Sir, – The recent letter from Dr Derek O'Flynn of the Israeli embassy (Letters, February 3rd) misrepresents not just Amnesty International's recent report on Israel's apartheid against Palestinians but also, unsurprisingly, the experiences of Palestinians under this system. Some of the accusations against Amnesty are clearly absurd attempts to deflect attention away from what the report actually reveals.
Let us be frank in response. Through four years of rigorous and extensive research on laws, policies and practices, we have documented in detail how Israeli authorities continue to treat Palestinians as an inferior racial group and systematically deprive them of their rights.
The reality is that this cruel system of domination and oppression is apartheid. We conclude that it is enforced against all Palestinians living under the effective control of Israel – whether in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or in other countries as refugees.
Any amount of attempts to deflect attention will not change the overwhelming amount of evidence the research provides. And it will not change the lived realities of the Palestinian people.
Far from singling out Israel, a brief glance at our website shows that Amnesty reports on human rights violations wherever they occur and whomever is responsible. Indeed, our research has previously found that the Myanmar government subjects the Rohingya people to a system of apartheid. It is extremely easy to find our work on Syria, Iran, and yes, our work on violations by Palestinian groups as well. Again, absurd attempts to deflect which will not work.
It is true that the findings of our report may shock and disturb. Indeed, they should. There is no place and no excuse for apartheid in our world. It is a crime against humanity, and it has to end.
Rather than trying to evade scrutiny by diverting attention away from our findings, we would ask the Israeli authorities to confront the substance of our assessment. – Yours, etc,
COLM O’GORMAN,
Executive Director,
Amnesty International
Ireland, Dublin 2.