Dear Editor,

It is ironic that in his article ‘Amnesty International has much to say about Israel’ on June 17th, that David Amadia, should question the reliability of ‘the fact checkers.’ Amadia extensively quotes the 47 page report ‘Enduring Occupation: Palestinians Under Siege in the West Bank’ – It is in fact this report and its author, Amnesty International, which needs to be seriously questioned.

This report is more suited to a political communiqué, rather than serious research, as it places full responsibility for the conflict on Israel, giving only token reference to the wider context of Palestinian terror.  Not only is the fact ignored that since the construction of the separation barrier, terrorist attacks have been significantly reduced, but Amnesty International sickeningly employs Holocaust imagery by referring to the barrier as the ‘Wall of Death’.  

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident and is entirely consistent with Amnesty International’s outlook on the Arab-Israeli conflict.  Research by NGO Monitor (www.ngo-monitor.org) revealed that in 2006 Israel was unfairly singled out by Amnesty International for condemnation to a far greater extent than oppressive regimes such as Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Libya.  One has to ask why and can only conclude that Amnesty International is guided by a clear and one-sided political agenda.

Dan Kosky
Director of Strategy and Communications
NGO Monitor
Jerusalem
Dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org">Dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org