Human Rights Watch finally notices rocket attacks on Israel
Posted by Richard on August 12, 2009
Human Rights Watch has for a very long time had a highly selective view of the Middle East, relentlessly critical of Israel and solicitous of the Palestinians. But now, after eight years of almost daily rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas, HRW has noticed that these attacks are war crimes. Of course, they're still playing the moral equivalence game, essentially saying that the many "war crimes" committed by Israel are no excuse for Hamas to commit war crimes, too.
Still, it's somewhat of an improvement — is it better late than never? Not according to Honest Reporting, which thinks it knows why HRW has suddenly acknowledged some of Hamas' crimes (emphasis added):
While any acknowledgment of Hamas crimes from HRW or any other powerful NGO is welcome, we have to ask why has it taken so long, after several years and thousands of Qassam rockets and mortars fired from the Gaza Strip. Could it be because HRW was caught with its hands in the Saudi cookie jar?
As we recently reported, HRW's Sarah Leah Whitson was exposed trying to fundraise from wealthy Saudis by highlighting battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations". HRW has been suitably embarrassed and its latest report on Hamas rocket attacks needs to be seen in this context.
In addition, NGO Monitor asks a number of questions, including over the timing of the report, HRW's perpetuation of the "balance" between terrorist groups and their targets, and HRW's failure to condemn Hamas for its extensive use of human shields.
Sorry HRW, but your report and video are simply too little too late.
You can watch the HRW video at Honest Reporting. Check out NGO Monitor, too. Their questions about HRW's report are quite pertinent.
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