Amnesty Report Shames Israel Under World Eyes

It is time for Israel to take heed. Regardless of what it projects and regardless of its supporters in America and the West, its leaders have to understand that the tidal wave with regard to treating Palestinians badly is changing.

More and more people globally, including international and prestigious organisations around the world are no longer able to sit and look the other way while it carries its occupation and oppressive policies against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights and against Palestinians in the sorrounding region. 

The recent report by Amnesty International is a damning narrative and a wake up call for Israel to rise above its collective amnesia and start dealing with people decently and not through the barrel of the gun if they expect to be treated fairly and with respect. If they don't do that more voices will stand up and be heard against their "apartheid" policies that are practised daily against Palestinians in occupied lands and against Arabs living in Israel who are equally discriminated against.

The last report by Amnesty titled Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity, is the latest sore thumb in Israeli eyes detailing how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinians while controlling their rights, their daily movements, taking over their land and imprisoning them whilst entangling then in a wool of laws, regulations and procedure to make their lives as difficult and miserable as possible. 

But to quote Amnesty's take: The report is comprehensive report outlining  "massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians" which "are all components of a system [that] amounts to apartheid under international law. 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.

Jewish officials like the Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are right to be angry about the report because (a) it paints a gruelling picture of Israeli occupation, domination and segregation of the other by (b) a respectable international organization like Amnesty whose sole purpose is to highlight human rights violations around the world and to fight for the protection of individuals. Lapid personally urged Amnesty to withdraw the report but "no" came to reply from its officials. 

For Amnesty to label Israeli policies on the Palestinian occupied territories as likened to "apartheid" is a big deal by an organization that is known for its objectivity and respect among many countries around the world and international forums like the United Nations. This is what Israel needs to be worried about especially since the damning report adds to a string of other pernicious practices documented  by well-known organizations like the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Israeli B'Tselem which had long stressed the cruel and oppressive laws the Palestinians are forced to live under. 

This latest Amnesty report from London is unabashed, it doesn't mince words, as clear as rain and with its Secretary-general Agnes Callamard putting it succinctly:  "Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights," she said in a statement whilst stressing "Israel's cruel policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion across all territories under its control clearly amount to apartheid."

Try to get out of this one! How should Israeli leaders begin to explain themselves when their actions are there for all to see, and is examined and dissected by a top international human rights organization whose only concern is to stop the degrading treatment of a people under subjugation. Apartheid is mentioned numerously in the report and is a great tarnish to the Israel image which it had long sought to "positively" cultivate in Europe, America and places like in African continent.  Apartheid is vile and abhorrent which many people around the world already know about and condemn. It is an operative word that is too disturbing, and now it is linked subconsciously with Israel. 

To the Israelis: Oppressive policies can't be continued to be swept under the carpet while claiming to uphold the mantra of democracy and freedom of speech. The Americans have come to know that only too well. The US support for Israel is cracking, here and there, and at the seems. While it may remain rock solid among the political establishment in Washington - although more Congressmen are becoming increasingly agitated about Israelis policies - grass-roots attitudes are changing and people are beginning to question support for the Jewish state. This may still be a long-shot yet but the wheels of change take a long time but are happening.

Whilst such reports such as those by Amnesty may not be as effectively as we would like them to be in the short-term, nevertheless, they are uncanny, serve as a pedestal to change the image of Israel in world opinion and its inhumane treatment.  At the very least, this report is a major embarrassment to the Israelis. To be linked to apartheid is the last thing Israel wants to project in the world.