Human Rights Watch – Double Standards
Hezbollah and Hariri mafia rarely agree on anything but they both agreed that Human Rights Watch’s report into last summers illegal invasion and bombing of Lebanon by Israel is a gross distortion of the facts. Human Rights Watch, which is heavily financed by George Soros and close to the democratic party is overtly pro-Zionist, which is why it always applies a different standard to Arabs and Israelis in its reports and has never condemned Zionism as a racist ideology.
HRW is accusing Hezbollah of “indiscriminately firing rockets towards civilians,” which is an interesting claim seeing as 157 Israelis were killed and nearly all of them were Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon but 1,200 Lebanese were killed, mostly innocent civillians deliberately murdered by Israel in aerial bombardments and dropped 3.5 million cluster bombs on Southern Lebanon 72 hours after UN Resolution 1701 was adopted.
Lebanon was the victim and had a legal right to self-defence and as Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal says, “we did not target civilians but Israel on the other hand did”. But then it’s not surprising that the notoriously biased HRW would ignore that little fact. They’re not too consistent when it comes to factoring Arab and Jewish civillians. HRW consider armed Zionist militants and Israeli reservists as civillians but fails to recognise Hezbollah members as civillians, even though most of them aren’t part of the military wing.
steph
amie
rob
George there were Palestinian nationalism movement in the 19th century before the Jewish settlements. There wasn’t an Arab nationalism movement until the 20th century.
True – the Palestinians didn’t have a distinctly “Palestinian” national identity until the Zionists stole their land. Before that they were just Arabs…
Similarly, Ireland before the English conquest was inhabited by a multitude of feuding clans. It was only centuries later that the common experience of British oppression created a single “Irish” national identity.
Rob, you are quite right Hezbullah has given the figure for the fighters martyred as under 70. Mahmoud Komati of the political wing in an interview with AP last year said that 250 Hezbullah were Martyred. It is interesting that the words guerrillas and fighters have been substituted for members.
Zadehamin thanks for debunking that hiding amongst civilian lie.
Roberto that is very interesting but it not what I’m discussing here. I’ll be happy to discuss that though on your blog.
Jonathan Cook, “the UN has made no mention of finding urban-based Hizbullah bunkers” and “even Israel is no longer claiming that Hizbullah was firing its rockets from among civilians.”
http://www.moqavemat.ir/?lang=en&state=showbody_news&row_id=16546
The Arab Association for Human Rights has found in every case of northern Arab communities hit by Hezbullah rockets, that there was at least one military base or artillery battery in or nest to it. Israel were hiding their military bases amongst civillians. Hezbullah was firing rockets at military targets.
Since you are talking about double standards in Human Rights, what about the USA. The Republicans and Democrats talk about human rights yet they refuse to allow the Greens, Libertarians, or other alternative Political Parties in their debates.
In Miami Florida, while Obama was speaking, the Media covered the Republican Demonstration yet did not cover the Alternative Political Parties demonstrating at the same time.
In Canada, during the meeting between Bush, Calderon, and Harper; the Media refused to cover the Alternative North American Summit between the US Green Party, the Green Party of Canada, and the Partido Verde Ecologico de Mexico [Mexican Green Party].
In the year 2004, the Republicans and Democrats excluded the Libertarians and Greens from campaigning in Ohio by nullifying the signatures in their petition. The reason given by the governing elite in Ohio is that there were not enough signatures, the real reason, the governing elite cannot tolerate competition or the truth. The Libertarian Party had to take their case to the Supreme Court which nullifed the strict and pre arranged election rules of Ohio.
In the year 2006, Illinois and Ohio Republicans and Democrats refused to allow themselves to be drawn into a debate with the Greens and Libertarians. They even went as far as threaten with arrest those who belonged to alternative parties for that reason.
It is hoped that I did not deviate from the subject but double standards like the ones just mentioned deserve publicity.
Rob, only five Israeli “civillians” were under 18. Unlike the Lebanese the Israelis had a chance to leave.
Dr M, I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t believe in human rights, I believe in civil rights. Every civil society has to be able to form its own concept of what rights citizens should have, the Western notion of human rights is just that Western, and even in the West there is disagreement. Its just another form of imperialism.
You’re absolutely right about Israel’s plan. Israel also instigated the war (see the Anders Strindberg link above).
Chris Paterson
You’re not welcome here because you are an abusive, racist troll, who uses multiple aliases, you were banned on my previous blog. But because you left sensible points here today, I’ll give you an answer.
1) It’s a double standard is in who they consider civillians. Try reading the post.
2) Hezbollah is the largest party in Lebanon by a long way it has more membership and more votes than any other party. You didn’t know that, so you obviously don’t know much about Lebanon.
3) Shebaa farms are part of Lebanon, which has been decided inter se.
4) Hezbollah fire rockets in response to Israeli military aggression – self-defence.
5) Hezbollah’s victory was total. Israel was forced to withdraw from Lebanon, and the Israeli military accepts that Lebanon is militarily stronger now than it was at the time Israel launched their war.
6) No, Israel fired the first shots. Read Professor Anders Strindberg
HRW is anything but fair, it is funded by Zionists and supports Zionism. If it was a legitimate Human Rights org it would condemn Zionism as a racist and discriminatory ideology, that denies the Indigenous Palestinians their fundamental rights and freedoms.
A few points here that seem to have been forgotten.
1. The HRW report did not mention Israel in this as it was solely to do with Hezbullah. They have a report on Israel’s conduct during the war out on Sept 6th and is titled “Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon.” I don’t think that that is title is Particularly biased for Israel.
2. Hezbullah are not the largest party in Lebanon. They only got 10.9% of the parlimentary seats in 2005 which would make them the third largest party along side two others who also got that share of the vote.
3. Shebaa Farms was Syrian territory before Israel decided to occupy Golan Heights in 1967. I know that the Lebanese Government are saying it is there territory but it did belonged to Syria before 1967. However, Syria being Syria like to stir thing up a bit and switch it from being their territory to Lebanese territory depending on their political mood. At the moment they are saying it’s not theirs but they won’t let any of the Lebanese army in if Israel was to pull out. My guess is that they want to be in Israel’s position to give them an excuse to launch an attack on Lebanon and Hezbullah(whom they don’t like much). It’s all politics and it stinks.
4. Why doesn’t Hezbullah concentrate it’s attack the Israeli army based in Shebaa farms. If they can defeat them like they did so “gloriously” last year why don’t they just take the land, it’s only 35sqkm. My guess is that Israel occupying Shebaa farms gives Hezbullah an excuse to fire rockets into Israel and vice versa. I also think that Hezbullahs armed wing would find an excuse to stay armed even if Shebaa farms was given to Lebanon.
5. Israels failure in the war was not a great victory for Hezbullah but it did show they have some strength. They sustained an attack but lost a lot of men, near to 500 (hezbullah said it was 250, Israel say 1000, UN says around 500). That wouldn’t be much normally but Hezbullah only have 1000 full time fighters so it’s not much of a victory.
6. The last point being the most important. Hezbullah fired the first missiles that started the war. Israel were just waiting for the opportunity to bomb the shit out of Lebanon and Hezbullah gave that to them. It doesn’t say much for Hezbullah’s regard for the safety of it’s own people. They must have known Israel would do what they did.
I’m not a fan of Israel or Hezbullah as i think they are as bad as each other at times. Shebaa Farms should be part of Lebanon, but i don’t think anyone wants it to be as it would mean peace and that wouldn’t be much fun, would it?
The point about HRW being biased, no one group is perfect but HRW is a organisation trying to give a fair anylasis from the point of view of the people affected by war, oppression etc. They tend to come under criticism from the ruling goverments of countries abusing Human rights (america included, check their website) and also the supporters of these countries.
I also don’t agree with you steph on the idea of abolishing human rights for civil rights but thats for another blog.
Steph, I agree with Edward Said that terrorism is a political loaded term void of meaning when applied to political violence.
“Human Rights” has become a racket where certain human wrongs are ignored. I find it laughable that zionists have so many crocodile tears to shed for Darfur, while conveniently killing Palestinians and treating their own Falasha Jews like garbage. I guess clowns like jack don’t know the fact the Israel planned the attack on Lebanon more then a year in advance, and sent in its soldiers in Lebanese territory.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/21/MNG2QK396D1.DTL&hw=kalman&sn=001&sc=1000
@ Jack get your facts straight. Palestine was semi autonomous under the Ottomans, and the “Jewish” State was established by terrorists – most of the degenerates that Jews have elected to rule occupied Palestine were terrorists under mandatory rule.
Facts are facts. Hezbollah only killed a handful of civillians, the Zion-Nazis killed over 900 civillians. But on the up side, less than 70 Hezbollah fighters were killed and over a hundred Israeli invaders were slotted and Israel scuttled back defeated and demoralised.
Jack, I’ve asked you not to throw insults about. The HRW claims that you needless quote have already been dealt with in the main post (please see the comments policy).
Amnesty International agrees with HRW but AI is just as pro Israeli as HRW, and the point has already been rebutted. Hezbollah were not deliberately firing at civillians, and as the Zionists hide their military amongst the civilian (Palestinian) population, Hezbollah has to fire in areas with civillians but as the figures show, it was Israel that was deliberately targeting civillians. And HRW and AI are inconsistent when it comes to defining Arab and Jewish civillians.
Steph,
You are the one throwing out the accusations. Yet you haven’t provided anything of substance. Your post consists of whining that HRW’s report didn’t support your position and the words of a terrorist flunky.
I realize that it hurts to constantly be wrong and that it must be terribly painful to see how successful Israel is. But that shouldn’t prevent you from using fact and logic.
[JURIST] Hezbollah recklessly and sometimes intentionally fired rockets at civilian targets during the summer 2006 Lebanon conflict [JURIST news archive], according to a 128-page report [text; press release] released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Hezbollah was not legally justified in firing on civilians simply because Israel launched attacked Lebanese towns, HRW concluded, because the international rules of war prohibit indiscriminate targeting of civilians for any reason. A Hezbollah spokesperson immediately condemned the report as one-sided. HRW is scheduled to release a report chronicling Israel’s alleged human rights violations on September 6.
Here is another link from Al-Jazeera in which they interview civilians about rockets
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8078A3C2-BF61-4B56-93CE-995B58D8FDE8.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7b8078A3C2-BF61-4B56-93CE-995B58D8FDE8%7d
Amnesty International has already concluded that Hizbullah carried out indiscriminate and direct attacks on civilians in its rocket bombardment of northern Israel.
Wow, two minutes of search and I found more than one article that discusses the terrorists indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel.
Steph,
Frankly you bore me. If you want to be taken seriously you need to do better. Try not to scream when you realize that the computer you are using is made with Israeli parts and ingenuity.
Be well.
Babak, thanks for the MSF info – interesting. Good point about Hezbollah being counter terrorists. I can’t remember whether you support Chomsky or Said on the use of the word “terrorism”?
Jack if you want to throw insults, go somewhere else. So far you haven’t come up with a single intelligent or relevant point. You’re just waffling.
If you think Israel wasn’t defeated, you’re living in cloud cuckoo land. Olmert didn’t suddenly realise that Zionism was the moral equivalent of Nazism and that invading Lebanon was completely unjustified. Israel were forced out after Hezbullah defeated them in the battlefield.
And the UN says the Shebaa farms are being illegal occupied by Israel. The UN apportions the land to Syria and Syria has conceded them to Lebanon. There’s no law preventing Syria from acquiescing territory to Lebanon. So yes they are part of Lebanon.
But the point here, is that Israel deliberately targeted civillians and Hezbollah didn’t and the facts on the ground prove this.
Well said Saladin. What Israel did was the moral equivalent of 911, 7/7 and Beslan. They were all innocent civillians.
zade,
I am a fan of goofy people and silly comments. Thanks for making me smile.
If Israel fought with a tenth of its capabilities Lebanon would cease to exist. Unlike the cowardly terrorists they do not fight like scared little girls.
You’re right they didn’t achieve all of their objectived. But let’s be realistic Our soldiers are most likely dead. All intelligence pointed that way.
Nasrallah would use them if he could. But he hasn’t provided any evidence of life.
He still spends time hiding in caves.
And your fiction about expansion is just that. If Israel wanted to take all of Lebanon hezbollah couldn’t stop it.
All they can do is fight guerrilla warfare. They have guns but no heart or soul.
BTW, show some UN docs that support your allegations regarding shebba farms.
Excuse me, I have to stop. I am laughing too hard at the rest of this nonsense.
Jack said:
“Israel informed the local populace that they were going to bomb the areas and gave them time to get out. They tried to minimize casualties.”
So if someone were to bomb your house, the roads around your house, the water treatment plants near your house, all of your friends and family’s houses etc, etc, it would be cool with you as long as they flew over and dropped a flier that you might or might not get and written in poor, confusingly imprecise English?
And then if you DID manage to get the flier AND decipher it AND cram your way into one of the few trucks with space in it AND make your way down bombed out roads without getting a flat or broken axle and then they blew up your clearly civilian truck anyway, it would all be okay if they said “oops we didn’t MEAN to kill you, but um these other guys made us do it.”
Damn, man, you are one magnanimous dude. And here I thought brainwashed zionists were all cold-hearted!
And, BTW, as zadehamin stated, Israel is still occupying the Shebaa farms, which is *Lebanese*, not Syrian and not Israeli.
Steph, Medicines Sans Frontiers said that Israel did not differentiate between Lebanese civilians and Hezbullah fighters during their 34-day invasion of Lebanon, which it described as a gross violation of human rights.
Jack your disconnect with reality is extraordinary: Israel suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands Hezbullah; even the Israeli military accepts this. Not only did Israel fail to achieve all of their stated objectives of the return of the two captured Israeli soldiers and the destruction of Hezbullah, they also failed to fulfill their unstated goal to annex South Lebanon and extend the borders of the Jewish to the litani. It was at Maroun El-Rass after four days of fighting that IDF was broken along with the dream of Eretz Yisrael Hashlemah.
Moreover you are incorrect, Hezbullah is the largest political party in Lebanon and it’s military wing is legally recognised as part of the national resistance movement; it has never been a terrorist organisation nor is it so regarded under international law. Israel does still occupy the Sheeba Farms, which are part of Lebanon.
As Israel violated international law in attacking Lebanon, Hezbullah can be properly regarded as counter terrorists.
Jack, what’s funny is hearing a Zionist call Hezbollah terrorists, the Israeli are the biggest bunch of terrorist on the planet.
Blah, blah, blah. No substance is this the best that you can do.
Hezbollah is a legitimate political party and national resistance movement, that just battered an Israeli army ten times it’s size.
A national resistance movement. What/who are they resisting? Israel isn’t in Lebanon. I know, maybe they are resisting Syria and just got confused.
It makes you feel good to say that they battered Israel but you know as well as I do that they didn’t come close to doing that. If it hadn’t been for a UN ceasefire Nasrallah and company would have found themselves staring at the wrong side of an Apache.
And as for hiding behind civillians, that’s complete bullshit.
No it is a well known fact and common tactics among terrorists. They hide among civilians and pray for an air strike so that they can beg for public support.
Palestine was semi-autonmous under the Ottoman empire.
Nope. Try again.
How did Hezbollah make Israel bomb civilian areas and the civil infrastructure?
They hid among civilians. They attacked Israel first. Israel informed the local populace that they were going to bomb the areas and gave them time to get out. They tried to minimize casualties.
Hezbollah acts as typical terrorist group and tries to maximize casualties.
It is pretty funny to read these claims of resistance. They are no more a resistance group than the Janjaweed in Darfur. Just a little proxy army of the Iranians.
i suppose that would explain Israel’s humiliating defeat. (lol)
There is a reason Nasrallah and the other pipsqueaks keep crowing. They have to make themselves feel good about this. They came so very close to being routed. If you’re well read you’ll have seen the reports in which they admit how bad it was.
It was bad and Israel didn’t bring any real force to bear. If things get nasty again, it will be far worse and they will see just how uncomfortable life can be for terrorists.
So go along and serve as apologists for murderers. It must make you feel really important.
Jack
“They intentionally hide among the civilian population and do whatever they can to create civilian casualties.”
How did Hezbollah make Israel bomb civilian areas and the civil infrastructure? Is Olmert an undercover Hezbollah agent? i suppose that would explain Israel’s humiliating defeat. (lol)
The political wing of Hezbollah is civilian, their supporters are civilian. They is no evidence that the military wing, which was fighting alongside Christians in the national resistance were hiding amongst civillians.
Jack, what’s funny is hearing a Zionist call Hezbollah terrorists, the Israeli are the biggest bunch of terrorist on the planet.
Hezbollah is a legitimate political party and national resistance movement, that just battered an Israeli army ten times it’s size. And as for hiding behind civillians, that’s complete bullshit. Israel deliberately attacked civillians from the air becasue it didn’t have the balls to face Hezbollah in the field.
And as it goes there was a Palestinian nation run by Arabs. Palestine was semi-autonmous under the Ottoman empire.
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that uses cowardly methods to attack a sovereign nation. They intentionally hide among the civilian population and do whatever they can to create civilian casualties.
What is funny is listening to people argue such claptrap. There was never a Palestinian nation run by Palestinian Arabs.
The fiction you create is quite humorous, not to mention misguided.
Rob, I totally agree. What are Palestinians supposed to do when Israel deliberately targets Palestinians civillians and carries out collective punishments for the “crime” of resisting an illegal occupation?
HRW is being ridiculous, accusing Hezbollah of deliberately targeting civillians the military to civillians ration on both sides proves just who was targeting civillians.
Hi Phillip, I’m still waiting for the UN to demand an apology for it!
Blair – now there’s an impartial choice. I’m sure he’ll be visiting Gaza soon to meet with Hamas.
I think the thing about HRW is that most people don’t ask who set these organisation up, what they actually do, how they get funded and how they get media attention. If they did, they would see why most NGOs aren’t really independent.
I’m still searching for the apology from Israel for destroying the UN base in Lebanon. Right, dream on Phillip. HRW is biased as are all the western media on this situation. I’m sure good ‘ole boy Tony will soon sort it all out, if he can be bothered to move out of Tel Aviv.
Hi Saladin, I think the problem of bias plagues the Human rights industry, it’s not just HRW, it’s AI as well. Paul de Rooij has written a great article on AI http://www.counterpunch.org/rooij10132004.html
THANK YOU! HRW does some great work, but they certainly exhibit the biases you address here. This is a great blog, BTW.
It’s even more cheeky when it comes to Palestinians. How the fuck can any Israeli adult be a civilian? Palestine is an occupied country and according to Jewish regime: every Jew, child of a Jew, grandchild of a Jew and their spouses are Israeli and entitled to pitch up there and take part in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. When you’ve got a situation like that every Israeli adult is a legitimate target.