International NGOs should work toward the goal of ensuring human rights for all citizens, everywhere. Instead, many disproportionately focus on allegations of Israeli violations and use their power and funding to promote a distorted narrative of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
On November 19, 2018, Airbnb issued a press release announcing it was “removing listings” in “Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank.” This change in policy was a clear result of a coordinated and well-financed campaign targeting the company by NGOs involved in BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns against Israel.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has used millions of European taxpayer funds, primarily from the UK, for a campaign that exploits the Israeli justice system and is aimed at circumventing appropriate diplomatic channels.
On June 27, 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) published his 2017 report on Children and Armed Conflict. Intensive lobbying by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), led by Human Rights Watch, to include the IDF on the list of “grave violators” of child’s rights (included as an Annex) failed.
On June 13, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a press statement accusing Israel of “apparent war crimes in Gaza” during the weekly Hamas-orchestrated violence along the border.
On May 28, 2018, Human Rights Watch issued yet another publication targeting Israeli banks. These materials are part of HRW’s continuing role in a broader BDS campaign to damage Israel’s economy through the financial sector.
Between May 13-16, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) employees tweeted excessively about the violence along the Gaza border, with their tweets almost exclusively condemning Israel’s right to defend its borders, belittling the violence, and making various politically driven statements
The Israeli Ministry of Interior has revoked the work visa granted in April 2017 to Human Rights Watch (HRW) employee Omar Shakir, a long-time anti-Israel, pro-BDS activist. In its response, HRW (and its local lawyer, Michael Sfard) makes the false claim that “neither HRW – nor Shakir as its representative – advocate for boycott, divestment or sanctions against companies that operate in the settlements, Israel or Israelis (sic).”
On April 3, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued an “analysis” of the March 30, 2018 events along the Israel-Gaza border. Like other HRW responses, this latest publication lacks credible methodology and manipulates the presentation of facts and law to advance a political narrative rather than engage in professional human rights research.
In March 2018, the NGO umbrella group known as Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict (Watchlist) published a Policy Note urging the UN Secretary General to add Israel, Myanmar, and others to a list of “grave violators” of children’s rights. Terror groups, including Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), are not mentioned in Watchlist’s publication.
On February 13, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW), along with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s procedures for granting access for Gaza residents to Israel for medical treatment. The groups cite a December 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) document that claims that 54 Gazans died while awaiting approval to travel to seek medical attention in Israel or in the West Bank. The WHO paper does not provide a source for this figure.