Thread by @HillelNeuer

Arabs in Israel have more freedom than anywhere in the Arab world, yet @hrw is obsessed only with Israel.

Kudos to @vauseCNN for challenging @goldsteinricky with facts from @GeraldNGOM & South Africa's Judge Goldstone who said the apartheid slur is FALSE.
vimeo.com/542844741

Judge Goldstone: “While 'apartheid' can have broader meaning, its use is meant to evoke the situation in pre-1994 South Africa. It is an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel, calculated to retard rather than advance peace negotiations.“ nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opi…

Even Judge Goldstone, a harsh critic of Israel, former chair of a UN inquiry against Israel—and a former board member of Human Rights Watch itself—wrote: "In Israel, there is no apartheid. Nothing there comes close to the definition of apartheid under the 1998 Rome Statute:"

“Inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.”

"Israeli Arabs — 20 percent of Israel’s population — vote, have political parties and representatives in the Knesset and occupy positions of acclaim, including on its Supreme Court. Arab patients lie alongside Jewish patients in Israeli hospitals, receiving identical treatment."

"The situation in the West Bank is more complex. But here too there is no intent to maintain “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group.”

"This is a critical distinction, even if Israel acts oppressively toward Palestinians there. South Africa’s enforced racial separation was intended to permanently benefit the white minority, to the detriment of other races."

"By contrast, Israel has agreed in concept to the existence of a Palestinian state in Gaza and almost all of the West Bank, and is calling for the Palestinians to negotiate the parameters."

"But until there is a two-state peace, or at least as long as Israel’s citizens remain under threat of attacks from the West Bank and Gaza, Israel will see roadblocks and similar measures as necessary for self-defense, even as Palestinians feel oppressed."

"As things stand, attacks from one side are met by counterattacks from the other. And the deep disputes, claims and counterclaims are only hardened when the offensive analogy of “apartheid” is invoked."

"Those seeking to promote the myth of Israeli apartheid often point to clashes between heavily armed Israeli soldiers and stone-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank, or the building of what they call an “apartheid wall” and disparate treatment on West Bank roads."

"While such images may appear to invite a superficial comparison, it is disingenuous to use them to distort the reality. The security barrier was built to stop unrelenting terrorist attacks; while it has inflicted great hardship in places, the Israeli Supreme Court..."

"...has ordered the state in many cases to reroute it to minimize unreasonable hardship. Road restrictions get more intrusive after violent attacks and are ameliorated when the threat is reduced."

"Of course, the Palestinian people have national aspirations and human rights that all must respect. But those who conflate the situations in Israel and the West Bank and liken both to the old South Africa do a disservice to all who hope for justice and peace."

"Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and the West Bank cannot be simplified to a narrative of Jewish discrimination. There is hostility and suspicion on both sides."

"Israel, unique among democracies, has been in a state of war with many of its neighbors who refuse to accept its existence. Even some Israeli Arabs, because they are citizens of Israel, have at times come under suspicion from other Arabs as a result of that longstanding enmity."

"The mutual recognition & protection of the human dignity of all people is indispensable to bringing an end to hatred and anger. The charge that Israel is an apartheid state is a false & malicious one that precludes, rather than promotes, peace & harmony."
nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opi…

.@GeraldNGOM: "By drawing a direct line to South Africa and labeling the Jewish state as inherently racist, the goal is to delegitimize the concept of Jewish sovereign equality, regardless of borders or policies." jpost.com/opinion/human-…

"The South African regime was characterized by cruel and systematic, institutionalized dehumanization. In contrast, and notwithstanding the ongoing conflict, Israel’s non-Jewish citizens have full rights, including voting for Knesset representatives."

"Worse, exploiting the 'apartheid' image in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a cynical appropriation of the suffering of the victims of the actual apartheid regime."

Sadly, Human Rights Watch has demonstrated a pattern and practice of differential & discriminatory treatment toward Israel. Their Executive Director is pathologically obsessed with demonizing the Jewish state, repeatedly applying unique language to Israel:

https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1211230826794536962

There have been settlements worldwide: in Crimea, East Timor, Abkhazia, Lebanon, Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Nagorno-Karabach... academic.oup.com/jla/article/9/… (@EVKontorovich)

Yet Ken Roth uses his term “war-crime settlement“ only for 1 place: twitter.com/search?q=from%…

And if Human Rights Watch REALLY believed Israel was committing apartheid & other crimes against humanity, maybe their Chairman wouldn't be so heavily invested in successful Israeli start-ups that are actually making the world a better place.
@LahavHarkov: jpost.com/israel-news/in…