Thread by @helenacobban

Some ppl welcomed @hrw's latest report on #GazaIsrael fighting of May, saying it was appropriately tough on #Israel. I just gave it a close read & I'm not so sure (thread) > hrw.org/news/2021/07/2…

> One thing that leapt out at me was @hrw's reflexive both-sides-ism, e.g. in 2nd paragraph. Note too that the link they give there goes to a report on website of Israel's foreign ministry! Objective source?? I don't think so... >

> This claim that all rockets, mortars that the Palestinian resistance forces fired twd Israel were sent "toward Israeli population centers" is quite unsubstantiated. It's key 2 remember that all journalists filing from or through #Israel r subject to strict military censorship >

> Hence, NO journos can report that any Palestinian resistance ordinance actually hit #Israeli military targets, so the impression was left that *all* the damage from Paln rockets was civilian. Plus >

> No corporate media outlet in the "West" that I've seen even dared during the May fighting (or previous Israeli colonial assaults) to even *mention the fact of this censorship*. Hence Western readers r left with v. faulty impressions re intentions of Paln resistance. Also >

>Even this page on the Israeli MFA's website admits that one IDF soldier, Omer Tabib, "was killed by an anti-tank missile fired at his vehicle from the Gaza Strip. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack.": mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPol… >

> He was 1 of 10 ppl killed in Israel from the Paln resistance attacks. So clearly the resistance did engage in some targeting of Israeli military targets, though due to censorship it's impossible to put an absolute or relative figure on this. But for @HRW? >

> They just unthinkingly go along with the lazy idea that the Paln resistance was either "targeting" Israeli populatn centers or fired "indiscriminately." Then, in Para 4 of their report >

> They state as fact that "Several Palestinians also died in Gaza when rockets fired by armed groups fell short and landed in Gaza"-- with the "source" they link to there being the same Israeli MFA website! >

> I certainly recognize that that the testimonies they present from eye-witnesses and survivors of 3 of the most egregious bombings that Israel carried out against civilians in Gaza is valuable, & important to have documented. >

> But @HRW's reflexive & very harmful tilt twds #Israel on all Paln-Israeli issues has a long & inglorious history and still continues. I served for 16 yrs on their Middle East Advisory Council, 1993-2009. (Or later? Can't remember.) So I saw their modus operandi up close. >

> Back then, @hrw was an extremely Zionist organization, with many big-time supporters of #Israel & the #Zionist project on its board. Board chair was Bob Bernstein. I wrote about the influence he & several other key Zionists had on its work here: lobelog.com/bob-bernstein-… >

> (Btw, apologies for the typo there that said I was on the MENA Advisory Council through 2019; I shd have written 2009.) But anyway, what can we say about #HRW's stand on Palestinian liberation/resistance issues today? >

> It is "not as bad as it used to be"-- but that's a very low bar. Indeed, if we agree with the position under international law that #Gaza remains under Israeli occupation, then the ppl of Gaza have the right to resist that occupation. >

> & also under international law the 80% of #Gaza residents who are refugees from 1948 "Israel" have the right to return to their homes. So what is @hrw doing to help the Palestns to acquire & exercise these v. fundamtnal rights? There should be no >

> "Palestinian exception" to the internationally recognized rights of ppl under military occupation or refugees long prevented from returning to their homes.