A new United Nations report accuses
Israel of having established "an apartheid regime that oppresses and
dominates the Palestinian people as a whole
".
The publication comes amid renewed
debate about whether, through its settlement policy and rejection of
Palestinian self-determination, the Israeli government is creating - or even
has already created - a de facto "one-state", which critics warn
would constitute a form of apartheid.
It urged governments to
"support boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] activities and respond
positively to calls for such initiatives".
The report - Israeli
Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid - was
commissioned and published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western
Asia (ESCWA) and launched in Beirut.
John Reynolds, a lecturer in law at
the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, told Al Jazeera the report
"breaks new ground in the context of the UN's analysis of the situation in
Palestine".
Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon issued
a statement condemning the report late on Wednesday.
"The attempt to smear and
falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false
analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie," he said.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, when
asked about the report, said it was published without any prior consultations with
the UN Secretariat and its views do not reflect those of the secretary-general.
The report was authored by two
critics of Israeli state practice: Virginia Tilley, professor of political
science at Southern Illinois University, and Richard Falk, former UN special
rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, and
professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.
Noting how "the expert
consensus [is] that the prohibition of apartheid is universally applicable and
was not rendered moot by the collapse of apartheid in South Africa", the
report argues that Israel is
"guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of
apartheid", a "crime against humanity under customary international
law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court".
The report is a "detailed
analysis of Israeli legislation, policies and practices" that highlights
how Israel "operates an apartheid regime", including through
"demographic engineering".
Palestinian citizens of Israel are
described as "subjected to oppression on the basis of not being
Jewish", it said.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem
similarly experience "discrimination in access to education, healthcare,
employment, residency and building rights", as well as "expulsions
and home demolitions".
Palestinians in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip are governed by "military law" alongside Jewish settlers
"governed by Israeli civil law", the report said.
Palestinian refugees and exiles are
"prohibited from returning to their homes in Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territory" on the basis that they "constitute a
'demographic threat' and that their return would alter the demographic
character of Israel".
As well as urging governments to
back BDS, the report recommends that the
UN and its member states should "revive the Special Committee against
Apartheid, and the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid (1976-1991)",
which would then "report authoritatively on Israeli practices and policies
relating to the crime of apartheid".
The report also suggests an advisory
opinion be sought from the International Court of Justice "as to whether
the means used by Israel to maintain control over the Palestinian people amount
to the crime of apartheid".
David Keane, associate professor in
law at Middlesex University, said the new report differs from previous ones on
the subject because it "expressly attaches the apartheid label".
The report could contribute to an
already deteriorating relationship
between the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the
United Nations.
"For Palestinians and their
allies, the report will help to provide a solid basis for their
work," Nadia Hijab, executive director of al-Shabaka - The
Palestinian Policy Network - told Al Jazeera .
Citing the reputation and
credibility of the authors, Hijab described the report as "a clear,
concise document" whose recommendations are "timely and much needed".
