Overkill: NGOs and Media Coverage

of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict

Gerald Steinberg

NGO Monitorwww.ngo-monitor.org

Human Rights Watch – 24 Amnesty International – 18

Christian Aid – 8 B'Tselem - 1EMHRN – 2 International Commission of Jurists - 2EuroMed – 1 KAIROS – 1 Medecins Sans Frontieres - 3 Oxfam – 9MIFTAH – 6 Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) - 2Physicians for Human Rights - Israel – 1International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) – 4

(Does not include opeds, interviews, letters written by NGO officials)

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NGO Statements on Israel – July 12-August 15

NGOs provided constant information feed to news services:

Common themes in the NGO statements include:•“Disproportionate force” – without a definition of proportionate

•Judgments regarding "military targets" without military expertise

•Condemnation of Israel's targeting of bridges, major roads and the Beirut Airport as "collective punishment."

Themes in NGO statements cont…

• Political lobbying, letters to politicians calling for sanctions against Israel.

– Little mention that Hezbollah's

military positions in civilian areas (human shields) is a war crime.

Few references to the role of Iran and Syria and other context-related details.

• Few NGOs call for the release of the two abducted Israeli soldiers.

Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon

August 2006   Volume 18, No. 3(E)

Related Material

Also Available  :                          Fatal Strikes          Download Summary and Recommendations in FrenchDownload Summary and Recommendations in Hebrew             

Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian

infrastructureAI Index: MDE 18/007/2006      23 August 2006

48 hours not enough as war crimes continueAI Index: MDE 02/002/2006 31 July 2006

NGOs as “military experts”

“The IDF said it targeted two buildings that contained weapons. … But Human Rights Watch … concluded the opposite.”

“Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting … areas of no apparent strategic importance"

[S]aid Marc Garlasco, the senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch, …. “[Cluster Bombs] were completely ineffective at attacking Hezbollah with these weapons, but the civilian harm is enormous.”

NGOs as Interpreters of international law (war crimes, indiscriminate or disproportionate use of force, etc.)

Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of war crimes, saying it broke international law by deliberately destroying Lebanon's civilian infrastructure during its recent war with Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Guardian ..”Yesterday's attack on the southern Lebanese town of Qana,

which rights group Human Rights Watch today labelled a ‘war

crime’”.

• HRW’s Questions and Answers on Hostilities Between Israel and Hezbollah

• Updated August 02, 2006

• IDF actions "open the door to deliberately attacking civilians and civilian objects themselves - in short to terrorism,"

• Israel's "destruction seems aimed more at...preventing [the civilian population] from fleeing the fighting and seeking safety,"

Stop Killing Civilians 25 Jul 2006

• …Israel's response is not proportional." • "The damage to infrastructure, homes and

medical establishments is considered to be a grave violation of international law and the international humanitarian law."

NGOs as fact providers

• What are the NGOs’ sources? (eyewitnesses reliable?)

• BBC • “Oxfam's Shaista Aziz, in Beirut, said:

"After 33 days of war, large parts have been destroyed and devastated.“

• CAMERA & Human Rights Watch: An Exchange,” September 22, 2006

Peter Bouckaert, HRW’s Emergencies Director, “For Israel, Innocent Civilians are Fair Game”, International Herald Tribune, August 3, 2006 and “White flags, not a legitimate target,” July 31, 2006

“Israel is prefabricating excuses to justify killing civilians.” According to

Bouckaert, “Israel has hit civilian homes and cars in the southern border zone . .

with no evidence of any military objective”, ignoring the plethora of

evidence that Hezbollah hid weapons and fighters in civilian areas. Bouckaert gave numerous media interviews with

similar phrases and messages

Sept 1 2006: Rosa Brooks: Criticize Israel? You're an Anti-Semite! How can we have a real discussion about Mideast peace if speaking honestly about Israel is out of bounds?

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“Kenneth Roth — whose father fled Nazi Germany — is executive director of Human Rights Watch, America's largest and most respected human rights organization. In July, after the Israeli offensive in Lebanon began, Human Rights Watch did the same thing it has done in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, … It sent researchers to monitor the conflict and report on any abuses committed by either side.” (Disclosure: I have worked in the past as a paid consultant for the group.)

“Diversionary Strike On a Rights Group”, Kathleen Peratis, August 30, 2006

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…the report's critics seem to believe that Israel should be exempted from the rules of war. …

Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, who has accused Human Rights Watch of "immorality at the highest level,”…..

Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)• “collective punishment and are a serious violation of

international law."• “… systematically destroying its infrastructure. …

collectively punish a whole people, including arbitrary killing... indiscriminate targeting and the scale and ferocity of the violence, …, constitute an exceptional grave violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Euromed Non-Governmental Platform (an NGO network working with the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership)

• "Nothing could justify the collective punishment inflicted to the Palestinian people or the destruction of the Beirut airport's tracks or bridges."

• International Commission of Jurists (Geneva)• "[T]he bombing of undefended towns, villages and

dwellings that are not military objectives...constitute war crimes"

USE OF LEGAL RHETORIC

• Days of dread and despair long-lived by the Lebanese during the war seem to have returned."

• "The stability of the entire region is under threat as Israel responds …

• [Israel’s] "constant attack and ... the beginnings of a potential humanitarian crisis."

• The Prime Minister himself telephoned Christian Aid director, Dr Daleep Mukarji, at the weekend to ask for his thoughts on resolving the Middle East crisis."

Balance – belated and not comprehensive

“Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict” (Jerusalem, October 19, 2006)

“Hezbollah Needs to Answer”, By SarahLeah Whitson, Published in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Oct 5, 2006

“Sarah Leah Whitson admitted that their “research found that on a number of occasions Hezbollah unjustifiably endangered Lebanese civilians by storing weapons in civilian homes, firing rockets from populated areas, and allowing its fighters to operate from civilian homes. Hezbollah also used children as active combatants, another violation of the law.”14 September, 2006 “Under fire: Hizbullah’s attacks on northern Israel”

Halo effect• Blinds the media to the credibility of

NGOs as sources• No attempt to assess the accuracy and

credibility of the stories• Reliance on NGOs for

• Facts • Military expertise and • Definitions and application of

international law.

Government officials (MFA, Prime Minister’s office) generally do not respond to NGO reports

Strong tendency to freeze, (or apologize) – Qana 48 hour partial “cease fire”

IDF slow, providing limited information. No individual responsible for policy on NGO claims

ISRAEL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE?

Watching The Watchers: NGO MONITOR

www.ngo-monitor.org

NGO SUPERPOWERSAnnual budgets (2005)

Human Rights Watch                              $ 56 million  Amnesty International (£23.7 million)  $ 43 million   Christian Aid    (£58.5 million)  $ 90 million Oxfam   $368 million  MSF/ Doctors Without (€366 million) $468 million

Borders

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“

THE POLITICAL POWER OF NGOs AND THE HALO EFFECT

• Non-Governmental Organizations are powerful political actors

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• NGOs define human rights, “war crimes”, violations of international law, etc.• NGOs are not subject to accountability or “checks and balances” • NGOs have no systematic basis for determining the boundary between legitimate criticism and demonization

NGOsNGOs

MediaMedia

UN and DiplomatsUN and Diplomats

AcademiaAcademia

Durban

Jenin

UNHCR

UNGA and ICJ

Boycott and Divestment

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NGO FORUM:DURBAN – SEPTEMBER 2001

www.ngo-monitor.org

•Most global NGOs (Amnesty, HRW) have essentially no independent research capability.

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Examining NGO Credibility

•They rely on Palestinian “eyewitness testimony” and journalists who use the same sources.

NGO Credibility“…Amnesty International has reported that Israeli soldiers deliberately aim at Palestinian children. When asked to document that they couldn't come up with a single case.

“Human Rights Watch has made up stories that have had no corroboration whatsoever. …..”

“I spoke with Donatella Rovera, who is AI's researcher …and asked her to provide the data …Rovera acknowledged that …the report was based on anecdotal information, …from Palestinian NGOs.

“It is impossible …for any outside researcher to replicate AI's study and to confirm or disconfirm its conclusions.

- Prof. Alan Dershowitz

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• Accusations of "disproportionate force" by Israel, with no explanation of proportionality in response to Hezbollah terror

• Condemnation of Israel's targeting of bridges, major roads and the Beirut Airport as "collective punishment," despite the clear military rationale to prevent the re-supply of arms from Syria and Iran.

• No mention that Hizbollah's concrete reinforced military headquarters are located under buildings in southern Beirut, (a war crime, as defined by Protocol I (1977) to the Geneva Convention, article 51(7), relating to human shields.) No NGO explores the human rights implications of Hezbollah's use of human shields.

• Few NGOs call for the release of the two abducted Israeli soldiers

NGOs and the Hizbollah War - July 2006

RESEARCHING NGO AGENDASHRW IN THE MIDDLE EAST – 2004

145

91

42

1323

37

Israel

Egypt

Saudi Arabia

PalestinianAuthority

Syria

Libya

Data based on the number and relative weight of documents produced in 2004, compared to other countries in the Middle East, and excluding Iraq-related documents, of which actually pertained to US policy.

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AI has adopted “double standards on human rights…and propaganda against America and Israel.”  http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=511

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CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTERSTUDY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

HRW’s use of “Durban” Rhetoric- 2005.

38

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10

20

30

40

Israel Egypt Morocco

Violations International Humanitarian law / Human

Rights Law18

31 1

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20

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Arbitrary / Unlawful Killing/ Killing of Civilians / Extra Judicial

Killing / Summary Execution

•In HRW Middle East publications, Israel was the only country charged with "collective punishment" and "war crimes".

•Israel charged with "grave" and /or "serious" human rights "violations" and/or "abuses" 32 times; Egypt 22 ; all other countries fewer than 10.

WHO SETS THE AGENDA?REPORTS ON ISRAEL/PA AND SUDAN SEPTEMBER 2000- 2004

020406080

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AI HRW ICJ

Israel / PASudan

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