The Goldstone "Fact Finding" Mission and the Role of Political NGOs

The Goldstone Mission chose officials from radical anti-Israel NGOs to testify including Al Haq, AIC, and the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP). The GCMHP representative used Nazi rhetoric. HRW has obsessively supported Goldstone, who was a member of HRWs board. The process for the selection of witnesses are completely hidden, and some including PCHR were not made public. Seven NIF-funded Israeli NGOs claimed that Israel acted punitive[ly] and deliberately and knowingly shelled civilian institutions. The Mission has violated the London-Lund guidelines, lacking objectivity, transparency, neutrality, and professionalism.

Topics

• 2014 Gaza War
• Durban
• Goldstone Report
• Lack of Transparency
• Political Warfare
• UN Human Rights Council (HRC)

HRW Plays Prominent Role at UN Mini-Durban Conference

On July 22-24, 2009, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held an NGO conference to discuss questions related to Israeli violations of international humanitarian law. Participants included Palestinian NGOs such as Badil, PCHR, and Al Haq, as well as Human Rights Watch and Israeli NGOs PHR-I, Keshev, and Adalah. HRW promoted the campaign to prevent Israel from purchasing weapons and demanded on-going international pressure on Israel. One speaker accused Jews of buying everything and controlling a global machine, money. Most NGO representatives expressed support for lawfare cases.

Topics

• Demonization
• Durban
• Lawfare
• Racism
• United Nations

Durban II NGO participation -Rolling back 2001

Topics

• 2009 Durban Review Conference
• Antisemitism
• Durban
• Racism

NGO Bias at the UN Committee Against Torture Review of Israel

Israel is scheduled to be reviewed by the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) as part of its periodic review of country compliance with the International Convention Against Torture. NGO submissions -- from Amnesty, COHRE, Adalah, Al Haq, PHR-I, and others -- invent and distort international law beyond recognition, and seek to manipulate of this UN treaty body by inserting gratuitous and false accusations regarding Israeli policies. NGOs repeat the unreliable statistics and non-credible claims of Yesh Din and BTselem. The submissions make sweeping generalizations based on limited anecdotal evidence.

Topics

• Demonization
• Durban
• Gaza
• Lack of Evidence
• United Nations

UN tries to avoid NGO incitement, but gives Ahmadinejad a platform

UN officials are trying to prevent the type of virulent NGO activity that defined the 2001 NGO Forum at the first Durban conference. The UN sent security personnel to confront hateful posters and speech, and reportedly denied anti-Israel NGOs request for an official side-event. In contrast, Iranian president Ahmadinejad used offensive and racist language against Israel. Human Rights Watch condemned Western democracies for "undermining" the conference, not the racism and corruption of human rights by Iran and radical NGOs.

Topics

• Durban
• Iran
• Racism
• United Nations

Focus: Durban II update: NGOs advancing anti-Israel events

Topics

• 2009 Durban Review Conference
• Apartheid Rhetoric
• Demonization
• Durban

The NGO Front in the Gaza War: The Durban Strategy Continues

Topics

• 2009 Gaza War
• Durban
• Human Rights Law
• International Humanitarian Law
• International NGOs

• Israeli NGOs
• Lawfare
• Oxfam
• UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
• War crimes

NGOs and Durban Demonization at UN Human Rights Review of Israel

As predicted by NGO Monitor, the majority of NGO submissions to the UN's UPR of Israel ignore human rights issues facing Israelis and areas where Israel is a leader in this field, while grossly distorting the humanitarian, human rights and international legal dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nord-Sud XXI, Ittijah, Badil, and PGAAWC exploit human rights terminology and employ inflammatory rhetoric against Israel. Adalah, Amnesty, and others attribute "racist" motives to Israeli policies, instead of acknowledging that these are legitimate responses to Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians.

Topics

• Demonization
• Distortions of International Law
• Double Standards
• Durban
• Lack of Evidence

• Methodology
• UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
• United Nations
• War crimes

Durban 2009 NGO Update: Pressing for another disastrous NGO Forum

Topics

• 2009 Durban Review Conference
• Durban
• NGO Forum of the UN

HRW Hires Another pro-Palestinian Activist

The addition of Nadia Barhoum, a pro-Palestinian campus activist, to HRWs Middle East and North Africa Division, increases the political bias reflected in the activities and backgrounds of Sarah Leah Whitson, Joe Stork, and previous staff. This is inconsistent with HRWs claimed "even-handedness and accuracy." Barhoum was an active member in Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Berkeley. SJP promotes the Durban agenda of demonization of Israel, divestment from Israel, and uses terms such as "apartheid" and "mass atrocities" in reference to Israel.

Topics

• Apartheid Rhetoric
• BDS
• Durban
• Joe Stork
• Lucy Mair

• Nadia Barhoum
• Right of Return
• Sarah Leah Whitson
• Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)