Amnesty International

Expert Palestinian perspective and analysis

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

International Human Rights Organization

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Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom.

In February 2022, Amnesty accused Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinians, joining other human rights organizations that had previously accused Israel of the crime against humanity. In 2021, Human Rights Watch and B'tselem both accused Israel of apartheid for its treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

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Amnesty International mentions in this report:

  • Although Israel withdrew ground troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it maintains an illegal air, sea and land blockade on Gaza and maintains a so-called “access-restricted area” or buffer zone within Gaza. These have cut off more than 2 million Palestinians from other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the outside world for 10 years.
  • As well as controlling where Palestinians can go and who they see, Israel also controls and arbitrarily restricts their access to safe, clean water. Water consumption by Israelis is at least four times that of Palestinians living in the OPT.
  • The hundreds of Israeli military closures across the West Bank such as checkpoints, roadblocks and settler-only roads, as well as the overall permit regime, make simple daily tasks for Palestinians who are trying to get to work, school or hospital a constant struggle.

Accusations:

  • In February 2022, Amnesty International accused Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinians, joining other human rights organizations that had previously accused Israel of the crime against humanity.
  • In January 2021, B'tselem both accused Israel of apartheid for its treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
  • In April 2021, Human Rights Watch also accused Israel of apartheid.

Amnesty International mentioned in this video:

  • In 1948 when Ben Gurion visited Lifta and other areas near Jerusalem that were completely emptied from their Palestinian residents following attacks of Jewish forces he stated “There are no Arabs. One hundred percent Jews… If we persist it is quite possible that in the next six or eight months, there will be considerable changes in the country, very considerable and to our advantage”.

  • Benjamin Netanyahu posted on Instagram that Israel is not a state of all its citizens, but rather “the nation of all Jewish people and only them.”

  • In Jerusalem the Israeli official policy is to maintain at least 60% Jewish majority.

  • The fragmentation of the Palestinian society and the dispossession of their land are key pillars of Israel's apartheid system to maintain domination and control.

  • The unequal structure of nationality and status, restrictions on freedom of movement, use of military rule, denial of the right to political participation or the right to peaceful protest and cruel separation of families all add to the complex system that we see today.

  • Jewish Israelis have only one ID card with a status that grants them the right to live almost anywhere they wish in the country. They can move freely with access to health care and vast resources. Palestinians on the other hand have 4 types of ID cards if any at all. The type of ID card you’re given determines the level of rights you can enjoy and controls where you can go and what you can do.

  • To make sure Palestinian communities can’t develop any further, Israel has made it almost impossible to grant building permits for Palestinian homes. In 2020 issued 1,094 building permits for Jewish Israelis and only 1 for Palestinians.