Israeli Knesset’s death penalty expansion exposes systemic apartheid: EU must address root causes, not just symptoms

Palestinian communities have long resisted Israeli apartheid through sumud (steadfastness), a concept rooted in indigenous resilience and communal survival. The death penalty law is part of a broader strategy of erasure, where indigenous land claims are criminalized and indigenous lives are deemed expendable. Indigenous legal traditions, such as those of the Maori or Native American nations, recognize that state violence against indigenous peoples is a continuation of colonial dispossession. The selective application of the death penalty reflects a settler-colonial logic where indigenous lives are subject to exceptional punishment.

The Knesset’s death penalty law is the latest in a 75-year history of Israeli legal exceptionalism, where military orders and emergency laws have been used to justify apartheid. The 1948 Nakba, the 1967 occupation, and the 2022 UN apartheid report all trace a clear lineage of institutionalized racial domination. Apartheid in South Africa was dismantled through international pressure; Israel’s system is similarly vulnerable but lacks the same global consensus. Historical precedents show that legalized discrimination is a tool of empire, from Jim Crow to South African apartheid.

The apartheid framework is not unique to Israel—it is a global phenomenon where states use legalized violence to maintain racial hierarchies. In the U.S., the death penalty has been shown to disproportionately target Black and Indigenous communities, mirroring Israel’s selective application. Indigenous movements in Latin America and Australia have long documented how legal systems are used to criminalize resistance to land theft. The Palestinian struggle is part of a broader global movement against racial capitalism and settler-colonial violence.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory (2022) concluded that Israel’s policies meet the definition of apartheid under international law. Studies by human rights organizations (e.g., B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch) document the institutionalized nature of discrimination in Israel’s legal system. The death penalty’s selective application violates the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Scientific evidence confirms that legalized violence is a tool of social control, not justice.

Artists like Emily Jacir and Larissa Sansour have used their work to expose the spiritual violence of apartheid, framing resistance as an act of cultural survival. Palestinian poets such as Mahmoud Darwish and Samih al-Qasim have long articulated the connection between land, memory, and identity under occupation. Indigenous spiritual traditions, from the African concept of ubuntu to the Native American principle of reciprocity, reject the death penalty as a violation of sacred life. The global art and music movements in solidarity with Palestine (e.g., Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) reflect a spiritual rejection of oppression.

If unchecked, Israel’s apartheid system will deepen, leading to further annexation, demographic engineering, and escalating violence against Palestinians. The EU’s failure to act will embolden other states to adopt similar legalized discrimination, normalizing apartheid globally. A just future requires dismantling apartheid through boycott, divestment, and sanctions, alongside international legal action. Scenario modeling suggests that without systemic change, the region will face prolonged conflict, mass displacement, and environmental collapse.

Palestinian civil society, including women’s groups and youth movements, have been at the forefront of documenting and resisting apartheid. The voices of Palestinian prisoners, who face systematic torture and arbitrary detention, are often silenced in mainstream narratives. Indigenous scholars like Angela Davis and Hoda Mitwally have connected the Palestinian struggle to broader movements against racial capitalism. The marginalized perspectives of Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Israelis, and Palestinian citizens of Israel are erased in the dominant framing of the conflict.