Amnesty International USA: “Israel shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state”

March 11, 2022

SWC: Amnesty International should be listed as a hate group

Los Angeles —The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned statements by Paul O’ Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA for declaring, Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state.” According to media reports, O’ Brien also said, “the right of the people to self-determination and to be protected is without a doubt something that we believe in, and I personally believe that but ‘we are opposed to the idea — and this, I think, is an existential part of the debate — that Israel should be preserved as a state for the Jewish people.’”

“Amnesty International should be listed as a hate group,“ said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “At a time when one sovereign nation is being crushed, its US director wants to eliminate the one Jewish state, a democracy with over 9 million citizens, and a safe haven for endangered Jews. They are dedicated to the same goal as Hamas,” Cooper added.

Amnesty International released a 280-page report last month calling Israel an apartheid state, charging it with crimes against humanity, and questioning the Jewish state's right to exist.

For further information contact the Center’s Communications department at pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).