Human Rights Watch Holds Saudi Fundraiser, Promises To Demonize Israel
So let me understand this. Human Rights Watch, which is staffed in part by pro-Palestinian activists, produces inaccurate reports "discovering" that Israel commits war crimes...
The IDF on Tuesday questioned the credibility of a Human Rights Watch report which claimed that Israeli attacks with guided missiles fired from aerial drones killed civilians during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year. The 39-page report, "Precisely Wrong: Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles," detailed six incidents resulting in 29 civilian deaths... The IDF said the report appeared to be based on "unnamed and unreliable Palestinian sources" whose military expertise was "unproven." "It's strange that despite the great efforts that the IDF made to avoid harming civilians," the army continued, "the organization decided to ignore these statistics and to base the information it presented on Palestinian testimonies."
... of exactly the kind used when the Islamic world launches one of their periodic legal wars on Israel...
The world's largest Muslim body will accuse Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinian civilians, according to a draft of the final communique of an Islamic summit in Senegal seen by Reuters on Friday. "The conference denounces the current and increasing Israeli military campaign against the Palestinian people and the serious violation of human rights and war crimes including the killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians," the draft said. It called Israel's "collective punishment of civilians" in Gaza a violation of international human rights law and said "the occupying forces must be held responsible for these war crimes".
... and then they cite those biased reports as reasons that Saudi Arabia should give them money?
In May 2009, leaders of Human Rights Watch (HRW) visited Saudi Arabia... to raise funds for the organization. Arab news reported that "senior members"... attended a "welcoming dinner" and encouraged "prominent members of Saudi society" to finance their work. HRW's anti-Israel obsession was stated as the major reason for holding this Saudi fundraiser: "The group is facing a shortage of funds because of the global financial crisis and the work on Israel and Gaza, which depleted HRW's budget for the region." Whitson's appeal for Saudi support and money acknowledged and cited HRW's anti-Israel focus extensively, claiming that "Human Rights Watch provided the international community with evidence of Israel using white phosphorus and launching systematic destructive attacks on civilian targets."
Admittedly, that's a bit suspicious. But as long as their need for cash isn't coloring any of their reporting, I guess it's legit.
Seriously. How execrable does a human rights organization have to be when they're raising money in Saudi Arabia - a country where women are functionally non-citizens and homosexuality is a crime punishable by death - and that's not the most unethical part of the story.
References:
* HRW Hires Another pro-Palestinian Activist [NGO Monitor]
* IDF doubts credibility of Gaza report [JPost]
* Islamic summit draft communique accuses Israel of 'war crimes' [Ha'aretz]
* Focus: HRW raises funds in Saudi Arabia by demonizing Israel [NGO Monitor]
Previously:
* Human Rights Organizations Untroubled By Dozens Of Israeli Secret Arrests, Planned Executions Of Terrorists
* Human Rights NGOs: We Don't Talk About Hamas's War Crimes Because They're Too Blatant And Savage
* New Data Confirms Old Data: Blaming Israel For Gaza's Medical Collapse Is A Vicious Lie
