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

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)
 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 French
Download Summary and Recommendations
in Hebrew
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
 NGOs as “military experts”

[S]aid Marc Garlasco, the “The IDF said it

senior military analyst targeted two
“Amnesty International at Human Rights buildings that
has accused Israel of Watch, …. “[Cluster contained
committing war Bombs] were weapons. …
crimes by completely ineffective But Human
deliberately targeting at attacking Hezbollah Rights Watch
… areas of no with these weapons, … concluded
apparent strategic but the civilian harm is the opposite.”
importance" 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 The Guardian ..”Yesterday's attack
deliberately on the southern Lebanese town
destroying Lebanon's of Qana, which rights group
civilian infrastructure Human Rights Watch today
during its recent war labelled a ‘war crime’”.
with Hezbollah
guerrillas.
• 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
 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.)
 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,”…..
 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"
• 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.
 ISRAEL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE?
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
 www.ngo-monitor.org

Watching The Watchers: NGO MONITOR

 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
“
 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
 www.ngo-monitor.org

NGOs
NGOs
Durban

Jenin Media
Media

UNHCR

UN
UNand
andDiplomats
Diplomats
UNGA and ICJ

Boycott and
Divestment
Academia
Academia
 www.ngo-monitor.org

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

RESEARCHING NGO AGENDAS

HRW IN THE MIDDLE EAST – 2004
Israel
13
23
Egypt
37
145 Saudi Arabia

42 Palestinian
Authority
Syria

91 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.
 www.ngo-monitor.org

CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER

STUDY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AI has adopted “double standards AI Reports per million people
on human rights…and Beginning 2005 - March 2006
propaganda against America and
Israel.”
http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=511
6 6 U.S.
5.1
5.1
5 5
Saudia

reports per million

4
Beg. 2005 - March 2006

Arabia
reports per million

4
N . Korea 3
3 Egypt Israel
2
Israel
2 1 0.3 0.6 0.6
Global
1
0 Rate
0.09 0.02
0
 HRW’s use of “Durban” Rhetoric- 2005.
Violations International Arbitrary / Unlawful Killing/
Humanitarian law / Human Killing of Civilians / Extra Judicial
Rights Law Killing / Summary Execution
38
40 18
20

30 15

20 10

10 5 3
2 4 3 1 1 1
0 0
Israel Egypt Morocco Israel Syria Egypt Syria

•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.
 www.ngo-monitor.org

WHO SETS THE AGENDA?

REPORTS ON ISRAEL/PA AND SUDAN SEPTEMBER 2000- 2004

200
180
160
140
120
100 Israel / PA
80 Sudan
60
40
20
0
AI HRW ICJ