Assessment of the Approach of the Selected International and National Non Governmental Organisations Specialising in Addressing the Current Issues of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Abstract

There are several non-governmental organisations, both international and national, which focus on addressing various issues of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This paper focuses on the assessment of the approach of several selected organisations, mainly on Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem. These organisations focus on their own independent research of alleged violations of public international law, most often they hold that the State of Israel is responsible for the violations. They mainly accuse the State of Israel from the crime of apartheid, violations of human rights and persecution. These organisations publish the results of their findings. In addition, Amnesty International also delivers the reports to the International Criminal Court. The impact of the activities of these organizations is significant although these organisations are constituted from the individuals. The organisations do not have the ability to accept legally binding decision from the perspective of the international law and their reports do not have comparable effects to e.g., Security Council Resolutions. These organizations nevertheless have many supporters and followers, the lay public might attach big importance to the reports of these organizations, therefore these organisations might have significant impact on creating public opinion. The aim of this paper is to examine the contribution of these organisations in addressing the international legal aspects of the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem