The U.S.-based, non-governmental organization (NGO), Human Rights Watch, is a self-appointed arbiter of human rights abuses around the world. The group claims to “investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable,” to “challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law” and to “enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.” This would be a noble and worthy mission if it were carried out objectively, without regard to political or ideological agenda. Regrettably, this is not the case.
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affair’s NGO Monitor has recently released a quantitative analysis of HRW’s activities in the Middle East. The results confirm what critics of the group have long contended — that HRW focuses disproportionately on criticism of Israel while whitewashing much worse offenders.
The NGO Monitor study quantitatively demonstrates:
a. the excess of critical evaluations of Israel in comparison with other Middle East countries;
b. the repetition of censorious terms in language regarding Israel (ex. “violation of international law”) in comparison to their infrequent use regarding the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc;
and
c. the extensive use of images emphasizing Palestinian suffering. in HRW’s campaigns.
Read the whole Human Rights Watch study.
Amnesty International, another organization that has been at the forefront of demonizing Israel under the guise of exposing human rights abuses, has just released its 2005 report on the “state of the world’s human rights.”
AI also focuses disproportionately on Israel, as well as taking aim at the U.S.-led war on terror. (See Snapshots blog entry.)