When Amnesty issued its "genocide report," Amnesty Israel published a rebuttal. It was hardly a pro-IDF analysis, but it showed how the "genocide" charge was without legal basis.
Thursday, July 09, 2026
Thursday, July 09, 2026
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty, Amnesty Israel, genocide lie
When Amnesty issued its "genocide report," Amnesty Israel published a rebuttal. It was hardly a pro-IDF analysis, but it showed how the "genocide" charge was without legal basis.
Friday, February 06, 2026
My article yesterday about Human Rights Watch's shelved report calling Israel's immigration policy a "crime against humanity" reminded me of the last time HRW and Amnesty International claimed that international law requires Israel to accept millions of Palestinian "refugees" and their descendants.
Back in 2013, I noticed something curious: both organizations pointed to the same International Court of Justice case—Nottebohm (1955)—as proof that Palestinians have a legal "right of return" based on maintaining emotional and familial ties to territory their ancestors left. (Amnesty wrote about it in 2001, HRW in 2002.)
Their logic went like this: The Nottebohm case established that nationality requires a "genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments" between a person and a place. Palestinians who maintain ties to the land—even generations later—therefore have legal rights to return based on this genuine connection. Israel's refusal to honor this violates international law.
There was only one problem: Not only did the Nottebohm case not say what they claimed, it said the opposite.
The Nottebohm case involved a German businessman, Friedrich Nottebohm, who had lived in Guatemala for 34 years. When World War II broke out, he hastily obtained citizenship from Liechtenstein (where he had minimal ties) to avoid being treated as an enemy alien. Guatemala refused to recognize this new citizenship and seized his property. Liechtenstein sued on his behalf, claiming he was now their citizen and deserved diplomatic protection.
The ICJ ruled against Liechtenstein, finding that Nottebohm's "naturalization was not based on any real prior connection with Liechtenstein." The Court stated that nationality should reflect "a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments" between an individual and a STATE—not a territory.
Notice the critical distinction: The case was about which state could claim someone as a national for purposes of diplomatic protection. It was about citizenship and state sovereignty, not about territorial rights.
The key passage states: "nationality is a legal bond having as its basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties."
HRW and Amnesty quoted the "genuine connection" language while systematically replacing "state" with "territory" to twist a ruling about citizenship into one about land rights.
Here's what makes this particularly absurd: Nottebohm himself had genuine ties to Guatemala—34 years of residence, extensive business operations, deep roots in the community. Yet the ICJ ruled that Guatemala had no obligation to grant him citizenship or even recognize his Liechtenstein citizenship.
If anything, Nottebohm affirmed that states have absolute sovereign control over who they grant citizenship to, even when someone has genuine territorial connections. The ruling explicitly states: "it is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals."
This is the exact opposite of a "right of return" based on ancestral territorial ties.
When I wrote about this in 2013, I kept second-guessing myself. How could I—a non-lawyer, a blogger—have read the case so differently from two major international human rights organizations with teams of highly credentialed lawyers?
I must be missing something, I thought. Maybe there's some nuance in international law I don't understand. Maybe my layman's reading of the text was naive. These organizations have reputations to uphold. Surely they wouldn't deliberately misrepresent an ICJ decision.
So I published my analysis tentatively, always wondering if I'd gotten something wrong.
After writing about Omar Shakir and HRW's institutional bias yesterday, I decided to revisit Nottebohm with fresh eyes—and with new tools. I asked Claude (an AI system with legal analysis capabilities) to review both my 2013 article and the full text of the Nottebohm decision to identify any errors in my interpretation.
The verdict: I was right. HRW and Amnesty were wrong.
The case is explicitly about the relationship between individuals and states for citizenship purposes. It uses the word "state" throughout, not "territory." It affirms state sovereignty over nationality determinations. It provides zero support for territorial rights based on ancestral connections.
My layman's reading of the plain text was more accurate than the "expert analysis" from two major human rights organizations.
This raises a much more serious question: How could two supposedly independent human rights organizations, both staffed with professional lawyers, both look at the same ICJ case and both arrive at the same incorrect conclusion—while I, as a layman, got it right?
The odds of this being coincidental are essentially zero. When two students turn in identical wrong answers on a test, we know what happened.
This is evidence of either:
- Coordination: They're working from shared advocacy networks or talking points
- Shared ideology: They're part of the same ecosystem where the conclusion (Israel violates international law) is predetermined
- Institutional capture: Both organizations have been captured by an anti-Israel ideology that treats legal research as window dressing for predetermined conclusions
Nottebohm is not an obscure footnote. It's one of the most cited ICJ cases on nationality. The language is clear. The distinction between "state" and "territory" is fundamental to international law.
Their lawyers are not incompetent. They knew they were misrepresenting the case. The alternative—that multiple teams of international lawyers at two different organizations all somehow failed to notice they were confusing states with territories—is simply not credible.
This means both organizations made a deliberate choice to cite a case for the opposite of what it says because it served their advocacy goals.
This isn't an isolated incident. It's the pattern:
- Amnesty invents its own definition of "genocide" to accuse Israel
- HRW claims standard immigration policy is a "crime against humanity"
- Both misrepresent Nottebohm to create a fictional "right of return"
- Both apply novel legal theories only to Israel
- Both start with the conclusion that Israel is guilty and work backwards
What I've learned over two decades of documenting this is that both Amnesty and HRW approach every Israel-related issue from the position that Israel must be violating international law. They will twist evidence, cherry-pick sources, invent new legal standards, and—as Nottebohm proves—cite cases for the opposite of what they say.
Whether this is conscious malice or unconscious bias, I cannot say. But what I can say with certainty is that it's systematic, consistent, and deliberate.
When I wrote about Nottebohm in 2013, I thought maybe I'd misunderstood something. Now I know: They're the ones who chose to lie rather than tell a truth that might support Israel's position.
And that tells you everything you need to know about whether these organizations can be trusted on anything related to Israel.
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Elder of Ziyon
#PayForSlay, Amnesty, HRW
Recipients of Palestinian Authority terror stipends residing in Jordan reported over the last three hours that their monthly payments had been deposited into their bank accounts. According to multiple firsthand accounts, the sums transferred were identical to those received previously, suggesting that the payment scale remains unchanged. Reports further indicate that dozens of transfers were processed through recognized banking institutions.
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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Friday, January 24, 2025
Friday, January 24, 2025
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty
Sons of gold, time has exposed your deception,For we are not ones to abandon our homelands through deceit.You have unleashed your arrogance, but within us remainsA spirit that declares: we shall act and respond.The most insignificant of nations, without a true identity,Now dares to bargain with us over our land—how could we allow this?The Jews—oh, how well we know the ways of the Jews,For they are a people united in misguidance.Our laws—what has struck you that you do not heed them?Do you not see that aiding the motherland requires uprooting you?Our judgments are clear: leave this world and take refuge elsewhere.But after this day, patience has no place.You have obeyed the enemies in their schemes against us—But will all of you now yield and retreat?This is the terrible danger of those who oppose us.Have you not seen how the eye of the homeland is torn apart,Except to send a message to the rulers:That the heart of the courageous shall falter and be severed?If they do not give leadership its due right,Then its enemies shall rise and settle in their place.And you, O Commander of the Faithful, show kindnessTo us, for we are the shield of the Caliphate.And lands that God has blessed around them,And a people who are the pride of all religions,Are weakened by the frailty you embody—Unless they fall in ruin and are utterly destroyed.Does it please you, O successful one, that our landsAre sold and snatched away while witnesses remain?
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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Tuesday, January 07, 2025
Tuesday, January 07, 2025
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty
Your voice matters. You have the right to say what you think, share information and demand a better world. You also have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests.Amnesty International supports people who speak out peacefully for themselves and for others – whether a journalist reporting on violence by security forces, a trade unionist exposing poor working conditions or an indigenous leader defending their land rights against big business. We would similarly defend the right of those who support the positions of big business, the security forces and employers to express their views peacefully.
In 2015, the only resolution rejected by Amnesty at its annual conference was one condemning antisemitic attacks in Britain.
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty
Amnesty International recognizes that, at the start of the military offensive, Israeli officials defined its objectives as dismantling the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, subsequently adding to them the release of hostages and captives. Following that, Prime Minister Netanyahu, then Minister of Defense Gallant and Israeli army spokespeople publicly clarified on numerous occasions that the offensive was directed at Hamas rather than the Palestinian people. However, they appear to have intensified such clarifications only following mounting pressure from Israel’s Western allies over the scale of deaths and destruction resulting from weeks of relentless bombardment.
For example, on 10 October 2023, in a meeting with Israeli soldiers deployed near Gaza, then Minister of Defense Gallant appeared to incite soldiers to indiscriminate attacks: “I released all restraints. Attack everything, take off the gloves, kill everyone who fights us, whether it is one terrorist or a hundred. From the air, from the land, with tanks, with bulldozers... all means. No compromises! Gaza will not return to what it was, and Hamas will not exist. Eliminate everything. It will take time, it won’t take a day, it won’t take a week, it will take weeks and maybe months. We will reach all places.”
The ICJ has held that “in order to infer the existence of dolus specialis from a pattern of conduct, it is necessary and sufficient that this is the only inference that could reasonably be drawn from the acts in question”,385 meaning that “intent to destroy the group, in whole or in part, must be the only reasonable inference which can be drawn from the pattern of conduct.”
Obviously, there are plenty of other inferences that would explain Israel's conduct in the war that are not genocidal. But since this undercuts Amnesty's entire legal argument, they highlight a dissenting opinion on the case quoted:
In his dissenting opinion in Croatia v. Serbia, Judge Cançado Trindade argued that the ICJ “seems to have imposed too high a threshold for the determination of mens rea of genocide” and that the standard of proof adopted by the majority is “entirely inadequate for the determination of State responsibility”.
Amnesty International found a pattern of direct attacks on civilians with no apparent military objective present, indiscriminate attacks and intentional destruction of cultural and religious sites with no apparent imperative military necessity.
If there is no evidence that Hamas was hiding in an area - something that by definition would not be admitted by the people - Amnesty assumes that the IDF is wasting expensive smart bombs to hit mosques or other cultural sites in the middle of a war. Again, this is an assumption of Zionist evil that pervades the entire report.
Tuesday, April 02, 2024
Tuesday, April 02, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
2023-24 Gaza, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty, Egypt, gaza, HRW, Medical Aid for Palestine, NGO bias, NGO lies, Physicians for Human Rights Israel
The record-low rate of permits issued by Israel for Palestinians seeking vital medical treatment outside Gaza underlines the urgent need for Israel to end its decade-long closure of the Gaza Strip, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said today in a joint statement.Israeli authorities approved permits for medical appointments for only 54 percent of those who applied in 2017, the lowest rate since the World Health Organization (WHO) began collecting figures in 2008. WHO reported that 54 Palestinians, 46 of whom had cancer, died in 2017 following denial or delay of their permits.
Now, when Gaza's health crisis is far more acute, how many medical permits are being approved by Egypt for travel and treatment?
According to the latest Gaza health ministry report, Egypt has a far worse approval rate than Israel ever had. (They don't say "Egypt" - only "abroad.")
They count 8,120 patients applying to be treated abroad (most of them multiple times) but only 3,283 have been approved to travel.
That is a 40% approval rate - far lower than Israel even did in 2017, and half of the 80% Israel was approving every month of 2023 before the October 7 massacre.
The Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights issued a report yesterday about how kidney dialysis patients in Gaza are having a difficult time getting treatment. Not one of its recommendations mentioned urging Egypt to allow more dialysis patients to travel there to be treated. As with the MoH, the word "Egypt" is not even mentioned in their report. But according to the ministry of health, only 20% of the applications for kidney patients have been approved by Egypt for travel and treatment.
The "human rights organizations" refusal to say anything negative about Egypt's denial of Gazans to take refuge even extends to not saying a word when Egypt refuses most Gazans who need lifesaving medical help!
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Monday, October 23, 2023
Monday, October 23, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
07Oct23, Amnesty, antisemtism, apartheid lies, Fake News, gaza, hamas, international law, NGO lies, PalArab lies, self-censorship
The Israeli army claims it only attacks military targets, but in a number of cases Amnesty International found no evidence of the presence of fighters or other military objectives in the vicinity at the time of the attacks. Amnesty International also found that the Israeli military failed to take all feasible precautions ahead of attacks including by not giving Palestinian civilians effective prior warnings – in some cases they did not warn civilians at all and in others they issued inadequate warnings.“Our research points to damning evidence of war crimes in Israel’s bombing campaign that must be urgently investigated. Decades of impunity and injustice and the unprecedented level of death and destruction of the current offensive will only result in further violence and instability in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Agnès Callamard.“It is vital that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urgently expedites its ongoing investigation into evidence of war crimes and other crimes under international law by all parties. Without justice and the dismantlement of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians, there can be no end to the horrifying civilian suffering we are witnessing.”
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Sunday, September 03, 2023
Sunday, September 03, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty, collective punishment, Fatah, Francesca Albanese, hamas, HRW, Islamic Jihad, PIJ, The Lion's Den, UN Special Rapporteur
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has hailed the position of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese condemning the flagrant Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, especially the collective punishment policy.Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanoa called on the international community and UN and human rights organisations to put this condemnation into action and to take practical steps towards holding the Israeli occupation leaders accountable for their crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
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Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
2023 terror, Amnesty, counterterrorism, double standards, HRW, Hypocrisy, IED, media silence, NGO silence, No Israel No News, No Jews No News, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian Security Forces, Tulkarem
The Political Commissioner General and the official spokesperson for the security establishment, Major General Talal Dweikat, said today, Wednesday, that the security services removed dangerous materials and barriers from inside the Tulkarem camp.Dweikat added, in a telephone conversation with WAFA, that the Palestinian security forces had received several complaints from institutions and individuals in Tulkarm governorate, about the presence of dangerous materials and barriers in front of children's schools and on the roads inside the Tulkarm camp. Accordingly, the security services moved and removed them, to prevent any risks that might arise. about its existence.He pointed out that after the security force finished its mission, some armed youths opened fire in front of the governorate building, which necessitated the intervention of the security forces to take the necessary measures and measures to control the security situation and prevent any manifestations that threaten civil peace in Tulkarm governorate.
"Dangerous materials" appears to be a euphemism for explosives - IEDs that terrorists bury in the road, that are meant to slow down Israeli forces when they conduct arrests and raids. We already know that these IEDs are a danger to children - even the UN reluctantly admits this. (Update: Other media confirm explosives near schools.)
It appears that the PA, perhaps for the first time and ahead of the beginning of the school year, decided that IEDs and iron barriers in front of schools is already a step too far when it puts children at risk.
And the terrorists were not happy about their hard work of risking the lives of their neighbors to be able to possibly damage an Israeli vehicle being removed, so they naturally started shooting at the PA forces.
Hamas media says that the PA used bulldozers to remove the barricades.
One person died - the accounts differ as of this writing but it appears that the gunmen killed an innocent bystander while shooting at the PA forces. Terror media says the PA killed the man.
.This video shows some of the tear gas, and apparently one older man - a father of a "martyr" so he may have been one of the protesters - was injured.
Will "human rights groups" side with the terrorists in this case? The PA did what Israel does - employed bulldozers and shot tear gas to quell a violent demonstration, and possibly used live fire. NGOs usually adopt the narrative that the PA is almost as bloodthirsty as the IDF.
On the other hand it is hard for them to say that the PA should allow IEDs and barricades to be placed in the middle of public areas and near schools. Amnesty and HRW have never, to my knowledge, berated the local armed groups for putting their own people at risk, and they are loathe to start a new complicating narrative that might indirectly exonerate the IDF for its own similar raids.
So chances are that they will remain silent, and the dead Palestinian bystander will not be mentioned at all.
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Thursday, August 17, 2023
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
1984 terror, Amnesty, crime and punishment, Moshe Tamam, NGO lies, PFLP, Walid Daqqah
The Israeli authorities should release Walid Daqqah, a terminally ill Palestinian prisoner, so he can access specialist medical care and spend his remaining time with his family, Amnesty International said today. Walid Daqqah, 62, suffers from chronic lung disease and bone marrow cancer, and the clinic at Israel’s Ayalon Prison is ill-equipped to deal with his conditions. Following his cancer diagnosis last year, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) denied Walid Daqqah access to a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant by refusing to transfer him to a civilian hospital.
Walid Daqqah, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested in March 1986. A year later, a military court convicted him of commanding a group affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which had abducted and killed Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. He was not convicted of carrying out the murder himself, but of ordering other members of the group to kill Moshe Tamam.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
Amnesty, BDS is antisemitic, boycott, censorship, double standards, films, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Speech, Hypocrisy, Lebanon, LGBTQ2S
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
2016 terror, 2023 terror, Amnesty, civilian casualties, civilian infrastructure, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, HRW, incitement, iran, Iranian proxies, media silence, missiles, NGO silence, Second Lebanon War
Monday, August 14, 2023
Monday, August 14, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
"pro-Palestinian", Ain El-Hilweh, Amnesty, antisemitism, clan clashes, Dorothee Klaus, gaza, HRW, Lebanon, media bias, media silence, NGO silence, No Israel No News, refugee camp, unrwa
Reports indicate that armed fighters are allegedly still deployed in some areas and continue to be intermittently present in UNRWA schools in the northern schools compound, along with the nearby UNRWA camp services office – a serious violation of the neutrality of UNRWA installations. The reported presence of fighters in areas around the school compound has prevented UNRWA staff from accessing these installations. Reports indicate that the ongoing presence of armed fighters in some areas is also preventing the return of some residents to their homes.At a Thursday press conference, Director of UNRWA affairs in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus added more information, saying that between 200-400 houses were completely destroyed. A UNRWA school complex for over 3,000 children had been “violated" and other schools and a health center were also damaged.
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Elder of Ziyon







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