Amnesty International has published a damning new report into what it refers to as 'Israel's Apartheid Against Palestine: A Cruel System of Domination and a Crime Against Humanity'.
The Report details how Israel allegedly employs a system of oppression against Palestinian people in any of the areas where it has control over Palestinian people's rights. The Report documents how huge seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system that amounts to apartheid under international law.
Amnesty International has determined that this system of apartheid constitutes a crime against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention, and calls on the International Criminal Court to consider the crime of apartheid in its current investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Amnesty International further calls on states to exercise universal jurisdiction to bring the perpetrators of apartheid to justice.
“Our report reveals the true extent of Israel’s apartheid regime. Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem, Hebron, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights. We found that Israel’s cruel policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion across all territories under its control clearly amount to apartheid. The international community has an obligation to act,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“There is no possible justification for a system built around the institutionalised and prolonged racist oppression of millions of people. Apartheid has no place in our world, and states which choose to make allowances for Israel will find themselves on the wrong side of history. Governments who continue to supply Israel with arms and shield it from accountability at the UN are supporting a system of apartheid, undermining the international legal order, and exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinian people. The international community must face up to the reality of Israel’s apartheid, and pursue the many avenues to justice which remain shamefully unexplored,” she continued.
In light of the systematic unlawful killings of Palestinians documented in its report, Amnesty International is also calling for the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel. This should cover all weapons and munitions as well as law enforcement equipment, given the thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been unlawfully killed by Israeli forces. The Security Council should also impose targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes, against Israeli officials most implicated in the crime of apartheid.
Read the full Report here.