Filling in the Blanks: Documenting Missing Dimensions in UN and NGO “Investigations” of the Gaza Conflict

Introduction

On June 22, 2015 the United Nations Human Rights Council published the report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the 2014 Gaza War. Initially, the inquiry was headed by William Schabas and then taken over by Mary McGowan Davis after the former’s resignation over his undisclosed paid work for the PLO.

The report relies heavily on unreliable political advocacy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that lack credibility and do not employ professional fact-finding standards. NGO Monitor’s review shows that NGOs were referenced, cited, and quoted at a high volume: B’Tselem was the most referenced NGO with 69 citations, followed by Amnesty International (53), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (50), and Al Mezan (29), and others. UNWRA and UN-OCHA were also featured throughout the report.

As with the discredited 2009 Goldstone process, already in the midst of the fighting NGOs began initiating calls for a UN “fact-finding” investigation of the conflict and submitted statements to the UN that alleged “deliberate, systematic, and widespread targeting of Palestinian civilians”; “collective punishment”; “war crimes and crimes against humanity”; “grave violations of international humanitarian law,” etc.

UN Presentations

NGO Monitor and UN Watch in Geneva: UNHRC Inquiry into 2014 Gaza Conflict

 

Reports and Publications

Filling in the Blanks: Documenting Missing Dimensions in UN and NGO Investigations of the Gaza Conflict, publication of NGO Monitor and UN Watch, Edited by Gerald M. Steinberg and Anne Herzberg, June 2015

See also press release, Report Fills Gaps in UN’s Investigation of Gaza Conflict, June 9, 2015

Par for the Course: EU- & NIF-Funded NGOs Central to UNHRC Lawfare Attack, NGO Monitor Report, June 22, 2015

UN Report on Gaza: Improvement over Goldstone, but NGO Reliance Hurts Credibility, NGO Monitor press release, June 22, 2015

Preliminary Analysis of UN Board of Inquiry Summary Regarding 2014 Gaza Conflict, NGO Monitor Analysis, April 28, 2015

The 2014 Gaza Conflict: Factual and Legal Aspects, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 2015

The 2014 Gaza War: The War Israel Did Not Want and the Disaster It Averted, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2015

High Level International Military Group Letter to Judge Mary McGowan Davis, UN Watch blog, May 31, 2015

Ahead of UN Report on 2014 Gaza War, Multinational Mission of Generals Finds: “Israel not only met but significantly exceeded international legal standards”, UN Watch press release, June 12, 2015

Analysis of the U.N. Report on the 2014 Gaza Conflict: The Distorting Effects of Flawed Foundations, Prof. Geoffrey Corn, USA (ret.), Senior Advisor to JINSA Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, June 2015

NGO Statements to the 29th Session of the UNHRC, NGO Monitor Report, July 15, 2015

 

UN Resources

Written statement by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: European Funding for NGOs that Falsify History of the 2014 Gaza War, August 31, 2015

Prof. Gerald Steinberg Speaks at the UN, June 30, 2015

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: New Report on the 2014 Gaza Conflict Highlights Deficiencies in UN Fact Finding Mechanisms, June 8, 2015

Col. Richard Kemp Speaking on Behalf of NGO Monitor at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, June 29, 2015

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: Investigation of the appointment of William Schabas and the conduct of the 2014 Gaza Commission of Inquiry, February 27, 2015

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: Lack of Military Expertise Seriously Impairs UNHRC Fact-Finding, February 20, 2015

Regarding the Legal Opinion Requested by Bureau of the Human Rights Council on William Schabas, February 23, 2015

NGO Monitor Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, January 30, 2015

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UN Human Rights Council: HRC Gaza Inquirty Must Conform to International Fact-Finding Standards, August 28, 2014

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UN Human Rights Council: Palestinian Exploitation of Children as Weapons of War, August 28, 2014

Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UN Human Rights Council: Issues Related to UNOCHA’s “Protection Cluster” Regarding Gaza, August 28, 2014

Recommended Reading

Shame on you, Mary McGowan Davis, David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, June 23, 2015

Analysis: Another Outrageously Flawed Gaza Report, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Tower, June 23, 2015

Mads Gilbert and the Theater of the Absurd, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Jerusalem Post, June 24, 2015

The U.N.’s Gaza Report is Flawed and Dangerous, Richard Kemp, The New York Times, June 25, 2015

Analysis: UN Report Cherry-Picks Evidence to Fit NGOs’ Anti-Israel Narrative, Yona Schiffmiller, The Tower, June 25, 2015

As I see it: Time to call out those aiding the Israel pogrom, Melanie Phillips, The Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2015

How the UN Report Shot Itself and Human Rights in the Foot, Gerald M. Steinberg, i24 News, June 30, 2014

UN Gaza Report May Hamper Fight on Terror, Military Experts Warn, Elhanan Miller, The Times of Israel, July 1, 2015

Dershowitz: A Jurisprudential Framework for Defending Israel, Alan Dershowtiz, The Algemeiner, July 1, 2015

Preempting ‘Goldstone II’, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Jerusalem Post, July 5, 2015

Schabas: There is a Distortion in the Attention Given Against Israel in the UNHRC, Yonah Jeremy Bob, The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2015