HRW: Apartheid ‘Israel” Committing Crimes against Palestinians 

By Staff, Agencies 

In an explosive announcement, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that “Israel” is committing the crime of "apartheid" by seeking to maintain Jewish "domination" over Palestinians and its own Arab population. 

HRW said its finding that “Israel” is "committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution" against Palestinians was based on robust sourcing including government planning materials and statements by public officials.  

The 213-page report finds that the “Israeli” government is the "single authority" with primary control "over the area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea."

Within that territory, there is "an overarching “Israeli” government policy to maintain the domination by Jewish ‘Israelis’ over Palestinians," HRW said. 

The group said its findings apply to “Israeli” treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the blockaded Gaza Strip, east Al-Quds as well as Arab in 1948 occupied lands.

HRW said that while apartheid was initially coined with respect to institutional persecution of blacks in South Africa, it was now a universally recognized legal term. 

An apartheid system is defined by "an effort to maintain domination by one racial group over another, a context of systematic oppression by the dominant group over the marginalized group [and] inhuman acts," the group said. 

Omar Shakir, “Israel” and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said that there have been warnings for years that "apartheid is around the corner."

"I think it's quite clear that that threshold has been crossed," Shakir said from Jordan. 

In response, HRW called on nations to stop viewing the occupation as an issue that can be resolved through a peace deal, and foster accountability by reconsidering their “Israel” ties, including military cooperation. 

"While much of the world treats ‘Israel's’ half-century occupation as a temporary situation that a decades-long 'peace process' will soon cure, the oppression of Palestinians there has reached a threshold and a permanence that meets the definitions of the crimes of apartheid and persecution," said HRW executive director Ken Roth. 

The group also called on the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to cease security cooperation with 'Israel' to avoid being "complicit" with apartheid.