Machsom Watch manipulates photographs and erodes Unviersal Human Rights
Thanks to Yaakov Lozowick (author and Director of archives at Yad Vashem) for sharing his experience of Machsom Watch on his blog:
“One memorable afternoon Achikam and I sat quietly in our chairs before the beginning of the lecture, and listened as two women from Machsom Watch told one another about the efforts they had recently gone to to somehow stage a photo of an Israeli soldier with his gun pointed at a Palestinian woman or child, and their frustration that - angles of photography notwithstanding - they somehow hadn’t been able to create the incriminating photo.”
His experience unfortunately tallies with the evidence presented in NGO Monitor’s latest report on this EU and NIF funded NGO. Our analysis showed that “Machsom Watch publications regularly omit the context of terror and employ human rights terminology, “apartheid” rhetoric and emotive and politically charged language that contribute to the demonization of Israel. In many cases, their allegations are either inaccurate or unverifiable [including manipulation of photgraphs].” Such bad reporting crowds out what really needs to be discussed -balancing the human rights of Israelis and Palestinians in a conflict environment.
When NGOs become party to a conflict and try to create the news rather than simply reporting facts in a fair and transparent manner, the cause of universal human rights is hurt. Unfortunately, as NGO Monitor documents, inaccuracies and distortions occur far too often. Accounts like Yaakov’s help remind us for the need to keep NGOs aware of their own biases and those of their members. If you have witnessed humanitarian NGOs or their staff acting in a similar manner to that which Yaakov reports, please do let us know. In the end such behavior must be stopped by the NGOs themselves, or they become just another agent in the conflict.
Sarah Mandel
