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No pardon for Amnesty
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by tikun | February 24, 2009 at 08:03 am
401 views | 28 Recommendations | 7 comments
This is todays editorial from the Jerusalem Post regarding Amnesty International.
Yesterday, Amnesty International, the world's premier "human rights" brand, called for the destruction of Israel. We're overdramatizing? Were AI to get its way, the UN Security Council would impose a comprehensive arms embargo on the world's only Jewish state - but not on any of the 22 member states of the Arab League, or on Iran. Over time, Israel would find it impossible to defend itself against conventional or WMD threats stemming from hostile states or Palestinian and Islamist terror organizations.
Though Israel purchases arms from dozens of sources, AI's boycott call is really aimed at the Obama administration: "Israel's military offensive in Gaza was carried out [largely] with weapons, munitions and military equipment supplied by the USA and paid for with US taxpayers' money," claimed Malcolm Smart, AI's director for the Middle East.
Either to simulate evenhandedness, or perhaps because it really is blinded by moral relativism, AI perfunctorily called for a weapons embargo against Hamas. It thus appears incapable of distinguishing between Israel and Hamas, between victim and aggressor - between an albeit imperfect Western nation which values tolerance, representative government, rule of law and respect for minority rights, and a medieval-oriented Islamist movement which mobilizes Palestinian masses to hate, teaches its young to glorify suicide bombers, and inculcates a political culture wallowing in self-inflicted victimization.
AMNESTY DOES much good work. Many of its rank-and-file members and contributors are sincerely motivated by a desire to make the world a better place. Yet beyond this good-hearted circle stands a professional cadre backed by agenda-driven money, which, we suspect, is exploiting Amnesty's good name. This cadre relies on world-class public relations and advertising firms to leverage AI's human rights brand for blatantly partisan purposes.
AI has long been under internal pressure to champion an arms embargo against Israel. Some have intimated that Jews in the organization were standing in the way. Francis Boyle, a law professor and pro-PLO activist: "You have… the very powerful role played by the Israel lobby on Amnesty International USA… Amnesty pretty much kowtows to them…" Plainly, Boyle's "very powerful" Jews have been sidelined.
AI is not some amorphous, beatific entity; it's comprised of personalities with all the usual human foibles. Everyone connected to AI needs to say whether they really oppose Israel's right to self-defense. Are we to assume that AI's International Secretariat - Irene Zubaida Khan, Paul Hoffman, Tony Klug, Susan Waltz, Jan Egeland, Menno Kamminga, Jaap Jacobson, Margaret Bedggood, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Neil Sammonds, Melvin Coleman - all support an anti-Israel arms embargo?
AI gets money from foundations such as the Sigrid Rausing Trust (which also funds B'Tselem). Does Sigrid Rausing personally want Israel to stand defenseless against Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas? Do board members Josh Mailman, Susan Hitch, Andrew Puddephat and Geoffrey Budlender?
The MacArthur Foundation, better known for its "genius awards," also funds AI. We have no idea whether its board - Robert E. Denham, Lloyd Axworthy, John Seely Brown, Jonathan F. Fanton, Jack Fuller, Jamie Gorelick, Mary Graham, Donald R. Hopkins, Will Miller, Mario J. Molina, Marjorie M. Scardino and Claude M. Steele - appreciate what could happen to six million Israeli Jews were AI to get its embargo. Does the actor Nicolas Cage, another major AI benefactor, stand behind the embargo call?
A good chunk of AI money comes from its American board - Steve Abrams, Jeff Bachman, Simon Billenness, Jessica Morris Carvalho, Mayra Gomez, Rick Halperin, Theresa Harris, Shahram Hashemi, Bill Jones, Frank Kendall, Carole Nagengast, Christianna Nichols Leahy, Dennis Nurkse, Phyllis Pautrat, Aniket Shah, Barbara Sproul, Bret Thiele and Diego Zavala. Which of them will be first to speak out against this immoral embargo call?
In calling on the US and UN to rob Israel of its ability to defend itself, Amnesty International is speaking in the name of its leaders and benefactors. Silence is acquiescence. Or they can dissociate themselves from one of Amnesty's biggest errors in judgment.
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René
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Fripouille
Lyon, France
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 09:15 on February 24th, 2009
To be fair here, and in case anyone isn't aware of it, Amnesty International's report calls for the cessation of arms supply to both sides, and it specifically cites US supply to Israel as well as Russian/Chinese/Iranian supply to Palestine.
Moreover, the report also accuses both sides of improper use of those arms as well as possible war crimes committed by both sides.
The J Post can be understood for putting up the Israeli side only, of course, but to this trying-hard to-be-neutral observer there's another side to the report as well....
Thanks.
at 09:39 on February 24th, 2009
Thanks Fripouille,
However, Hamas is a terrorist organization that has been shooting a constant barrage of rockets into Israel for years now. To stop the flow of weapons to Hamas allows for a chance at peace. AI clearly understands the implication of stopping Israel from receiving military hardware. Tomorrow we will have a war with Syria, Hezbullah, and any other rogue players once Israel is perceived as weak and unable to protect itself.
AI has been wrong numerous times about Israel only to mention their mistakes years later when no one cares any longer.
My personal feeling is that Israel played right into Hamas's trap of destroying Hamas infrastructure that is embedded in the most populated areas for affect. Israel needed to go into Gaza and end Hamas presence once and for all. That was the desire of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. They have lost confidence in Israel's ability and fortitude to "finish" the job. Israel made a deal with the "devil" to withdraw before Obama became president. This was not in Israel's ultimate interest.
The unleashing of global response to Israel is in my opinion disproportionate and it works well. It feeds into the Muslim radicals call for the liquidation of Israel. The call by every radical leftest, Anti-semite, crazy, and Jewish conspiracy types to spread their wings and cast a giant shadow on Israel. If it wasn't Gaza it would be some other issue. Oh I forgot our peace folks at the International Solidarity Movement. Now there you have some of the worlds finest human beings. NOT.
Thanks for your comments.
Steve
at 10:09 on February 24th, 2009
All of your comment is justified here Tikun.
I would certainly agree that Israel needs to be fully armed and ready for potential aggression from other countries.
AI has certainly been rather less than objective in the past concerning Israel. But the recent fighting has proved that Hamas is just as likely to be charged with filmed and documented war crime as Israel and they can no longer ignore that.
That's why I honestly think that AI is, for once, making an effort to be dipomatically fair here. They target both sides in their criticism, and I think that their demand for the cessation of arms delivery to Israel does not necessarily mean that Israel should not be armed at all. Moreover, any legitimate and internationally-recognised state has the right to be armed, and neither AI or anyone else can prevent that.
Ah, the wonderful world of words and their meaning!
at 17:40 on February 24th, 2009
"The Israeli Government and its global network are masters at pulling the wool over people's eyes and creating the environment in which to continually paint themselves the victims, "
I think this environment is called "The Matrix"
.Agent.
at 19:26 on February 24th, 2009
Any of these would do
at 00:16 on February 25th, 2009
Busy busy z-ghosts and plenty of moon's hasbara.
at 02:10 on February 25th, 2009
Maybe they are cyber-births?