Amnesty suspends Israel branch due to ‘anti-Palestinian racism’

Amnesty International has suspended its Israel branch for failing to align with the organisation’s stance that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and accused the branch of “anti-Palestinian racism,” according to the New York Post.

The report, published on Tuesday, references a 6 January letter in which Tiumalu Lauvale Peter Fa’afiu, Amnesty’s interim international chairman, stated that the Israel branch had acted in ways that undermined the group’s mission.

The suspension is set to last two years, during which a review panel will evaluate whether to reinstate Amnesty International Israel or impose a permanent ban. The branch retains the option to appeal the decision.

“We take this action in response to evidence of endemic anti-Palestinian racism within AI Israel, which violates core human rights principles and Amnesty values, and evidence of AI Israel’s misalignment with and hostility to Amnesty positions,” read a Monday email from Fa’afiu.

The interim international chairman also stated that Amnesty Israel had actively opposed the organisation’s research and reports, particularly the 2022 publication “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity” and the 2024 report, “’You Feel Like You Are Subhuman:’ Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza.”

“AI Israel has sought to publicly discredit Amnesty’s human rights research and positions,” wrote Fa’afiu.

“Its efforts to publicly undermine the findings and recommendations of Amnesty’s 2022 report on Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians and, more recently, Amnesty’s 2024 report on Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, have been deeply prejudicial to Amnesty’s human rights mission, threatening our credibility, integrity and operational coherence.”

In response, members of Amnesty International’s Israeli branch have pushed back against their suspension, accusing the global organisation of overlooking anti-Semitism within its ranks.

Former Amnesty Israel Director, Yonatan Gher, criticised the move, describing the Israeli branch as “the guardian of the Israeli government against the human rights movement.”

In a leaked email, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard announced that the suspension would be formally addressed on 21 January. Fa’afiu reportedly added that a committee would “determine whether Amnesty International Israel has a future within the Amnesty movement.”

Amnesty did not reply to MEMO’s request for comment at the time of going to press.

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