The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, under the leadership of Volker Türk, has published a new report that makes serious accusations against Israel. It claims that Israel violates international law in Judea and Samaria as well as in eastern Jerusalem and operates a form of “racial segregation” amounting to “apartheid.”

The report, titled “Israel’s discriminatory administration of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” states that the living conditions of the Palestinian population have deteriorated significantly, particularly since the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military operation. Virtually all areas of life – from freedom of movement to education, medical care, and economic activity – are said to be restricted by Israeli laws, security measures, and administrative structures. Israel categorically rejects these allegations, describing them as distorted accusations that omit central facts of the conflict.

This outlines the factual basis. However, the choice of the term “apartheid” takes the report far beyond a sober description. The term is historically, legally, and morally charged, to say the least. It does...

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