Amnesty International report brands Israel an apartheid state
SMA NEWS – LONDON
A damning new report by Amnesty International has branded Israel an apartheid regime, accusing the country of committing crimes against humanity.
And the organization has called for a full investigation into Israeli actions by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The report, released on Tuesday, said: “Israeli authorities must be held accountable.
“Massive 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 which amounts to apartheid under international law.”
Human Rights Watch has also accused Israel of being an apartheid regime.
Amnesty International said: “This system is maintained by violations which Amnesty International found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention.”
Apartheid has been defined as, “an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination by one racial group over another.” Amnesty International highlighted a host of actions and systems put in place by Israel that amounted to apartheid.
Within that system, it pointed out that Palestinians in the occupied territories and those with Israeli citizenship were treated as a “demographic threat,” adding that the Israeli regime had “pursued a policy of establishing and then maintaining a Jewish demographic majority and maximizing control over land and resources to benefit Jewish Israelis.”
Widespread and systemic dispossession of land was also noted as a key indicator that Palestinians were living under an apartheid regime.
“Since its establishment, the Israeli state has enforced massive and cruel land seizures against Palestinians and continues to implement myriad laws and policies to force Palestinians into small enclaves,” Amnesty International said.
