The NGO Front in the Gaza War: Compilation of NGO statements
A compilation of over 500 statements by 52 NGOs on "Operation Cast Lead" (December 27, 2008 - January 29, 2009).
Campaigns of Demonization
As part of the “Durban Strategy” to isolate Israel, NGOs level accusations of systematic Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. The NGO allegations are characterized by factual and legal distortions, in pursuit of an anti-human rights agenda.
The NGO Front in the Gaza War: BTselem
Since December 27, 2008, BTselem has issued over 35 press releases and "testimonies" about the Gaza war, most of which cannot be independently verified. No testimonies of Israeli victims of Hamas attacks were published. BTselem participated in a press conference accusing Israel of "grave violations of international humanitarian law," "wanton use of lethal force," and "disproportionate harm to civilians." BTselem also makes claims about the military relevance of targets which it is not qualified to assess. BTselems statements largely erase Hamas use of human shields and its indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.
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The NGO Front in the Gaza War: Debate over Palestinian Casualties
There is a growing debate over Palestinian casualty claims. While the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health have announced that the majority of fatalities were civilians, the IDF has estimated that more than two-thirds of [the deaths] were Hamas members. PCHRs anti-Israel campaigning during war includes accusations of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, human holocaust, collective punishment, indiscriminate killing and continued systematic destruction of all the Palestinian institutions and civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip.
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The NGO Front in the Gaza War: Amnesty International
Since December 27, 2008, Amnesty International and its worldwide branches have released numerous statements on Gaza. These are primarily critical of Israel and use the rhetoric of international humanitarian law in a consistently biased manner. Amnesty accuses Israel of "unlawful," "disproportionate," and "indiscriminate" attacks against Palestinian civilians. Amnesty largely ignores the well-documented commandeering of civilian infrastructure and widespread use of human shields by Hamas. These accusations are similar to Amnestys false claims against Israel made during the Second Lebanon War.
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The NGO front in the Gaza war: Oxfam
35 NGOs claiming to promote human rights and humanitarian agendas have issued more than 132 statements on the fighting so far. These reports are a central part of the soft power war being waged against Israel, in parallel to the hard power rocket and terror attacks. NGO Monitors series entitled, The NGO Front, will focus daily on different organizations, beginning with an analysis of Oxfams role.
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EU and NIF-funded NGOs Lead Condemnations in Gaza Conflict
[UPDATED] Following the pattern in previous conflicts, a number of NGOs immediately issued condemnations of Israel following the IDF response to increasing deadly rocket attacks from Gaza. Many of these statements reflect bias and double standards, and ignore or give little attention to Israeli human rights and casualties. NGOs exploit legal terminology, including terms such as "war crimes," "collective punishment," and "indiscriminate attacks." Some use the fighting in Gaza to repeat calls for boycotts and sanctions as part of the Durban strategy, and accuse Israel of perpetrating a "massacre."
