NGO Monitor Digest (Vol. 3 No. 10) 15 June 2005
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CONTENTS: |
- "ECUMENICAL ACCOMPANIMENT PROGRAM" - TRAINING
FOR ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS
- AMNESTY'S 2004 ANNUAL REPORT: GROWING CRITICISM
- NEW SECTION OF NGO MONITOR: NGO LEADERSHIP IN ANTI-ISRAEL
BOYCOTT AND DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGNS
- PNGO OPPOSES PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI COOPERATION IN HEALTH
- PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S EXECUTION DRAWS NGO PROTESTS
- REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF
ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST 2002-2004
- "WAR ON WANT" ESCALATES POLITICAL ASSAULT ON ISRAEL
- NEWS UPDATES
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"ECUMENICAL ACCOMPANIMENT PROGRAM"
TRAINING FOR ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS
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A number of "human rights" and "humanitarian" NGOs organize internships and visits for activists, who then return to their communities in Europe and North America and join the anti-Israel political campaign. Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is a notable example, and is actively supported and funded
by the World Council of Churches, a major supporter
of the anti-Israel divestment campaign.
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AMNESTY'S 2004 ANNUAL REPORT: GROWING CRITICISM
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On May 25, Amnesty International
released its annual report covering 149 countries. As shown
in NGO Monitor's analysis, this report reflects the absence
of credible research, the abuse of the rhetoric of human rights,
and an overriding political agenda.
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The criticism of Amnesty's ideological
and political agenda continues. In an interview published in
Time Magazine, (June 6 2005), Natan Sharansky noted: "I have
very serious criticisms of Amnesty. There is no moral clarity.
It doesn't differentiate between what I call fear societies
and free societies...Amnesty International...ends up with reports
that show a moral equivalence between...Israel and the terrorist
regimes that attack it...Human-rights organizations create
an atmosphere in which dictatorial regimes dictate the human-rights
agenda of the entire world."
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The Wall St. Journal
ran a second editorial on this issue.
"Natan Sharanksy -- a man who
actually spent time as a Soviet political prisoner -- described
Amnesty's gulag analogy as 'typical, unfortunately' for a group
that refuses to distinguish 'between democracies where there
are sometimes serious violations of human rights and dictatorships
where no human rights exist at all.'"
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NEW SECTION OF NGO MONITOR: NGO LEADERSHIP IN ANTI-ISRAEL BOYCOTT AND DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGNS
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The NGOs involved in the
2001 Durban conference
articulated the strategy of using boycotts and divestment campaigns to de-legitimize Israel. This strategy is being actively implemented by prominent NGOs such as HRW, Amnesty International, Christian Aid, War on Want, PNGO, and others. This section focuses on sources linking the NGO network to the anti-Israel boycott strategy.
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PNGO OPPOSES PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI COOPERATION IN HEALTH
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A large group of Palestinian NGOs and unions related to the medical field registered their "protest and deep concern over the increasing pressure exerted upon us to enter into Palestinian-Israeli cooperation schemes in the sphere of health." This declaration highlights the primary political and anti-Israel agenda of these NGOs.
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Article>>>>
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PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S EXECUTION DRAWS NGO PROTESTS
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| The Palestinian Authority's
execution
of four "convicted murderers" on June 12 led to an unusual number of protests from the NGO network. These included Amnesty International,
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR),
B'tselem, and the Shurat Hadin Law Center. Amnesty noted that "between 30 and 50 prisoners who are held on death row in Palestinian Authority (PA) prisons are at risk of execution." In addition, the PA routinely executes individuals accused on "collaboration" with Israel.
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REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
2002-2004 |
This report focuses on the degree to which HRW addressed the activities of the major countries in the region, using a new quantitative methodology, and demonstrates the extreme emphasis on critical assessments of Israel. In addition, we compare the language of reports in a seven-month sample period during 2004, noting the repetition of certain key terms with respect to Israel (i.e., "violation of international law"). The data used for this analysis is presented in an accompanying
appendix and can be easily verified and extended to other periods and countries.
Click here to go the report>>>>
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"WAR ON WANT" ESCALATES POLITICAL ASSAULT ON ISRAEL
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War on Want, a registered UK "charity", has launched a new attack in its ongoing campaign against Israel. Using highly inflammatory rhetoric, WoW exposes its extremist political agenda, in alliance with members in the radical political NGO network, while fabricating numerous allegations which are presented at face value.
Read
Article>>>>
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NGO MONITOR NEWS UPDATES |
| "Amnesty's 'Gulag'," Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2005.
Michael Ehrlich, "Amnesty International -- do your Homework,"
Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2005.
David J. Forman, "We Are Not Paranoid," Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2005.
Tony Parkinson, "Amnesty gets Bushwhacked," The Age, May 27, 2005.
"'American Gulag' (commentary on Amnesty International Annual
Report)," Washington Post, May 26, 2005.
"Amnesty's 2004 Annual Report: Too Much Politics, Not Enough Credibility," NGO Monitor, May 25, 2005.
Gerald Steinberg, "The NGO Network and anti-Israel Boycotts:
'War by other Means,'" The Jerusalem Post, May 22,
2005.
Bernard Josephs, "War on Want Urges Sanctions Against Israel,"
Jewish Chronicle, May 18, 2005.
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Please send any feedback to mail@ngo-monitor.org
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