Human Rights Upheaval: Amnesty International in 2009

Amnesty’s annual report highlights the exploitation of human rights values May 2010 “Amnesty’s annual report repeats the discredited allegations and distorted human rights rhetoric used to target Israel,” said NGO Monitor President Gerald Steinberg. “Accusations of ‘war crimes’, ‘indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians’, and ‘target[ing] and kill[ing] medical staff’ are made without any credible evidence and reflect the ideological bias that determines the content of Amnesty publications on Israel.”

During the Gaza war, the entire population of Gaza was used by Hamas as a massive human shield, but since Amnesty “researchers” did not hear this from frightened Palestinians, Hamas has been absolved. Similarly, Amnesty has erased all evidence that Gaza hospitals became shelters for Hamas leaders, that mosques were used for storing missiles, and that tunnels are used to smuggle weapons. “This systematic bias and lack of credibility forms the basis for the Goldstone report, and highlights Amnesty’s immoral exploitation of human rights principles in order to demonize Israel,” concluded Steinberg. NGO Monitor’s analysis of Amnesty International in 2009 includes: * While Amnesty International’s (AI) main focus in 2009 was Iran’s post-election crisis, arrests, and executions, it also allotted a disproportionate amount of attention and resources to the January 2009 Gaza war.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: "No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry medical and reconstruction supplies, and children's toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters." Arraf continued, "Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release."


(2010-06-01/allvoices )