February 1 2022
- PSC welcomes Amnesty International’s landmark report asserting Israeli apartheid is a “system of domination and a crime against humanity” practiced in the OPT, Israel and against Palestinian refugees.
- Report calls for arms embargo, targeted sanctions, ICC investigation among a series of concrete recommendations for the international community.
- Provides specific recommendations for how apartheid system can be dismantled, including Right of Return for refugees and equal rights for all Palestinians living in Israel and OPT.
After four years of research, Amnesty International, the world’s leading human rights organisation, has today released a 280 page report detailing “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity” for which ”Israeli authorities must be held accountable.”
Palestine Solidarity Campaign Director, Ben Jamal, says: “Amnesty’s report is comprehensive, forensic and devastating in its conclusions. Its release means that the world’s two leading human rights monitoring organisations, and Israel’s own leading human rights organisation have all now affirmed what Palestinian civil society has been asserting for decades. That Israel is guilty of apartheid, a crime against humanity. Those who continue to treat Israel as a normal functioning democracy, and to shield it from accountability for its crimes are complicit in the crime of apartheid and on the wrong side of history. PSC welcomes the recommendations that Amnesty outlines – including targeted sanctions, an arms embargo, an investigation by the International Criminal Court, the exercise of universal jurisdiction, the right of return of refugees and the granting of equal rights to everyone living under Israeli jurisdiction – and calls on the UK government to take immediate action, including ending the two-way arms trade with Israel.”
Amnesty International’s Recommendations for Justice & Accountability
- All states should exercise universal jurisdiction to bring perpetrators of apartheid crimes to justice.
- The International Criminal Court should consider the crime of apartheid in its current investigations.
- UN Security Council should impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.
- UN Security Council should impose targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes, against Israeli officials most implicated in the crime of apartheid.
- An end to home demolitions and forced evictions.
- Granting of equal rights to all Palestinians in Israel and the OPT.
- Recognition of the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes where they or their families once lived.
- Full reparations for victims of human rights violations and crimes against humanity.
- States that are party to the Apartheid Convention have an obligation to exercise universal jurisdiction.
PSC is available for comment. For further information, please contact:
Omar at [email protected]