Amnesty International Suspends Its Israeli Branch for Expressing an Opinion

Amnesty International (AI) claims to be a stout defender of free speech. Yet when its Israeli branch criticized two reports on Israel compiled at AI’s headquarters, the response of AI was to suspend that branch for two years. Apparently, free speech is only allowed when it does not express criticism of AI’s directors, and cannot be tolerated when it not only criticizes AI directors, but also defends Israel from AI’s calumny. More on this scandalous hypocrisy can be found here: “Perfect: @Amnesty “human rights group” punishes employee free speech – but only from Jews,” Elder of Ziyon, January 7, 2025:

Amnesty International writes on its “Freedom of Expression” webpage:

Your voice matters. You have the right to say what you think, share information and demand a better world. You also have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests.

Amnesty International supports people who speak out peacefully for themselves and for others – whether a journalist reporting on violence by security forces, a trade unionist exposing poor working conditions or an indigenous leader defending their land rights against big business. We would similarly defend the right of those who support the positions of big business, the security forces and employers to express their views peacefully.

As usual, there is a Jewish exception.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Amnesty International has suspended its Israeli branch for two years, saying it was because of supposed “anti-Palestinian racism” – but mainly because it publicly criticized two of Amnesty’s reports about Israel.

“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,” Amnesty International interim chair Tiumalu Lauvale Peter Fa’afiu wrote in an email.

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

“This action is taken under the authority of Article 34 of the Statute of Amnesty International (POL 20/8464/2024) and is necessary to protect the reputation, integrity and operational coherence of the Amnesty Movement at large,” Fa’afiu said in the Monday email.

Fa’afiu’s email twice mentions protecting Amnesty’s “operational coherence” as the reason to suspend AI Israel for publicly disagreeing with Amnesty’s reports. However, that phrase does not appear in Article 34 of the Amnesty statute; instead it says the International Board may suspend membership of an entity  if it “considers such action necessary to protect the reputation, integrity or operation of the movement.”

There is a big difference between “operation” and “operational coherence.” The latter phrase means that no one within the movement is allowed to publicly criticize Amnesty. Internal debate is evidence of a culture of free speech; a demand for “operational coherence” is the opposite.

The phrase “operational coherence” does not appear anywhere in Amnesty’s site. This is a brand new rule that Amnesty made up just for its Israeli branch.

Amnesty’s report made up and justified a new definition of “genocide” just for Israel, as well as previously making up new definitions of “apartheid” and “occupation” solely for Israel. Here they made up a new policy just to silence criticism within the organization.

This is Soviet-level newspeak from a supposed human rights organization….

Amnesty-USA has sponsored a speaking tour of Bassem Tamimi, who has posted that Israel details Palestinian children to steal their organs and then the Zionist-controlled media blocks reporting of the story….

Do you think AI USA deserves any criticism for sponsoring a speaking tour by a Palestinian propagandist, Bassem Tamimi, who claims that Israel kills Palestinian children to harvest their organs — an updated variant on the medieval Christian libel that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood in making matzohs?

In 2012, an Amnesty researcher tweeted a “joke” saying that England’s Jewish MKs support bombing civilians in Gaza.

Quite a “joke,” as AI tried later to suggest it had been all along. But no one took it as a joke when the tweet was first made. It was accepted as the truth, coming from a researcher at the “respected” NGO AI. And there is no reason to think that researcher meant it as a joke, as he later claimed.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are the NGOs most determined to blacken the image of Israel, accusing it of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” in their reports, and silencing — suspending — any members of their organizations who dare to take issue with these preposterous and dangerous claims. That’s what has just happened to AI Israel, suspended for two years, for the unforgivable crime of defending Israel against charges brought against it in two reports by the AI staff at the NGO’s headquarters. So much for all those noble-sounding AI claims that it defends the right of free speech:

Your voice matters. You have the right to say what you think, share information and demand a better world. You also have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests.

Amnesty International supports people who speak out peacefully for themselves and for others.

Coming from AI, which suspended its Israeli branch for daring to speak out against it, these sentiments are mere liberal boilerplate. Sanctimonious pieties. Persiflage. Don’t believe a word of it.