Love of the Land: One Year Later, NGOs Recycling the Gaza Myths

One Year Later, NGOs Recycling the Gaza Myths

NGO Monitor
27 December 09

Marking the first anniversary of the Gaza war, many NGOs are publishing reports that repeat allegations based on unverifiable evidence and often false claims.

Before the war, many NGOs ignored the 8000 rocket attacks from Gaza, the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, and internal Palestinian violence. In contrast, during the Gaza war over 50 NGOs released more than 500 statements, the vast majority which condemned Israel for alleged “violations of international humanitarian law.”

NGO superpowers like HRW and Amnesty published numerous statements and reports making allegations against Israel, while denying the evidence that Hamas had used the population of Gaza as human shields.

HRW’s report, entitled ‘Precisely Wrong’ (June 2009), accuses Israel of using highly accurate drones to deliver Spike missiles in six cases, and failing to take action which could have prevented the deaths of civilians. NGO Monitor has shown that HRW provides no substantive evidence for these claims.

(Read full press release)

Love of the Land: One Year Later, NGOs Recycling the Gaza Myths

Love of the Land: NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

NGO Monitor
22 December 09

A coalition of powerful political NGOs – including Amnesty-UK, Trocaire (Ireland), Finn Church Aid, Diakonia (Sweden), Oxfam, Oxfam-NOVIB (Holland), Cordaid (Holland), Christian Aid (UK) – have issued a report “Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses,” to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Gaza conflict. As in numerous earlier publications on this topic, this report reflects the primacy of advocacy and the biased agendas of organizations claiming to promote “humanitarian aid”.

1) The central thesis of the report -- “primary responsibility lies with Israel” to end the blockade -- repeats the unsupported legal claim that Gaza remains occupied, as well as the false allegation of “collective punishment.” As legal scholars note, Gaza cannot be considered occupied, and economic sanctions are not illegal. These tendentious claims were apparently made in order to condemn Israel and create fictitious obligations.

2) Similarly, these groups blame Israel for ongoing conflict, minimizing the clear responsibility of Hamas for mass terror, and for blatant incitement to violence.

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

Love of the Land: Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Robin Shepherd
Robin Shepherd Online
22 December 09

It is time for a boycott after all. At the end of this piece you will find the names of 16 charities including Amnesty International UK and Oxfam International that have clubbed together to produce a report today about the situation in Gaza which would be laughable if it wasn’t so appalling. Go to their websites, write to their directors and, where appropriate, contact relevant government offices asking to have their charitable status removed. Really. Do it. Here are five reasons why:

1) The report calls for the Middle East Quartet (EU, UN, Russia, United States) to “begin political dialogue with all Palestinian parties”, ending what it calls “the failed policy of non-engagement”.

Sorry, but who do these charities think they are in saying that refusing to legitimise vile anti-Semitic, anti-Western terror groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad has “failed”? It has certainly failed Hamas and Islamic Jihad who are now more or less contained and lack international legitimacy. I think that’s a good thing. If the charities do not, they should explain themselves.

2) In similar vein, they should be asked to explain why, despite a few pro-forma references to Israel’s security and other references to rockets, their 18 page report failed to mention the words “terrorism”, “terror” or “terrorist” one single time, thus eradicating the context of Israel’s entire Gaza policy. Was this a product of ignorance, bigotry or both?

Read the rest of this entry »

Love of the Land: Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Love of the Land: Amnesty Researchers

Amnesty Researchers

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Love of the Land: Amnesty Researchers