Britain-Palestine APPG online briefing: Israel & the crime of Apartheid: what is the reality for Palestinians?

The Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group hosted an online briefing on Tuesday 1 March on Israel and the crime of Apartheid: what is the reality for Palestinians? Saleh Hijazi, Head of Office and Deputy Regional Director of Amnesty International’s Regional Office in Israel/Palestine, Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, Aseel Baidoun, Advocacy and Communications Officer at Medical Aid for Palestinians, Nuriya Oswald, the International Legal and Advocacy Director at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, spoke at the briefing chaired by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, co-chair of the APPG.

You can watch in full here: 

For decades, Israel has dominated many aspects of Palestinian life through occupation, blockade, annexation and the permanent displacement of refugees. Israel has wielded its control in ways that geographically separate Palestinian communities and deny them equitable access to their rights, including the right to health. There is a growing realisation among policymakers that the Oslo peace process has failed to meet even the most basic aspirations of the Palestinian people, instead cementing an unequal status quo that the EU has termed a “one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation and conflict.” Palestinian civil society has long asserted that Israel is imposing a regime of apartheid on Palestinians, a conclusion also reached by various Israeli and international human rights groups, including B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, numerous legal scholars and notable statespersons. The discussion focussed on how this reality impacts the daily lives and health of Palestinians, and how UK foreign and aid policy can meaningfully address this dire situation, including through focusing on sustainable development and self-determination, and ensuring that Palestinian voices are placed at the heart of policymaking.

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