The president of Amnesty International - France will share the stage with the European coordinator of the BDS National Committee (BNC) at a BDS France event called "How to End the Israeli Apartheid System" on September 10.
Jean Claude Samoullier of Amnesty and the BNC's Fiona Ben Chekroun will speak at the event on "Israeli apartheid," which will happen at the Fete de l'Humanite Festival, an annual political and multicultural gathering organized by the communist party-affiliated newspaper l'Humanité. It is one of the biggest cultural events in France, with approximately 500,000 participants each year.
Criticism of BDS and Amnesty working together
American Jewish Committee Europe general manager Simone Rodan-Benzaquen criticized the cooperation between Amnesty and BDS on Sunday.
"By partnering with the antisemitic BDS movement, the Fête de l'Humanité and Amnesty International France demonstrate - once again - that they are no longer for the defense of human rights but more than dubious ideological undertakings," wrote Rodan-Benzaquen.
Amnesty has recently received flak for its August report 4 claiming that the Ukrainian military endangered civilians with its tactics. Backlash saw the human rights organization's credentials brought into question, with the resignation of the group's Ukraine branch chief and President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing the NGO for “trying to shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim.”
In February, Amnesty released a report declaring that Israel was an apartheid state. The report was poorly received in Israel and Israel's Western allies rejected the application of the term.
"They are no longer for the defense of human rights but more than dubious ideological undertakings."
AJC Europe general manager Simone Rodan-Benzaquen