Israel Matzav

The sounds of silence

Most of you probably don't recognize the face on the computer screen at the top of this post. If I tell you that his name is Waleed Hasayin, that may not ring a bell with most of you either. But if I tell you that he's the 'Palestinian' blogger who has been arrested for calling the Muslim God a "primitive Bedouin" and Islam a religion of "irrationality and ignorance," I'm sure you've all heard of him. In fact, on Tuesday, he apologized to his family and to the 'Palestinian people' for insulting Islam.

Some of you might already have concluded that apology was not Hasayin's own doing, and in fact it was not. Local reports indicate that Hasayin has been tortured. I'm wondering how many of you noticed the reactions of 'human rights' NGO's to Hasayin's arrest and torture. Anyone? I suspect that none of you have noticed their reactions and there's a good reason for that. There haven't been any reactions. The 'human rights' NGO's have reacted with silence.

Human rights NGOs, which often criticize Israel about detention issues, have remained silent on Hasayin. Amnesty International, Al Haq, PCHR, PCATI, B’Tselem, Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, and FIDH have yet to release statements or urgent appeals calling for Hasayin’s release.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is the sole NGO to have issued a press statement addressing Hasayin’s detension (“West Bank: Free Suspected Blogger,” December 5, 2010), albeit one month after his arrest. HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork condemned the arbitrary detention and called on foreign donors to ask the Palestinian Authority “why it is allocating resources to arbitrarily detain a man for peacefully expressing his views.”

In the Palestinian Authority, insulting religion is illegal, and Hasayin faces a life sentence if convicted. According to local reports, Hasayin has been tortured. He is not allowed to receive visitors or speak to a lawyer. Officials at the local intelligence headquarters told the New York Times that Hasayin “was being detained partly for his own protection.”

Can you imagine how those same 'human rights' NGO's would react if Israel were holding Hasayin 'for his own protection'? There would be full-page ads in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. But not when the 'Palestinian Authority' arrests and tortures someone.

"D" is for double standard.

Labels: blogosphere, human rights NGO's, Waleed Hasayin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:14 PM