Amnesty International hits back on its report on Israel: it is not anti-Semitic
Amnesty International's latest report entitled "Is Israel committing the crime of apartheid" has come in for a lot of criticism from, unsurprisingly, Israel and Jews and Israelis elsewhere in the world. They protest that the report is bias, discriminatory, and anti-Semitic. Since I have received some of the treatment outlined in the report- and I am not Arab- the report doesn't seem bias to me.
The report states: "Amnesty International's new investigation shows that Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians across all areas under its control: in Israel and the OPT, and against Palestinian refugees, in order to benefit Jewish Israelis. This amounts to apartheid as prohibited in international law."
I also received this note from Amnesty today.
Kia ora friends,
I'm alerting this new report to you and encourage you to read through this information. This replaces any action asked, although you will see you can take action in the links below.
Amnesty International has just released a landmark report: Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity.
Amnesty International's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, launched the report from East Jerusalem. Simultaneously around the world, social media content, Q&As, petitions here and here, human rights education modules went live.
This is a significant statement for our movement and it will, in fact it already is, evoking significant pushback and accusations of anti-Semitism. This is expected. The accusation is untrue, and it is vital that everyone representing Amnesty International at this time -- staff, advocates, groups, Board, volunteers -- stays on message. The messaging below is for you to use.
If you receive queries that you'd like to forward on for response, or you'd like assistance with, please let me know.
KEY MESSAGES
About the report
This report reveals the true extent of Israel's apartheid system. Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and Palestinian refugees, are treated as an inferior racial group and deliberately deprived of their rights. Our research and legal analysis sets out in detail how Israel's appalling treatment of Palestinians meets the definition of apartheid.
Decades of deliberately unequal treatment have left Palestinians marginalised, impoverished, and in a state of constant fear and insecurity. As we speak, Palestinians are being forced out of their homes, separated from their families, and confined behind checkpoints and walls. Israel's apartheid system is the root cause of the violations and suffering that millions of Palestinians face on a daily basis.
There is no possible justification for a system built around the institutionalised and prolonged racist oppression of millions of people.
A crime against humanity is being committed, and the international community has an obligation to act. Amnesty is calling on:
- Israel to dismantle the apartheid system, including by ending home demolitions, granting refugees the right to return, ending draconian movement restrictions;
- the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider the crime of apartheid in its current investigation in the OPT;
- all states to exercise universal jurisdiction to bring perpetrators of apartheid crimes to justice;
- the UN Security Council (UNSC) to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel and targeted sanctions against officials.
The report is based on extensive research and analysis, including analysing legislation, regulations, military orders, governmental directives and statements by government and military officials, and more. The report is based on solid research and we can be confident of the findings.
LINES OF RESPONSE
How would you respond to the claim that Amnesty is an antisemitic organisation?
The accusation is false and baseless. As an anti-racist organization Amnesty stands against antisemitism, which is antithetical to human rights. We oppose discrimination, racism and hate crime in all forms, including against Jews or people perceived as Jewish.
All Amnesty's criticism of the Israeli government is based in international law, and on evidence of the great harm and suffering Israel's policies cause to Palestinians. Amnesty criticizes the Israeli government, not the Israeli people or the Jewish people.
Successive Israeli governments have recklessly used accusations of antisemitism to attempt to discredit NGOs, UN bodies and experts and the ICC. This is both a distraction from genuine antisemitism, and a cynical means of evading scrutiny of their human rights record and accountability for crimes under international law.
Does Amnesty oppose Zionism?
No. Amnesty is a human rights organisation and we do not take positions on ideologies and political systems such as Zionism. Our report does not assess or comment on Zionism as a political idea.
Similarly, Amnesty takes no position on any state's right to exist. Our focus is solely on states' obligations under international law, especially human rights law.
What is apartheid?
An apartheid system is an institutionalised regime of oppression and domination by one racial group over another, enforced through laws, policies and practices. It is a violation of public international law and international human rights law. Specific human rights violations which are committed with the intention of maintaining this system, such as unlawful killing and forcible transfer, constitute the crime against humanity of apartheid.
Amnesty is not the first to apply the term apartheid to what is happening in Israel and the OPT. Palestinian groups have been making this case for two decades. In researching our report, we identified 23 Israeli organisations and many more individuals who have used the term. And last year, both the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem and Human Rights Watch released their own reports calling the situation what is it -- apartheid.
Please get in touch if you would like more information / support
Thank you for doing what Amnesty International has always done: standing with humanity and standing up for human rights. Again, it's important that we are united in our voices as One Amnesty, and that regardless of the counter-claims, we are confident in Amnesty International's research, the findings, and our power as a global movement to shift even the most intractable situations.
If you want to read the full report go to this url. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
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