UPDATE 1-Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of apartheid crimes against Palestinians Reuters 1 hr ago
By Rami Ayyub
JERUSALEM, April 27 (Reuters) - An international rights watchdog accused Israel on Tuesday of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians - and against its own Arab minority - that amount to crimes against humanity.
New York-based Human Rights Watch published a 213-page report which, it said, was not aimed at comparing Israel with apartheid-era South Africa but rather at assessing whether specific acts and policies constitute apartheid as defined under international law.
Israel s foreign ministry rejected the claims as both preposterous and false and accused HRW of harbouring an anti-Israeli agenda, saying the group had sought for years to promote boycotts against Israel .
Global rights group accuses Israel of apartheid crimes against Palestinians
Foreign Ministry rejects claims by New York-based Human Rights Watch as both preposterous and false, saying the report was initiated by a known (BDS) supporter, referring to Omar Shakir, expelled from Israel in 2019 over propaganda
Reuters |
Published: 04.27.21 , 08:41
An international rights watchdog accused Israel on Tuesday of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians - and against its own Arab minority - that amount to crimes against humanity.
New York-based Human Rights Watch published a 213-page report which, it said, was not aimed at comparing Israel with apartheid-era South Africa but rather at assessing whether specific acts and policies constitute apartheid as defined under international law.
Israeli officials fiercely object to apartheid accusations
Reuters
April 27, 2021
Palestinian demonstrators stand in front of a Jewish settlement during a protest, in Kafr Qaddum in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File Photo
An international rights watchdog accused Israel on Tuesday of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians - and against its own Arab minority - that amount to crimes against humanity.
New York-based Human Rights Watch published a 213-page report which, it said, was not aimed at comparing Israel with apartheid-era South Africa but rather at assessing whether specific acts and policies constitute apartheid as defined under international law.
Human Rights Watch, the world’s preeminent monitor of how governments treat people within their borders, has found that Israelis are guilty of apartheid.
This is far more than a rhetorical charge, detailed over 223 pages in the language of a legal dossier. Long associated with white oppression of Blacks in South Africa apartheid is, in fact, a crime against humanity, outlined in the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The statute defines apartheid as inhumane acts “committed in the context of an institutionalized oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with maintaining that regime.”
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Top Palestinian officials on Tuesday welcomed a report by Human Rights Watch that accused Israel of committing the crime of apartheid by seeking to maintain Jewish domination over Palestinians and its own Arab population.
The explosive allegations were fiercely denounced by Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for international action on what he said were “war crimes”. It is urgent for the international community to intervene, including by making sure that their states, organisations and companies are not contributing in any way to the execution of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine, he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also welcomed the report.