The Human Rights Watch released a 213-page report earlier this week titled, “A Threshold Crossed.”
The report, as noted by NPR, “accuses Israel for the first time of ‘apartheid and persecution,’ as defined by international conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the report, while Israel’s foreign ministry rejected it as “preposterous and false.”
Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director for the organization, claimed that “Israeli authorities are committing crimes against humanity of apartheid & persecution.”
International Human Rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky responded, describing the report as “outrageous.”
“This report is so absurd, riddled with such malicious lies and gross distortions of law, that it only serves to underscore HRW’s visceral Jew hatred and utter irrelevance!” he tweeted.
Today, @hrw released a major report, outrageously claiming #Israel is practicing ‘apartheid.’
This report is so absurd, riddled with such malicious lies and gross distortions of law, that it only serves to underscore HRW’s visceral Jew hatred and utter irrelevance! #HRWLies pic.twitter.com/PXZH3epBdA
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) April 27, 2021
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley described the Human Rights Watch as a “joke.”
“Human Rights Watch is such a joke. They are literally the same organization that opposed the US in our fight to reform the Human Rights Council,” she tweeted.
Human Rights Watch is such a joke. They are literally the same organization that opposed the US in our fight to reform the Human Rights Council. https://t.co/WKVsz8W09e
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 27, 2021
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, rejected the report as an attempt to “demonize, delegitimize, and apply double standards” to Israel.
“We strongly reject the disgraceful report released today by Human Rights Watch that attempts to demonize, delegitimize, and apply double standards to the State of Israel,” he tweeted.
We strongly reject the disgraceful report released today by Human Rights Watch that attempts to demonize, delegitimize, and apply double standards to the State of Israel. https://t.co/DY0KN70HES
— William Daroff (@Daroff) April 27, 2021
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), however, celebrated the announcement, saying, “We cannot continue to ignore reality.”
“This is an exhaustive, credible, and damning report from one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world, [Human Rights Watch], detailing crimes against humanity,” she tweeted. “I urge everyone to read and address the reality of modern-day apartheid.”
We cannot continue to ignore reality.
This is an exhaustive, credible, and damning report from one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world, @HRW, detailing crimes against humanity.
I urge everyone to read and address the reality of modern-day apartheid. https://t.co/noKvQqCr1j
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 28, 2021
Omar was voted as 2019’s biggest anti-Semite by StopAntisemitism.org, and has a consistent history of peddling anti-Semitic rhetoric. She has accused American Jews of possessing dual loyalty, alleged that Jews buy their influence with money, accused “evil” Israel of having hypnotized the world, supported the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and submitted a resolution in the House of Representatives comparing boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazis.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) also commented, tweeting, “Human Rights Watch officially recognizes that Israel is committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people.”
Human Rights Watch officially recognizes that Israel is committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people. @hrwhttps://t.co/PnMf7pqett
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 28, 2021
Tlaib also has a demonstrated history of anti-Semitism. She has shared and promoted rhetoric calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, including the Palestine Liberation Organization’s slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as well as cartoons mocking Holocaust victims.
She also supports the BDS movement, has spread blood libels, and described a false history of Israel, saying that the home of Judaism for thousands of years was created out of thin air in the aftermath of the Holocaust to “create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time.” Tlaib also favors a one-state “solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.