Als je 'top' terroristen van Hamas zoals Nizar Rayan en Saeed Sayam als 'non combatants' (vertaald als onschuldige slachtoffers of burgers) telt omdat ze op het moment dat ze werden getroffen toevallig net geen wapen in de hand hadden, dan snap ik hoe ze aan die aantallen komen. Als Israel (en andere landen) alleen tegen op dat moment gewapende strijders mogen vechten, en doelwitten zoals huizen vol met explosieven, wapenworkshops, politiestations en allerlei andere doelen die direct aan Hamas' militaire infrastructuur gekoppeld zijn niet als legitiem gelden, dan is een oorlog tegen Hamas, Hezbollah, de Taliban, het Leger van de Heer of de FARC natuurlijk niet te winnen.
RP
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Release Date: 9 September 2009
NGO Monitor: B'tselem and PCHR Reports on Gaza War Casualties are not Credible
Release Date: 9 September 2009
NGO Monitor: B'tselem and PCHR Reports on Gaza War Casualties are not Credible
(Jerusalem) - NGO Monitor today noted the contradictory publications by B'tselem and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), both claiming to provide accurate Palestinian casualty counts during the Gaza War earlier this year. Although publicized as "comprehensive" and "complete" statistics, neither report is credible, and both reflect the underlying political motivations and bias of the organizations, as documented by NGO Monitor. (B'tselem's funders include the governments of UK, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland and the New Israel Fund; PCHR's funders include EU and the governments of Norway, Ireland and Denmark)
NGO Monitor highlighted the following:
NGO Monitor highlighted the following:
· Although both organizations claim to use meticulous research methods, their conclusions differ enormously. PCHR claims 1,167 non-combatants were killed, B'tselem puts the figure at 773.
· The timing of these publications indicates an attempt to impact the findings of Judge Richard Goldstone's UN investigation prior to the report's imminent release.
· B'tselem adopted controversial International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) guidelines which use a highly disputed and unworkable definition of the standard for those "taking a direct part in hostilities". This means that people who are closely involved in Hamas' offensive infrastructure are exempted. Many ICRC legal consultants withdrew support for these guidelines on this basis.
· Although B'tselem has improved its credibility compared to previous reports, by listing casualties' affiliations to terrorist factions, these same individuals such as Hamas senior military leader Saeed Sayam are still not classified as combatants.
· PCHR's definition of a "non-combatant" is even more problematic, and only includes those holding a weapon at the precise moment of death. Consequently, PCHR classifies known terrorists as civilians, such as Hamas activist Nizar Rayan.
· PCHR's consistently hostile agenda towards Israel, including promotion of anti-Israel boycotts, places its' research in clear contravention of the International Bar Association's London-Lund Guidelines on fact finding which demand unbiased investigators.
· The timing of these publications indicates an attempt to impact the findings of Judge Richard Goldstone's UN investigation prior to the report's imminent release.
· B'tselem adopted controversial International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) guidelines which use a highly disputed and unworkable definition of the standard for those "taking a direct part in hostilities". This means that people who are closely involved in Hamas' offensive infrastructure are exempted. Many ICRC legal consultants withdrew support for these guidelines on this basis.
· Although B'tselem has improved its credibility compared to previous reports, by listing casualties' affiliations to terrorist factions, these same individuals such as Hamas senior military leader Saeed Sayam are still not classified as combatants.
· PCHR's definition of a "non-combatant" is even more problematic, and only includes those holding a weapon at the precise moment of death. Consequently, PCHR classifies known terrorists as civilians, such as Hamas activist Nizar Rayan.
· PCHR's consistently hostile agenda towards Israel, including promotion of anti-Israel boycotts, places its' research in clear contravention of the International Bar Association's London-Lund Guidelines on fact finding which demand unbiased investigators.
NGO Monitor's President Prof Gerald Steinberg said, "These two conflicting reports again demonstrate that neither NGO produces accurate information regarding Palestinian casualties. Instead, their publications are the continuation of ideologically motivated campaigns that use human rights as a weapon against Israel. The artificially narrow definition of combatants simply furthers this political agenda.
These publications are further examples of the central role played by political NGOs in the Goldstone "fact finding" inquiry. PCHR and B'tselem have been involved at every step of the process, and if the Goldstone report simply repeats their claims, it will further demonstrate the counterproductive impact of biased NGO in the UN human rights framework."
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Editors Notes:
NGO Monitor was founded to promote transparency, critical analysis and debate on the political role of human rights organizations. For more information, see our website at www.ngo-monitor.org
Members of NGO Monitor's International Advisory Board include Elie Wiesel, Prof Alan Dershowitz, Sir Martin Gilbert, R. James Woolsey and Elliot Abrams.
For further information, comment or interviews contact Dan Kosky +972 (0) 546-305-504
NGO Monitor - 1, Ben Maimon Blvd. - Jerusalem 92262 - Israel - T: +972-2-566-1020
F: +972-77-511-7030
E: dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org
Editors Notes:
NGO Monitor was founded to promote transparency, critical analysis and debate on the political role of human rights organizations. For more information, see our website at www.ngo-monitor.org
Members of NGO Monitor's International Advisory Board include Elie Wiesel, Prof Alan Dershowitz, Sir Martin Gilbert, R. James Woolsey and Elliot Abrams.
For further information, comment or interviews contact Dan Kosky +972 (0) 546-305-504
NGO Monitor - 1, Ben Maimon Blvd. - Jerusalem 92262 - Israel - T: +972-2-566-1020
F: +972-77-511-7030
E: dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org
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