Washington, DC – In an era of hyper-partisanship in the United States, a new bipartisan consensus appeared to emerge on Capitol Hill this week: condemning Amnesty International over its report accusing Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.
Dozens of US lawmakers from both major parties, including powerful legislators and heads of key committees in the House of Representatives and Senate, have released statements rejecting Amnesty’s findings – with some accusing the group of fuelling antisemitism.
These forceful condemnations, analysts say, illustrate the level of support Israel enjoys in Washington despite mounting allegations of abuse – but they do not reduce the validity of the rights group’s report.
“They want to nip this in the bud, but the bud has already broken ground and undeveloped roots, and it’s going to be a losing battle on their part,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington-based think tank.
Zogby told Al Jazeera that domestic political pressures have compelled many legislators to condemn the Amnesty report, but the group’s status and international credibility make it difficult to dismiss its conclusion that Israel is systematically oppressing Palestinians.
He added that while many US legislators are demonising the report and accusing Amnesty International of bias, they have not discussed specific allegations. “They’ve decided to just focus on the use of the word…
