Amnesty rebuffs Congress, urges US to pressure Israel over ‘apartheid policies’

Middle East Eye



[Rights group rejects criticism from US Congress against its report
labelling Israel an apartheid state]

MEE Staff
Feb. 3, 2022

Amnesty International has called on the United States to pressure
Israel "to repeal discriminatory laws and policies" and to "review"
its military aid to the country, days after the rights group released
a landmark report calling Israel an apartheid state.

In a statement, Amnesty's USA chapter appeared to push back against
criticism from members of Congress against the findings of its report
and said Washington was in a "uniquely placed" position to pressure
Israel into repealing certain discriminatory policies that have been
levied against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territories.

"We encourage all members of Congress to use the full power of their
office to advance human rights for all by calling for a thorough
review of US security aid to Israeli forces to determine whether such
aid has been used in the commission of violations," the rights group
said.

"By conditioning security aid appropriated to Israel on an end to
violations of international humanitarian law and improvements in
respect for human rights.”

The statement comes just a few days after Amnesty labelled Israel an
apartheid state, saying its policies "benefit Jewish Israelis while
restricting the rights of Palestinians".

Amnesty became the latest rights group to join a cadre of
organisations that have used the term to describe Israel's
discriminatory treatment of Palestinians.

The organisation highlighted crimes Israel has committed that fall
under the definition of apartheid, such as the forcible transfer of
Palestinians; Israel's destruction of homes and land owned by
Palestinians; and the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians
"without charge or trial".

In its report, Amnesty called on the UN Security Council to "impose
targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes, against Israeli officials
most implicated in the crime of apartheid, and a comprehensive arms
embargo on Israel.'

Accusations of slander and misinformation

The report, however, was met with immediate and fierce opposition from
Israeli officials and leaders, as well as the Biden administration
which rejected the apartheid label on Israel, a close and
long-standing US ally.

A number of members of US Congress across both parties also attacked
the report, including Republican Senators Jim Risch; Marco Rubio; and
James Lankford; and Democratic Senators Bob Menendez; Chuck Schumer;
and Congressman Ritchie Torres.

Menendez, who heads the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
accused Amnesty of "slander" and  "misinformation".

Schumer, the Senate majority leader, told Jewish Insider:
"Delegitimizing the existence of the State of Israel – a fellow
democracy and the world’s only Jewish state – as Amnesty does in its
report, brings the parties no closer to peace, but simply hardens the
extremes who do not wish to ever see a two-state solution where
Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace, freedom, security and
prosperity."

Amnesty dismissed the criticism of the report and accusations of
antisemitism levelled at the group.

"Amnesty's research, campaigns, advocacy and statements pertaining to
Israel are focused on the actions of the Israeli government - they are
not, and never will be, a condemnation of Judaism or the Jewish
people," the group said.

"Furthermore, we condemn anyone who would cynically cite our research
as justification for committing anti-Semitic acts of hatred and
violence. Amnesty International condemns anti-Semitism in the
strongest possible terms," the statement said.