The Perversion of Theodor Herzl (ZEEK: Articles)
But the less obvious price is being paid in Israel, and Im Tirtzu is a symptom of it. The group, and the proposed Knesset committee it has inspired, is aiming at destroying Israeli democracy by undermining free speech in Israel and attacking the civil society structures that are any democracy’s backbone against government gone wild.
It is crucial to note that Im Tirtzu is not accusing Israeli human rights groups of providing false or misleading information. The “crime” of groups like B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, PHR-Israel, ACRI and others is that they told the truth as best they understood it. And not once, it is also important to note, did those groups condemn Israel without trial—their call, from day one, was always for an independent, credible Israeli investigation into these issues. In fact, part of their case was precisely that if Israel failed to do this, it risked international action, which was not the preference.
This is what Im Tirtzu and its friends in the Knesset are attacking. And the response should be very simple: don’t blame human rights groups for doing their jobs. If Israel does not want these accusations leveled against it, it can avoid it by not provoking them and, if they do surface, by credibly addressing them. Indeed, this is precisely the conclusion Netanyahu seems to have come to, albeit belatedly. And, it should be noted, that the Israeli military, in its own investigations, has relied heavily on the same information network NGOs provide that Goldstone did.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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