RAMALLAH, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- An official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday called on the international community to force Israel to end its "policy of racism" against Palestinians.

Hanan Ashrawi, head of the PLO information and culture department, criticized Israel's "racist separation system" against Palestinians, referring to the West Bank barriers, checkpoints and the expansion of Jewish settlements.

In the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, there are 500, 000 Jewish settlers "living on the sources of income of the Palestinians," she added.

"The racist separation system that Israel boosted requires declaring Israel as an apartheid state and bringing it accountable, " Ashrawi said.

Ashrawi said Israel used the Palestinian people "as tools to enforce its domination and is now seeking to deprive them of their rights to live."