In a decision that highlights Amnesty International’s growing disconnect from impartiality, the organization’s international board has suspended its Israel branch for two years – not for misconduct or human rights violations, but for refusing to mislabel Israel’s actions as genocide.

The Tel Aviv-based chapter, founded in 1964 and one of Amnesty’s oldest, is being punished for the apparent crime of honesty. According to Amnesty, the Israeli branch’s failure to align with “Amnesty International research and positions” – specifically its refusal to endorse accusations of genocide against Israel – was grounds for suspension.

A spokesperson for Amnesty claimed the decision also stemmed from “evidence of endemic anti-Palestinian racism” within the Israeli office, though no substantial proof was offered beyond vague references to former board members’ resignations.

In a statement reeking of irony, the spokesperson said, “Anti-Palestinian racism within Amnesty Israel has been denounced by a number of board members of Amnesty Israel since 2021, resulting in their resignations.” This accusation comes despite Amnesty Israel’s diverse staff of Arab and Jewish members, whose input consistently shapes the chapter’s reports and public statements.

The crux of the conflict lies in Amnesty Israel’s refusal to toe the ideological line on inflammatory and legally complex accusations. When Amnesty International released its 296-page report last month, dramatically titled “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman,” the global body accused Israel of “genocide against Palestinians in Gaza” – language Amnesty Israel refused to endorse.

Rather than blindly sign off on such incendiary claims, Amnesty Israel issued a measured response: “Our careful analysis does not find that the findings meet the definition of genocide, as carefully formulated in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

This stance – rooted in legal precision rather than political pandering – is now labeled as a betrayal.

The Israeli branch’s defiance isn’t new. In 2022, Amnesty International labeled Israel’s policies towards Palestinians as “apartheid,” a term Amnesty Israel called “problematic,” “flawed,” and warned could have “adverse effects.”

It seems that objecting to inflammatory rhetoric, even when justified by facts, has no place within Amnesty International’s current playbook. In its pursuit of ideological purity, the organization appears more willing to alienate one of its own branches than to tolerate dissent rooted in reason.

Israel’s government, which has long accused Amnesty International of bias, responded with little surprise. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich previously instructed the Israeli Tax Authority to investigate the local Amnesty branch, questioning the legality of tax benefits the organization enjoys, especially as 80% of Amnesty Israel’s funding comes from the global headquarters.

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