Landmark moment in debate about NGO bias over Israel after sensational revelations are published about Human Rights Watch

Robin Shepherd
July 18th, 2009
http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/

The charge that major non-governmental organisations have a reflexively anti-Israel bias is not one that should be levelled lightly. I was once a member of Amnesty International and remember being proud of the work they did around the world to highlight human rights abuses. Amnesty and other groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) have only one weapon at their disposal: the weapon of publicity. And they only have one claim to be taken seriously: that they are meticulous in protecting their reputation for impartiality. As a journalist I cited studies from both organisations, particularly while working in Russia and reporting on Chechnya. It always gave a story credibility. If HRW or Amnesty produced a report both journalist and reader would assume it to be true.

It is all the more tragic, therefore, that both organisations now stand accused of jumping on the anti-Israeli bandwagon and of issuing statements and reports which cast doubt on their objectivity. The latest revelations — almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media — about HRW in particular make for depressing reading.

The story concerns a recent visit by a delegation from HRW to Saudi Arabia. The delegation was headed by the group’s senior Middle East officer Sarah Leah Whitson. The central charge is that the delegation sought to raise funds from prominent Saudis — one a member of the Shura Council, Saudia Arabia’s state sanctioned religious leadership organisation — by highlighting HRW’s ongoing battles with pro-Israel groups.
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