Statement from Quakers in Britain on Israel’s death penalty law
Quakers in Britain are profoundly troubled by the Israeli Knesset's passage of a law making the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, which puts the lives of thousands of Palestinian prisoners at imminent risk.
We have long held that the death penalty is incompatible with the sanctity of every human life. It is irreversible, it is cruel, and it denies the possibility of redemption. We oppose it without exception, in every country and under every circumstance.
This law goes further, however. It is worded to apply to Palestinians only, while excluding, for example, nationalistic murders carried out by Israeli citizens against Palestinians.
It will be enforced through military courts – courts under which only Palestinians are tried. These courts have a conviction rate of over 96 per cent, based largely on 'confessions' extracted under duress and torture during interrogations. This is not justice: it is discrimination enshrined in law. This is apartheid.
The United Nations has stated that this law violates international law's prohibition of cruel and inhuman punishment and further entrenches the state of Israel's violation of the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid. Enacting the law against Palestinians would be a war crime, it said.
We uphold all those, both Israeli and Palestinian, who have condemned this law. We call on the British government to go beyond expressions of concern and take meaningful action to uphold international law and the equal worth of every human being.