Israel’s Amnesty Exec Excoriates Organization Over Apartheid Accusation

Molly Malekar, the executive director of Amnesty International Israel, has slammed the international human rights group for its recent report, released February 1, accusing Israel of apartheid. Interviewed by Zman Yisrael, the Hebrew-language edition of The Times of Israel, said the document would not help the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories and could make it worse. Malekar said that in the human rights community, there was “serious debate” over whether the situation in Israel and the territories could be defined as apartheid, but that the organization should not concern itself with theoretical definitions. In publishing a report, “the only important question is what are you trying to achieve by it.” The Times of Israel reported her as saying that the work of humanitarian activists in Israel went unrecognized in Amnesty’s report and that the report would prevent dialogue. She rejected the accusation that Amnesty ignored human rights abuses in Arab countries, but said that in the recent report, its criticism of Israel was “exaggerated.” And while the organization was not, in her view, antisemitic, its criticism of antisemitism was “not enough, and sometimes I feel that it needs to be pressured into action [on the issue].” Malekar was particularly critical of the attitude toward Palestinian citizens of Israel in Amnesty’s report: “They are treated as perpetual, passive victims of apartheid, devoid of any rights and agency,” she said. “They [Amnesty] turn them into victims, into an object. This is neither true nor helpful.” She acknowledged that Arab Israelis suffered from discrimination, but said, “They have rights, some in key positions; they are campaigning and influencing, and this should be recognized, appreciated and encouraged.” Finally, Malekar asserted that she was not alone in her views, but that many who were working to secure the basic rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel felt the same way.