Sir, – Despite the protests of its defenders (Colm O'Gorman, Letters, February 5th and Bill Shipsey, "Amnesty report alleging Israeli apartheid deserves a hearing", Opinion & Analysis, February 5th), Amnesty International's report accusing Israel of "apartheid" is fatally flawed. Israel is not perfect, and suffers from the same societal issues and inequalities as any other democracy, but it has been accused, tried and convicted by Amnesty on false grounds.
Not only does the Amnesty report misrepresent facts, laws and definitions, including misleading statements on land ownership, the right of return, and Arab participation in politics and armed service in Israel, it whitewashes Palestinian terror and dismisses Israel’s duty to protect its citizens – Jews, Arabs and other minorities – from rocket attacks, stabbings, shootings and car-rammings.
The report also chooses to ignore the fact that the security barrier, far from being an example of apartheid, was erected as a direct response to waves of suicide bombings during the Second Intifada. In 2002 alone, the year prior to its construction, 457 Israelis were slaughtered.
The report deliberately fails to acknowledge that Israel’s defensive actions of 1948 and 1967 were a direct response to wars initiated by Israel’s neighbours, and erases from history, Israel’s repeated attempts to achieve a negotiated peace amid successive Palestinian rejections. It ignores the fact that Israel cannot solve the Israel-Palestine situation unilaterally, and that it lacks a genuine Palestinian partner with whom to negotiate.
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Despite all this, Israel remains a robust democracy that grants its Arab and other minority citizens full and equal rights under the law. This includes an Arab Muslim nationalist party as part of its governing coalition, as well as a history of senior Arab Israeli government ministers, a Supreme Court justice, judges, diplomats, defence force officers and Knesset members. Arabs also work at the highest levels within other areas of government, healthcare, education and business.
The governments of the US, UK, Czech Republic, Australia, Germany and others have rejected the Amnesty report and condemned the “apartheid” designation, while an Amnesty Israel director, Tal Gur-Arye, has argued that the framework, methodology and conclusions are flawed and that the apartheid designation is not supported by international law.
It is indeed tragic that at a time when many Arab countries are developing closer ties with Israel and relations between Arabs and Jews are flourishing in many parts of the Middle East, Amnesty should produce a report that sows division, forges distrust, and inflames existing tensions.
The Amnesty report should be dismissed outright by those who wish to pursue genuine justice, and by those who are working towards a true and lasting peace for all people groups throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. – Yours, etc,
JACKIE GOODALL,
Executive Director,
Ireland Israel Alliance,
Dublin 2