When it comes to Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people, Human Rights Watch (HRW), an American rights group, has a mixed record.
In recent years HRW has published several milestone reports that have exposed Israeli war crimes, including an April 2021 report that recognised Israel as apartheid rule. Yet HRW has been criticised as a more charitable face of US foreign policy, shifting its position on demand.
One must see its October 7 report in this problematic context. Indeed, in the 236-page report published on July 17, HRW not only recycles key aspects of the Israeli narrative with little scrutiny but has gone on record criminalising Palestinian resistance.
The HRW report effectively parrots Israel’s propaganda against not only Hamas but all Palestinian resistance factions — including Fatah and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine — by claiming at least five Palestinian factions participated in the October 7 attacks. ….more