Wed 02 February 2022:
The United States rejects the view that Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians constitute apartheid, the State Department said on Tuesday, after Amnesty International accused Israeli authorities of enforcing such policies, Reuters reports.
“… reject the view that Israel’s actions constitute apartheid. The Department’s own reports have never used such terminology,” State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, told reporters.
Price added: “think that it is important, as the world’s only Jewish state, that the Jewish people must not be denied their right to self-determination, and we must ensure there isn’t a double standard being applied.”
Amnesty’s accusation was leveled against Israel both within its borders and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In a report unveiled in Jerusalem, the group did not directly compare Israel to apartheid South Africa, but said it was evaluating Israel’s policies based on international conventions.
“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… must recognize that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid and other international crimes,” read the report.
Amnesty called on those actors to “use all political and diplomatic tools to ensure Israeli authorities implement the recommendations outlined in this report and review any cooperation and activities with Israel to ensure that these do not contribute to maintaining the system of apartheid.”
Ahead of the report’s release, Israel called it “false, biased, and antisemitic” and accused the organization of endangering the safety of Jews around the world. The rights group released the document despite calls from Israel to not do so.
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