‘One system, one policy’: Why Human Rights Watch is charging Israel with apartheid
The word “apartheid” has undoubtedly become a centerpiece of the mainstream public debate around Israel-Palestine this past year — and today, the once-taboo term may have received one of its biggest endorsements yet.
Human Rights Watch, a leading organization monitoring rights abuses worldwide, released a major report on Tuesday arguing that Israel is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution — both defined by the Rome Statute as crimes against humanity — on both sides of the Green Line. The 213-page report, which is accompanied by graphics co-produced with Visualizing Palestine, details the ways in which Israel is intentionally pursuing the domination of Jews over Palestinians in all parts of the land, as well as in the diaspora, regardless of their legal status.
“Every day,” the report reads, “a person is born in Gaza into an open-air prison, in the West Bank without civil rights, in Israel with an inferior status by law, and in neighboring countries effectively condemned to lifelong refugee status, like their parents and grandparents before them, solely because they are Palestinian and not Jewish.” Among other recommendations, the report calls on states to condition military aid to Israel and impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials deemed responsible for the crimes.
