{"id":117523,"date":"2024-12-06T17:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117523"},"modified":"2024-12-06T17:01:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:01:35","slug":"07-00-105","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117523","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deplorable Blood Libel\u2019: Amnesty International Under Fire for Accusing Israel of Genocide in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>\u2018Deplorable Blood Libel\u2019: Amnesty International Under Fire for Accusing Israel of Genocide in Gaza<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Debbie Weiss<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 5, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces\/Handout via REUTERS<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza during its war against the Hamas terrorist group<\/a>, a claim Jerusalem dismissed as an \u201cantisemitic blood libel\u201d and a legal expert slammed as \u201cpropaganda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a report released on Thursday which was almost 300 pages, the human rights organization claimed Israel aimed to systematically destroy Palestinian communities in Gaza by launching lethal strikes, dismantling infrastructure, and obstructing humanitarian aid, including food and medicine. The allegations framed Israel\u2019s military campaign as unjustifiable, even in light of Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7 massacre, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered and more than 250 others were taken hostage into Gaza last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,\u201d Amnesty International chief Agn\u00e8s Callamard said in the report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel responded by saying<\/a> the report was \u201centirely false.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,\u201d Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watchdog group NGO Monitor accused Amnesty International of publishing the report as part of a bid to strengthen the lawfare efforts led by South Africa<\/a> and its allies before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as the \u201cpathological propaganda of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and other political actors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAmnesty\u2019s report and recommendations \u2026 are not a credible, unbiased, carefully considered analysis of the complex circumstances inherent in the Gaza conflict,\u201d the group said.<\/span><\/p>\n

NGO Monitor\u2019s legal adviser Anne Herzberg told The Algemeiner<\/em> that the organization had in the past expressed opposition to Israel\u2019s existence as a Jewish state, and as such \u201ceverything they do in this report has to be seen within that context.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The report\u2019s selective omissions, which include downplaying or ignoring clear evidence of Hamas\u2019s operations in areas targeted<\/a> by Israeli strikes, were designed \u201cto paint a picture of Israeli malevolence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Herzberg further accused Amnesty of fabricating a definition of genocide tailored exclusively to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that Amnesty invented a definition for genocide because they did the exact same thing when it came to apartheid,\u201d Herzberg said, referencing a 2022 report by the organization accusing Israel of \u201cmaintaining a system of apartheid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The report\u2019s dishonesty was particularly egregious, Herzberg said, because it failed to disclose this redefinition until page 101 \u2014 a point most readers are unlikely to reach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey know almost no one is going to get that far into the report to notice that they say that,\u201d Herzberg said, adding that the main purpose of the report isn\u2019t accuracy but \u201cpropaganda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Amnesty Israel, the organization\u2019s local chapter, distanced itself from the report, stating that while the devastation in Gaza had reached \u201ccatastrophic proportions,\u201d it did not meet the legal definition of genocide. Members of the branch criticized the global office<\/a> for reaching what they described as a \u201cpredetermined conclusion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Herzberg, the parent organization \u201cdecided months ago they wanted to write a genocide report and then cobbled together some made up allegations in order to fit that definition because the point is to demonize Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Amnesty International\u2019s report outlined numerous recommendations urging the international community to exert intense pressure on Israel \u2014 including the immediate halt of all military aid to the country \u2014 but failed to make any mention of pressuring Hamas to release the hostages<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry has said that 44,000 Palestinians have been killed. These figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The Israel Defense Forces estimates that approximately 19,000 Hamas operatives have been killed, suggesting a combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio that is far lower than in other recent conflicts, such as those in Afghanistan and against Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other critics of the report also argued Amnesty\u2019s bar for declaring genocide was misguided, noting widely recognized historical examples of genocide such as the Holocaust for comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n

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