Date: June 12, 2012
URGENT ACTIO N
Calling on Amnesty International to stop exploiting human rights against
Israel
NGO Monitor
http://www.ngo-monitor.org/data/images/File/AmnestyUrgentAction.pdf

Two researchers at Amnesty International’s “Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories� section have displayed a political activist
background and bias that is inconsistent with - and unsuited for - human
rights research in this region. We call on Amnesty International and all of
its members and branches to undertake an immediate and impartial review.

Deborah Hyams and Saleh Hijazi are both researchers at Amnesty International
on “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.� Hyams had previously
volunteered to be a “human shield� in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem), to deter
Israeli military responses to recurrent gunfire and mortars targeting Jewish
civilians in Jerusalem. She has stated that “occupation is violence...and
the consequence of this action must result in violence.�

Hijazi, a Palestinian born in Jerusalem and raised in Ramallah, has also
demonstrated a clear lack of objectivity in this regard. In 2005, he worked
as a Public Relations officer for the Palestinian Authority’s Office of the
Ministry of Planning in Ramallah and in 2007 he was listed as contact for
the NGO “Another Voice� – under the group’s signature “Resist! Boycott! We
Are Intifada!�

Reliance on blatantly biased researchers clearly violates Amnesty’s “core
value� of impartiality. As an NGO superpower with a budget exceeding €216
million, and which claims to be a global movement of more than 3 million
supporters who campaign on human rights issues, Amnesty International should
be held to higher standards!

Furthermore, Amnesty has a history of targeting Israel through false and
unsubstantiated allegations, including the June 6, 2012 publication entitled
“Starved of Justice: Palestinians detained without trial by Israel.� The
document promotes the campaign focusing on Palestinian prisoners, including
those tried, convicted and serving sentences for involvement in suicide
bombings and other mass terror attacks against Israeli civilians, and
ignores the victims of these brutal attacks. Many of the claims in this
report simply repeat, without verification, the Palestinian political
narrative.

Please write immediately in English or your own language:

- Calling on Amnesty officials to review the work of Hyams and Hijazi.

- Urging Amnesty to ensure that researchers do not have clear, immediate,
and pronounced conflicts of interest.

- Calling on Amnesty to stop the policy of disproportionate focus on
Israel, and to end the lack of moral distinction between victims of
terrorism and its perpetrators.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 JULY 2012 TO:
Amnesty International Secretary
General
Salil Shetty
1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW, UK
Fax: +44-20-79561157
Email: secgen@amnesty.org
Executive Director of Amnesty
International USA Suzanne Nossel
Amnesty International USA
5 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001
Fax: (212) 627-1451
Email: aimember@aiusa.org
Amn est y I nter natio na l’ s Mid d le E ast and
North Africa Programme Director
Philip Luther
1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW, UK
Fax: +44-20-79561157
Email: pluther@amnesty.org
UA: 1948/12 Israel Index: MDE 12/06/2012
Date: June 12, 2012

U R G E N T A C T I O N

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Amnesty International (AI) has over 3 million members, making it a powerful
force in the realm of human rights advocacy. This NGO claims to be
“Independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or
religion… it does not support or oppose any government or political system.�
However, the record clearly demonstrates that
AI disproportionately singles out Israel for condemnation, makes numerous
false claims in its accusations, and misrepresents the complexity of the
conflict, while giving far less attention to chronic human rights violations
in the region.

On June 6, Amnesty issued a document headlined “Starved of Justice:
Palestinians detained without trial by Israel.� The publication is part of
the campaign focusing attention on the recent hunger strike of Palestinian
prisoners, including those tried, convicted and serving sentences for
involvement in mass terror attacks, including suicide bombings. This Amnesty
publication and campaign, like many others, targets Israel through false
and unsubstantiated allegations, and ignores the victims of these brutal
attacks. Many of the claims in this report repeat, without verification, the
Palestinian political narrative.

The report omits the authors’ names. Deborah Hyams and Saleh Hijazi were
listed in a prior media advisory as media contacts for the report and are
described as Israel and OPT researchers. Both have backgrounds that reflect
flagrant and unprofessional bias. The reliance on biased personnel is
clearly inconsistent with Amnesty’s claimed core value of impartiality.

In 2001, Hyams volunteered as a “human shield� in Beit Jala (near
Bethlehem), to deter Israeli military responses to recurrent gunfire and
mortars targeting Jewish non-combatant civilians in Jerusalem. In 2008,
Hyams was signatory to a letter claiming Israel is “a state founded on
terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their
land.� According to a 2002 Washington Jewish Week article, Hyams said “that
while she does not condone suicide bombings, she personally believes they
‘are in response to the occupation.’� Hyams has worked for a number of
radical advocacy NGOs, including the Alternative Information Center (AIC),
Jews for Justice in Palestine and Israel (JPPI), Rachel Corrie Foundation,
and Ma’ an Network.

Hijazi, a Palestinian born in Jerusalem and raised in Ramallah, has also
demonstrated a clear lack of objectivity in this regard. In 2005, he worked
as a Public Relations officer for the Palestinian Authority’s Office of the
Ministry of Planning in Ramallah and in 2007, he was listed as contact for
the NGO “Another Voice� – under the group's signature “Resist! Boycott! We
Are Intifada!�

On March 9, 2011, Hijazi, while as a researcher for Human Rights Watch,
spoke at a UN conference where he described how his father was supposedly
arrested by the Israeli authorities “when the Israeli military could not
find an activist neighbor.� His impartiality is questionable given that
Hijazi simultaneously claims to be a victim of the very same country on
which he is reporting.

-ï‚· This Urgent Action Item is a demand that Amnesty review the work of
Hyams and Hijazi; ensure that researchers do not have clear, immediate, and
pronounced conflicts of interest; and stop the policy of false allegations
and discrimination against Israel.