Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ABUDHABI332
2008-03-17 08:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: Human Rights Report

Tags:  OIIP KMDR TC 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6545
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHAD #0332 0770805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170805Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0570
RHMFIUU/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1256
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT
UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000332 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B;
RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR SREEBNY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: Human Rights Report

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000332

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B;
RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR SREEBNY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: Human Rights Report


1. SUMMARY: Two editorials attacked the annual Human Rights Report.
The first dismissed the U.S. as unqualified to issue the report
given our own lack of credibility on human rights. The second
denounced the report as biased in favor of Israel and "Zionism". End
summary.


2. Unsigned editorial in Sharjah-based Arabic daily "Al-Khaleej"
3/16 entitled "Human Rights":

"If a nation other than the U.S. should release a global human
rights report - and listed its own assessment of violations - it
would be understood, acceptable and even welcome, for it would at
least be based on a minimum level of credibility, truth and
transparency, without political objectives and unilateral points of
view. When the State Department releases a human rights report,
however, spreading accusations against nations that violate freedom
of expression, [commit] political arrests and torture, it is
ridiculous and provocative. Not due to the lack of violations in
those nations, but because...the party issuing these accusations is
unqualified to take on the task."

"There are many organizations and international committees more
credible and neutral than America. If we want to point to nations
that violate human rights, the U.S., no doubt, leads on both the
local and international level. The American people have been
exposed to all kinds of terror, monitoring and racist practices
since 2001, especially Americans of Arab and Muslim origin.
Internationally, U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq [responsible for]
destruction and the killing of thousands of civilians, represent
violation of human rights and international legislations.... Those
who live in glass houses should not throw stones."


3. Editorial in Abu Dhabi-based Arabic "Akhbar Al-Arab" 3/16
"Washington does not want to understand":

"Washington insists on not understanding the facts on the ground,
distorts perceptions and confuses images in favor of the Zionist
Movement that keeps extending its control through the
neoconservatives who rule the White House. The State Department
issued a strange report in which it said that there was an increase
in the level of hostility towards Jews worldwide, and a similar
increase in anti-Semitism, listing countries whose governments
promote anti-Semitism among their own people and in the world. The
report is biased in favor of Zionism and lacks objectivity, simply
because it was written and released by a party that aims to accuse
and condemn Arab and Muslim nations without any justifications
except the upcoming Arab summit at the end of this month. The
report aims to distinguish between Jews and Israelis, and between
Zionism as a fascist and racist ideology and Judaism as a religion,
a pursuit Zionist movements adopted even before Palestine was
usurped and the Zionist entity was established.


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