Amnesty Says Israel Practises Apartheid in Palestine, Urges International Action

Israel's FM said that "Amnesty quotes lies spread by terrorist organisations," and accused it of antisemitism.

Four Israeli soldiers stand behind razor wire near a Palestinian village in the West Bank. Image used for representational purposes only. 

Photo: iStock

A report published by the Amnesty International states that Israel's "system of oppression and domination" over the Palestinian people is equivalent to the international definition of apartheid.

"Our report reveals the true extent of Israel’s apartheid regime. Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, 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."

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty

The report highlights certain policies practised by Israel to defend its assertion, some of which are:

• The enactment of a constitutional law enshrining Israel exclusively as the "nation state of the Jewish people."

• The dispossession and displacement of Palestinians from their homes

• Draconian movement restrictions

Israeli politicians reacted angrily to the report and demanded that it be withdrawn.

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that "Amnesty quotes lies spread by terrorist organisations," and accused the organisation of being antisemitic.

"I hate to use the argument that if Israel were not a Jewish state, nobody in Amnesty would dare argue against it, but in this case, there is no other possibility," he added.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), however, celebrated the report.

"The state of Palestine welcomes the report by Amnesty International on Israel’s apartheid regime and racist policies and practices against the Palestinian people," the foreign affairs ministry of the PA stated.

Amnesty also called on "the USA, the European Union and its member states and the UK, but also those states that are in the process of strengthening their ties – such as some Arab and African states [to] recognise that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid and other international crimes."