Gerald M. Steinberg
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Gerald M. Steinberg is an Israeli academic, political scientist, and political activist.
Biography
Gerald Steinberg was born in the United Kingdom,[1] obtained his doctorate in government from Cornell University, in 1981.[2] He began teaching at Bar Ilan University in 1982, and is a professor of Political Science.[3][2]
NGO Monitor
Steinberg is founder and president of the NGO Monitor,[4] an institute whose stated aim is "to generate and distribute critical analysis and reports on the output of the international NGO community" and "to publicize distortions of human rights issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict and provide information and context for the benefit of NGOs working in the Middle East."[5]
Steinberg has been a longtime critic of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and other organizations that he accuses of having "contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace".[6] Writing in a 2004 Jerusalem Post article[7] he said, "HRW's press statement exposes it as a biased political organization hiding behind the rhetoric of human rights." Later he accused HRW of "exploiting the rhetoric of human rights to delegitimize Israel".[8] Human Rights Watch accused Steinberg of "sleight of hand" in his reporting of its activities, and of ignoring its condemnations of Palestinian militant actions.[9]
Later, in an oped in the New York Times, Robert Bernstein, the founder of HRW, also accused the organization for distorting human rights values by cooperating with “those who wish to turn Israel into a pariah state”.[10]
Court case
In January 2010, after the European Commission refused to release documents on NGO funding, Steinberg initiated legal action under the EU's Freedom of Information statutes. The court ruled that instability in the Middle East and the prospect that "such information may pose a danger to human rights groups" justified the refusal.[11] The court further found that Steinberg's petition was "manifestly lacking any foundation in law."[12][13]
Criticism
Yehudit Karp, a former Israeli deputy attorney general, charged that Steinberg published material he knew to be wrong "along with some manipulative interpretation".[14]
References
- ^ Friedman, Matti (30 November 2014). "What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ a b Professor Gerald Steinberg Academic cv
- ^ "Prof. Gerald Steinberg". Bar-Ilan University.
- ^ "Staff". NGO Monitor.
- ^ "About Us". NGO Monitor.
- ^ Gerald Steinberg (January 13, 2005). "Human Rights Groups are Working Against Peace". NGO Monitor.
With their multi-million-dollar budgets, global superpowers such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and dozens of smaller allied groups have contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace.
- ^ Gerald Steinberg (March 8, 2004). "Israelis Have No "Human Rights"". NGO Monitor.
- ^ Gerald Steinberg (April 7, 2004). "Human Rights Watch can't take the heat". Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
- ^ Kenneth Roth (April 2, 2004). "The Truth Hurts". Human Rights Watch.
- ^ "Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast". The New York Times. 20 October 2009.
- ^ Chaim Levinson (December 25, 2012). "EU court rejects NGO Monitor petition to release details on Israeli rights groups". Haaretz.
- ^ "EU throws out NGO Monitor case, tells Gerald Steinberg to pick up the tab".
- ^ "ECJ discards Israeli group's NGO funding case". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
- ^ Yehudit Karp (March 6, 2012). "NGO Monitor and Adalah: The thinly veiled agenda". Times of Israel.