[Opinion] Boycotts, Antisemitism, and Free Speech
Professor Gerald M. Steinberg discusses whether ethical guidelines or legal restrictions are legitimate means of responding to the singling out of Israel through boycotts and similar attacks.
Publications: | Reports, Books, Academic Publications, Submissions, Resource Pages |
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Other Content Types: | Press Releases, In The Media, Presentations, Posts, , Key Issues |
NGOs: | Human Rights Watch (HRW) |
Start date: | 1 Jan 1988 |
End date: | Jul 2020 |
Professor Gerald M. Steinberg discusses whether ethical guidelines or legal restrictions are legitimate means of responding to the singling out of Israel through boycotts and similar attacks.
In May 2019, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) published “2018 Impunity Remains: Attacks on Health Care in 23 Countries in Conflict” which painted Israel as the worst offender of attacks against health care in 2018. Closer inspection reveals a publication rife with faulty methodology, as well as reporting and selection bias that can be traced to highly partisan contributors
On March 13, 2019, Amnesty International posted, “Think Twice: Can companies do business with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories while respecting human rights?” The Amnesty campaign coincides with the anticipated release of the UN Human Rights Council blacklist of “settlement” businesses and is designed to bolster this UN initiative singling out Israel for attack.
On May 4 and May 5, 2019, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired over 600 rockets and mortars toward Israeli population centers, murdering four Israeli civilians. NGOs and NGO officials that claim to promote human rights have ignored the blatant Palestinian violations against Israeli civilians. Some have remained silent altogether, while others have focused exclusively on demonizing Israel for responding to the attacks.
Although Palestinian officials are often portrayed as the initiators and leaders, in practice, the campaigns are largely led by officials of Western institutions, including powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the areas of human rights, international law, peace, and other normative objectives.
Omar Shakir’s background and history of anti-Israel activity exemplifies the organization’s troubling ideological approach to Israel and retreat from the universal principles of human rights.
Omar Shakir tweeted 970 times (including retweets) on issues relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict, ranging from boycotting businesses over the 1949 Armistice line, the violence along the Gaza border, and his lawsuit against the Israeli government.
Professor Gerald M. Steinberg discusses how Canada is vital in providing a new agenda for the UN.
On November 20, 2018, Human Rights Watch, in cooperation with Kerem Navot, published a report targeting Airbnb. The report followed a two-year long coordinated and well-financed BDS campaign.
Human Rights Watch’s October 2018 report “Two Authorities, One Way, Zero Dissent: Arbitrary Arrest and Torture Under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas” contains a number of obvious omissions and reflects an absence of serious analysis