Over 200,000 people sign Amnesty petition to end Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes

The human rights group Amnesty International is delivering petitions demanding an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes, signed by over 200,000 people, to Israeli authorities.

The international petition 'Demolish Apartheid, Not Palestinian Homes' is addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls for the move as a "first step towards dismantling apartheid".

People in at least 174 countries have signed it.

Since the start of the year, over 400 Palestinians have been displaced and hundreds of thousands more have been at risk, according to Amnesty. Demolitions have occurred to make way for new Israeli structures, including a park, according to a sign left at a demolition site.

"For decades, Israeli authorities have pursued their explicitly racist demographic aims by forcing Palestinians out of their homes and off their land," Heba Morayef, Regional Director for MENA at Amnesty International says. 

"This solidarity is a reminder that the chorus of voices speaking out against Israel’s apartheid is growing steadily louder, We will not be silent until apartheid has been dismantled and Israeli authorities held to account," she added. 

The global human rights organisation is also calling for member states to take steps to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing persecution of Palestinians and human rights violations, including through Israel’s Universal Periodic review, taking place at the Human Rights Council on 9 May.

Public opinion in the West towards Palestine and Israel also appears to be shifting.

An opinion poll released earlier this month by Washington DC-based research company Gallup suggested that overall American support for Palestinians reached a new high of 31 percent.

However, public sympathy for Israel was at 54 percent, which is its lowest point since 2005, Gallup data shows.

Amnesty International is among several major rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, to have concluded that Israel practices apartheid against Palestinians.