Amnesty International’s report accusing Israel of practicing the international crime of “apartheid” in its treatment of Palestinians drew fierce criticism and angry response from Jewish organizations and the authorities in Israel, which has denounced it as anti-Semitic even before its publication Tuesday.
The report claims that Israel has established and maintained a Jewish demographic hegemony by pursuing an explicit policy and maximizing its control over the land to benefit Jewish Israelis since its establishment in 1948.
The report was denounced as “false and biased” in Israel even before it was formally released, with Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat accusing Amnesty of using double standards and demonization to delegitimize Israel’s existence as the homeland of the Jewish people, which are the exact components the modern antisemitism is made of.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid branded Amnesty as another radical organization that echoes propaganda with no serious examination, accusing it of being likely motivated by anti-Semitism and of quoting lies spread by terrorist organizations instead of seeking facts.
Joining the fierce criticism of the report from overseas were several Jewish groups in the US, including the American Israel Israeli Public Affairs Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, which issued a joint statement accusing Amnesty’s report of fueling anti-Semites around the world while cheapening and downplaying at the same time the apartheid-caused horrific suffering in South Africa.
Even the German branch of Amnesty added a disclaimer when posting the report saying that it will not plan or carry out any activities based on it so it can prevent the possible instrumentalization or misinterpretation of the report, considering rising anti-Semitic attacks in Germany as well as the history of the Holocaust.
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