Ignorance everywhere

If you follow me on Twitter then you might have noticed that I am currently fact checking and challenging the views of @Jew4palestine. Today he and others were on the Israel is an apartheid state line and I got a little fed up. I noted earlier today that the 'apartheid state of Israel' is indeed banning entry to part of Israel to people not of one religion. The problem is that it is non-Muslims who are being banned from the Temple Mount, control of which is being given to Muslims for the last five days of Ramadan. Yes, that's right Jews will be banned from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Apartheid state? No.

However here's an example of a form of apartheid in the Middle East...

It's a road sign to be found on the road to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It's not their for the period of the haj, it's a permanent fixture. Non-Muslims are banned from entry to Mecca, some do sneak in it is true, but they are officially banned and the punishment if caught can be extreme.

Here are some more examples of apartheid from some other Islamic countries. These are excerpts from the State Department's International Religious Freedom Reports for 2009:
YEMEN
"...the General Election Committee has adopted a policy barring all non-Muslims from running for Parliament..."

AFGHANISTAN
"Citizens who convert from Islam to the Baha'i faith face risk of persecution, similar to that of Christian converts, up to and including the death penalty..."

JORDAN
"...the Government prohibits conversion from Islam in that it accords primacy to Shari'a, which prohibits Muslims from converting ... The Government freely allows conversion to Islam..."

INDONESIA
"Article 156 of the Criminal Code makes spreading hatred, heresy, and blasphemy punishable by up to five years in prison. Although the law applies to all officially recognized religions, the few cases in which it has been enforced have almost always involved blasphemy and heresy against Islam..."

But Israel is the apartheid state?