Institutionally, Israel — like the United States — is a crime against humanity: nation-states founded on genocide, built on theft. Restitution is now the only humane agenda.

But the psychology and psychiatry of the Israeli state in world consciousness is a paradoxical matter. Even Nobel laureates like Nadine Gordimer — noted for her contributions to undoing apartheid in South Africa — can get it wrong.

In this letter from Gaza university lecturer Dr. Haider Eid, the relationship between apartheid states and the role of writers like Gordimer is put [1] in plain language. Conflicting loyalties and ethical dilemmas are part of life, but for moral models like Gordimer, an explanation is in order.