Amnesty Warns of Israeli Violence Aimed at Forcing Palestinians from West Bank
The London-based human rights group urged governments to impose sanctions on Israeli officials implicated in serious violations of international law, prohibit trade with illegal Israeli settlements and suspend weapons and security equipment supplies to Israel.
The statement followed a series of recent attacks by Israeli occupiers against Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, as well as European diplomats and an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post.
“Amnesty International has long been sounding the alarm over the exponential rise in state-driven settler violence against Palestinians, which has sought, through terror-inspiring means, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the occupied West Bank,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“This rise of violence has been fuelled by the international community’s persistent failure to take meaningful action against the very system enabling the continued oppression of Palestinians,” she added.
“Attacks are not isolated acts, but a central policy of the Israeli state,” Morayef said.
She called on governments to take practical steps to fulfill their obligations under international law and ensure they do not become complicit in violations or crimes committed against Palestinians.
Amnesty also demanded an end to trade, investment and other forms of cooperation “that contribute to maintaining the unlawful occupation, apartheid and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
Morayef criticized senior Israeli officials and political candidates across the country’s political spectrum for attempting to portray attacks by occupiers “as the work of a few individuals.”
She described these characterizations as a serious distortion of the situation in light of what she called “state-sponsored brutality.”
“These attacks must generate a strong response by states that claim to oppose Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory,” she added.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. Israeli settlements in the occupied territory are considered illegal under international law.
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