There’s no doubt that life for many Palestinians is hard. However, their situation is a complex one that has arisen as a result of years of bloody violence directed against Israelis. Put briefly, their situation is a consequence, not simply a cause. That’s why pieces focusing on Palestinian suffering without any mention of Israel’s legitimate security needs are misleading and misinform readers.
Regular readers of these pages are no doubt aware of the UK’s The Independent, a media outlet which regularly exhibits an anti-Israel bent. But one such piece, entitled, “My friend was banned from travelling to visit his dying mother. This is the personal, intimate price of occupation” — which tells the sad story of how one man was not allowed to see his mother before she died in an Israeli hospital — runs significantly deeper than readers may realize.
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The writer of this piece is identified thus: “Saleh Hijazi is deputy regional director for Amnesty Middle East and North Africa.”
That’s one way of describing Hijazi. Here’s another: A terror-glorifying, war-crime-supporting anti-Israel activist in the clothing of a human rights worker.
Who is Saleh Hijazi?
One would think that a senior employee of a world-renowned human rights organization would distance himself from terrorism and any appearance of supporting it. But as the Elder of Ziyon blog revealed in 2015, Hijazi’s social media tells another story. He previously used a picture of Leila Khaled, a PFLP terrorist and airline hijacker, as his profile picture on Facebook.
Despite the image drawing attention, the picture remains on Hijazi’s profile to this day.
Related Reading: Lack of Transparency
If only that were a one-time aberration. Hijazi has also shown admiration for Khader Adnan, a prominent member of Islamic Jihad member. Adnan has publicly exhorted Palestinians to carry out suicide bomb attacks and shootings against Israelis.
That picture, too, remains in place.
There’s more. A recently-released report by the tireless British researcher David Collier reveals that in 2011, Hijazi shared a disturbing video entitled “Voices of Resistance” showing Palestinians ripping down a poster of an Israeli Druze singer, and trampling and kicking the image of the singer’s face. The singer has been due to sing at a concert on New Year’s Eve in Ramallah, but faced protests and threats from those ‘opposing normalization’ with Israelis, and was eventually barred by the PA from appearing.
Collier’s report also reveals that Hijazi is part of the ‘Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network.’ As the report notes, Al-Shabaka regularly accuses Israel of such crimes as genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, and is a major platform for boycott Israel activities. Shabaka has also listed Ali Abunimah, the founder of Electronic Intifada among its most prominent ‘sustaining donors’. To make things absolutely clear, this means that Amnesty’s Deputy director of MENA sits on a policy panel partially funded by the founder of Electronic Intifada.
And if all that weren’t enough, a 2012 op-ed by NGO Monitor’s Gidon Shaviv revealed that Hijazi was listed as contact for the NGO “Another Voice.” This is a group whose slogan is “Resist! Boycott! We Are Intifada!”
This is the ‘deputy regional director for Amnesty Middle East and North Africa’ whose op-ed countless visitors to The Independent website have read.
In what world does calling for a violent uprising of murderous violence, of glorifying plane hijackers and senior terrorists who advocate suicide bombing attacks, without appearing to recant, make a person a suitable candidate for a ‘human rights organization’?
And in what world does a respectable media outlet allow itself to be used in the deception without drawing attention to such an individual’s shady past?
While there are numerous issues with the op-ed, it’s important for readers to note how widely-read media outlets like The Independent help “human rights” organizations such as Amnesty International dress up terrorist-supporters and violent activists as dignified and righteous human rights defenders.
Of course, we could also note that the real story is that Israel is allowing Palestinian civilians into its sovereign territory so that they may receive higher quality medical treatment, but we’re so used to the media ignoring Israel’s positive aspects that we may as well not bother.
A good story about Israel in The Independent? Perish the thought!
