Human Rights Watch was designated as the nominated charity (to recieve donated funds) in a facebook cause called "Boycott Israeli Apartheid". NGO Monitor wrote to HRW to highlight this in December.No reply was recieved from HRW. In January follow up research showed that HRW had been removed as the designated charity (without accepting any of the money). The cause currently does not have a designated charity.
"Dan Izenbergs interview with Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's chief researcher for the Arab-Israeli conflict zone (HR Issues were ignored at Annapolis, December 17th), highlights the dangerous halo effect enjoyed by so many NGOs. Rovera, as an Amnesty International representative, is mistakenly assumed to be a regional expert. Yet, not only does she spend little time in the region and speak limited Hebrew, but her analysis in Izenbergs interview is baffling - She omits to mention, let alone make the connection, between the reality of daily terror launched from Gaza while condemning Israeli government policy."
In his Guardian article on NGO Monitors conference, Seth Freedman demonstrated that we are doing our job promoting critical debate and accountability on human rights NGOs in the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is right that nobody gets a free ride the halo effect which has protected political superpowers like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch from serious examination has no justification.
"...Jessica Montell is big on Israels responsibilities towards Gazas population and totally silent on the responsibilities of Gazas Hamas government, both to Palestinian civilians whose health requirements they are now required to meet and to Israelis in the Negev whom they have no business attacking."
June Jacobs personal experiences aside (October 19, 2007 letter), the examination of Christian Aids political activities in the Middle East must be based on the facts. NGO Monitors detailed research shows a consistent, highly biased and politicized approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead of concentrating on genuine humanitarian aid, Christian Aid uses a great deal of its resources to demonize Israel, erase Palestinian responsibility and ignore terrorism.
I noted with concern that in the October 10th article Israeli army orders confiscation of Palestinian land in West Bank, Coral Urquhart innocently refers to Jeff Halper as an Israeli geographer. He is in fact far better known as head of the highly politicized group, Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) - This mandates that his opinion must be treated with far more caution than that of a simple geographer.
Following NGO Monitors report on Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) funding of anti-Israel NGOs, a concerned German citizen sent a letter to the FES demanding a response from FES. Below are found English translations of that letter, as well as the detailed reply offered by Dr. Andr Grber, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Unit, Department of International Development and Cooperation, FES. (The original German letter and response are provided at the end of the English translation of the correspondence.)
Letter to Larry Garber, Executive Director, New Israel Fund Excerpt: The prominent posting on NIFs home page of a defamatory blog attack on NGO Monitor in "muzzlewatch" is another attempt to prevent honest criticism and suppress discussion. NIF is a very influential and controversial force in Israel and its activities should not be immune to open debate and criticism. Instead of using muzzlewatch to prevent this discussion, NIFs donors and the citizens of Israel deserve a more credible response. The blog posting on NGO Monitor commits numerous sins of omission and commission, distorting facts and manipulating quotes. One third of NIFs budget goes to more than 20 organizations claiming to promote "civil rights" for Israels Arab minority. But the situation is entirely different, and these NGOs use NIF money to demonize and delegitimize Israel. Adallah, Mousawa and others submit papers to the UN accusing Israel of apartheid and referring to Zionism as racism. Instead of false accusations against NGO Monitor, NIF officials, board members and donors should welcome an honest public discussion of the positive activities, such as support for reconstruction after the 2006 Lebanon War, and where the mistakes are made. NGO Monitors careful analyses provide the basis for such a discussion, and we look forward to a civil and constructive discussion on these important issues.
Sir, - Gishas work in promoting freedom of movement for Palestinians may reflect a genuine concern for Palestinian rights. However, as NGO Monitors detailed analyses have shown, this mandate is often distorted to promote a one-sided political agenda and inaccurate presentations of the conflict. There is a palpable neglect of the thousands of Kassam rocket attacks on southern Israel, and of the mass turmoil caused by intra-Palestinian fighting...
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