Apartheid in Israel conference
On Tuesday 31 May 2022, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians hosted a conference which brought together directors of five leading Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al Haq, B’Tselem and Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN) who have recently declared that Israel is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution according to international law.
The historic conference addressed the question as to how the international community generally and the British government specifically should respond to these findings? What are its legal obligations when it comes to occupation, settlements, trade deals, supply of arms, administrative detention, the siege on Gaza and potential corporate and state complicity in war crimes?
To watch the conference in full, play the embedded video below. Alternatively, click here to watch the full conference on Youtube.
To watch the speech of Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of B’Tselem, click the embedded video to the right. Alternatively, to read the transcript of his speech, click here.
“Human rights groups across Israeli, Palestinian, and global civil societies who come with different backgrounds, different perspectives, have virtually the same clear-eyed assessment of what the reality on the ground is.”
To watch the speech of Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, click the embedded video to the right.
“The fact, the law, and public opinion, are converging on what should lead to global action.”
To watch the speech of Solomon Sacco, Deputy Director Amnesty International’s Law and Policy Programme, click the embedded video to the right. Alternatively, to read the transcript of his speech, click here.
My mind still recoils at some of the crimes, the violence, that we described there. And it’s not getting any better. I referenced extrajudicial executions of journalists, of children; forced displacements inside Israel, in the West Bank; the horrific situation in Gaza – none of this is getting better.”
To watch the speech of Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq, click the embedded video to the right. Alternatively, to read the transcript of his speech, click here.
“The future is for justice, no doubt, and Palestinians do not have to fear the long-term future but, unfortunately, the price is high. You can make it less and you can shorten the time of this suffering.”
To watch the speech of Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, click the embedded video to the right. Alternatively, to read the transcript of his speech, click here.
But beyond that recognition, beyond accountability, we need steps to end complicity including when it comes to arms sales. So long as crimes against humanity are being committed, arms sales should end. All trade needs to be looked at, when it contributes to apartheid persecution, they need the impact on human rights to be mitigated and where they can’t those activities must end.