DayofPal– Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard, has called on British authorities to rethink their stance on genocide in Gaza.
Her appeal comes in the wake of a groundbreaking report from the organization, which concludes that Israel’s actions in the embattled enclave amount to genocide.
On Thursday, Amnesty International unveiled a compelling report titled “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza.”
The report is the result of months of meticulous research, drawing on extensive witness testimonies, analysis of satellite imagery and digital evidence, and a chilling review of dehumanizing and genocidal statements made by Israeli government and military officials.
Amnesty International has accused the Israeli military of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention by committing at least three of its five prohibited acts. These include indiscriminate killings of civilians, inflicting severe physical and psychological harm, and deliberately creating conditions in Gaza designed to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian population.
“Genocide is not a matter of belief. Genocide is not a matter of desire. Genocide is a matter of law. Genocide is a matter of fact,” Agnes Callamard told MEE following the release of the report, adding that the UK, US and German governments may be found complicit in genocide, as a result of their support for the Israeli army.
“For the last 14 months, we’ve had a few governments that have supported Israel: the United States, Germany, and the UK.
Complicity in genocide is a substantive crime under Article III of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
“They have supported them and they have sold weapons. Therefore, they are facing the real risk of being complicit in the crime of genocide,” she told MEE.
She continued: “What distinguishes a genocide from other crimes is the notion of genocidal intent. That is, the fact that we need to demonstrate that Israel intended to destroy, in part or in full, the Palestinians of Gaza.”
“This is a difficult threshold, and it has taken many months of research and investigation to reach the conclusion that, indeed, Israel had genocidal intent,” adding that Israel’s declared military objective of defeating Hamas in Gaza does not justify such genocidal intent.
“Genocidal intent can coexist with military objectives,” said Callamard.
Palestinians are dying… They are being starved. They cannot fish, they cannot farm, they cannot have a home. They cannot have a life. They cannot work. They live without dignity. They have to fight to get a piece of bread. There is genocide happening.”
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