Posted on 04/25/21
| News Source: Algemeiner
A top watchdog group on Sunday slammed an upcoming publication by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) that accuses Israel of apartheid and demands an international legal campaign against it.
The publication — called “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” and scheduled for release on April 27 — is written by Omar Shakir, who has been denied entry to Israel due to his collaboration with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
It attacks Israel on several counts, in particular Israel’s “Law of Return,” which allows Jews from around the world to immediately claim Israeli citizenship and establish residence in the country. Enacted following the Holocaust, it is specifically designed to provide all Jews with a haven from persecution.
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The HRW publication claims the Law is part of a conspiracy to meet Israel’s “demographic goals,” which they claim are “racist” in nature.
The publication also denies that Israel has legitimate security concerns related to West Bank and Gaza Palestinians who establish residency in Israel proper.
Israel, says HRW, exploits “security as a justification to advance demographic objectives” and that “many of these abuses … have no legitimate security justifications.”
Israeli policy in this regard was, in fact, enacted due to Palestinians with Israeli identification documents using them to commit acts of terrorism.
The publication then states that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should “investigate and prosecute individuals credibly implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid or persecution.”
It also recommends sanctions on Israel and Israeli citizens and conditions on arms sales, pushes for “due diligence” in regard to trading with Israel, advocates another in a long list of United Nations investigations into Israel as well as “the role of other actors, including companies and officials of other states,” and says that “businesses active in Israel … directly contribute to the crimes of apartheid and persecution.” Read more at Algemeiner