Don’t fall for Amnesty International’s charade on human rights in Israel

In a report entitled “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians:

Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” Amnesty International rolled out its latest attack on Israel. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it now plans to use its report to perpetuate a false and antisemitic narrative that paints

Israel as a serial abuser of human rights in the United Nations. Before this campaign continues to snowball, it’s critical we state the obvious: Amnesty International is violating the internationally recognized definition of antisemitism by using double standards and demonization to delegitimize the state of Israel.

By releasing this report, Amnesty made it very clear that the goal was not to set the record straight about human rights. The report parrots the same tired tropes of “apartheid” and “crimes” against Palestinians and Arabs that the anti-Israel mob has pushed for decades. In doing so, Amnesty International has swapped the truth for a false, twisted narrative that is harmful to Jews worldwide. The world is taking notice. Leaders of both American political parties, the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany and many other countries are standing up to Amnesty’s false narrative about Israel.

The international community should not be surprised. For the past two decades, what was once an internationally respected champion for human rights has turned against Jews. Rather than targeting systemic human rights abuses by her terrorist adversaries, Amnesty International has placed Israel in its crosshairs, chiding the Jewish state for defending itself. Amnesty went so far as to accuse the Israeli Defense Forces of using civilians as human shields. If they would take a step back, the report’s authors would realize that the real human shields are the countless Jews they are endangering with their slash-and-burn antisemitic rhetoric.

To say the least, Amnesty International’s treatment of Israel has been controversial for years. The same can easily be said about Dr. Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General. In 2013, Callamard spread a conspiracy theory on social media that Israel was responsible for the

2004 death of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Authority. Even Amnesty itself denounced Callamard’s words, and yet, in this report, the organization quotes Callamard multiple times accusing Israel of the “racist oppression of millions of people.”

In its working definition of antisemitism, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) upholds that anti-Israel double standards, such as those professed by Amnesty International, are antisemitic and place the world’s Jews in danger. There is good news though: While Amnesty smears Jews, Israel is currently home to countless Arabs who are more free, by a degree of magnitude, than they would be if they lived in Gaza or the West Bank. Israel is also protecting their rights to vote in Israeli elections and to live freely.

At the end of its report, Amnesty International demands that the United Nations impose sanctions against Israel for the “apartheid” treatment of Palestinians. By that logic, the United Nations should sanction most western-style democracies. Sounds ridiculous, right? That’s because it is. If the UN, an organization with a shameful record on human rights in the

21st century, wants to retain an ounce of its credibility, it must push back against and reject the findings of this report with vigor. If Amnesty gets what it seeks, the consequences for the region could be dire.

Amnesty International has shown the world its true colors. It is time that we call a spade a spade and fight back against the demonization and delegitimization of Israel. As a lifelong human rights activist, I can tell you: No nation is perfect. I also can tell you that Amnesty International has proven its dishonesty and bias in this report. The United Nations must immediately reject these egregious assaults on Israel and on the truth. The Jewish people have suffered enough at the hands of veiled antisemitism. If we seek to create a more peaceful and transparent world, we all must fight back against these attacks on Israel.

Amnesty International is violating the internationally recognized definition of antisemitism by using double standards and demonization to delegitimize the state of Israel.

By Bassem Eid