In addition to its historical and cultural identity, the Palestinian territories also have importance from a geostrategic point of view that the international community cannot turn away from. Although the ongoing atrocities and injustices are brought up by the international community from time to time, the system of domination and human rights violations established on these lands cannot be prevented. On the contrary, violations of rights and persecution are increasing day by day. The problems experienced in Palestine stand before us as a test of the international community that fails every time.

On 1 February 2022, Amnesty International published a report titled “Israel’s Apartheid Regime: Racial Discrimination and Crimes Against Humanity against Palestinians”, declaring Israel an “apartheid regime”. An international non-governmental organization with millions of members around the world, documenting the violations of international law and human rights by Israel in a comprehensive study, and as a result, openly accusing Israel of practicing “apartheid” aroused a public repercussion. The report was positively evaluated by some segments and criticized by some experts in different aspects, although it was found insufficient. In this article, the report published by Amnesty International will be evaluated together with its reflections on the international community and the Palestinian reality.

Israel’s Apartheid Regime

The 280-page report published by Amnesty International documents that Israel practices systematic and institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians. According to the organization, Israel has established its hegemony in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and did so with the intention of oppressing and dominating all Palestinians and “for the benefit of the Jewish Israeli population against the Palestinians”. In the report, the main components of Israel’s system of oppression and domination are regional fragmentation and legal segregation; confiscation of lands and property; circulation restrictions; restrictions on the rights to political participation and general resistance; suppressing the human development of Palestinians; deprivation of social and economic rights. In addition, the Organization concluded that Israel committed the crime of apartheid by documenting its inhuman and cruel acts against the Palestinian people, human rights violations, and crimes under international law.

The apartheid is a regime of oppression and domination institutionalized and systematically exerted by one racial group over a second racial group defined by international conventions and explicitly criminalized. Unlawful killing, torture, forced displacement, and deprivation of fundamental rights and freedoms stated in the Apartheid Convention and the Rome Statute are acts of the crime of apartheid committed against humanity.

The report noted that since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, Palestinians have been driven, dismembered, segregated, and kept under control in order to turn the demographics of the newly established state in favour of the Jews. In addition, Palestinians’ private property was confiscated, displaced Palestinian refugees were forbidden to return to their homes, and since 1950, Jews around the world have been resettled in occupied Palestinian territories under the Law of Return.

"Israel has subjected the Palestinian people to regional fragmentation by pushing the Palestinians into besieged settlements within the State of Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza strip."

Israel, which wanted to keep the Palestinian population under control and to prevent all kinds of opposition, confiscated the private properties of the Palestinians within the scope of “Judaization policies” and dispossessed them. According to the report, Israel seized 10,000 shops, 25,000 buildings and 60% of fertile land belonging to Palestinians. It has restricted Palestinians’ livelihoods, political activism, and right of residence and travel. The Palestinian population within Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has been deliberately impoverished, while Palestinian areas have been deprived of basic services such as garbage collection, electricity, public transport, and plumbing. Thus, by applying a policy of intimidation of the Palestinians, Israel wants to create economic dependence on the Israeli regime. 

Source: The Washington Post.

Within the scope of Crimes Against Humanity, the policies implemented to push Palestinians into small besieged settlements or to leave the area completely were mentioned in the report. Israeli authorities ask Palestinians for permission to even build a building or set up a tent, but often do not grant these permissions, putting the Palestinians in a stalemate. Buildings built by Palestinians for shelter are being demolished on the grounds that they are without permission. In addition, Israel arrests thousands of Palestinians, including children, and tortures detainees with torture, such as handcuffs, immobilization, sleep deprivation, threats, sexual harassment, and prolonged solitary confinement. The organization has recorded that thousands of Palestinians have been systematically, unlawfully, and arbitrarily killed and injured in Israel’s Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

At the end of the report, Amnesty International urged Israel to end all forms of discrimination, segregation and oppression policies and practices against the Palestinian people; It called to recognize equal and full human rights to all Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to their homes in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The organization accused the international community of not taking any action against Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinian people and crimes under international law. That some states have provided Israel with weapons and equipment to continue to commit crimes under international law; the report is underlined that Israel, including the UN Security Council, is diplomatically protected and has not been subjected to any sanctions other than condemnation. The report called on the international community and the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s committing the crime of apartheid. In addition, the Organization called on all governments and regional actors, especially the USA, the United Kingdom, the EU, and its member states, to refrain from strengthening the apartheid regime in Israel, not to support them in any way, and to cooperate against unlawfulness. In addition, it reiterated its call for the immediate suspension of the sale and transfer of all arms, ammunition, and other military equipment, directly or indirectly; called on states to impose and enforce a ban on products from Israeli settlements.

Does Amnesty International’s Report Really Defend the Rights of the Palestinians? Amnesty International is not the first international non-governmental organization to accuse Israel of apartheid. Prior to Amnesty’s report, Israel-based B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch also published reports proving that Israel committed the crime of apartheid, with documents and evidence. The report, which had limited effect on the international society, was condemned by Israel and Amnesty International was accused of being anti-Semitic. While the Palestinian authorities welcomed the report, Hamas said that the report revealed the tragedy experienced by the Palestinian people.

Considering the other evaluations about the report, non-governmental organizations and experts did not ignore the positive aspects of the report, but also discussed the negative and deficient aspects of the report. Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera, said the report, which was harshly condemned by Israel and its supporters, said that apartheid was not a political label; she underlined that the comprehensive analysis of the evidence against Israel’s years-long system of oppression and domination of the Palestinians is important as it shows that there is a legal conclusion.4 The major criticism of Amnesty International and previous reports by other human rights organizations is the ignoring of the context of “settler colonialism”. Calls by human rights organizations to end apartheid are limited to a liberal equality framework. While apartheid is part of settler colonialism, understanding the reality in Palestine is not possible within the framework of international law alone. According to University of New South Wale professor Lana Tatour, Palestine is not just legal; It is also a political issue. Evaluating apartheid, which is a part of settler colonialism, from a liberal perspective is one of the obstacles to the elimination of the institutions and logic of settler colonialism, that is, to the liberation of Palestine.

Amnesty International stated in its statement while publishing the aforementioned report that they did not criticize the existence of a Jewish state but demanded the recognition of the rights of all people living in their own lands and the lands under their control. Although the organization called for the blockade of Gaza and the end of the apartheid regime, it did not take a stand against Israel’s long-term military occupation. In this context, the report has been criticized for not making any reference to the Zionist ideology and institutions behind settler colonialism, and for not giving Palestinians the right to self-determination. The broad goal of apartheid is the advancement of Zionist settler colonization in Palestine and ignoring the Zionist racial ideology that drives apartheid goes beyond the liberal pursuit of equality and obscures the reality of colonization. This situation misses the fact that the Palestinian people are exposed not only to racial discrimination but also to the pressures of colonial rule.

Conclusion

This report published by Amnesty International has a significant impact on the the Palestinian people, for whom the international community remains blind, deaf, and dumb despite international law. The report’s examination of Israel’s crimes against humanity under international law, based on evidence, and the conclusion that Israel clearly implements an apartheid regime, within the framework of international law, is an important step in presenting the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine to the conscience of the international community. In addition, the report’s criticism of the international community and its organs regarding the silence on Israel’s unlawful acts can be a step to mobilize the conscience of the international community. However, the fact that the report does not mention the right of self-determination to the Palestinians and that Israel’s legitimacy as a colonial state is not questioned reveals the contradictions of the report itself. While Amnesty International calls for Israel to end apartheid, ignoring that Israel is a settler-colonial state, in a way nullifies this call. Reducing the problem only to the lack of human rights and ignoring the long-term goals of the Zionist ideology on Palestine also undermine the authenticity of the report.

Amnesty International, as an international non-governmental organization, has shown its reaction to the crimes against humanity committed by Israel, along with its contradictions and shortcomings, and has shown its support for the Palestinian people. Although it is unlikely that the organization’s call on the international community will pay off, it is valuable in terms of exposing the persecution of the Palestinian people. The determination of the points of misreading of the Israeli-Palestinian context in the context of this report by research institutions and experts working on Palestine should be considered by human rights organizations. It will be possible to demand the true freedom of the Palestinian people first by questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel and analyzing the logic of settler colonialism.

References

Abo Rezeg, Ali. “Israel enforcing ‘apartheid’ system on Palestinias”. Anadolu Agency, 01 Şubat 2022. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-enforcing-apartheid-system-on-palestinians-amnesty/2490782.

Assad, Soheir, ve Rania Muhareb. “Dismantle What? Amnesty’s Conflicted Messaging on Israeli Apartheid”. Institute for Palestine Studies, 15 Şubat 2022. https://www.palestine-studies.org/ en/node/1652565/en.

Bishara, Marwan. “Israel’s apartheid and the myth of the democratic Jewish state”. AlJazeera, 08 Şubat 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/2/8/israels-apartheid-and-the-myth-of-the-democratic-jewish-state.

Hawari, Yara. “Amnesty Is Right: Israel Is an Apartheid State”. Tribune, 01 Şubat 2022. https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/02/amnesty-international-report-israel-palestine-apartheid-human-rights.

AlJazeera. “Israel imposing ‘apartheid’ on Palestinians: Amnesty”, 01 Şubat 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/1/israel-carrying-out-apartheid-against-palestinians-amnesty.

“Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity”. London, UK: Amnesty International. Erişim 15 Mart 2022. https://www.amnesty.org.tr/public/ uploads/files/Rapor/Israels-Apartheid-Against-Palestinians-MDE1551412022.pdf.

Tatour, Lana. “Amnesty report: The limits of the apartheid framework”. Middle East Eye, 08 Şubat 2022. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-amnesty-apartheid-report-limits-framework.

Tatour, Lana. “Why calling Israel an apartheid state is not enough”. Middle East Eye, 18 Ocak 2021. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-calling-israel-apartheid-state-not-enough.