jagalman
30-08-2007, 11:17 PM
Lebanon Slams 'Human Rights' Watch and sacks them from Hotel!
After having witnessed live on television the indiscriminate slaughtering of thousands of innocent Lebanese civilians of which the great majority were women and children, one has to really wonder how it is that the so-called “Human Rights Watch” group has the Chutzpah to go to Lebanon in order to issue a report condemning the Lebanese people and resistance for defending themselves against an attack by one of the mightiest armies in the world?
Should I go through the saga of questioning the commitment of the HRW to victims and innocent human beings or questioning the seemingly new priorities HRW has developed?
No, such an exercise would only be necessary when there are questions about the motives and actions of a group. In HRW’s case however, it is sadly crystal clear that the group has succumbed to the pressures and to the endless campaigns of harassment conducted against it by the Israel lobby, its web of organized supporters and its notorious Alan Dershowitz.
HRW had the integrity to violently condemn the Israeli attack against Lebanon and for that, it was duly harassed, libeled and of course accused of the new fangled “anti-Semitism” blasphemy by which Americans are now so often duped into silence by the various Zionist organizations.
As Jonathan Cook said however, “Name-calling, however distasteful, cannot justify HRW distorting its findings to placate the Israel lobby. But that seems to be just what is happening.” “By trying to appease them, our human rights champions damage only themselves and those they should be seeking to protect.”
If the members of HRW could not stand up to the harassment of pro-Israeli and Zionist organizations which seek against all odds to embellish Israel’s increasingly ugly image, they should have resigned their positions. As generally understood HRW is supposed to be dedicated to protecting the human rights of the victims, especially those of “inhumane conduct in wartime”.
Instead, HRW comes to Lebanon, a country devastated by Israeli aggression and condemns the Lebanese victims and their resistance which according to agreement with the Lebanese government is the force that is entitled to defend Lebanon against foreign aggressors. HRW claims to be an “independent group” although it does acknowledge that it is “supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide.“
Regrettably HRW has clear political preferences that have already ominously found their way into mainstream media as intended. The Jerusalem Post already boasts that: “Israel Radio reported that HRW called upon Hezbollah to put an end to its attacks on civilians, and demanded that Syria, Lebanon and Iran prevent munitions shipments to the organization”. As though this were not enough, HRW goes on to condemn Hezbollah members for “war crimes” and “criminal intent”.
Forgive me if I ask who exactly HRW is taking “contributions” from? What exactly is HRW’s role as it clearly has surpassed the realm of human rights?
Just by reading the summary of HRW’s report on “Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War”, one cannot help but sense the typical nauseating Zionist/US propaganda that is desperately trying to prepare the grounds for its next war by gathering all sorts of paper work and condemnations from organizations that were one day independent and respected.
The “Civilians under Assault” that HRW is referring to are 36 Israelis. In its own report HRW however admits that it has been denied information by Israel regarding the targets that Hezbollah actually hit:
“Israeli military authorities limited the amount of information publicly available about various aspects of the war, including certain information on where Hezbollah rockets landed during the conflict. These restrictions limited our ability to fully investigate the pattern of Hezbollah attacks.”
“Israeli authorities readily acknowledged to Human Rights Watch that some rockets landed in military zones or hit military targets that were off-limits to the public, but declined requests by Human Rights Watch to provide details of such incidents. We also encountered restrictions on information concerning certain industrial targets. For example, Kobi Bachar, chief of police for the Zvulon district north of Haifa, said, “Hezbollah was trying to hit the petrochemical plants in our area. We had hits within the factories, but because of censorship, I do not know if I am allowed to give you that information.”24 In the end he did not provide it.”
“On July 19, Human Rights Watch researchers visiting Haifa’s Rambam Hospital met an IDF soldier being treated for an injury sustained when a rocket hit an air force base just outside the city. He said that the IDF had instructed him not to speak to the press, and in fact the news media never, to our knowledge, reported that rocket attack. A physician at Rambam who said he treated the soldier also told us that the IDF had prevented that particular rocket strike from being publicized”.
One does wonder how HRW came up with a 128 page report condemning Hezbollah for “firing indiscriminately” and for “repeatedly bombarded cities, towns, and villages without any apparent effort to distinguish between civilians and military objectives" since HRW itself acknowledges its inaccessibility to much information in Israel due to censorship especially when it comes to the military zones that were targeted and obviously struck by Hezbollah in Israel.
What is HRW’s report based on since it had no access to the military targets that Hezbollah struck? Is it based on Mr. Dershowitz’s inclinations towards the Zionist regime or is it based on Fox and CNN’s interpretation of the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon in 2006?
HRW has frankly shamed itself with this report. It is indeed embarrassing to have your reservation publicly cancelled by the Crowne Plaza in Beirut and on several Arab satellite channels, but the Lebanese people were not about to sit and listen to the HRW condemn them and their resistance for having courageously defended their country against the Israeli war-mongering machine.
"Israel, during the attacks of July 2006, violated all international conventions," Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora's office said in a statement. "It killed nearly 1,200 Lebanese and injured thousands more and 72 hours after UN Resolution 1701 was adopted, it dropped 3.5 million cluster bombs in the south of the country."
Sarah Leah Whitson, director of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa division tries to pin the blame on Hezbollah for conducting a campaign against her group in Beirut and “trying to silence criticism of its conduct during the 2006 war.”
Little does Ms. Leah Whitson know. Hezbollah is very proud of its conduct and performance during this war and the entire Arab and Islamic world is very proud of Hezbollah and the Lebanese people.
The Arab world is no place to launch Zionist propaganda.
It is frankly Chutzpah from HRW to come up with a contrived report condemning the victim and then expecting the victim to welcome HRW in their country and hotels and to listen to condemnations against themselves in preparation for another possible war against their country.
After having witnessed live on television the indiscriminate slaughtering of thousands of innocent Lebanese civilians of which the great majority were women and children, one has to really wonder how it is that the so-called “Human Rights Watch” group has the Chutzpah to go to Lebanon in order to issue a report condemning the Lebanese people and resistance for defending themselves against an attack by one of the mightiest armies in the world?
Should I go through the saga of questioning the commitment of the HRW to victims and innocent human beings or questioning the seemingly new priorities HRW has developed?
No, such an exercise would only be necessary when there are questions about the motives and actions of a group. In HRW’s case however, it is sadly crystal clear that the group has succumbed to the pressures and to the endless campaigns of harassment conducted against it by the Israel lobby, its web of organized supporters and its notorious Alan Dershowitz.
HRW had the integrity to violently condemn the Israeli attack against Lebanon and for that, it was duly harassed, libeled and of course accused of the new fangled “anti-Semitism” blasphemy by which Americans are now so often duped into silence by the various Zionist organizations.
As Jonathan Cook said however, “Name-calling, however distasteful, cannot justify HRW distorting its findings to placate the Israel lobby. But that seems to be just what is happening.” “By trying to appease them, our human rights champions damage only themselves and those they should be seeking to protect.”
If the members of HRW could not stand up to the harassment of pro-Israeli and Zionist organizations which seek against all odds to embellish Israel’s increasingly ugly image, they should have resigned their positions. As generally understood HRW is supposed to be dedicated to protecting the human rights of the victims, especially those of “inhumane conduct in wartime”.
Instead, HRW comes to Lebanon, a country devastated by Israeli aggression and condemns the Lebanese victims and their resistance which according to agreement with the Lebanese government is the force that is entitled to defend Lebanon against foreign aggressors. HRW claims to be an “independent group” although it does acknowledge that it is “supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide.“
Regrettably HRW has clear political preferences that have already ominously found their way into mainstream media as intended. The Jerusalem Post already boasts that: “Israel Radio reported that HRW called upon Hezbollah to put an end to its attacks on civilians, and demanded that Syria, Lebanon and Iran prevent munitions shipments to the organization”. As though this were not enough, HRW goes on to condemn Hezbollah members for “war crimes” and “criminal intent”.
Forgive me if I ask who exactly HRW is taking “contributions” from? What exactly is HRW’s role as it clearly has surpassed the realm of human rights?
Just by reading the summary of HRW’s report on “Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War”, one cannot help but sense the typical nauseating Zionist/US propaganda that is desperately trying to prepare the grounds for its next war by gathering all sorts of paper work and condemnations from organizations that were one day independent and respected.
The “Civilians under Assault” that HRW is referring to are 36 Israelis. In its own report HRW however admits that it has been denied information by Israel regarding the targets that Hezbollah actually hit:
“Israeli military authorities limited the amount of information publicly available about various aspects of the war, including certain information on where Hezbollah rockets landed during the conflict. These restrictions limited our ability to fully investigate the pattern of Hezbollah attacks.”
“Israeli authorities readily acknowledged to Human Rights Watch that some rockets landed in military zones or hit military targets that were off-limits to the public, but declined requests by Human Rights Watch to provide details of such incidents. We also encountered restrictions on information concerning certain industrial targets. For example, Kobi Bachar, chief of police for the Zvulon district north of Haifa, said, “Hezbollah was trying to hit the petrochemical plants in our area. We had hits within the factories, but because of censorship, I do not know if I am allowed to give you that information.”24 In the end he did not provide it.”
“On July 19, Human Rights Watch researchers visiting Haifa’s Rambam Hospital met an IDF soldier being treated for an injury sustained when a rocket hit an air force base just outside the city. He said that the IDF had instructed him not to speak to the press, and in fact the news media never, to our knowledge, reported that rocket attack. A physician at Rambam who said he treated the soldier also told us that the IDF had prevented that particular rocket strike from being publicized”.
One does wonder how HRW came up with a 128 page report condemning Hezbollah for “firing indiscriminately” and for “repeatedly bombarded cities, towns, and villages without any apparent effort to distinguish between civilians and military objectives" since HRW itself acknowledges its inaccessibility to much information in Israel due to censorship especially when it comes to the military zones that were targeted and obviously struck by Hezbollah in Israel.
What is HRW’s report based on since it had no access to the military targets that Hezbollah struck? Is it based on Mr. Dershowitz’s inclinations towards the Zionist regime or is it based on Fox and CNN’s interpretation of the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon in 2006?
HRW has frankly shamed itself with this report. It is indeed embarrassing to have your reservation publicly cancelled by the Crowne Plaza in Beirut and on several Arab satellite channels, but the Lebanese people were not about to sit and listen to the HRW condemn them and their resistance for having courageously defended their country against the Israeli war-mongering machine.
"Israel, during the attacks of July 2006, violated all international conventions," Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora's office said in a statement. "It killed nearly 1,200 Lebanese and injured thousands more and 72 hours after UN Resolution 1701 was adopted, it dropped 3.5 million cluster bombs in the south of the country."
Sarah Leah Whitson, director of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa division tries to pin the blame on Hezbollah for conducting a campaign against her group in Beirut and “trying to silence criticism of its conduct during the 2006 war.”
Little does Ms. Leah Whitson know. Hezbollah is very proud of its conduct and performance during this war and the entire Arab and Islamic world is very proud of Hezbollah and the Lebanese people.
The Arab world is no place to launch Zionist propaganda.
It is frankly Chutzpah from HRW to come up with a contrived report condemning the victim and then expecting the victim to welcome HRW in their country and hotels and to listen to condemnations against themselves in preparation for another possible war against their country.