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Overkill: NGOs and Media Coverage of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict Gerald Steinberg NGO Monitor

Overkill: NGOs and Media Coverage of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict Gerald Steinberg NGO Monitor www.ngo-monitor.org. www.ngo-monitor.org. NGO Statements on Israel – July 12-August 15. Human Rights Watch – 24 Amnesty International – 18 Christian Aid – 8 B'Tselem - 1

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Overkill: NGOs and Media Coverage of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict Gerald Steinberg NGO Monitor

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  1. Overkill: NGOs and Media Coverage of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict Gerald Steinberg NGO Monitor www.ngo-monitor.org

  2. www.ngo-monitor.org NGO Statements on Israel – July 12-August 15 Human Rights Watch – 24 Amnesty International – 18 Christian Aid – 8 B'Tselem - 1 EMHRN – 2 International Commission of Jurists - 2 EuroMed – 1 KAIROS – 1 Medecins Sans Frontieres - 3 Oxfam – 9 MIFTAH – 6 Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) - 2 Physicians for Human Rights - Israel – 1 International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) – 4 (Does not include opeds, interviews, letters written by NGO officials)

  3. 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."

  4. 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.

  5. Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon August 2006   Volume 18, No. 3(E) Related MaterialAlso Available: Fatal Strikes Download Summary and Recommendations in FrenchDownload Summary and Recommendations in Hebrew

  6. Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure AI Index: MDE 18/007/2006      23 August 2006 48 hours not enough as war crimes continue AI Index: MDE 02/002/2006 31 July 2006

  7. NGOs as “military experts” [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.” “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"

  8. 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’”.

  9. 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,"

  10. 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."

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. www.ngo-monitor.org 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? “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.)

  14. www.ngo-monitor.org “Diversionary Strike On a Rights Group”, Kathleen Peratis, August 30, 2006 …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,”…..

  15. USE OF LEGAL RHETORIC • 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"

  16. 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."

  17. 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”

  18. 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.

  19. Government officials (MFA, Prime Minister’s office) generally do not respond to NGO reportsStrong 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?

  20. www.ngo-monitor.org Watching The Watchers: NGO MONITOR

  21. www.ngo-monitor.org NGO SUPERPOWERS Annual 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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  23. www.ngo-monitor.org THE POLITICAL POWER OF NGOs AND THE HALO EFFECT • Non-Governmental Organizations are powerful political actors • 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

  24. www.ngo-monitor.org NGOs Durban Media Jenin UNHCR UN and Diplomats UNGA and ICJ Boycott and Divestment Academia

  25. www.ngo-monitor.org NGO FORUM: DURBAN – SEPTEMBER 2001

  26. www.ngo-monitor.org Examining NGO Credibility • Most global NGOs (Amnesty, HRW) have essentially no independent research capability. • They rely on Palestinian “eyewitness testimony” and journalists who use the same sources.

  27. www.ngo-monitor.org 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 storiesthat 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

  28. NGOs and the Hizbollah War - July 2006 • 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

  29. www.ngo-monitor.org RESEARCHING NGO AGENDAS HRW IN THE MIDDLE EAST – 2004 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.

  30. www.ngo-monitor.org CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER STUDY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AI has adopted “double standards on human rights…and propaganda against America and Israel.”  http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=511

  31. HRW’s use of “Durban” Rhetoric- 2005. • 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.

  32. www.ngo-monitor.org WHO SETS THE AGENDA? REPORTS ON ISRAEL/PA AND SUDAN SEPTEMBER 2000- 2004

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