No Surprise Here: Amnesty International Comes To Predetermined Conclusion That Turkel Came To Predetermined Conclusion

When you claim to be a human rights group and automatically have the public trust, one would expect such a group to at least go through the motions of trying to deserve that trust.

But that is not the way of Amnesty International.

In the past, Amnesty International has allied itself with people dedicated to Israel's destruction and has gone so far as to defend its alliance with a supporter of Taliban terrorism by claiming that it is merely a case of "jihad in self-defense".

Considering the depths that Amnesty International is willing to sink to, it's latest stunt will come as no surprise.

Elder of Ziyon writes Amnesty International Crosses a Line on Flotilla Report; Malcolm Smart Should Step Down.

At issue is the fact that Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, admits to criticizing the Turkel Report without reading it:

Amnesty International has questioned the findings of an Israeli inquiry into last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla after it cleared the Israeli armed forces of wrongdoing.

The commission, led by retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, published its findings yesterday. It concluded that the Israeli military had not breached international law when it forcibly intercepted and boarded the ships on 31 May 2010, killing nine activists.

“We have yet to study the full details of Judge Turkel’s 300 page report but it certainly appears like a ‘whitewash’, with the Israeli authorities exonerated of wrongdoing although their actions left nine people dead,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director.

“Frankly, the credibility of Judge Turkel’s investigation has been in question since it was first set up. Unfortunately, it now seems clear that the doubts that we and others had about its independence have been proved correct.”

“This outcome will serve only to reinforce the widespread view that the Israel authorities are now unwilling and incapable of delivering justice and accountability for abuses of international law and human rights violations committed by their forces.” [emphasis added]

Not only is Amnesty International sloppy enough to come to a conclusion without having the full facts, it comes out publicly condemning a report while admitting to not having read it. Anti-Israel advocacy groups do this--but Amnesty International is not supposed to be one of them. Smart can barely control his vitriol--not exactly a high point for a representative of an organization which people assume is conducting itself to a high moral standard.

Unless Amnesty International supports this kind of sloppiness and lack of objectivity in its work--Malcolm Smart must go.

Technorati Tag: Amnesty International and Malcolm Smart and Turkel Commission.