Amnesty UK official tells JN: We are victim of ‘smear campaign by Israel’

An Amnesty International UK spokesperson has told Jewish News that the global human rights organisation is the victim of “smear campaigns by the Israeli government and their supporters.”

Ilyas Nagdee, employed as Amnesty UK’s Racial Justice Lead and listed amongst the “media spokespeople” on the group’s website also said:”I am not going to turn a blind eye to the Israeli state’s crushing system of apartheid against Palestinians.”

The author, who has previously called for the “defunding” of UK’s anti-terrorism programme Prevent, hit back after being approached about a series of openly anti-Israel posts he had made on Twitter – including a demand for “all Palestinian prisoners” to freed.

Jewish News also approached Nagdee about a statement he shared last year on social media which claimed teachers in the UK were being subjected to “heavy-handed censorship” by the government preventing them discussing the Palestinian issue in schools.

The statement was actually released as an attack on a move to allow an organisation named  Solution Not Sides – who attempt to counter rising Islamophobia and antisemitism amongst young people through dialogue – into our schools and it backed by groups including MEND, CAGE and Friends of Al Aqsa.

Working in his Amnesty role, the group’s website confirms Nagdee focuses on “civil liberties, policing, counter-terrorism, securitisation and movement building relating to racial justice.”

But asked by Jewish News if his apparent one-sided approach to the issue of Israel/Palestine would impact on his work for Amnesty on this topic, and whether his call for all Palestinian prisoners to be freed included those guilty of terrorism Nagdee said:”I am proud to be part of a global human rights movement that heeds the call for justice for all people in the region, which is why I’m not going to turn a blind eye to the Israeli state’s crushing system of apartheid against Palestinians.

“I’ve long spoken out about Israel’s illegal settlements and the Israeli military’s endless cycle of killing unarmed Palestinian protesters.

“The tide is beginning to turn on these issues. I think the smear campaigns against Amnesty by the Israeli government and their supporters in these past weeks only shows that.”

An Amnesty report released earlier this month sparked fury amongst many Jewish communities across the globe after it claimed Israel was now operating as an “apartheid state.”

The tide is beginning to turn on these issues. I think the smear campaigns against Amnesty by the Israeli government and their supporters in these past weeks only shows that

Announcing the publication of the report Nagdee tweeted on February 1that:”Israel is enforcing a system of Apartheid against all Palestinians (In Israel, Occupied Territories & refugees) as Palestinians have been saying for decades.

“It is their call for justice & freedom that we should centre today.”

He added:”The report is helpful to combat some of the most spurious attempts to criminalise discussion on Palestine which has ramped up.”

The Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council were amongst those to issue scathing responses to the Amnesty report.

Board President Marie van der Zyl and new JLC chair Keith Black jointly said:”“At a time of rising attacks on Jews around the world, Amnesty’s report is not just an attack on the state of Israel. It is an attack on the very concept and existence of Jewish sovereignty and on the Jewish people.”

Amnesty’s Racial Justice Lead has a lengthy history of posting one-sided attacks on Israel on his Twitter platform.

Some of the posts have been deleted, but archived versions were shown to Jewish News.

In a post, still visible on Nagdee’s Twitter page from June last year, he appeared to cast no distinction between Palestinian’s jailed for terrorist activity and those in prison on less clear charges writing:”Free all Palestinian prisoners. Free Palestine.”

In a now deleted message from January 2019, Nagdee wrote:”Israel you seem to be lost. You’re in Palestine.”

Meanwhile in another deleted post from May 2019, Nagdee said he was “proud” that the National Union of Students had “voted to keep BDS against Israel as policy.”

Detailing allegations of Israeli sniper attacks against Palestinians in March 2018, he wrote:”We support the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

“We support the rights of Palestinians to resist the occupation.”

But Nagdee’s apparent willingness to share a statement backed by organisations such as MEND, CAGE and the Friends of Al Aqsa groups will also raise eyebrows over the Amnesty employee’s ability to act with fairness on issues involving Israel.

In June last year he shared a statement backed by around 30 organisation’s which claimed the UK government was involved in the “repression of Palestine advocacy” in schools.

The statement suggested teachers were being subjected to “heavy-handed censorship” from the Education Secretary over the issue.

But recent reports on antisemitism in the UK, such as last week’s from the Community Security Trust, confirmed Jewish children had been targeted by some classmates with slurs over the Israel/Palestine issue.

Last year,Azhar Qayum, head of Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) organisation apologised to Jewish News after we revealed he hadwritten that “Israel’s generosity is like the ‘generosity’ of Hitler” in an incendiary social media post.

Last September CAGE were behind a legal challenge to a ban on pupils discussing Israel’s “right to exist.”

CAGE said that no such right exists in international law that prohibits people and groups from questioning a state’s legitimacy.

The UK based organisation Friends of Al Aqsa have been behind numerous marches in central London urging people to “boycott Israel apartheid.”

Jewish News has approached Nagdee for comment over his sharing of a statement backed by the three groups – and his anti-Israel tweets.

One communal source added:”There is nothing wrong with standing in solidarity with Palestinian people, or calling for peace and justice.

“But support for ‘resistance’ can be interpreted as support for violence.

“This terminology is not helpful. Further, some of these comments suggest the erasure of Israel’s existence. Human Rights advocates must be clear in their support for peace and safety for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

On Tuesday Jewish News revealed theCharity Commissionis assessing whether donations were used to fund Amnesty International’s recent controversial“apartheid state” report on Israel – and “if so, whether this is of regulatory concern”.

A spokesperson for the watchdog said it was “aware” of concerns raised over this matter and “in line with our standard process are currently assessing information to determine if charitable funds have been used to fund the report and, if so, whether this is of regulatory concern. ”

In their report, published earlier this month, Amnesty said that Israeli laws, policies and practices against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories amounted to apartheid.

The report alleged that the state of Israel maintains “an institutionalised regime of oppression and domination of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Jewish Israelis”.

The report repeatedly said that the Jewish state is guilty of human rights breaches.

A spokesperson for Amnesty told Jewish News the organisation’s comment was the same as Nagdee’s.