Human
rights groups are working against peace
By GERALD STEINBERG
It
is too early to know where Palestinian Authority president Yasser
Arafat's departure will lead, but for the first time in many years,
there is some reason for optimism. Many obstacles must be overcome,
but Arafat's successors have a chance to move away from "armed
struggle," incitement, and efforts to erase Israel from the
map. To foster this process, they must first end Palestinian chaos
and use massive aid for economic development instead of channelling
funds to private accounts and illegal arms.
But
even with the best of intentions, it will take a much wider effort
to reverse generations of hatred and terrorism. The culture of compromise
must be anchored in broad public support.
Third
parties can play a role in this immense task - particularly the
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are active in human rights
and humanitarian issues.
But
these groups have an abysmal track record. With their multi-million-dollar
budgets, global superpowers such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty
International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and dozens of smaller allied
groups have contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace.
Their activities amplify the rhetoric that labels Israel as an "apartheid
regime" and Jews as "imperialists" and "colonialists,"
while whitewashing terror and condemning Israeli defensive actions.
In
contrast to their PR images as peacemakers, the one-sided approach
of the NGOs boosts radical Palestinians voices. HRW and Amnesty
use terms such as "war crimes" to condemn Israeli defensive
actions while closing their eyes to terror. And by ignoring Palestinian
corruption, these groups have helped to keep the PA elite in power.
Similarly,
NGOs based in Canada, and financed in part by the Canadian government,
contribute to the demonization process. For example, KAIROS, which
calls itself "a coalition of churches. devoted to justice,"
is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and members
churches. As documented by www.ngo-monitor.org, KAIROS is also active
in selling Palestinian distortions of history (while claiming that
"Israeli occupation is the root cause of the violence"),
as well as denouncing Israeli "war crimes" and exploiting
the vocabulary of human rights. Similarly, the Mennonite Central
Committee (MCC), "Rights & Democracy," and Montreal-based
Alternatives use government humanitarian funds to wage political
war against Israel.
Thus,
rather than fostering support for fundamental reform, these human
rights and aid groups help to legitimize the culture of hatred and
ideology of murder. The NGO community has lost direction, destroying
the human rights norms that it claims to support.
This
was highlighted in September 2001 at the UN-sponsored World Conference
Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, where HRW and Amnesty joined
hundreds of NGOs to promote the equating of Zionism with racism.
This process continued with the orchestrated condemnation of Israel's
separation barrier as an "apartheid wall," while referring
to anti-terror actions in Jenin and elsewhere as "war crimes."
The
political obsession with Israel has also led to the neglect of mass
killings in areas such as Central Africa or Sudan, where there is
less media coverage and political mileage. After years of relative
silence, HRW only put Sudan on the top of its agenda after media
and U.S. government reports of mass brutality.
Despite
these failures, a "halo effect" protects the NGOs from
the accountability they demand from others. Kenneth Roth, who has
headed New York-based HRW for decades, recently used part of his
$22-million (US) war chest to hold a press conference at Jerusalem's
American Colony Hotel (the main Palestinian public relations hub).
He was publicizing a 135-page report condemning Israeli military
actions in Gaza. Few noticed that the claims were based on unverified
evidence from Palestinian "eyewitnesses."
A few
days later, London-based Christian Aid denounced Israel's "land
grab policy" and unveiled its Christmas campaign about Palestinian
suffering that features posters of a "child from Bethlehem"
- a thinly disguised anti-Semitic image. In this biased environment,
pretensions that human rights and humanitarian groups promote peace
have no credibility.
As
a result, the NGO community is, tragically, in no position to help
end the violence and promote understanding. Before they can preach
to others, they will have to drop their ideological agendas and
demonstrate a credible commitment to the universal human rights
values that they claim to advance.
Prof.
Gerald Steinberg is the founding editor of www.ngo-monitor.org,
and directs the Program on Conflict Management at Bar Ilan University.
This article was initially published in the Canadian Jewish News,
Dec. 9 2004
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