Two months ago in this column I raised the issue of accountability for war crimes committed in the Gaza conflict. I wrote that the findings and recommendations of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and its reception by Israel, Hamas, the United States, and others, would be the key to achieving justice.
Critics of Human Rights Watch's work on Israel raise three main points. First, they say we disproportionately focus on Israel, and neglect other countries in the Middle East. Second, they claim our research methodology is flawed. Third, as recently expressed by our founding chairman Robert Bernstein, they argue that we should focus on "closed" countries such as China rather than "open" societies like Israel. I reject all three claims.
Over the past few months, international and local human rights groups have documented numerous serious violations of the laws of war, some of them amounting to war crimes, before, during, and since Israel's military offensive in Gaza last December and January.
Human Rights Watch has come under fire recently, accused of bias, an excessive focus on one country, lacking credibility and impartiality and even promoting terrorism.
Having worked in war zones for more than 10 years, I've done a variety of investigations of violations of laws of war for Human Rights Watch. I've inspected the killing fields of Kosovo and the displaced persons camps of Sri Lanka, examined Saddam Hussein's mass graves and researched the effects in Gaza of Operation Cast Lead.
A series of detailed human rights reports about serious Israeli abuses during the recent Gaza conflict has given rise to an intense campaign by the Israeli government and some of its uncritical supporters to smear the messengers and change the subject.
The debate over Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is often framed in terms of whether they should be "frozen" or allowed to grow "naturally." But that is akin to asking whether a thief should be allowed merely to keep his ill-gotten gains or steal some more.
Canada has long been recognized as a global leader in human rights and commitment to international law, wielding moral authority much larger than its size. But our government's unreserved support for the conduct of Israel's recent military actions in Gaza has eroded Canada's hard-won credibility and moral standing.
Two months ago in this column I raised the issue of accountability for war crimes committed in the Gaza conflict. I wrote that the findings and recommendations of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and its reception by Israel, Hamas, the United States, and others, would be the key to achieving justice.
Yesterday the US Congress gravely insulted hundreds of civilians who were wounded or killed in the most recent war in the Middle East.
Critics of Human Rights Watch's work on Israel raise three main points. First, they say we disproportionately focus on Israel, and neglect other countries in the Middle East. Second, they claim our research methodology is flawed. Third, as recently expressed by our founding chairman Robert Bernstein, they argue that we should focus on "closed" countries such as China rather than "open" societies like Israel. I reject all three claims.
Over the past few months, international and local human rights groups have documented numerous serious violations of the laws of war, some of them amounting to war crimes, before, during, and since Israel's military offensive in Gaza last December and January.
Human Rights Watch has come under fire recently, accused of bias, an excessive focus on one country, lacking credibility and impartiality and even promoting terrorism.
Having worked in war zones for more than 10 years, I've done a variety of investigations of violations of laws of war for Human Rights Watch. I've inspected the killing fields of Kosovo and the displaced persons camps of Sri Lanka, examined Saddam Hussein's mass graves and researched the effects in Gaza of Operation Cast Lead.
A series of detailed human rights reports about serious Israeli abuses during the recent Gaza conflict has given rise to an intense campaign by the Israeli government and some of its uncritical supporters to smear the messengers and change the subject.
Back in 2006, Israel's profligate use of cluster munitions in Lebanon caught the public eye, nowhere more so than in the Arab world.
The debate over Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is often framed in terms of whether they should be "frozen" or allowed to grow "naturally." But that is akin to asking whether a thief should be allowed merely to keep his ill-gotten gains or steal some more.
Canada has long been recognized as a global leader in human rights and commitment to international law, wielding moral authority much larger than its size. But our government's unreserved support for the conduct of Israel's recent military actions in Gaza has eroded Canada's hard-won credibility and moral standing.