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Sun, Dec 19, 2010 | HRW | Jerusalem Post | NGO Monitor | By Crethi Plethi

A Palestinian worker performs his Muslim afternoon prayers at a construction site for new settler housing on July 14, 2009 in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev in the West Bank. (July 13, 2009 - Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images Europe)

HRW Slams Israel’s ‘Discrimination’ and Endorses Boycott

Human Rights Watch released a report today accusing Israel of “harshly discriminating against Palestinian residents, depriving them of basic necessities while providing lavish amenities for Jewish settlements.”

The 166-page report, “Separate and Unequal: Israel’s Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, identifies practices which HRW calls “discriminatory,” claiming, “they have no legitimate security or other justification” and calls on Israel “to end these violations of Palestinians’ rights.”

The Human Rights Watch is notorious for its anti-Israel bias and this report is just one of many reports in which they accuse Israel of violating international law. But what’s more troubling is the fact that with this report the HRW are advocating for a boycott against Israel.

In the report HRW claims that “Israel operates a two-tier system for the two populations of the West Bank in the large areas where it exercises exclusive control. The report is based on case studies comparing Israel’s starkly different treatment of settlements and next-door Palestinian communities in these areas….Human Rights Watch looked at both Area C and East Jerusalem and found that the two-tier system in effect in both areas provides generous financial benefits and infrastructure support to promote life in Jewish settlements, while deliberately withholding basic services, punishing growth, and imposing harsh conditions on Palestinian communities. Such different treatment on the basis of race, ethnicity, and national origin that is not narrowly tailored to legitimate goals violates the fundamental prohibition against discrimination under human rights law.”

“Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, while nearby Jewish settlers enjoy all of these state-provided benefits. While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp – not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes,” said Carroll Bogert, deputy executive director for external relations at Human Rights Watch.

The report calls on the US and EU member states and on businesses with operations in settlement areas to avoid supporting Israeli settlement policies that are inherently discriminatory and that violate international law.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its recommendation that the United States, which provides US$2.75 billion in aid to Israel annually, should suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel’s spending in support of settlements, which a 2003 study estimated at $1.4 billion….Human Rights Watch called on the EU, a primary export market for settlement products, to ensure that it does not provide incentives for settlement exports through preferential tariff treatment, and to identify cases where discrimination against Palestinians has contributed to the production of goods….Human Rights Watch called on businesses to investigate, prevent and mitigate such violations, including ending any operations that cannot be separated from discriminatory Israeli practices.

“Discrimination of the kind practiced daily in the West Bank should be beyond the pale for anyone,” Bogert said. “Foreign governments and businesses at risk of being tainted by Israel’s unlawful practices should identify and end policies and actions that support them.”

In a respond to this latest HRW report the NGO Monitor says the new report “strips away the context of Arab terror and substitutes inflammatory rhetoric and baseless accusations.”

“This is the latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that strips away the context of Arab terror and substitutes inflammatory rhetoric and baseless accusations, falsely turning a political conflict into one of racial hostility by using the “separate but unequal” language from the American civil rights movement,” says Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based think tank.

“Of even greater concern, HRW in this report endorses boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS), disguised as opposition to settlements, but in reality
seeking the destruction of Israel. This is further proof of HRW founder Robert Bernstein’s conclusion that the organization has turned Israel into a pariah state.

We also note that the timing of this report coincides with the Arab League campaign to undermine the peace process by exploiting UN frameworks.”

The HRW was founded as Helsinki Watch in 1978 and is headed by Kenneth Roth since 1993. The NGO Monitor says HRW’s publications related to Israel “lack credibility, and highlight disproportionate condemnations of Israel.”

In October 2009, HRW founder Robert Bernstein published an article in the New York Times, strongly criticizing the organization for ignoring severe human rights violations in closed societies, for its anti-Israel bias, and for “issuing reports…that are helping those who wish to turn Israel into a pariah state.” In a lecture at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (November 2010), Bernstein expanded on these ideas and noted that “Human Rights Watch’s attacks on almost every issue [have] become more and more hostile [toward Israel].”

HRW was an active participant in the 2001 Durban conference, and continues to campaign in favor of boycotts and other measures against Israel.