ISRAEL RAPS US CHARITY FOR AIDING UN GAZA PANEL

press tv
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:00:56 GMT

About 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed
during the 22-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

A US-based group that funded Israeli NGOs has come under fire by Tel
Aviv for allegedly providing evidence against Israel to a UN Gaza
war panel.

On January 29, a report issued by Im Tirtzu – a self-described centrist
Zionist group – accused the New Israel Fund (NIF) philanthropy of
providing most of the evidence to the United Nations’ Goldstone
Commission that issued a report highly critical of Israel’s Gaza war
a year ago.

Leaders of the Washington-based group have, however, denied the
charges, saying that they are being unfairly targeted by the Israeli
conservatives who seek to silence any opposing viewpoints, the Los
Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

"It’s an attempt to stifle dissent," said Daniel Sokatch, the chief
executive of the fund, which donates about $15 million annually to
"human rights and civil society groups" in Israel.

While acknowledging that some recipients of the charity group had
cooperated with the Goldstone inquiry, the NIF Spokeswoman Naomi
Paiss said that the human rights groups were just doing their job.

"This is what human rights group do. They are supposed to monitor
and report," she explained.

Last fall, the UN Human Rights Council led by the South African judge
Richard Goldstone charged Israel and also Hamas of war crimes during
the 22-day assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Goldstone Report also accused the Israeli military of using
disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians and firing
phosphorus munitions on Gazans.

About 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed
during the deadly offensive.

The extremist Im Tirtzu leaders, however, believe the "unpatriotic"
New Israel Fund had financed a "propagandist campaign" aimed at
"de-legitimizing Israel, negating its right to exist and its right
to self-defense."

Following the Goldstone Report, many foreign aid workers, journalists
and charities have encountered Israeli threats and crackdowns.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress