Former Human Rights Watch President Says Take Onus off of Israel

I start out this post with a qualifying statement: I have recently been turned down for a fellowship with Human Rights Watch, perhaps I have a little spite and maybe my rose glasses are a little bent around the ears.

Nevertheless, I have to say I found this article astonishingly short sighted coming from such a distinguished champion of human rights.

Israel, with a population of 7.4 million, is home to at least 80 human rights organizations, a vibrant free press, a democratically elected government, a judiciary that frequently rules against the government, a politically active academia, multiple political parties and, judging by the amount of news coverage, probably more journalists per capita than any other country in the world — many of whom are there expressly to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, the Arab and Iranian regimes rule over some 350 million people, and most remain brutal, closed and autocratic, permitting little or no internal dissent. The plight of their citizens who would most benefit from the kind of attention a large and well-financed international human rights organization can provide is being ignored as Human Rights Watch’s Middle East division prepares report after report on Israel.

Of course there is rampart repression in the Islamic world but does anyone claim a democracy in these countries. Of course we should promote a standard of human rights in the face of regimes we all can agree are repressive autocracies but what does it say about our understanding of democracy and human rights when we tolerate states with supposed good governance that massacre 1400 mostly civilians and get away with it?

Op-Ed Contributor - Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast - NYTimes.com