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| By Israel Insider staff September 2, 2007 |
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The British Zionist Federation revoked Haaretz columnist Danny Rubinstein's invitation to participate in its conference in London this weekend after Rubinstein called Israel an "apartheid state" at a UN conference in Brussels, according to the Jerusalem Post.
A Zionist Federation press released on Friday sated "Rubinstein's participation in this weekend's Zionist Federation conference in London has been cancelled by mutual agreement."
At the conference, titled the UN International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Rubinstein elaborated on Israel's alleged compartmentalization of society.
"Israel today was an apartheid State with four different Palestinian groups: those in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israeli Palestinians, each of which had a different status," Ynet quoted him as saying.
Federation Chairman Andrew Balcombe slammed the journalist for reinforcing dangerous stereotypes of Israeli society at a conference that critics said unfairly scrutinized Israel, overlooking countries with grave human rights violations and racist policies.
"Criticism of Israeli policy is acceptable. However, by using the word 'apartheid' in a UN conference held at the European Parliament, Danny Rubinstein encourages the demonization of Israel and the Jewish people," Balcombe said. "I believe he was naive to attend the UN conference. Indeed, his own newspaper had earlier reported that Israeli and EU lawmakers had attacked the UN meeting for having a completely one-sided, anti-Israeli agenda."
The director of Bnei Brith's European Union Affairs Office, Adam Mouchtar, echoed Balcombe's criticism, saying "this is a conference of Israel-haters," adding that delegates were clearly guided by a single agenda. "To prove that Israel is a racist apartheid state, and therefore Israel should be boycotted internationally, as South Africa was."
At the conference, Rubinstein also called for an end to the economic and diplomatic boycott against Hamas, which Israel and the US have been advocating as an attempt to bolster more moderate forces in the region.
"Hamas won the election of the international community and Israel cannot ignore that," he said.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union, and continues to call for the destruction of Israel.
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