Even Amnesty International ...
Posted by gwinnie on March 8 2008, 21:46 » Uploaded 09/03/08 07:31

I've been reading up on Gaza over the last few days, and even Amnesty is framing Israel as being defensive rather than exposing it for the aggressive terrorist state that it really is:

--

"Amnesty International has again called on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to ensure that Palestinian armed groups cease immediately from carrying out indiscriminate attacks against Israel, and for those responsible to be held to account.

"It is high time that the leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) took effective steps to prevent and punish attacks on civilians in Israel," said Malcolm Smart, "but their failure to do so does not make it legitimate for the Israeli authorities to launch reckless air and artillery strikes which wreak such death and destruction among Palestinian civilians.

"At the same time, the Palestinian armed groups who launch frequent rocket attacks from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns not only show a callous disregard for the lives of Israeli civilians but also expose the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to the danger of Israeli attacks."

Malcolm Smart said that Amnesty International condemned all attacks on civilians, but that "unlawful attacks by one side cannot justify violations by the other."

--

I expect this buying-into-the-myth from Human Rights Watch, but this from Amnesty is like a defection.

Children and civilian bystanders in Gaza death toll

Comment 01 – Jon March 09 2008, 15:52

Well-spotted. Perhaps someone should initiate an email campaign targeting Amnesty on this?

Comment 02 – gwinnie March 09 2008, 18:53

Yes.

Remembering also that the fifth anniversary of Rachel Corrie's murder is next week.

Rachel Corrie Foundation

Comment 03 – gwinnie March 10 2008, 10:01

Did I mention HRW in my OP?

Just did a quick google on Malcolm Smart, who was quoted in the Amnesty release. He is Amnesty's director of the ME and North Africa programme, and he was HRW Programme Director between 2000 and 2002.

Article in full

Comment 04 – Mordecai March 10 2008, 11:19

Always thought there was something a bit suspect about HRW. But when you have organisations with "directors", you expect certain things to be "imported", as it were, from other organisations with "directors". And these imported things aren't always good.