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Palestinian activist hails Israel 'apartheid regime' report

News Desk (Associated Press)

Beirut

Thu, March 16, 2017 Published on Mar. 16, 2017 Published on 2017-03-16T16:28:13+07:00

Palestinian activist hails Israel 'apartheid regime' report

Framed by a a tapestry reproduction of Pablo Picasso's Guernica and member state flags, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks to reporters after a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 at U.N. headquarters. The United Nations and the Arab League on Thursday issued a joint statement in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

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Palestinian rights activist has praised a report this week by a Beirut-based U.N. agency that promotes development in Arab countries for concluding that Israel established an "apartheid regime."

Omar Barghouti said Thursday that the report published this week by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, or ESCWA, could be the "very first beam of light that ushers the dawn of sanctions against" Israel.

The report — entitled "Israeli Practices Toward the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid" — has drawn swift criticism from the U.N. and Israeli officials.

Barghouti is the co-founder of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that promotes boycott of Israel.

U.N spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the report was published without any prior consultations with the U.N. Secretariat.