The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Gaza-based NGO, has been granted “special consultative status” by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). ECOSOC consultative status facilitates NGO participation in UN forums, including “attendance at … meetings … oral interventions and written statements.” The decision by the Council ignores rhetoric and activities by Al Mezan that are the opposite of universal human rights values.

Al-Mezan’s anti-Israel rhetoric includes labeling the Israeli Defense Forces the “IOF – Israeli Occupation Forces,” and baseless allegations of Israeli “holocaust (genocide),” “slaughters,” “massacres,” “target[ing] civilian premises directly and wantonly,” “war crimes,” and “apartheid.”  Al-Mezan has also been involved in “lawfare” campaigns against Israeli officials, including an attempt to procure an arrest warrant against Ehud Barak in the UK.