The organisation's general secretary Agnese Callamard is told she is weaponising the issue herself after making the inflammatory claim at a meeting in London on Tuesday
June 16, 2022 09:27
Amnesty International’s general secretary has claimed that those who criticise its “apartheid Israel” report are “weaponising antisemitism”.
Agnese Callamard made the inflammatory claim at a meeting in London on Tuesday billed as “Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: How to dismantle this injustice”.
Lord Carlile QC, the former government adviser on anti-terrorism, told the JC: “It’s an atrocious phrase with a terrible history and Ms Callamard should know better than to utter it. By using it she is weaponising the issue herself. We need cooler heads in discussing these issues and Amnesty’s board needs to take steps to make sure this happens.”
The logo of NGO Amnesty International projected onto the Palais Bourbon in Paris
The government’s chief antisemitism adviser, Lord Mann, told the JC: “Amnesty International is losing its influence by ruining its credibility. It looks obsessional and this undermines all its other work.”
Amnesty’s controversial report, released in February, claims that Israel practises institutional racial discrimination equivalent to apartheid South Africa. It dates back to the State of Israel’s foundation in 1948, the report said, and persists both on the West Bank and in Israel itself.
Israel’s defenders have pointed to the fact that Arab ministers and politicians are members of the ruling coalition, while non-Jewish Israelis enjoy the freedoms of a democratic state.
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Ms Callamard said the report’s critics were trying to use false claims of antisemitism to undermine free speech and stifle debate. She said: “They are calling names and refusing to engage… [this is] a form of censorship, as is the accusation of antisemitism.”
Agnès Callamard (Photo: Getty Images)
