In July 2010, Salil Shetty became the Secretary General of Amnesty International. His appointment follows a major decline in Amnesty's moral reputation and influence. NGO Monitor wrote to Shetty, asking him about the Gita Sahgal incident, Amnesty's bias in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the calls for an arms embargo against Israel, and the blog post of Amnesty-Finland's executive director referring to Israel as a "scum state."
On May 13, 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its seventh report on the Gaza war, I Lost Everything. The 116-page report focuses on alleged IDF destruction of civilian property, using this to promote the Goldstone report and to renew boycott calls against Israel.
In 2009, the European Commission allocated 2,007,051 through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) for Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. Highly politicized Israeli NGOs include ICAHD, Machsom Watch, Adalah, ACRI, and Yesh Din. Some grantees use rhetoric that demonizes Israel, including apartheid and war crimes. 2008 EIDHR recipients included BTselem, Breaking the Silence, Gisha, HaMoked, and PHR-I. The EC claims to have evaluations of NGO funding, but these are not made available.
Since the beginning of September, NGO Monitor has been investigating questions relating to responsibility for researching and drafting the Goldstone report. The Missions webpage does not provide any information on this issue, and repeated requests by NGO Monitor to both Goldstone and the Fact Finding Mission office were ignored. Staff members from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights who were involved in preparing the report have strong links to NGOs.
As in HRWs other statements on Gaza, this report reflects a manipulation of "evidence" and lack of professionalism to support pre-determined political and ideological positions. The charges of "war crimes" are unjustified, based on dubious interpretations of international law, and reflect HRWs role in the wider Durban strategy of demonization. The lack of credibility results from reliance on unreliable and tampered evidence; false and inaccurate claims; and internal contradictions. The authors include a pro-Palestinian activist who has worked at the highly politicized PCHR.
Trcaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Funders include Irish Aid (Government of Ireland). Its programs reflect a one-sided agenda, including the "campaign on the illegal Wall" and its reporting on Gaza. Partners include Badil, PCHR, Zochrot, and Medical Aid for Palestinians. During the Gaza operation, Trcaire called for "the suspension of EU-Israel Association Agreement." Officials accuse Israel of "systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another to maintain a regime."
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