01 May 2007 13:00:00 EST Latest articles and reports on the NGO Monitor site: www.ngo-monitor.org en-us http://www.ngo-monitor.org/images/logo.gif http://www.ngo-monitor.org [NGO Monitor] As NGO Monitor has reported, in November 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to convene a 2009 follow-up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa. The Preparatory Committee (�Prepcom�) for the 2009 conference is holding its organizational review session from August 27-31, 2007, in Geneva. The meetings will be chaired by Libya, well-known for its dismal human rights record. Other members of the committee include Iran, Cuba, Russia, and South Africa. A number of international and Palestinian NGOs are also expected to participate. Many radical Palestinian NGOs such as PNGO and LAW played an active role in the preparatory meetings in Tehran (from which Jewish and Israeli participants were barred) leading up to the 2001 Durban Conference and were largely responsible for shaping the anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda of the NGO Forum at Durban. [NGO Monitor] Focus: Debate Over EU Funding for ICAHD; European Parliament to Host UN NGO "Peace" Conference Promoting anti-Israel Campaign; Too little, too late: HRW criticizes UN Human Rights Council; HRW calls on Hizbullah, Hamas, Israel to �release hostages�; FIDH calls for dialogue between Palestinians factions, fails to condemn Palestinian terrorism; Amnesty slams Israel and Hizbollah on 1st anniversary of 2nd Lebanon War A conference of UN NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to be hosted at the European Parliament this month, will be boycotted by Polish Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from across the political spectrum, who say that the conference is biased against Israel. The meeting, set to take place at the European Parliament on August 30 - 31, has been organized by the UN�s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People." Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, has written to the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, asking him to cancel the European Parliament�s decision to host the conference, while the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor organization said the upcoming conference as a rehash of the 2001 UN Durban conference on racism, which saw unprecedented levels of anti-Zionist rhetoric, and calls for Israel�s destruction. [NGO Monitor] FIDH is a Paris-based federation of 141 NGOs from 92 countries with consultative or observer status with several international bodies. In its mission statement, FIDH seeks to �contribute to the respect of all the rights defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.� While claiming to be �strict and impartial� in its work, FIDH shows a strong anti-Israel bias by focusing disproportionate resources on condemning Israel, selectively interpreting international humanitarian law, dismissing the context of terrorism, largely ignoring Israeli victims of terror, and denying Israel�s right to self-defense. FIDH receives funding from international and national bodies and foundations, but it does not disclose the sources of its funding [NGO Monitor] The NGO �Halo Effect� and the Media - Many journalists reprint NGO reports without question. This is known as the �halo effect�, and violates journalistic ethics, which require skepticism and independent verification, and the norm when reporting on governments. But when a �highly respected watchdog� such as Amnesty or HRW makes a statement, journalists ignore the bias and repeat this as fact. A recent Harvard study of reporting on the 2006 Lebanon War shows how reporters continued to cite HRW�s claims on Qana, even after HRW admitted errors. Similarly, the myth of NGO �balance� continues � in July 2007, a reporter wrote �During the [2006] war, Human Rights Watch issued several reports criticizing both sides�, ignoring the facts. However, serious journalists are looking beyond the �halo effect�, such as Jackson Diehl at the Washington Post, who exposed HRW�s biases, and in the Economist, which took on Amnesty. http://www.ngo-monitor.org