Tuesday, September 8, 2009

NGO Monitor report: Experts or Ideologues?


A Systematic Analysis of HRW's Focus on Israel

On September 8, 2009, NGO Monitor released a research report – Experts or Ideologues? A Systematic Analysis of Human Rights Watch’s Focus on Israel – examining HRW’s publications and campaigns related to Israel from 2001 to 2009.


This report is the most detailed analysis of HRW that has been published to date, revealing a consistent pattern of double standards, inconsistencies, and exploitation of human rights to attack Israel.

The report consists of three sections:
1) An examination of key HRW staff members – their professional backgrounds, research expertise, and ideological bias concerning Israel, including:

  • Ken Roth
  • Sarah Leah Whitson
  • Joe Stork
  • Marc Garlasco
  • Reed Brody

2) Five detailed HRW case studies which show:

  • Consistent bias
  • False and contradictory claims
  • Reliance on irrelevant “evidence”
  • Speculation disguised as fact
  • Inappropriate methodologies (“eyewitness testimony,” NGO and media reports, and “weapons assessments” that are neither credible nor verifiable).

3) A broader quantitative analysis of HRW publications from 2001 to 2009, showing greatly disproportionate emphasis on Israel in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Division, double standards in the use of terminology such as “war crimes,” “collective punishment,” etc., and in highly distorted uses of international legal terminology.

PDF of the full report


Executive summary [PDF]

Click here for further analysis of Human Rights Watch and excerpts of the report
.

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