Last week, Amnesty International released a report that accused Israel of being an apartheid state.

In an opinion post on The Times of Israel website, 19-year-old American University student Sophie Balmagiya describes her reaction, as a young Jewish woman, to the latest apartheid charge.

“Israel of today looks nothing like the Israel that was described, upon its inception, within the original proclamation of independence,” Balmagiya says. “Israel was originally meant to be a safe haven for Jews that strived for peace with its neighbors. Why should the concept of Zionism based upon the Israel of the past apply toward the new increasingly undemocratic and repressive Israel of the present?”

Balmagiya continues: “As Jews that the Jewish state pretends to represent, we have responsibility to speak up for the values of our state. Not only for the sake of Israel but also also to stop the suffering of the Palestinian people. It is time that we use this power and responsibility to stop the madness and for the love of true Zionism, put an end to the settlements and the occupation.”