 to 2008 he was the U.N. Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories. He has written several books on apartheid, human rights and international law. His memoir, Confronting Apartheid: A Personal History of South Africa, Namibia and Palestine, was published in 2018.

The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law.

IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org
Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org