Europeans for al-Quds welcomes Amnesty’s report and calls for holding Israel accountable for its violations
Europeans for al-Quds Association welcomes Amnesty International’s report that provided compelling evidence that Israel has committed the crime of apartheid against the Palestinians. It also considers it an important document that intersects with many similar reports on the Israeli apartheid practices against the Palestinians.
The Association condemns the Israeli campaign of incitement against the organization, which comes as part of a systematic Israeli policy against human rights defenders.
The comprehensive report issued on Tuesday, February 1, by Amnesty International, entitled Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity, sets out how 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.
The report is an essential legal document for a credible and professional international organization, which shows with damning evidence that the violations committed by the Israeli authorities constitute apartheid and a crime against humanity as defined in the Rome Statute and the International Convention for the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention).
Amnesty International’s findings build on a growing body of work by many human rights organizations, including the reports issued by Europeans for al-Quds, which document violations in occupied Jerusalem, as well as reports issued by New York-based Human Rights Watch, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and Al Mezan Center For Human Rights.
These reports and positions demonstrate the existence of a legal consensus on the fact that Israel operates an apartheid regime, which is almost the only one in this way in the modern era.
We strongly deplore the Israeli incitement against Amnesty, which reflects an Israeli policy aimed at undermining any international legal or even domestic effort that seeks to remind the world of facts on the ground.
The attempt to stigmatize Israel against critics of its policies, such as terrorism or anti-Semitism, including human rights defenders, are worthless attempts to divert attention from its violations.
Amnesty’s report comes one day before Europeans for al-Quds’ conference entitled Jerusalem 2021: Judaization sparks confrontations. The conference reviews Israel’s violations in Jerusalem during 2021, which concluded that the Israeli occupation pursues policies based on racial discrimination and amount to ethnic cleansing to tighten control over the occupied city and change its identity and character.
Europeans for al-Quds urges the European Union countries to break out of the cycle of silence and assume their responsibilities to stop Israeli violations, support the Palestinians’ access to their rights, and have a more influential role in ending the worst apartheid regime in the modern era.
Therefore, the international community and its relevant institutions are urged to take practical steps to ensure that Israel is held accountable for these crimes and change this reality into a future based on equality, a guarantee of rights, and respect for human rights.
Europeans for al-Quds
February 2, 2022
