Campaigns of Demonization: NGOs as Weapons of War

By Samantha Louise Vargas-Alfonso

Monday 20 March 2017

The beginning of 2017 brings with it an aftertaste of 2016 which, to many people, is not too palatable. In the world of non-governmental organizations, we have not been spared. Campaigns of demonization live on, which continually harms the legitimacy of NGOs and, in effect, their capabilities.

A number of reports have appeared in recent weeks (see below) focusing on the role of NGOs in political campaigns aimed at criticizing and even demonizing Israel. While the advocacy role of many NGOs is certainly legitimate, some cross the ethical line by relying on slanderous attacks, false news and propaganda.

Campaigns of demonization can be described as those that seek to slander and harm someone’s reputation. This is not an NGO’s purpose. In its extreme, this type of behavior brands NGOs as unprofessional, as some type of weapon of war.

The tactic is most prominently used in the Israel-Arab conflict, to question Israel’s legitimacy and propagate alleged human rights violations. This has been dubbed the “Durban Strategy” which aims to isolate Israel and brand the state as war-mongers that is based on supposedly unverified claims.

While some NGOs aim to aid transparency and provide evidence-driven reports, some rely on innuendo, unbalanced reports and outright lies. There is a fine line that needs to be observed, whatever stance one takes regarding this particular conflict.

How do we go about it?

Be able to spot the difference between slander and news reporting. Being an informed and

vigilant news-reader means reading from more than one source of any development, to be able to fact-check stories. From numerous click-bait articles we are fed through media, sensationalism draws readers with false or misleading articles and we do a

disservice to ourselves and the community by perpetuating misguided news. Evidence matters, and the quality of the evidence more so.

For more details on this topic:

• http://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/2017-year-ngo-war-israel/

• http://www.thetower.org/article/how-non-governmental-organizations-became-a-weapon-in-the-war-on-israel/

• http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-steinberg-f04.htm

• http://www.humanrightsvoices.org/victims/ngos/?p=1560

Image courtesy of Freerange