Response to Amnesty International UK's Report on Israel

Jewish Federations strongly condemn Amnesty International UK’s report that promulgates false claims against the Jewish state, irresponsibly distorts international law, and advances hateful and disparaging rhetoric associated with age-old antisemitic tropes, while ignoring or whitewashing violence, terror and incitement committed by Palestinians.

This report is the latest in a litany of anti-Israel propaganda that has contributed to a rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities around the world and continues to embolden extremist currents that threaten all minority groups.

Jewish Federations call upon the human rights community to condemn this disparaging and falsely painted report and stand up for truth and justice.

Sign the Letter to Call on the UN Secretary General to End the Biased Targeting of Israel

Dear Secretary General,

We write to you regarding the disturbing open-ended United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel [COI]. The recent issuance of the one-sided and biased Amnesty International UK [Amnesty] report accusing Israel of being an “apartheid” state, the type of document that is often used by the United Nations Human Rights Council to levy an excessive number of accusations at Israel, has made clear the dangerous implications of the Council’s open-ended inquiry.

The Amnesty report traffics in false claims against the sole Jewish state, distorts international law, questions the very existence of Israel, and ignores the violence and terrorist assaults on Israeli civilians — Jewish, Muslim, and Christian. We are very concerned that this report will be positioned to influence the COI and lead to a review by the International Criminal Court of a democratic country in which multiple faith communities live under the rule of law, participate in civic life, contribute to the economy, and serve in the highest levels of government. Amnesty calling for the UN Security Council to impose a military embargo on Israel sends a clear message to this effect.

You lead a vaunted institution established on the ashes of World War II, after the world witnessed the devastation of global conflict and the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The UN has the opportunity and responsibility to uphold ethical values and practices that contribute to a peaceful society. But if the UN and its organizations allow irresponsible and biased investigations such as the COI to proceed, they seed a platform for harmful reports such as the one by Amnesty, create a narrative used too often for antisemitic attacks, and undermine important steps toward peace such as those embodied by the Abraham Accords.

It is disturbing – and dangerous – that the United Nations continues to exhibit bias against Israel. In any one year, the General Assembly adopts numerous one-sided resolutions targeting Israel and only a miniscule number against any of the other member states for human rights violations. The Human Rights Council focuses an astonishing 20% of its resolutions on Israel and maintains Israel as a permanent agenda item. Even with respect to the Security Council, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield had noted "[Israelis] interpret the overwhelming focus on Israel in this body as a denial of Israel's right to exist and an unfair focus on this one country – and they are correct."

It was deeply meaningful to us that in 2017 at the Museum of the Jewish People, you said “let me stress that when I talk about antisemitism, I include calls for the destruction of Israel. Israel is a Member State of the United Nations. It bears all the responsibilities and enjoys all the rights of every other Member State and, therefore, it must be treated as such.”

We call on you to use the moral authority of your high office to make a clear statement that it is unacceptable for UN institutions, including the Human Rights Council, to use their global platform to unfairly target Israel. Such inexcusable targeting undermines peace in the Middle East and contributes to a narrative that can foment antisemitic bias. In that spirit, we ask you to urge the Human Rights Council to terminate the Commission of Inquiry and make clear that the Amnesty report should not be used by the UN or its bodies to further unfairly attack Israel.

We appreciate your attention to this matter.

Organizations who have signed as of February 3, 2022:

Ahavat Olam; Alabama Holocaust Education Center; Aviir; Baltimore Jewish Council; Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue; Buffalo Jewish Community Relations Council; Buffalo Jewish Federation; Chicago Jewish Community Relations Council; Columbia Jewish Federation; Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County; Flint Jewish Federation; Greater Miami Jewish Federation; Habonim, Survivors of the Holocaust and their Descendants; Hillel at Davis and Sacramento; JCRC of Minnesota and the Dakotas; JCRC of the Columbia Jewish Federation; JCRC of the Jewish Federation of Atlantic & Cape May Counties; Jewish Community Center-Federation of San Luis Obispo; Jewish Community Federation of Richmond; Jewish Community Partners; Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New Haven; Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; Jewish Community Relations Council of The Birmingham Federation; Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia; Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee - Detroit; Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA); Jewish Federation & Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix; Jewish Federation & Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County; Jewish Federation of Central MA; Jewish Federation of Central New York; Jewish Federation of Chicago; Jewish Federation of Cincinnati; Jewish Federation of Cleveland; Jewish Federation of Delaware; Jewish Federation of Dutchess County; Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne; Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor; Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta; Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton; Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines; Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg; Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, NJ; Jewish Federation of Greater Naples; Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven; Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia; Jewish Federation of Greater Portland; Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle; Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo; Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver; Jewish Federation of Howard County / Jewish Community Relations Council of Howard County; Jewish Federation of Lee & Charlotte Counties; Jewish Federation of Louisville; Jewish Federation of Madison; Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit; Jewish Federation of Northeastern NY; Jewish Federation of Northern NJ; Jewish Federation of Ottawa; Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County; Jewish Federation of Peoria; Jewish Federation of San Antonio; Jewish Federation of San Diego County; Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon & Warren Counties; Jewish Federation of Southern Illinois; Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley; Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass; Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys; Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley; Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities; Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region; Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts; Jewish Long Beach and the Alpert JCC; Mid Kansas Jewish Federation Inc; Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva; Rodef Sholom Temple; Shalom Austin; StandWithUs; Tampa JCCs and Federation; Temple Beth Am; Temple Hatikvah of Flanders; The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore; The Birmingham Jewish Federation; The Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey; The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando; The Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks; UJA-Federation of New York; UJA-JCC Greenwich; United Jewish Community of the VA Peninsula; United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien; United Jewish Federation of Tidewater; Yeshiva Israel Advocacy Coalition; Youngstown Area Jewish Federation

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