Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 7 March 2010
• International Analyst Network
• By Mark Silverberg

Natan Sharansky uses what he terms “the 3D test” to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism, and he identifies the three categories as delegitimization, demonization and the double standard. Taking these three factors into account, one can discern that the new anti-Semitism manifests itself in many different forms and in many different forums – through divestment campaigns, international boycotts of Israeli products and entertainers (as Norway has done recently), boycotts of Israeli academics by Western universities, holding Israel to standards no other nations in the world are required to meet – not nearly, and through “Israel Apartheid Week” on Canadian and American college campuses where Israel is assigned the role of Jew among the nations of the world to be singled-out, cursed, harassed and defamed…

It is true, of course, that criticizing Israel does not make one an anti-Semite anymore than criticizing the government of France makes one anti-French. But it’s one thing to criticize France, and something else to declare the French nation illegitimate and to advocate its destruction…

• News source:
• 4 March 2010
• Foreign Policy
• By DAVID KENNER, ANDREW SWIFT

“The Land of Two Rivers” is also the land of thousands of aspiring political leaders. Foreign Policy takes you inside the diverse parties, coalitions, and sects, from the center of power to its outermost fringes, that make up Iraq’s political mosaic.

• News source:
• 3 March 2010
• Globe and Mail

UK soldiers in Afghanistan should not carry out humanitarian work as it puts aid staff at risk, a charity has said.

Save the Children said the UK’s policy of funding troops to work alongside aid workers threatened their impartiality.

The link-up on projects such as rebuilding schools blurred military and humanitarian objectives, it warned.

• News source:
• 1 March 2010
• Abstract on Afghanistan Conflict Monitor
• full report available
• By Chris Alexander, Centre for International Governance Innovation

This paper proposes seven policy initiatives designed to refocus Afghanistan’s domestic reform agenda, overcome post-electoral distrust, and lay the groundwork for a re-galvanized partnership or compact between the Afghan government and international Community.

• News source:
• 1 March 2010
• UN Dispatch
• By Mark Leon Goldberg

During the question and answer session at an excellent conference underway Georgetown University Law Center, I asked Judge Richard Goldstone his reaction to the General Assembly vote on his Gaza Report that took place on Friday. The resolution — which passed 98 to 8 with 33 abstentions — gave both sides to the conflict five months to implement credible accountability mechanisms for alleged war crimes. A similar vote occurred at the General Assembly in November, which also passed, though with a greater number of “no” votes and abstentions.

Goldstone cited the difference in the vote count, noting that none of the 27 members of the European Union voted “no” this time around. The only “no” votes were from Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Panama, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the United States…

• News source:
• 1 March 2010
• Baltimore Jewish Times
• By JTA

A bipartisan slate of U.S. Congress members urged the Obama administration to keep the Goldstone report from advancing to the International Court of Justice.

The U.N. General Assembly is poised to refer to the report, which accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes in last winter’s Gaza war, to the United Nations Security Council. The council is the only body able to refer the report to the court.

“We know you share our concerns about an anticipated U.N. General Assembly resolution that is expected to refer the Goldstone Report to the Security Council, and ultimately to the International Court of Justice,” said the letter signed by 95 members of the House of Representatives and sent Thursday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “This is an extremely troubling development that threatens to undermine the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a critical time, and is counterproductive to our foreign policy goals.

• News source:
• 24 February 2010
• UN News Centre

A senior United Nations human rights official today called on international troops fighting militants in Afghanistan to follow directives designed to guard against civilian deaths, drawing particular attention to the plight of children caught up in the conflict.

Last year, some 346 children were killed by warring factions in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy told reporters in Kabul…

Ms. Coomaraswamy noted a “major change in attitude and tactics” on the part of the military since her last visit in July 2008, but stressed that “these ideas and directives have now to be implemented.”

• News source:
• 15 February 2010
• War and Peace
• By Sidney Traynham

Back in 1998 when the Afghan Taliban was large and in charge, a British aid worker friend of mine was stopped past curfew at a checkpoint outside Kabul. He had traveled from Peshawar, Pakistan across the border with a Pashto translator and a bag full of “illicit and pornographic materials.”

My friend, Andy Bowerman, was taken and detained overnight as Taliban officials interrogated his translator and tried to determine what to do about these numerous sexual objects and disturbing images — also known as condoms and sexual health workshop materials.

“We ended up being put in a room with 30 Taliban officials from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” said Andy, now an Anglican priest. He recalls how he and his translator were told: “Do your presentation for us and we’ll decide what we do with you afterwards.”

So Andy launched into the workshop of his life, showing slides on reproductive health and discussing the risks from various sexually transmitted diseases. He decided to close the session in his typical way with a game for these vice and virtue experts — and so one of the men was sent out to procure several cucumbers from the local bazaar.

• News source:
• 11 February 2010
• Jordan Times
• By Daoud Kuttab

The voice of Father Jamal Khader coming over the waves of Radio Mawwal in Bethlehem was soothing and confident. A caller asked him to explain the words of Jesus, “to love your enemy”, in light of the occupation and walls built by Israel and the injustice against Palestinians.

• News source:
• 11 February 2010
• Jordan Times

Iraq has ordered hundreds of private security guards linked to Blackwater Worldwide to leave the country within seven days or face possible arrest on visa violations, the interior minister said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

• News source:
• 10 February 2010
• Ha'aretz
• By Nir Hasson and Barak Ravid

The High Court of Justice yesterday ordered two pro-Palestinian foreign activists to be freed on bail, and said immigration officers had overstepped their authority by arresting them in the West Bank…

Both women belong to the International Solidarity Movement, which is at the forefront of demonstrations against Israel’s separation barrier.

• News source:
• 9 February 2010
• Common Ground News Service
• By Maha Akeel

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Perhaps one of the most misunderstood and stereotyped countries in the world is Saudi Arabia, particularly when it comes to its women.

Some of the negative perceptions surrounding Saudi women could be justified. After all, we are the only country that does not allow women to drive, though the government has declared numerous times that it has no objections to giving women licenses. Saudi women are also denied many of the rights granted to women in Islam. Under the Saudi system, male guardians control decisions concerning a woman’s education, employment, travel, marriage, divorce, childcare, legal proceedings and health care–basically, every aspect of her life. It is a system that renders half the country’s population helpless dependents.

Nevertheless, there are Western perceptions of Saudi women that need to be addressed objectively.

• News source:
• 9 February 2010
• Jerusalem Post
• By YAAKOV KATZ

Approximately 50 foreign nationals are currently residing in the West Bank and working together with Palestinian groups to disrupt and interfere with IDF operations, military sources said on Monday.

The High Court of Justice on Monday released two women from Spain and Australia who had been arrested in Ramallah for involvement in the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Troops raided their apartment on Sunday on the grounds that the women had overstayed their tourist visa and were involved in violent anti-Israel protests.

Overnight Monday, IDF troops raided the Ramallah offices of an organization called ‘Stop the Wall,’ which protests the construction of the West Bank security barrier. According to the organization, some 40 of its activists are currently being held by authorities. In January, another ISM activist from the Czech Republic was arrested in the West Bank and deported from Israel.

• News source:
• abstract added 8 February 2010
• Zunia
• By CMI and PRIO

The surge in the US presence in Afghanistan is unfolding rapidly. CMI and PRIO recently invited a small group of experts to a workshop and a public seminar in Oslo… centered on three main themes: the role of the US and the UN, the role and perceptions of Afghans, and the dynamics of a negotiated settlement.

• News source:
• 4 February 2010
• Reporting on Conflict
• B'Tselem Press Release
• By B'Tselem

B’Tselem has written to demand that Board members of the Canadian organization Rights and Democracy stop maligning B’Tselem’s name. In a letter by B’Tselem Executive Director Jessica Montell, to Aurel Braun, Chairman of Rights and Democracy, Montell demands that he cease his ongoing public attacks on the Israeli human rights NGO.

B’Tselem read in the Canadian press that the board of Rights and Democracy voted to “repudiate” its grant to the organization. “We were outraged to read quotes in the press in which some members of the Board cast baseless aspersions on B’Tselem and the integrity of our work”, writes Montell. “These statements reveal profound, even offensive ignorance about B’Tselem’s work and its role in Israeli society”.

In its twenty years of activity, B’Tselem has earned a reputation both in Israel and around the world as the most reliable source for information on human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leading journalists, policymakers and academics consistently cite B’Tselem as their primary source for reliable information about human rights and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. B’Tselem is proud of its role in generating Israeli public discussion regarding human rights, and in fostering real improvements in Israel ’s human rights policies.

In addition to its documentation and advocacy activities, B’Tselem works closely with the Israeli military authorities in order to promote accountability. Israel ’s Judge-Advocate General has repeatedly praised his cooperation with B’Tselem, including in a recent feature in Israel ’s Haaretz newspaper: “My goal is to get at the truth, and they definitely help us do that. The cooperation with B’Tselem stands out in particular. They help us speak to witness, to examine complaints. They do their job and I do mine. The interests are not identical, but with all the criticism of these organizations of us, their goal is to seek out the truth.”

B’Tselem is motivated by a deep commitment to Israeli society, as well as a commitment to universal human rights principles. It strives for a future in which Israelis and Palestinians alike will live in freedom and dignity.

Two Palestinian organizations – al-Haq and al-Mezan – were similarly attacked in the Canadian press. B’Tselem also protested these attacks, citing the reputation both organizations have earned for their courageous work against human rights violations by Israeli as well as Palestinian authorities.

For further information contact:

Sarit Michael i, Press Officer, at +972 (0)50-5387230 or saritm@btselem.org

Mitchell Plitnick, Director of US Communications mitchell@btselem.org Phone: +1-202-783-0629

Sarit Michaeli
Press Officer
B’Tselem
+972 (0) 73-2509305 (office)
+972 (0)50 5387230 (cell)
http://www.btselem.org/

• News source:
• 6 February 2010
• CP
• By Rizek Abdel Jawad

The Hamas government in Gaza on Saturday backtracked on its apology earlier this week in which it expressed regret for harming Israeli civilians in rocket attacks…

Hamas wrote to the U.N. that its primitive rockets were not intended to hit civilians, but often strayed from their course. It said the rockets were meant to defend Gazans against Israeli military strikes, but also maintained that the Palestinians have a right to resist Israeli occupation.

“We apologize for any harm that might have come to Israeli civilians,” the Hamas government wrote.

On Saturday, the government claimed the response to the U.N. was misinterpreted.

“The report that was submitted regarding the Goldstone report does not include any apologies and what took place was an incorrect interpretation of some of its wording,” the government said in a statement.

• News source:
• 4 February 2010
• IRIN

KABUL – Over the past year dozens of schools have reopened in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in part due to an accommodation with Taliban insurgents, Education Ministry officials say.

• News source:
• 3 February 2010
• Abstract on Afghanistan Conflict Monitor
• By NUPI Iselin Hebbert Larsen, UNAMA in Afghanistan: Challenges and Opportunities in Peacemaking, State-building and Coordination, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2 February 2010

The United Nations has been engaged in Afghanistan in various capacities ever since 1946. It has provided humanitarian and development aid, as well as playing a specific political role during the many wars in the country… This report focuses on its role in peacemaking, state-building and coordination.

• News source:
• 3 February 2010
• Reuters

ISLAMABAD – At a conference in London last week, Afghanistan’s allies backed its efforts to start talks with the Taliban and donors promised hundreds of millions of dollars for a fund to pay fighters to lay down their arms.

• News source:
• 3 February 2010
• mepeace.org
• By Waleed Hammad

As the setting sun casts a reverential red glow over Jerusalem’s Old City, a small group of sheikhs and rabbis stand aloft on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the holy sites, joined in prayer. Their prayer is also joined up, an amalgam of recitations from Islam and Judaism, as if by fusing the powers of these two religions, the men can focus on their single cause: peace between the populations of the holy land.

These spiritual leaders have given their blessings to a new organisation, one that seeks to bring Jewish settlers and Palestinians together, so they might become good neighbours.

The group, Yerushalom, was set up three months ago by Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, who say they want to build bridges and better relations with the Palestinians living alongside them.