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The question can be split into 2 parts:

  • Did he compare Israel to apartheid as an analogy?
  • Did he directly accuse Israel of the crime of apartheid?

Currently, the only mention of "Nelson Mandela" in the wikipedia article Israel and the apartheid analogy is that his former counsel disagrees with the analogy/accusation.

I saw the claim most recently in a comment on a Reddit thread about "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling Israel an apartheid state" which stated, "As did Nelson Mandela" and received over 1.9k upvotes.

user126100
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    I know of this speech which is perhaps the origin of the claim - I'm not sure how exacting you expect quotes to be from reddit. http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1997/971204_palestinian.htm – CJR May 25 '21 at 12:28
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    As exacting as can be found. Wikipedia is an excellent source of secondary research, and a great starting point, but a link to the original source for the claim is what we look for if possible, if it's not available or there is doubt cast on it's existence in the first place (for example) then we would include that information too. Welcome to Skeptics. – Jiminy Cricket. May 25 '21 at 16:38

2 Answers2

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The most often attributed quote in this context that I could find is:

Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property.

However, while originating from a letter to the NYT that was signed "Nelson Mandela", the letter is not from Mandela, but a mock letter written by Arjan El Fassed, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada.

Mandela's views on Israel have been a bit more nuanced. He criticized Israel's cooperation with the South African apartheid regime (while acknowledging that "it did not participate in any atrocities") and Israel's 'occup[ation of] Arab lands', and on the other hand recognized Israel's 'right to exist as a democratic Jewish state' and its legitimate security concerns.

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tim
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  • Ok, not insinuating anything, but how can we be sure these things are correct ? Especially the JC opinion is imo not totally beyond any doubt of being non-partisan. –  May 25 '21 at 16:22
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    @a_donda Arjan El Fassed confirmed it on electronic intifada: [the Mandela memo was only a piece of satire](https://electronicintifada.net/content/no-fake-analogy/9624). The source the Monthly Review linked to - the tumbler account of El Fassed where he goes into detail on his pov of the issue - is down, but can still be accessed on [wayback](https://web.archive.org/web/20140125111352/https://arjanelfassed.tumblr.com/post/431008597/mandela-memo). – tim May 25 '21 at 16:34
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    Thank you for your answer! but I feel that reading the sources that you provided gives a slightly different impression than what your answer gives. My main concern is the 3rd source, where it was said: 'While he supported Zionism in principle, he believed that if there was to be peace in the Middle East, Israel must negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians and avoid becoming a binational “apartheid state” – or risk becoming an international pariah like apartheid South Africa' . – user126100 May 25 '21 at 19:20
  • my second concern is from the first source, where quotes like 'called Israel that year a “terrorist state”' and 'that “injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine”' seem to paint a more intense criticism than one would get from just reading your answer. – user126100 May 25 '21 at 19:23
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    @user126100 I focused on the primary claim which essentially says '[Mandela called] Israel an apartheid state'. I think his detailed views about Israel would be beyond the scope of the question. I think 'avoid becoming a binational “apartheid state”' doesn't really match that claim as it's directed at a (potential) future (I also assume that part is less about Israel, but more about Gaza and the West Bank, which he might have seen as being at risk if Israel were to seize control; though I wasn't able to find more context around the quote). – tim May 25 '21 at 19:34
  • About the quote from the Jerusalem Post article "avoid becoming a binational “apartheid state”: the article does not say that in Mandela's name, so the quote is irrelevant. – Mordechai May 26 '21 at 21:16
  • what? who do you think the "he" in that quote refers to? – user126100 May 31 '21 at 02:50
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Yes. He did. Not just did he do it but he did on video in a 1990 Town Hall Meeting with Nelson Mandela on Palestine, Cuba and other issues

As far as Yassar Arafat is concerned, I explained to Mr. Sigmund that we identify with the [Palestine Liberation Organization] because just like ourselves they are fighting for the right of self-determination. - Nelson Mandela.

The PLO was actively engaged in a fight on multiple fronts against apartheid and for self-determination. If the ANC's leader identifies with someone else's fight, and the organization leading that fight I read that to be a direct comparison between the conditions of South Africa and Palestine.

Evan Carroll
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    There were two questions in the OP. Mandela's response sounds to me like "mostly" to the first and "no" to the second. He didn't directly accuse Israel of apartheid, but he identified with the struggles of the Palestinians with respect to self-determination which is sort of an apartheid analogy. – Trixie Wolf May 25 '21 at 22:46
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    @TrixieWolf I'm unaware at how you can even "compare Israel to apartheid" without accusing them of a crime. It's quite literally, "the crime of apartheid." Unless we're saying saying that Mandela thought that Palestine was in actually in South Africa and forgot the year. – Evan Carroll May 26 '21 at 01:47
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    @TrixieWolf I don't think that any struggle for self-determination is an apartheid analogy. Take for example the basque national liberation movement. It fought for self-determination, but few people would say that Spain is an apartheid regime. I think it's a stretch to say that Mandela called Israel an apartheid state when he identified with a right for self-determination. I also think it's important to remember that apartheid is a specific system - characterized by institutionalized racial segregation (something that doesn't exist in Israel) - , not just a generic "bad". – tim May 26 '21 at 09:11
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    This is a quote that does not contain the word "apartheid" and so cannot be taken as evidence for Mandela either directly accusing or comparing Israel with apartheid. As such, this isn't answering the question posted. Had the question been "has Mandela ever expressed support for or solidarity with the PLO", then it would be relevant but that isn't what this question was asking. – terdon May 26 '21 at 12:55
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    The question was: "Did Nelson Mandela directly compare or accuse Israel of apartheid?" For this to be true, as an absolute minimum, the word "apartheid" should be present in the text you quote. As it isn't present, your answer is necessarily wrong. – Gábor May 26 '21 at 12:58
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    @user157251 Saying that they identify with fighting "for a right of self-determination" is not saying they were victims of apartheid. The Confederate States of America were also fighting for self-determination, but I think we can all agree that they were not victims of apartheid. – reirab May 26 '21 at 20:56
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    Let it be showing of your own politics and not mine that you believe the Confederate States of America were not fighting to maintain slavery and to subjugate a race but for "self-determination." As if the CSA were occupied, or denied representation and self-governance before the Civil War. I absolutely and totally reject your frame. – Evan Carroll May 26 '21 at 21:09
  • This quote doesn't appear to tally up with your interpretation of it. Better to remove the commentary, perhaps? – Richard May 27 '21 at 18:16
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    "Yes. He did. Not just did he do it but he did on video." And then comes a quote which isn't anywhere close to your claim... – Eric Duminil May 27 '21 at 18:27
  • @user157251 I think the case could be made that the CSA wasn't fighting to enforce slavery all over the world, but rather to allow themselves to permit slavery within their own territory; in other words, the CSA wanted self-determination of the legality of slavery. In that case, they were fighting for the self-determination to **enable** apartheid; I think it logical to conclude that a fight for self-determination is orthogonal to a fight against apartheid. – Zev Spitz Jun 10 '21 at 20:10
  • @ZevSpitz Let it be showing of your own politics and not mine that you believe as a resident of an internationally recognized [illegal settlement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modi%27in_Illit) in an exclusive Jewish state that "self determination" can include the enforcement of apartheid. I'm still going to go with **absolutely not, never.** I'm fighting for the "self-determination" to subjugate other people is an absolute non-sequitur. – Evan Carroll Jun 10 '21 at 20:34
  • I'm taking issue with your conflation of "fighting against apartheid" with "fighting for self-determination", irrespective of whether or not it applies to this case. But since you mention it, apartheid is a segregation based on race. Palestinians and Israeli Arabs are of the same ethnic & racial group; Israeli Arabs are full citizens of Israel, with all the rights & privileges that entails; they are integrated into Israeli society on every level. An Arab party is poised to become part of the ruling coalition on Sunday. – Zev Spitz Jun 10 '21 at 20:54
  • Your home state of Texas, OTOH, recently rushed secretly into law a voting bill that by many accounts make it specifically harder for Black people to vote, thus causing Black people to have less representation. I don't claim this is apartheid, but it's in stark contrast to Israel's voting rights for all Israeli citizens, irrespective of race or ethnicity. – Zev Spitz Jun 10 '21 at 21:01
  • There is nothing like granting the "right of return" based on race, ethnicity, and religion in Texas. We do not declare one people to have any set of unique rights over other people. We also don't occupy anyone, and we don't drone bomb children with laser guided bombs. Anyone born in Texas, including Palestinian, becomes a citizen. Alas, I don't feel the need to defend the prejudiced and racist policies that we do have, past or present. – Evan Carroll Jun 10 '21 at 21:36
  • Glad to hear we've disposed of the apartheid canard. 1. Making it easier for members of a specific ethnic group to get citizenship is not a violation of anyones' rights, nor some kind of racism; Are Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Poland all racist because they have similar laws? 2. The sole reason for the continuing occupation is because Palestinian & Arab leaders encourage violence against Israel for their own benefit; unlike the UAE et. al., or Israel's Mansour Abbas, they value those personal benefits over the benefits of peaceful coexistence with Israel. If a ... – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 05:36
  • Are you kidding me, ensuring an ethnic majority of one group over another in a democracy isn't a violation of anyone's rights? Lol. You're literally **denying** rights to one group. I can migrate to Israel because I'm a Jew and go work and live, but a Palestinian Muslim can not migrate to be with his friends and family. – Evan Carroll Jun 11 '21 at 05:53
  • ...Palestinian elected leader would get up and say, "We recognize the state of Israel, we aim to peacefully coexist with Israel, and we will no longer use violence to pursue our goals," the occupation would inevitably end and there would be a clear path forward to Palestinian autonomy. (And no, Mohammed Abbas, in his 16th year of a 4-year term, is no longer an elected leader, if he ever was.) 3. In the most recent round of conflict, Israel carried out over 1000 air strikes, each strike consisting of multiple vehicles, each vehicle had multiple rounds of ammunition/bombs. Current casualty... – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 05:54
  • What does Mohammad Abbas or Palestinian leaders have to do with an apartheid ethnostate? We don't blame victims for the policies of fascist leaders that oppress them. – Evan Carroll Jun 11 '21 at 05:58
  • ...counts from the Gaza Ministry of Health, an unofficial propaganda wing of Hamas, are at around 250, including those who died from 650 Hamas rockets that landed inside Gaza; and not distinguishing between civilians and militants. Unless you're suggesting that all those Israeli planes and drones had really bad aim, the accusation that Israel is targeting children is just plain silly. 4. Application for citizenship is [quite straightforward](https://www.gov.il/en/subjects/certificates_and_passports/israeli_citizenship); Palestinians don't want Israeli citizenship... – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 05:59
  • ...because of pressure from their leaders not to recognize the state of Israel. 5. But you don't level accusations of apartheid and racism against Texas, do you? Why not? – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 06:01
  • _"suggesting that all those Israeli planes and drones had really bad aim"_ ... I'd never suggest that. I live in an America, it's a sad fact that we bought and built your country the absolute best planes and drones. And I'm doing my best to see to it that we stop this in the immediate future. Sanctions now: killing children with laser-guided drones is not self-defense. – Evan Carroll Jun 11 '21 at 06:01
  • "What does Mohammad Abbas or Palestinian leaders have to do with an apartheid ethnostate?" Because it's in their interests to maintain the status quo of active and violent conflict with Israel that allows them extensive illegal economic opportunities, which they wouldn't have if there was no conflict or if they were actually accountable to their people. – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 06:03
  • "Sanctions now: killing children with laser-guided drones is not self-defense." Please clarify: is Israel supposed to be killing children with laser guided sanctions? And by sanctions, do you mean the Israel-Egypt blockade of Gaza, which prevents weapons and military materiel from entering Gaza. Again, if Hamas would lay down its arms and accept peaceful coexistence with Israel, there would be no need for a blockade. – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 06:06
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/126337/discussion-between-zev-spitz-and-i-support-the-boycott). – Zev Spitz Jun 11 '21 at 06:06
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    @ZevSpits "Making it easier for members of a specific ethnic group to get citizenship is not [...] some kind of racism; Are Finland, [...etc.] all racist because they have similar laws?" Yes. Less glib: it depends. Special privileges based solely on genetic testing or ancestry alone are racist by definition. If rights are based solely upon cultural ties (owning legal heirlooms, history of visitation, observance of cultural tradition) regardless as to ethnicity, it's not. E.g., if a person having only sub-Saharan African DNA cannot access privileges, it's racial exclusion, thus racist. – Trixie Wolf Jul 13 '21 at 17:15