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Human Rights Botch

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Jul 27, 2009, Vol. 14, No. 42
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Human Rights Botch

Last week the Wall Street Journal published the rather shocking details of a trip to Saudi Arabia by members of Human Rights Watch, an organization that is, by its own account, "dedicated to defending and protecting human rights." But the delegation from HRW was not in Saudi Arabia to lobby on behalf of beheaded adulteresses, executed rape victims, or imprisoned democratic activists. According to David Bernstein, author of the Journal op-ed, they were there "to raise money from wealthy Saudis by highlighting HRW's demonization of Israel."

In an exchange with the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of HRW, confirmed the report. Goldberg asked Roth if HRW had attempted "to raise funds in Saudi Arabia by advertising your organization's opposition to the pro-Israel lobby?"

The answer from Roth:

That's certainly part of the story. We report on Israel. Its supporters fight back with lies and deception. It wasn't a pitch against the Israel lobby per se. Our standard spiel is to describe our work in the region. Telling the Israel story--part of that pitch--is in part telling about the lies and obfuscation that are inevitably thrown our way.

This pitch that "wasn't a pitch against the Israel lobby per se," by the way, was made to a Saudi group that included a member of the country's Shura Council--the body that oversees the implementation of sharia law in the Saudi kingdom.

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