Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., November 16, 2009 Cheshvan 29, 5770 | | Israel Time: 02:08 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Human Rights Watch: Israel waging concerted misinformation campaign against organization
By Haaretz Staff

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of launching an "organized campaign" of lies and misinformation against it in the wake of the organization's support of the Goldstone report, British newspaper the Guardian reported Friday.

The Goldstone report claims Israel and Hamas both committed war crimes during the winter conflict in Gaza, but levels harsher criticism toward Israel.
Advertisement

"I really hesitate to use words like conspiracy, but there is a feeling that there is an organized campaign, and we're seeing from different places what would appear to be coordinated attacks ... from some of the language and arguments used it would seem as if there has been discussion," Iain Levine, Human Rights Watch's program director, told the Guardian. "We are having to spend a lot of time repudiating the lies, the falsehoods, the misinformation."

Human Rights Watch told the Guardian that the campaign to discredit it includes allegations that its reports on Israel are written by "anti-Israel ideologues" and that it has attempted to raised funds in Saudi Arabia by highlighting its criticism of Israel.

The group also said that it sees the campaign as part of the government's pledge over the summer to combat what it called "biased" human rights groups.

Levine told the Guardian he believes the criticism waged against Human Rights Watch is an attempt on Israel's part to distract attention from discussion of the Goldstone report.

Richard Goldstone, who compiled the report that has since been endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, is a former Human Rights Watch board member.

Blogs, NGOs and donors

Human Rights Watch said that criticism has come from right-wing blogs, but also from Israeli non-profit groups, such as NGO Monitor in Jerusalem, which is funded by U.S. donors and includes Elie Wiesel on its advisory board.

Wiesel and others published a letter in the Guardian calling attention to an op-ed written in the New York Times by Human Rights Watch founder Robert Bernstein, which accused the group of disproportionate criticism of Israel.

"Human Rights Watch has lost critical perspective on a conflict in which Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, organizations that go after Israeli citizens and use their own people as human shields," Bernstein wrote.

However, Levine told the Guardian that Bernstein published his opinion piece only after the group's board rejected his call for a change in direction.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Bibi, be a statesman
Netanyahu knows exactly what he must do for peace with Syria, Palestinians.
Unilateral Palestine
Netanyahu says there is no substitute for talks, appeals to PA to negotiate at once.
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
22:27 Netanyahu: If Palestinians act unilaterally, so will Israel
23:42 Palestinian PM: Declaration of statehood just a formality
22:28 Bill Clinton to Israel: Give Obama a chance
23:11 Israel says ready for direct peace talks with Syria
22:01 Report: Missing Iran general abducted by Mossad, being held in Israel
15:58 Palestinian hacker suspected of defrauding Bank Leumi clients
23:05 Saving Israel's heritage sites from a giant tsunami
22:25 TV ROUND-UP: Netanyahu: No substitute for peace talks; Arnold Schwarzenegger in Israel
23:11 For Baghdad revelers, bingo mania is back
13:00 Who is the Israeli at the center of a 2.8b euro deal in Brazil?
17:23 Iran: Obama no better than Bush
21:27 'Haredi violence will not solve Jerusalem Sabbath struggle'
21:25 Iran MP: We could produce our own missile defense system
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved