In solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people on the occasion of Al-Quds Day May 7, 2021 This year the International human rights organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW), released a report titled ‘A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.’ The report catalogues a long chain of abuses and a systematic Israeli government policy directed at breaking the Palestinian people and eliminating any challenge to Israel’s ironclad dominance not only over the territories it forcibly occupies but also over the entire region. In pursuit of this goal, the Israeli authorities, according to the HRW report, ‘have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, these deprivations are so severe that they amount to crimes against humanity.’ The report also likens Israeli policy towards the Palestinians to apartheid, thus confirming similar conclusions made years ago by former presidents Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter. Israel being a racist and apartheid state is also the verdict of the majority of United Nations member states.