From the Ottawa Citizen:
"Now there is the case of Marc Garlasco, a senior official with Human Rights Watch. In his capacity as an influential "human rights" activist, Garlasco has made a career of painting Israel as a criminal state. Scholars and other researchers have exposed Garlasco's reports as inaccurate and malicious, but no matter -- among anti-Israel activists, Garlasco is a hero.
This week, Human Rights Watch suspended Garlasco after learning that he has a, um, thing for Naziism. Among other things, he collects Nazi paraphernalia. Using fake names on the Internet, he has talked about how "cool" the leather SS jackets are. One pseudonym he reportedly used was "Flak88" -- "88" being code for the neo-Nazi salute, "Heil, Hitler" ("H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet).
Those Human Rights Watch reports attacking Israel always were a bit puzzling, being so one-sided and hostile. Sadly, they're perhaps not so puzzling anymore."
Except the UN thingy which just came out condemned both Hamas and Israel. Both sides then denounced it as hopelessly biased.
ReplyDeleteCondemnation indicating the report probably carries a lot of truth.
I guess, though, it’s easier to focus on the guy who wrote the report and what appears to be his rather perverse fetish for Third Reich paraphernalia, a fetish he shares with Keith Richards and half the military historians and World War Two obsessives I’ve ever met. There is something about old military gear, generally speaking, which middle aged white guys get off on.
For the record (and pandering to this blog’s obvious bias). Firing missiles, as Hamas has been doing, which they, importantly, have no ability to aim, toward populated areas is in no sense defendable and is, of course, illegal.
Oh Mr. Morton you are so amusingly selective aren't you...
ReplyDeleteIsrael right or wrong but always right...
No wonder the Liberals have so little credibility when it comes to human rights...
"Human Rights Watch has suspended a senior military analyst after pro-Israeli bloggers questioned his objectivity based on the fact that he is a collector of and expert on Nazi German military memorabilia.
Critics of Human Rights Watch have suggested that Garlasco's enthusiasm for Nazi-era badges and uniforms goes beyond historical interest and makes him a Nazi sympathizer or anti-Semite."
NPR
"Our military expert, Marc Garlasco, collects German and American military memorabilia from the second world war, but that does not make him a Nazi sympathiser, as your headline implied. He has never expressed any pro-Nazi or antisemitic sentiments. The fact that the Israeli foreign ministry is spreading such ad hominem attacks against him should have been a warning sign, not a green light to publish.
The allegations of pro-Nazi sympathies are part of a larger campaign to smear non-governmental organisations which criticise the Israel Defence Forces' conduct of the Gaza offensive. Anyone who knows anything about Human Rights Watch – including the foreign news staff of the Guardian, who quote us on a regular basis – should find the insinuation that we harbour neo-Nazis simply ludicrous. The fact that Marc Garlasco has been cited by your newspaper 19 times since he joined Human Rights Watch six years ago (15 as Marc; four as "Mark") testifies to his authority as a military expert. It's a pity the Guardian has given space to a malicious campaign to undermine his reputation."
Carroll Bogert
Associate director, Human Rights Watch, New York
What is it with people who led their religion dictate common sense and decency? People that I normally consider intelligent lose all objectivity when it comes to certain subject.
As Anon stated this is an attack that seems times because of a certain report that indicates possible war crimes and not too flattering picture of the IDF. I can only imagine howls of outrage if the "other side" had done 1/10 of what Israel has done...
Maybe Iggy will speak out, but somehow I think that Mr. Human Rights is too much of a hypocrite.