Human rights group says Israel imposing 'apartheid' on Palestine

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. In a new report released by the group, Israeli authorities are described as committing apartheid against the people of Palestine.

According to Al Jazeera, the rights group’s latest report echoes that of other rights groups regarding Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The 280-page report from Amnesty International cited how the Israeli authorities are enforcing a system of oppression and discrimination against Palestinians.

The report listed a range of abuses by the Israeli authorities, including seizures of lands and property of Palestinians, killings, forcible transfer, movement restrictions, administrative detention, and denying of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians. The report described these abuses as parts of a system that may be equal to apartheid under international law.

“This system is maintained by violations which Amnesty International found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity,” said the group in a statement.

Israel’s alternate prime minister and foreign minister Yair Lapid dismissed the report by the group. Lapid said the report was “divorced from reality” and accused Amnesty of making the same talking points as terrorist organizations. Lapid also accused the rights group of having an anti-Semitic agenda.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor chairman Ramy Abdu said that Israel has accused its own critics of its human rights violations of being anti-semitic. Abdu noted that the accusation is not only being aimed towards those who are critical of Israel but also towards those who have a neutral stance.

Thomas Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, also objected to the report, including US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

In other related news, Israel has taken action against two of its officers, stripping them of their command, while a third officer is to be reprimanded when an elderly Palestinian man died during his arrest and assault by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Palestinian authorities welcomed the probe into the circumstances involving the death of 78-year-old Omar Abdulmajeed Asaad last month. Asaad was also a US passport holder. The authorities then called on Israel Tuesday to probe all deaths of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli troops and not just those who hold US passports.