Israeli Government Operates an Apartheid Regime

March/April 2022 Postcard

Downloadable PDF (219.22 KB)

Cut and paste html (for emailing your Sen. or Rep.)

DEAR PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN:

On February 1, Amnesty International joined a growing number of independent human rights groups in determining that the Israeli government operates an apartheid regime. Despite its well-documented evidence, the U.S. government rejected the Amnesty report. As Associated Press diplomatic reporter Matt Lee pointed out in a question to State Department spokesman Ned Price, the U.S. government has endorsed Amnesty’s human rights reports on Burma, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Ethiopia, China and numerous other countries. Yet, Lee noted, it seems no amount of evidence ever suffices for the U.S. to question Israel. It’s time for the U.S. to face the facts: Israel is an apartheid government that overtly violates any number of international laws. Instead of devoting countless hours of diplomatic muscle toward cynically defending Israel, the U.S. should use its signif- icant leverage to push the country toward being the democracy it claims to be.

DEAR SENATOR:

On February 1, Amnesty International joined a growing number of independent human rights groups in determining that the Israeli government operates an apartheid regime. Despite its well-documented evidence, the U.S. government rejected the Amnesty report. As Associated Press diplomatic reporter Matt Lee pointed out in a question to State Department spokesman Ned Price, the U.S. government has endorsed Amnesty’s human rights reports on Burma, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Ethiopia, China and numerous other countries. Yet, Lee noted, it seems no amount of evidence ever suffices for the U.S. to question Israel. It’s time for the U.S. to face the facts: Israel is an apartheid government that overtly violates any number of international laws. Instead of devoting countless hours of diplomatic muscle toward cynically defending Israel, the U.S. should use its signif- icant leverage to push the country toward being the democracy it claims to be.

DEAR REPRESENTATIVE:

On February 1, Amnesty International joined a growing number of independent human rights groups in determining that the Israeli government operates an apartheid regime. Despite its well-documented evidence, the U.S. government rejected the Amnesty report. As Associated Press diplomatic reporter Matt Lee pointed out in a question to State Department spokesman Ned Price, the U.S. government has endorsed Amnesty’s human rights reports on Burma, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Ethiopia, China and numerous other countries. Yet, Lee noted, it seems no amount of evidence ever suffices for the U.S. to question Israel. It’s time for the U.S. to face the facts: Israel is an apartheid government that overtly violates any number of international laws. Instead of devoting countless hours of diplomatic muscle toward cynically defending Israel, the U.S. should use its signif- icant leverage to push the country toward being the democracy it claims to be.

Every day, citizen journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and elsewhere document Israeli violations of human rights and international law. The settler attacks, home demolitions, arrests of children, destruction of farm land, excessive bombing campaigns, etc. are well-documented across social media for all to see. And yet, the U.S. chooses to close its eyes and pretend such existential attacks on the dignity of the Palestinian people do not take place. It’s an exercise in dishonesty that parallels the most brazen propaganda campaigns in history. At some point the U.S. must stop humiliating itself and insulting the integrity of its citizens and the world. It’s time for Washington to stop defending the indefensible. It’s time to stop pretending Israel is not a settler colonial state with apartheid policies. It’s time for a U.S. Israel policy grounded in reality, human decency and international law.