You are right that it is a Dutch word, but in Dutch it means "segregation" and not "separation" (a distinction I think we can all appreciate and perhaps resonates more accurately in my original message).

The Dutch use words like "scheiding" "afscheiding" "afzondering" if they talk about separation. In this case, however, either way you slice it, what the Israelis practice is wrong.

Now, I am no expert, but hey, that's why I am posting here. It seems to me that the word "apartheid" is made up of three morphemes "a" + "part" + "heid"; "a" being a derivational morpheme meaning "without" (see "amoral", "asexual" "a liberal"); "part" being the root word meaning (well, many meanings here, I prefer "an amount equal to another amount"); and "heid" once again being derivational (changing the adjective/adverb "apart" into an abstract noun (at least in Afrikaans or Dutch from which the word originates)), whose translation back into English would be "without-an-amount-equal-to-another-amount-ness". If the security mechanisms of the Israeli state preserve the idea of "without-an-amount-equal-to-another-amount-ness", then tell me how off the mark Mr. Carter was.

Dedicated to all my redneck uncles: "Thanks Jimbo!"

Israel will not stand alone if it launches an attack (nuclear or conventional) on Iran and the supposition that "our boys" will not be engaged in this battle assumes that the United States cares about its people. Take a look at our health care system, our welfare system, our old-age pension schemes, any country that cares so little about how its "boys and girls" live certainly cares nothing about how or where they die. The good news is that only the poor die (volunteer armies don't attract a lot of recruits from wealthy families) and from time to time a wealthy journalist (whose courageous if not heroic death can be easily instrumentalised by Hollywood). So, it then becomes part and parcel of the government's responsibility to maintain itself that a large underclass always exists to feed the military machine. It is really quite a simple formula and if the average Joe hasn't figured that one out and still sends his sons and daughters off to die (in the hope that if they survive and are not too traumatized by the whole event, they may get some sort of marketable education), then don't expect Israel or any other country who is willing to promote the interests of the capitalist class to stand alone.