UNHRC Inquiry into 2014 Gaza Conflict
 |
| Filling in the Blanks: Documenting Missing Dimensions in UN and NGO “Investigations” of the Gaza Conflict |
Introduction
On June 22, 2015 the United Nations Human Rights Council published the report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the 2014 Gaza War. Initially, the inquiry was headed by William Schabas and then taken over by Mary McGowan Davis after the former’s resignation over his undisclosed paid work for the PLO.
The report relies heavily on unreliable political advocacy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that lack credibility and do not employ professional fact-finding standards. NGO Monitor’s review shows that NGOs were referenced, cited, and quoted at a high volume: B’Tselem was the most referenced NGO with 69 citations, followed by Amnesty International (53), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (50), and Al Mezan (29), and others. UNWRA and UN-OCHA were also featured throughout the report.
As with the discredited 2009 Goldstone process, already in the midst of the fighting NGOs began initiating calls for a UN “fact-finding” investigation of the conflict and submitted statements to the UN that alleged “deliberate, systematic, and widespread targeting of Palestinian civilians”; “collective punishment”; “war crimes and crimes against humanity”; “grave violations of international humanitarian law,” etc.
UN Presentations
NGO Monitor and UN Watch in Geneva: UNHRC Inquiry into 2014 Gaza Conflict
Reports and Publications
Filling in the Blanks: Documenting Missing Dimensions in UN and NGO Investigations of the Gaza Conflict, publication of NGO Monitor and UN Watch, Edited by Gerald M. Steinberg and Anne Herzberg, June 2015
See also press release, Report Fills Gaps in UN’s Investigation of Gaza Conflict, June 9, 2015
Par for the Course: EU- & NIF-Funded NGOs Central to UNHRC Lawfare Attack, NGO Monitor Report, June 22, 2015
UN Report on Gaza: Improvement over Goldstone, but NGO Reliance Hurts Credibility, NGO Monitor press release, June 22, 2015
Preliminary Analysis of UN Board of Inquiry Summary Regarding 2014 Gaza Conflict, NGO Monitor Analysis, April 28, 2015
The 2014 Gaza Conflict: Factual and Legal Aspects, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 2015
The 2014 Gaza War: The War Israel Did Not Want and the Disaster It Averted, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2015
High Level International Military Group Letter to Judge Mary McGowan Davis, UN Watch blog, May 31, 2015
Ahead of UN Report on 2014 Gaza War, Multinational Mission of Generals Finds: “Israel not only met but significantly exceeded international legal standards”, UN Watch press release, June 12, 2015
Analysis of the U.N. Report on the 2014 Gaza Conflict: The Distorting Effects of Flawed Foundations, Prof. Geoffrey Corn, USA (ret.), Senior Advisor to JINSA Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, June 2015
NGO Statements to the 29th Session of the UNHRC, NGO Monitor Report, July 15, 2015
UN Resources
Written statement by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: European Funding for NGOs that Falsify History of the 2014 Gaza War, August 31, 2015
Prof. Gerald Steinberg Speaks at the UN, June 30, 2015
Col. Richard Kemp Speaking on Behalf of NGO Monitor at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, June 29, 2015
Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UNHRC: Lack of Military Expertise Seriously Impairs UNHRC Fact-Finding, February 20, 2015
Regarding the Legal Opinion Requested by Bureau of the Human Rights Council on William Schabas, February 23, 2015
NGO Monitor Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, January 30, 2015
Written statement submitted by the Amuta for NGO Responsibility to UN Human Rights Council: Palestinian Exploitation of Children as Weapons of War, August 28, 2014
Recommended Reading
Shame on you, Mary McGowan Davis, David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, June 23, 2015
Analysis: Another Outrageously Flawed Gaza Report, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Tower, June 23, 2015
Mads Gilbert and the Theater of the Absurd, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Jerusalem Post, June 24, 2015
The U.N.’s Gaza Report is Flawed and Dangerous, Richard Kemp, The New York Times, June 25, 2015
Analysis: UN Report Cherry-Picks Evidence to Fit NGOs’ Anti-Israel Narrative, Yona Schiffmiller, The Tower, June 25, 2015
As I see it: Time to call out those aiding the Israel pogrom, Melanie Phillips, The Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2015
How the UN Report Shot Itself and Human Rights in the Foot, Gerald M. Steinberg, i24 News, June 30, 2014
UN Gaza Report May Hamper Fight on Terror, Military Experts Warn, Elhanan Miller, The Times of Israel, July 1, 2015
Dershowitz: A Jurisprudential Framework for Defending Israel, Alan Dershowtiz, The Algemeiner, July 1, 2015
Preempting ‘Goldstone II’, Gerald M. Steinberg, The Jerusalem Post, July 5, 2015
Schabas: There is a Distortion in the Attention Given Against Israel in the UNHRC, Yonah Jeremy Bob, The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2015
