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

SWC: Amnesty International should be listed as a hate group

Los Angeles —The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned statementsby 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 thepeople 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 anexistential 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 ActionDirector 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 againsthumanity, and questioning the Jewish state's right to exist.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member familiesin 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).