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01.02.2022

The Zionist Federation condemns Amnesty International’s report focusing on Israel which was published earlier today. We have found it to be biased, hostile, and consistently applying unfair standards to Israel no other country is subjected to. We were particularly disappointed by the almost absolute omission of apportioning any responsibility to Palestinian terrorist groups with long and egregious histories of human rights abuses and breaches of international law, both within the areas they control and Israel.

This report makes consistent allegations of apartheid which are unfounded, inaccurate, and ultimately a slur intended to weaken Israel’s standing. A failure to fully recognise the rights and liberties enjoyed by Israel’s growing number of Arab citizens further undermines this claim, and indeed report as a whole. The inclusion of an Arab party within the current coalition government is hardly a behaviour indicative of being an apartheid state.

Perhaps most alarmingly, though, is how Amnesty International uses this report to attack the very fabric of Israel’s existence and calls for its dismantling. This implies, as per the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s widely recognised definitions of antisemitism that Amnesty International is an antisemitic organisation.

Richard P Woolf, Acting Chair of the Zionist Federation says: “NGOs monitoring and promoting universal human rights do important work in difficult and often dangerous circumstances which we can only commend. Having said that, this report marks perhaps an all-time low for Amnesty International. It has crossed the shameful line of antisemitism, and shows no remorse or contrition in doing so.
No democracy is perfect, and Israel certainly has work to do to improve the lot of its minority of Arab citizens. However, this is no excuse to parrot antisemitism disguised as concern for human rights. This behaviour does not behove what was once such a well-regarded organisation, and actually weakens the rest of Amnesty International’s work.”

ENDS