On March 13, 2019, Amnesty International posted, “Think Twice: Can companies do business with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories while respecting human rights?” The Amnesty campaign coincides with the anticipated release of the UN Human Rights Council blacklist of “settlement” businesses and is designed to bolster this UN initiative singling out Israel for attack.
On May 4 and May 5, 2019, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired over 600 rockets and mortars toward Israeli population centers, murdering four Israeli civilians. NGOs and NGO officials that claim to promote human rights have ignored the blatant Palestinian violations against Israeli civilians. Some have remained silent altogether, while others have focused exclusively on demonizing Israel for responding to the attacks.
Although Palestinian officials are often portrayed as the initiators and leaders, in practice, the campaigns are largely led by officials of Western institutions, including powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the areas of human rights, international law, peace, and other normative objectives.
On May 1, 2019, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced the ‘‘Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act’’ (HR 2407). The bill is based largely on the lobbying efforts and accusations of Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P).
On April 25, 2019, three UN Special Rapporteurs issued a statement supporting HRW Israel/Palestine Director and long-time BDS activist Omar Shakir, who failed to convince an Israeli court to force the Interior Ministry to grant him a new work visa.
On April 17, 2019, the United Church of Canada (UCC) published a response to NGO Monitor’s April 3 op-ed in the Hill Times. In it, UCC attacks Canada’s consensus position on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and BDS, and refers to these as “false allegations of anti-Semitism.”
Professor Gerald M. Steinberg discusses the World Council of Churches anti-peace and anti-Semitic agenda.
Omar Shakir’s background and history of anti-Israel activity exemplifies the organization’s troubling ideological approach to Israel and retreat from the universal principles of human rights.
Promotion of BDS by UCC, KAIROS Canada, and Wi’am is inconsistent with Canadian policy.
Canada has consistently denounced boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns against Israel, making funding for the Palestinian group Wi’am completely incompatible with Canadian policy.
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