On May 15, 2018, Adalah and seven other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) sent a letter to US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to “Investigate Israel’s Use of Lethal Force in Gaza and Halt Foreign Assistance to Israeli Military Units.” The letter adopts a BDS (boycott, divestments, and sanctions) agenda against Israel, in stark contrast to the signatories’ donors’ policies.
Becca Wertman writes a Letter to the Editor of Foreign Policy regarding invented legal standards by Sari Bashi, Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) “Israel/Palestine Advocacy Director,
NGO Monitor Columbia University alumni write to Dean of Columbia Law School regarding statement on Prof. Katherine Franke's involvement in BDS campaigns.
On April 30, the Israeli Supreme Court held a hearing on two petitions from NGOs claiming that Israel’s responses to violence along the Gaza border are illegal and demanding that the Court prohibit the use of live ammunition by the IDF.
On April 26, 2018, Defense for Children International – Palestine’s (DCI-P) International Advocacy Officer Brad Parker spoke in Ottawa. Alongside UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk and leader of the Green Party of Canada Elizabeth May, the event “Rights under Endless Occupation: Israel/Palestine Discussion,” was hosted by the Mennonite Central Committee and the United Church of Canada. Parker’s presentation repeated the false claims and methodological flaws that are typical of DCI-P’s advocacy and reports
In advance of a High Court hearing on April 25 about a demolition order against a Palestinian school in Area C of the West Bank, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement accusing Israel of “the war crime of wanton destruction and forcible transfer” and recommending that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court “examine the school demolitions.”
Following the “March of Return” protests that took place along Gaza’s border with Israel on March 30, 2018, numerous human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) took to social media to condemn Israel – neglecting the context and role that terrorist organizations like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) played in organizing the event.
Correspondence between Sweden's Foreign Minister, Ms. Margot Wallström and NGO Monitor's Prof. Gerald Steinberg and Ms. Olga Deutch.
That journalists rely uncritically on non-governmental organizations, especially in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is well established. Legal and factual claims by groups that purport to promote human rights are often treated as automatically credible, while their political biases, lack of methodology, and even ties to terror organizations are ignored.
On March 6, 2018, British journalist David Collier exposed a virulently antisemitic Facebook group, “Palestine Live,” who members have included politicians, journalists, and activists from prominent human rights non-governmental organizations. These NGOs include Amnesty International, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and Jewish Voice for Peace. It is likely that as more information on this group is made public, additional NGO activists will be identified.