Israel slams ‘preposterous’ Human Rights Watch apartheid report
Lengthy document published on Tuesday says policies towards Palestinians within Israel, the West Bank and Gaza amount to apartheid and persecution
Michael Daventry is Jewish News’s foreign and broadcast editor
A Human Rights Watch report that characterises Israeli policies towards Palestinians as “apartheid” has drawn sharp criticism from Israel and some British Jewish groups.
The 213-page document — entitled “A Threshold Crossed” — accuses Israel of committing persecution against both Palestinian Arabs and its own Arab citizens.
Both apartheid and persecution are considered international crimes.
But Israel’s foreign ministry said Human Rights Watch was “known to have a long-standing anti-Israel agenda”, adding: “The fictional claims that HRW concocted are both preposterous and false.”
The report says actions within Israel, as well as the West Bank and Gaza, had “demonstrated an intent to maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians” as well as “systematic oppression” and “inhumane acts”.
“When these three elements occur together, they amount to the crime of apartheid,” it said.
By contrast the Zionist Federation of UK and Ireland said the report was the NGO’s “latest in a long history of attacks on Jews, Jewish self-determination and Israel, regardless of policies or borders”.
The campaign group We Believe in Israel said: “the ‘apartheid’ allegation is a lie”, while Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl said it was “a sham which puts rhetoric above fact”.
Van der Zyl added: “Israel’s Arab citizens have been appointed as ambassadors, professors, Supreme Court judges, hospital directors, and other key roles throughout Israel’s socio-economic landscape.
“Civil society organisations should be directing their efforts towards reinvigorating the peace process, not trading in false hyperbole that extends the cycle of conflict.”
Other groups adopted a more cautious tone.
A spokesperson for Yachad, the pro-peace campaign group, said: “Everyone is well within their rights to engage with the findings and to criticise the report and if they want to, vehemently reject them.
“But to try and shut down the debate by suggesting the report is full of lies and smears, without even reading the content, or indeed to paint HRW as anti-Israel or racist, does a disservice to the cause of peace and justice.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
