Former HRW analyst said to be avid collector of Nazi souvenirs

Meo, the Luftwaffe was an arm of the armed forces of the German state. Indeed, it still is. Meo, the Confederate Army was an arm of the armed forces of the Confederate States of America. They were both perfectly legitimate, and their legitimacy stood apart from the ideology of the regimes that controlled those states. In the case of WW2 Germany, that ideology was a most virulent form of fascism. If the case of the Confederacy that ideology was a virulent belief in slavery. You INSIST - utterly INSIST - that the WW2 Lufwaffe can not be divorced from the regime that controlled Germany. You also INSIST - utterly INSIST - that the Conferate Army was completely divorced from the regime that ran that Confederacy. You apply two different standards, because your argument falls down if you don't. If the WW2 Luftaffe = "Nazism" then the Confederate army = "Slavery". To argue otherwise is to be a hypocrite, Meo.

had nothing to do with Marc Garlasco's hobby of collecting Nazi Memorabilia Only a warped mind would have associated the two

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/12/AR2008021202692.html Garlasco collects both WW2 German Anti-aircraft memorabilia and WW2 USAAF 8th Air Force memorabilia. Anyone with any knowledge of WW2 would understand the connection between those two forces...... But what drives his interest in *that* particular struggle, out of all the comapaings of WW2? Is it a love for all things Nazi, as alleged? No, it's apparently much more personal than that: One of his relatives served in a Luftwaffe antiaircraft unit. To go from THAT to suggesting that his interest indicates he is a closet Nazi is, honestly, nonsensical. No wonder BEN takes to it like a Pig wallowing in Shit.

Johnboy: does that make Confederate Army Unit Insignias into "slavery insignia"? Of course not for god sake! Did Confederate Army was a movement of the pure race? Did Confederate Army leaders wanted to conquer the world? Did Confederate Army attacked and conquered almost all Europe? Did Confederate Army killed Jews,Gypsies and gays wherever they saw them? Krystallnacht?Pogroms?Buchenwalds?Holocaust? Did Confederate Army had Gestapo units? Geez! And of course you have no shame for comparing Confederate Army to the Nazi movement.... How many people killed Confederate Army again Johnboy? Just to have an idea.

BJ goes to great lengths to explain his understanging of the 88mm FlaK gun, THEN makes a monumental leap to...... BJ: "Men that saw service in the American Army and their heirs, rightfully hold Nazi insignia in disdain." BEN did, of course, leap completely OVER the point that I was making: What makes the MILITARY insignia of WW2 German FlaK units into NAZI insignia? And for his edification I'll repeat this comparison: does that make Confederate Army Unit Insignias into "slavery insignia"? Well, does it, BEN?

or commented on "FLAK 88" in the first place, so there's no need for me to explain it now or ever What I do know about the Flak 88, was that initially was designed for AA duty, then the Krauts realize it was excellent as an artillery piece directed at ground activity Men that saw service in the American Army and their heirs, rightfully hold Nazi insignia in disdain.

BJ: "Nazi Insignia are frowned upon and generally banned" Let's leave aside for the moment BEN JABO's rather remarkable assumption that the sense and sensibilities of your typical patron of your typical US Gun Show amounts to, well, anything at all.... BJ: "Nazi Insignia are frowned upon and generally banned" Explain to me - again - how the unit insignia of German WW2 FlaK units came to be regarded as "nazi insignia", BEN? If they *are* then are the unit insignia of Confederate army infantry divisions regarded as "slavery insignia", BEN?

U.S. Gun show, it only proves your totally unfamiliar with the general rules Do yourself a favor, Google up a couple of Gun Shows, see their restrictions of what's allowed 1) Nazi Arms are acceptable 2) Nazi Insignia are frowned upon and generally banned 3) I didn't mention Gerlasco's book, just Nazi Memorabilia 4) I don't patronize Gun Shops, and I don't waddle, the closest I come is refuting your twaddle 5) Nowadays, I go to gun shows to see what's new, I have more than enough on hand that I don't have to buy more You're a real source of wisdom from somebody who has never done anything or been anyplace "BJ: "Those tags, insignia, badges, and the rest of those types of markings fall under the same restrictions"

BJ: "Nazi Memorabilia is banned from most gun shows in the USA and the restrictions are posted on the shows websites " And. Good. On. Them. BJ: "Those tags, insignia, badges, and the rest of those types of markings fall under the same restrictions" No, they don't. Garlaso's book is about Flak Badges of the Luftwaffe, and that is WW2 MILITARY memorabilia, not NAZI memorabilia. Waddle yourself over to your local gun shop BEN - I'm sure you are well known to the owner - and ask him if you can buy some of those badges through him. Come back and tell us all what he says....

Nazi Memorabilia is banned from most gun shows in the USA and the restrictions are posted on the shows websites Those tags, insignia, badges, and the rest of those types of markings fall under the same restrictions I can't seem to find that you ever intend to do anything about going where the action, safety behind the keyboard is your motto Unlike you, I do attend gun shows, buying or trading, one thing I won't do is buy Nazi stuff

o: "in this case the facts are overwhelming" And those facts are that this MILITARY ANALYST has an interest in a particular branch of the military i.e. German WW2 FlaK units. Which leads to ombudsman concluding that... O: " human rights watch is about anything but human rights. its leaders are so bad it is comical." You can tell all that because this guy collects badges and insignia? Impressive leaping skills indeed, ombudsman. I would have thought it indicated nothing more than that he has an interest in anti-aircraft artillery. And if that's your bag then you are going to looooooove the German FlaK of WW2, because it was - by far - the most impressive AA defense the world has ever seen.

o: "we are looking at the fact that a human rights watch critic of israel`s collects nazi memorobilia." NAZI memorabilia??? No, he collects the badges and insignia of German WW2 Flak units. Yeah, annnnnnnnnnnnnnd? I have a friend who reads everything he can find regarding the American Civil War. It is his particular interest, but try as I might I can see no sign that he wants to acquire a negro slave for his household.....

what is the point of being offensive to the entire site.try presenting the facts. in this case the facts are overwhelming- "human rights watch" is about anything but human rights. its leaders are so bad it is comical.

the best approach to "human rights watch" would be to judge the picture in total.no point in arguing the merits or otherwise of flak 88. there has been a large and overwhelming case against the organisation including praising the munich massacre funding from saudi (surely a primary target of a real human rights organisation.) the lady in saudi wheedling saudi money while she abused the jewish state.and on top of this disastrous mountain of midsdeeds perpetrated by "human rights watch" comes the collector of nazi objects.does not look good does it?

the americans together with the germans bombed and killed dozens of civilians in afghanistan last week. can we expect "human rights watch" to send the collector of nazi whatsits to condemn the americans and the germans.so far not a squeak from anyone in the entire world.just imagine what would have been done and said had it been israel that was involved.

tell that to so called "human rights".they have all their ammo aimed at this 1/1000th part of humanity.

we are looking at the fact that a human rights watch critic of israel's collects nazi memorobilia. this together with his good friend joe stork praising the munich massacre of jewish athletes and the lady of shall we say saudi sympathies. let so called human rights watch pack their tents and go and live in saudi.

A review from Amazon.com: I have read this book from front to back, and can honestly say it is the very best yet to hit the market not only for the flak badge enthusiast/collector but also for the WWII historian. It is filled with full-page detailed photos of every WWII flak badge both Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and Heer (German Army)and their individual characteristics. Other chapters cover award criteria, badges in wear, current copies of badges, award documents, badge cases and packets, and much much more. The author is very knowledgable in this, his field of study. As an avid flak badge collector I wanted a good reference book to hit the market to accompany and help authenticate my collection. This book has more than satisfied my needs and wants. I highly recommend this work to everyone intertested in the WWII German flak badge, whether novice or seasoned collector. Doesn't sound much like a neo-Nazi maniac.

The so-called evidence against this guy seems remarkably thin, as many people on here have pointed out. Flak 88 is clearly primarily a reference to the famous german anti-aircraft gun. Anyway, whatever the guy's politics, it doesn't really matter from Israel's point of view. The non-Jewish world was horrified by what it saw of Cast Lead on its televisions and HRW's report just backs up a lot of other information indicating large numbers of civilian casualties. The only people interested in the smears against HRW are already fanatical supporters of Israel, who don't believe Israel can do any wrong whatever the evidence. If Israel wants to defend Cast Lead, it would be much better off saying, 'yes we unfortunately killed quite a lot of civilians, but certainly no higher a percentage than killed by US/UK/Allied forces in Afghanistan'. Now THAT is true. It may not endear Israel to its western allies, and it doesn't deal with wider questions of abuse of the Pals, but it is true.

Objective observer insists that "flak88" must mean "Flak Heil Hitler". Quite how that phrase is anything other than gibberish is something that OO doesn't even attempt to answer.... Dan, of course, did at least ponder the issue and suggest that MAYBE it's a reference to the 88mm FlaK gun but "Still, he must have known the reference, since he`s so active in Nazispeak" Leaving aside Dan's rather unsupported reference to Garlasco's "active nazispeak".... may I suggest you both look up his book on Amazon, because there you can see the front cover. There it is, in all its glory: an 88mm FlaK gun. Mystery Solved, and Case Closed.

the last few months have been a nightmare with their reputation being chipped at until the latest news from the collector of nazi memorabalia.the edifice has fallen.who will now look beyond joe stark of hrw who praisd the munich massacre of jewish athletes.or the hrw lady who tried to appeal to the mediavel saudis by bad mouthing israel.hrw the party over.

CW: "On the other hand, Garlasco hardly hid his authorship of the book. Look it up; I did. " And what's that I see on the cover of his book? Gosh! An 88mm flak gun, the most famous anti-aircraft artillery piece of all time. And there we were, all of us thoroughly convinced that "flak88" refered to, err, "Flak-me, it's Herr Hitler!", err, or something like, err, that......

myy have against dropping white phosphorus on women and children in camps invalid.

I bet if they had found any posts glorifying the Nazis or denouncing Jews they would have publicised them as well. I didn't read anything about that though! A historical interest alone does not make someone a Nazi. And trying to connect the 88 to Heil Hitler is truely grasping for straws considering that it was the caliber of a famous anti aircraft gun, the complete nick is pointing at anti aircraft guns and the book the guy has written is about badges of anti aircraft gunners. You really have to seperate every single tie to reality to believe crap like that! 88 ("eight-eight") simply was the cololcquial term used for that gun in Germany ("acht-acht")! The guy obviously has written a book under his real name about badges of German anti aircraft troups. Then the guy posts in a forum of people collecting stuff like that. Duh! Big surprise! That truely discredits him! It only shows hoe desperately some people are trying to discredit their critics in the absence of facts.

Ya gotta wonder about these HRW guys and how they hire their staffers. If HRW doesn't care that a senior researcher is fixated on a regime that perpetrated the worst human rights atrocities of the past century, then how are they supposed to care about human rights at all?

The guy authors constantly anti- Israel propaganda, and collects Nazi souvenirs. You connect the dots.

Moreover, so what if he collects Nazi memorabilia, does that mean he hates Jews? How utterly disappointing that Haaretz treats "NGO Watch" as anything more than what it really is: a Zionist propaganda tool designed to discredit critics of Israel - many of whom happen to be decent, honorable people. Absolutely revolting on all levels.

Google hits, as "Search-Term #Hits". The first line is always the number of pages that reference both HRW and the country; the second line is the number of times the country is mentioned on HRW's site. HRW Israel: 1,390,000 Israel site:hrw.org: 4900 HRW Saudi: 6,720,000 Saudi site:hrw.org 10,900 HRW Iran: 1,170,000 Iran site:hrw.org 4200 HRW Hamas: 5,380,000 Hamas site:hrw.org 4510 HRW Hezbollah: 2,940,000 Hezbollah site:hrw.org 490 HRW Egypt: 7,220,000 Egypt site:hrw.org 3570 Funny how outraged the people here get when the reality is that HRW criticizes Israel's enemies as much or more than Israel. But look at the bright side - they managed to bring together Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran in an anti-human-rights HRW hatefest!

The article manages to imply that Garlasco has tried to conceal this interest. His internet moniker of 'Flak 88' is 'unveiled.' Look down the list of comments. I see maybe three people posting under what appears to be their own last name. Personally, I don't participate in the practice, but EVERYONE uses psuedonyms on internet forums. What dark secrets is 'Yosemite Sam' trying to hide, for example? Methinks none at all. On the other hand, Garlasco hardly hid his authorship of the book. Look it up; I did. So the 'accusation' boils down to his frankly admitted interest in German flak badges (he's written a book about them under his own name), and his use of the moniker 'Flak 88' -- actually, a rather predictable choice for someone interested in German flak badges. This is it? As I said, practically an indirect admission that there was nothing wrong with his actual investigation of Israel.

"88 stands for HH (H is the 8th letter in the alphabet)and is a common cryptogram used on Nazi sympathizer websites to denote `Heil Hitler`." Flak 88 stands for the famous 88mm anti-aircraft (flak) guns used by the Germans. As well as against planes, they were found to be incredibly effective when levellled against our tanks. As someone who had a father with the RAF in North Africa, and as someone who had American friends whose fathers were in the war, we were all familiar with the term "f*cking 88s" with which veterans expressed their respect for these awesome guns. Eighth letter of the alphabet? Heil Hitler??? Time to take your meds and put your tinfoil hat back on.

...Associate General Counsel, and Program Director, and Vice-Chairman of the Board, and Founding Chairman, along with various other Board and staff members, are all Jews. Does that mean that HRW's criticism of Hamas is suddenly illegitimate? Not in my view, at least; HRW is one of the world's truly great NGOs, and we're lucky to have them.

"The Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, who profiled Garlasco in the wake of these reports, earlier this week questioned the objectivity, integrity and professionalism." Would he be considered more objective if he collected IDF souvenirs? What utter nonsense!

Marc Garlasco is a military analyst i.e. by definition he has an interest in things military. Marc Garlasco has a hobby, which is - apparently - an interest in German WW2 anti-aircraft artillery. This makes Marc Garlasco a Nazi. Hmmmmmmmm. I know someone who has a keen interest in the American Civil War, and who has collected reams of book on the subject. Next time I visit I'll check out his house, because I now suspect (thanks, guys!) that he must have a negro slave chained up in the cellar. When I rescue him I'll help him go online to thank all you guys......

I suppose you've got a point. On the other hand, HRW concerns itself with areas outside Israel as well -- it's not as if they should concern themselves with Jewish sensibilities in particular. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that Israel represents 1/1000th of humanity. More important, though, is the inherent insubstantiality of the accusation. If that's what 'NGO Monitor' is finding wrong -- that one of their former analysts had a hobby Jews might find suspicious -- then HRW must be a pretty authoritative source. It's almost a grudging endorsement. For example, it implies that there was actually no fault to be found with his investigation of the 2006 Gaza Beach explosion and Israel's use of White Phosphorus in 'Cast Lead.' Nor really, could there have been. After all, we all the photos of white phosphorus shells exploding over Gaza. Israel's denials were absurd.

This proves a whole lot of nothing. I can't believe this was even printed. I mean come on we start with "a FORMER senior military analyst" and then go onto the word "ALLEGEDLY". Maybe if true, it's bad taste but you need a whole lot more proof to go any further.

First, 'Flak88' has nothing to do with the '8' neo-Nazi symbolism. The Flak-88 was Germany's premier anti-antiaircraft gun, as the most casual Google search will reveal. Garlasco's hobby is collecting the badges of German anti-aircraft units, so his moniker makes sense. You can find his book "The Flak Badges of the Luftwaffe and Heer" on Amazon. The subject is very limited: anti-aircraft medals and badges. It is distant from the Nazi's crimes. There is no evidence of Nazi sympathies in either him or his reviewers. These people appear to be wonkish collectors, and nothing else. His grandfather fought against the Nazis, so there is no historical or familial connection between him and the Nazis. The man was a Pentagon analyst. His interest is the military. He has a peculiar hobby collecting one obscure form of militaria. No one has found any posts of his suggesting sympathy for the Nazis.

If someone collects German stamps of the 1930s and '40s, does that mean that they are antisemitic?

If you?d flip the coin and there was an investigator that came up with findings that are in favor of Israel but he was an avid collector of IDF memorabilia and his moniker was ?Cast Lead? I don?t think that he would have been taken seriously by anyone, including me, although one could argue that ?Cast Lead? means only that - cast lead. If it looks like a duck?????..

if it is someone who shares the collector's world view then indeed you would be right. if on the other hand the judge is someone with a jewish word view then he would be entitled to think: "well dammee if that isnt the biggest nonsense." i of course assume the man is courteous.others may have stronger language in mind.

true, maybe he is a nazi and he surely knows the symbolism of 88, but it's just wrong to assume that his pick of name "proves beyond doubt" that he is a Nazi sympathizer. It's just wrong reasoning, especially for someone with "common sense".Flak88 is the name of the gun, it's a VERY famous weapon and it has nothing to do with Heil Hitler. He could just have chosen that name by coincidence, u just don't know it for sure.My initials are A.H. Does that make my parents Nazis sympathizers?After all, if he really is a Nazi he could have chosen a more obvious name, such as SS something or whatever, cause I guess in these forums not everyone really minds.Considering the "quality"and the political and nationalist bias of any other "report" of NGO Monitor, I tend to believe that it was just a unlucky choice of name by that bloke. I personally rather "question the objectivity, integrity and professionalism" of NGO Monitor, they not even try to be impartial.

Af your avoiding getting out into the field and reporting first hand Nor for that matter, nearly as crummy as your ratings It's no wonder you see sanctuary in Ha Aretz, nobody else seems to pay any attention to your pathetic bulletin board

Well, he had bad breath, a fat face, and a pimple on his nose. So it wasn't a crime that I was doing 120 mph in a 30 mph zone. Anyway, that was the best defence I could come up with. A military analyst collects military memorabilia and goes by the moniker 'Flak88.' This is not exactly devastating evidence of much of anything.

You can say that ?Flak88? is a name of a gun or whatever you want but everyone who has a bit of common sense understands that Garlasco as a ?Nazi expert? knew the symbolism of 88. He chose to use the moniker anyhow which proves beyond doubt that he is a sympathizer of the Nazis and not only an innocent collector. This is another proof that HRW (also known as Hamas Rights Watch) is not to be taken seriously.

the human rights watch guy who praised the munich massacre of jewish athletes. he did not think human rights were applicable to jews.

human nights watch.

human fights watch.

may i propose "human bites watch" this organisation has a mean set of dentures.

Just a hunch, but I don't think this will end well for garlasco. This 'hobby' is anathema to the spirit of 'human rights watching'. It's sort of like when a socially conservative american politician gets caught flirting with boys. Having to constantly apologize for and explain away one of their member's avid nazi mania is not going to sit well with the human rights watchers.

Hamas shouldn't have started it by firig all those thousands of rockets and mortar rounds into Israel

i for one, am open to hearing criticism of israel and not only do i live and vote in jerusalem, i am politically active. therefore, such organizations could influence me if i thought there was anything remotely fair or even-handed about them. however, aside from perhaps shalom achshav, peace now, these groups target israel unfairly and bless hamas terrorists as angels from above. therefore, nothing they say can be taken seriously. if a good number of them turn out to be neo-nazis, i wouldn't be the least bit surprised. if israeli left-wingers would take a more balanced approach, they'd have more success swinging the center their way. instead they fall for absurd claims of b'tselem, a group that openly admits it never checks the israeli side of the story, and swallows hamas lies whole. this is why they have no credibility - and that is a sad state of affairs.

Also critcizing Israel.Nazi souvinirs and criticizing Israel for me makes him an Antisemite.

Hamas shouldn't have started it in the first place All those thousands of rockets and mortars fired into Israel were a definite NO NO

can you imagine an organisation looking out for human rights is involved in all sorts of unsavoury activities.its a mad mad mad world.

Perhaps by itself this would justify some of the comments excusing Mr Garlasco's behavior but added in with the solicitation of Saudi money, Joe Stork, and the total imbalance in HRWs reporting on the Israel-Palestinian situation it seriously calls into question the organizations credibility.

I thought that too at first, and while it's possible that the 88 is in reference to H(eil)H(itler), it is more likely to be a reference to the 88mm Flak gun. Still, he must have known the reference, since he's so active in Nazispeak.

Garlasco joins other colleagues at HRW with unsavory backgrounds such as: Joe Stork, who has a long history of support for Israel's destruction and Palestinian terrorism. Sarah Leah Whitson, who tried to fundraise from wealthy Saudis by highlighting battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations". Lucy Mair, who previously wrote for the anti-Israel "Electronic Intifada" propaganda site before working for HRW. Yet the media still looks unquestioningly to HRW and its staff as virtuous models for addressing univeral human rights. Who else does ? I let you guess.

"Flak88, indicates that he is something other than just an`expert` on Nazi paraphernalia. 88 stands for HH and is a common cryptogram used on Nazi sympathizer websites to denote `Heil Hitler`." I totally agree with you on the 88 symbolism, but a 'Flak88' is probably the most famous German gun of the WWII ('Flak' standing for "Flugabwehrkanone" (anti-aircraft-gun) and 88 indicates its caliber of 8.8cm).So that bloke does well know guns of the WWII but in his defense it has to be stated that this name doesn't automatically "indicate that he is something other then an expert on Nazi paraphernalia". To name oneself after a gun, or something like that, kind of makes sense in a forum for Nazi souvenirs collectors and doesn't mean automatically that you are a 'Heil Hitler' idiot. but I guess any way to discredit a critic of Israel's policies is good enough for the broad Israeli public, even if it's just some fabricated BS.

gun. Do some research on the german contraction FLAK and it's relationship to 88.

So this guy unconciously thinks that everyone should have Human Rights except for Jews.

HRW are having a very bad time, aren't they? One senior member, Joe Stork, turns out to have supported the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes, another senior member Sara Leah Whitson turns out to have been a director of an Arab lobby group, and now their military expert turns out to be a collector of Nazi war memorabilia. AND the organization recently went to Saudi Arabia for funding with their message being that they were fighting against pro-Israel groups. You would think that this would be enough to discredit them as an impartial monitor, but somehow their supporters continue to delude themselves

...and this is going to backfire on NGO Monitor and Israel very badly.

It's no surprise that a neo-Nazi fan should infiltrate a group like Human Rights Watch where they have a free hand to circulate the most baseless accusations against Israel. The United Nations is another example of this corruption with the Israel bashing under Kurt Waldheim, former Secretary -General of the United Nations and former nazi party member. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Waldheim In a 1976 security council debate, Waldheim described the Israeli rescue of hijacked airline passengers at Entebbe, Uganda as "a serious violation of the national sovereignty of a United Nations member state."

There was also published a picture of Garlasco wearing an Iron Cross and German lettering on his shirt. "88" is a double reference, both to Hitler and an anti-aircraft gun. Garlasco has served in the US Defense Dept., but what SPECIFIC expertise does he have to comment as a savant about Israeli ordnance, as he has repeatedly done?

Either the man is a proto-Nazi, or he is not. Until that question is answered it would make sense to hold fire..one way or the other.

One sense a certain desperation here. But everyone now agrees that the war in gaza was disgusting, and we don't need HRW to tell us that. The only confirm it.

Kim, his moniker, Flak88, indicates that he is something other than just an'expert' on Nazi paraphernalia. 88 stands for HH (H is the 8th letter in the alphabet)and is a common cryptogram used on Nazi sympathizer websites to denote 'Heil Hitler'. This suggests that his 'collecting' Nazi paraphernalia reflects on his underlying (and more pertinent) admiration for its source.

So HRW employs the radical Marxist Joe Stork who has not renounced his calls made in the late 70s and 80s for the destruction of Israel; it solicits funds in Saudi Arabia claiming that money is needed to fight the lies of Zionists; and it employs a man with an avid interest in Nazi paraphernalia... I think it may be appropriate to discount HRW's objectivity when it comes to Israel

Lots of books have been written by many different people on Nazis, Nazi propaganda, Nazi films, Nazi uniforms, Nazi policy - by Jews and non-Jews. Just because someone researches and writes about Nazism (or Stalinism, or Italian fascism) does not mean they automatically adhere to those ideas. This is just another transparent attempt to deflect any criticism of Israel's very real human rights abuses and violation of international law through muck raking. Pathetic really.

NGO monitor is a well-known right wing group that sees anti-Israeli conspiracies in even the most benign, middle-of-the road nonprofit orgs. This article is lazy journalism of the worst kind: poorly sourced and clearly based on a press release. This is is nonsense intended to distract attention from the real issue, which is HRW's well-documented findings that Israel violated the rules of war in Gaza.

Let's intimadate everybody who dares critisize Israeli actions in the occupied territories, so Israel can have a Free hand dealing with the Palestinians.

Was well known in the MSM. The Leftist press tries to cover up such stories. Just think what a story it would have been if Ha'aretz included this nugget together with the story of HRW's complaints, rather than a few days later.

Flak88 - everybody knows what 88 stands for in neo-Nazi circles. The letter "H" is eights letter in the alphabet and 88 stands for "Heil Hitler" in all the neo-Nazi internet forums. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)#As_a_Neo-Nazi_symbol

So now we have a Neo-Nazi representing the Human Rights Watch organisation?