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U.S. Human Rights Report Relies on Unverified NGO Claims
(NGO Monitor) The U.S. State Department released its "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2012" this week. While the chapter on Israel highlights Israel's democratic rule of law, guarantees and freedoms, the chapter on the West Bank/Gaza relied on unverified allegations and quotes from political advocacy NGOs, such as B'tselem and Human Rights Watch, in effect "outsourcing" the reporting. Prof. Gerald Steinberg of NGO Monitor stated: "In the report on Gaza and the West Bank, reliance on biased and second-hand NGO allegations is a major flaw. When the authors have no independent ability to assess these claims, this should be clearly stated."