Canadian and American legislators met last week to consider sponsoring a counter-conference to compete with the UN-sponsored Durban II meeting on human rights that is set to convene in 2009
"Alternately, when Israel cooperated with the South African government, after about 1973, the Israel=apartheid equation was deployed in the international forum as a propaganda sub-theme of the notorious 'Zionism is Racism' slander. More recently the 'Israel-is-an-apartheid state' mantra has subsumed and largely superseded the defamatory 'Zionism is Racism' slogan.
"Human rights and poverty relief charity War on Want has accused 'politically motivated lobbyists' of abusing Charity Commission complaints procedures to prevent the organisation from defending Palestinians' human rights. Lee Scott, Conservative MP for Ilford North, complained to the regulator about the charity's online Palestine guide, which describes itself as a 'guide for boycott, divestment and sanctions' against Israel. Scott denied that the motivation for his letter was political. 'War on Want is a registered charity,' he told Third Sector. 'As such, it shouldn't involve itself in political matters, and this is a political matter. This is not something that a charity that wants to help people should be doing.'
The United Nations has scheduled an International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, to be held in the European Parliament in Brussels, August 30-31. This misleading title not withstanding, this annual conference is held under the auspices of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the International Coordinating Network for Palestine - frameworks that promote the conflict through NGOs involved in implementing the Durban agenda of demonization. This year, for the first time, the exercise is gaining the legitimacy of sponsorship by the European Parliament, further highlighting the role that the Europe Union plays in supporting the NGO campaign. While the speakers list is secret until the conference, highlighting the violation of transparency in the UN and EU, past speakers have included radical figures such as Jeff Halper (from the EU-funded ICAHD (and allied with Sabeel), Raji Sourani from PCHR, Michael Warschawski, of the Alternative Information Centre, and Jamal Juma Jaafreh, from the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. Topics include The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and civil society response, Action by civil society organizations working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory...
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), as documented by NGO Monitor, has taken a very biased position towards the Israeli-Arab conflict that distorts the core values of universal human rights. This report has yet to be assessed in full, but the following press summary indicates continuing bias that focuses blame and recommendations primarily and disproportionately on Israel.
USAID will now be screening all personnel at NGOs that receive USAID funding to make sure they have no links to terrorism. This is in addition to the pledge each organization has to sign that it is not connected to terrorist groups. In the past, certain Palestinian NGOs have refused to sign such declarations.
Ive written several columns criticizing Amnesty International. Last week, Hassan Bility, a Liberian ex-dissident who Amnesty helped free from prison, wrote to contradict me (Human rights matter in Africa, Aug. 10). Hes right to appreciate their help. Pressuring regimes over jailed dissidents is an Amnesty hallmark. Hundreds are free because of its noble efforts. But agitation for select political prisoners does not negate Amnestys flawed agenda, which actually damages the cause of human rights.
Kudos to the Polish members of the European Parliament, who are boycotting another anti-Israel UN conference. And shame on the rest of the Europeans who are eager to participate.
Halper asks, "What details make the difference between a just and lasting peace and apartheid?" He outlines the following steps Israel will have to take in order to guarantee that a Palestinian state is viable...
BRUSSELS (EJP)---A two-day conference by a UN panel on the rights of the Palestinians will take place in the European Parliament in Brussels at the end of this month in spite of complaints by Israel and Jewish groups about the anti-Israeli character of the meeting. The conference, entitled International Conference of Civil Society in Support of sraeli-Palestinian Peace, will bring together several non-government organizations (NGOs).
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