Missing context regarding international consensus of Israeli apartheid

"B’Tselem, Israel's largest human rights organization, also issued a report in 2021 that positioned Israel as an apartheid state. The list of international organizations and figures who have expressed concern for Israeli apartheid is long and encompasses all the major international and Israeli human rights organizations."


March 31, 2023

To:

 

Emma Farge, Journalist, Reuters

Brian Moss, Reporting Standards, Reuters

Steve Bartlett, Senior Managing Editor, Saltwire

Dear Ms. Farge, Mr. Moss, and Mr. Bartlett,  

I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express my concern regarding the article “Israel is on 'rampage' against human rights, new HRW chief says” authored by Emma Farge of Reuters and published by Saltwire on March 30, 2023.

I appreciate your inclusion of critical voices on international human rights such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) Executive Director Tirana Hassan and U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. However, your article fails to accurately frame the international consensus that Israel is an apartheid state, as documented by activists, human rights groups, and non-profit organizations – which you neglect to include.

Your article portrays HRW’s claim of apartheid as a lone voice – a framing which is very misrepresentative. In 2022, Amnesty International published a report titled Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity about Israeli policies that constitute apartheid as defined by the 1973 UN Apartheid Convention and the 1998 Rome Statute. In addition, over 20 Israeli human rights groups including Peace Now and Adalah issued a statement in December 2022 that warned of the devastating impact of Israeli apartheid. B’Tselem, Israel's largest human rights organization, also issued a report in 2021 that positioned Israel as an apartheid state. The list of international organizations and figures who have expressed concern for Israeli apartheid is long and encompasses all the major international and Israeli human rights organizations.

I insist that you update your article to highlight that claims of Israel as an apartheid state are shared by virtually all human rights groups. I ask that you specifically mention Amnesty International and its 2022 report as well as B’Tselem’s report – links to which I have provided.

I hope to see these updates promptly made. Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.

Sincerely,

Tayla Shair

Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East