Landmark report shows Europe's priorities are failing Palestinians
Originally published 6 February 2022 in the Scottish paper The National on Sunday
A Palestinian protester carries a young man away from the scene of confrontations with Israeli security forces
LAST week, I attended a press conference in Jerusalem where senior staff from Amnesty International released a landmark report on Israel’s Apartheid Against the Palestinian people. The report, in its 280 pages, described how Israeli authorities enforce a cruel system of “oppression and domination” against the Palestinian people. It called for an end of apartheid, and for Israeli authorities to be held accountable for the well defined crime against humanity of apartheid.
In her opening statement, Dr Agnes Callamard, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, began by addressing a vicious smear that targeted the organisation as soon as news of the incoming report surfaced. She lamented how Israeli officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, falsely accused Amnesty International of being an “anti-semitic” organisation.
Dr Callamard was passionate in her defence. She said: “we present meticulous evidence, four years in the making, rigorously researched […] with the best legal scholars on apartheid”. She refused to be silenced by what she described as “baseless attacks, barefaced lies, and fabrications”.
Israeli government officials were not alone in falsely accusing Amnesty of anti-semitism. Many politicians in Europe and the UK rejected the report, saying it “encourages a worrying rise of anti-semitism in Europe”. The Board of Deputies of British Jews even accused Amnesty of “stoking anti-Jewish hate”. In the UK, the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of anti-semitism is being used to stifle the report as it falsely equates any criticism of Israeli policies to anti-semitism.
I found this dismissal of discourse on Palestinians’ human rights, my human rights, to be insulting. It is appalling that in this day, many in Europe seem to priotise Israel’s “Jewishness” over Palestinian rights. In no way will I accept my human dignity and the rights of my people to be bound by such cynicism.
I sat there recalling how frivolous accusations of “anti-semitism” have for decades cheapened the term and detracted from what it truly stood for. I remembered how, for years, our campaigning to raise awareness of Israeli apartheid was targeted by similar cynical smears.
A decade ago, I began a four-year journey as a student at the University of Dundee. As students, we organised on campus to raise awareness about the situation in Palestine. We coordinated with other student groups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and elsewhere in the country. Annually, we held an event called “Israeli Apartheid Week” during the month of March. We had hoped to amplify our message: We demand for Israel to be held accountable, for the UK Government to end complicity in Israeli apartheid, and for an end to decades of injustice inflicted against the Palestinian people while the world watched in silence.
British defence contractors sell record amounts of arms to Israel; that was fact. We called for an arms embargo on Israel. Today, Amnesty International joins us in calling on governments to stop the sale of arms to Israel.
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the International Criminal Court for investigating War Crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. We Palestinians see this as complicity in apartheid. Amnesty is clear in demanding Israeli authorities be held accountable, regardless of what a politician like Boris Johnson wishes to say.
As students, we were often attacked and faced organised efforts to silence us. Our campaigns to raise awareness on apartheid demanded a lot of effort and dedication by students all over the country.
Today, it is different. We feel vindicated. Today, major international human rights organizations have backed up what we had been saying for decades. Our struggle against Israeli apartheid is now being mainstreamed. More people are learning that Israel is not a democracy, but rather an entity that survives on cruel domination and control of the Palestinians.
Since graduating from Dundee, I had returned to live and work in Jerusalem. On the ground, I’ve witnessed the situation deteriorate to unimaginable levels. Many of us faced despair and hopelessness. However, moments like this spark hope for a better future.
When we see thousands marching in solidarity with the Palestinians, whether in Glasgow or London, we learn that we are not alone in facing Israel’s cruel system of apartheid and political persecution. We ask you to listen to us, amplify our voices, and demand for accountability to end apartheid.
