Human rights worker suspended for criticising israel (collector of ww2 militaria)

Morlar

I thought this story may be of interest to some here.

A human rights worker with Human Rights Watch who published reports critical of israeli phosphourous bombs over civilian areas has been suspended due to collecting militaria (ww2 American and German).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8256284.stm

A human rights group has suspended its senior military analyst after revelations that he collects Nazi memorabilia.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Marc Garlasco was on suspension with pay "pending an investigation".

Mr Garlasco's hobby was revealed by Mere Rhetoric, a pro-Israeli blog which said the activities reflected "an anti-Israeli bias".

Mr Garlasco said he was interested in military history and was not pro-Nazi.

He said his interest sprang from the fact that his grandfather had been conscripted into the Nazi army.

"I've never hidden my hobby, because there's nothing shameful in it, however weird it might seem to those who aren't fascinated by military history," he wrote in an essay posted on Friday on The Huffington Post, a political website and blog.

"Precisely because it's so obvious that the Nazis were evil, I never realised that other people, including friends and colleagues, might wonder why I care about these things," he added.

Human Rights Watch said it had no evidence that Mr Garlasco's hobby affected his analysis, and said he had "never expressed any anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi statements".

"We do know he collects German and American World War II memorabilia, but we have questions as to whether we've learned everything we need to know," said Carroll Bogert, a spokeswoman for the organisation.

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I do not know the guy but read some of his posts on wehrmacht-awards forum at the time the press in gaza were assembled on the hill watching the phosphorous bombs falling etc.

The HRW have added this text to links to his coverage ;

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/11/protecting-civilians

Protecting Civilians: Military Expert Marc Garlasco
September 11, 2009
UPDATE: Human Rights Watch has been looking into the matter of senior military analyst Marc Garlasco’s collection of Second World War memorabilia and an inquiry is under way. Garlasco has been temporarily suspended from his research work with full pay pending the inquiry. This is not a disciplinary measure. Human Rights Watch stands behind Garlasco’s research and analysis.

(New York) - Several blogs and others critical of Human Rights Watch have suggested that Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch's senior military advisor, is a Nazi sympathizer because he collects German (as well as American) military memorabilia. This accusation is demonstrably false and fits into a campaign to deflect attention from Human Rights Watch's rigorous and detailed reporting on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli government. Garlasco has co-authored several Human Rights Watch reports on violations of the laws of war, including in Afghanistan, Georgia and Iraq, as well as by Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Garlasco has never held or expressed Nazi or anti-Semitic views. He prefaced his monograph on military memorabilia by giving thanks that Germany was defeated in the Second World War.

Garlasco's grandfather was conscripted into the German armed forces during the Second World War, like virtually all young German men at the time, and served as a radar operator on an anti-aircraft battery. He never joined the Nazi Party, and later became a dedicated pacifist. Meanwhile, Garlasco's great-uncle was an American B-17 crewman, who survived many attacks by German anti-aircraft gunners.

Garlasco's own family experience on both sides of the Second World War has led him to collect military items related to both sides, including American 8th Air Force memorabilia and German Air Force medals and other objects (not from the Nazi Party or the SS, as falsely alleged). Many military historians, and others with an academic interest in the Second World War, including former and active-duty US service members, collect memorabilia from that era.


Some bloggers have picked up comments Garlasco made on a memorabilia website in 2005, and a photo of him wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of the Iron Cross and the words in German: "The Iron Cross, 1813, 1870, 1914, 1939 and 1957." The comments reflect the enthusiasm of a keen collector. They are not in any way indicative of support for Nazis, as has been alleged, and have no bearing on Garlasco's work for Human Rights Watch.

Garlasco is the author of a monograph on the history of German Air Force and Army anti-aircraft medals and a contributor to websites that promote serious historical research into the Second World War (and which forbid hate speech). In the foreword he writes of telling his daughters that "the war was horrible and cruel, that Germany lost and for that we should be thankful."

To imply that Garlasco's collection is evidence of Nazi sympathies is not only absurd but an attempt to deflect attention from his deeply felt efforts to uphold the laws of war and minimize civilian suffering in wartime. These falsehoods are an affront to Garlasco and thousands of other serious military historians.

...........

That page also includes these dedications;

I think that Marc is the prototype of what many nongovernmental organizations are seeking -- that is people with real expertise. I have not always agreed with Marc, but I have never found him to be driven by an ideological agenda.
US Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr.
The Washington Post, February 13, 2008

[Garlasco] knows more about airstrikes than anyone in the world who isn't in the military currently. He knows enough about the professional military to know they make mistakes but that they try hard. When Marc says stuff is messed up, the military has to take it seriously. It's not some wing nut in a human rights group out to get the military.
Colin Kahl, professor of security studies at Georgetown University.
The Washington Post, February 13, 2008

There are also links to many videos of his featuring Lebannon and Gaza etc.

Have to say his coverage seemed even handed and if anything veered on the side of conservative on the subject of israel but it seems that any criticism of israel attracts the sorts of people who will use anything they can, regardless of context to smear their opponents in order to dissuade others from being critical. Very ominous stuff indeed, actually reminded me of the Mc Carthy movement in the 1950's which ironically was targeted at primarily jewish communists (or suspected communists) in hollywood.

It also reminded me of the videos posted on youtube of an Irish pro palestinian street demonstrator who had a jewish couple allege racial abuse to the gardai in order to have him taken away, then an american couple stepped in to say to the guard that this did not tie with what they had seen and that they were actually lying to shut him up. This seems to be a common tactic in the pro-israel side. Very patronising and also doing their cause more harm than good in my opinion.

Morlar

For anyone who is interested healso wrote an article here after the kerfuffle kicked off giving his account;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-garlasco/human-rights-watch-invest_b_284075.html

Also has a photography website containing multiple images from Gaza/Iraq/Georgia etc

http://marcgarlasco.zenfolio.com/

Rondolfus

This man collected Nazi memorabilia. The Israeli state collected actual nazis....and then killed them

citizen_p

like most blogers they pick up on the original blog and put it on their own blog without looking into it.....

chem

Rondolfus wrote: »

This man collected Nazi memorabilia. The Israeli state collected actual nazis....and then killed them

And did the Israeli state not use German k98s after the war?

FiSe

No story, if you ask me. I'd say, that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Cheap propaganda, from both sides.
After all, every charity and 'non-profitable' organization needs income and any advertisment is good as loong as it's loud. Ryanair style.

Morlar

As an aside the bbc have just published a more general article on this topic

Is it OK to collect Nazi memorabilia?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8261002.stm

BlackEdelweiss

I just posted this in another thread yesterday regarding what to put in my C.V., maybe my wife is right, not everybody is as open minded about these things.

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

In my Hobbies and Interests section I have included the following line:" I enjoy reading history books, mainly WW2 and have a small collection of WW2 memorabilia which I hope to increase over the years."
My wife thinks this is a terrible idea as she believes many people would not appreciate an interest in WW2 as a good thing and would throw my application away thinking I was some kind of weirdo. I however think it is something I am interested in and that most people would not think anything about this being included in my C.V., it may even attract the attention of an employer with a similar interest. What does anybody else think, keep it in or get rid of it?

enda1

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I just posted this in another thread yesterday regarding what to put in my C.V., maybe my wife is right, not everybody is as open minded about these things.

Not worth mentioning - much higher chance of offending than helping your chances.

Morlar

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I just posted this in another thread yesterday regarding what to put in my C.V., maybe my wife is right, not everybody is as open minded about these things.

I think this is a perfect example of the insidious effect that this sort of disingenous criticism from the pro-israel lobby can have in general. A climate of fear, where people start to put this event into their own context and adjust their behaviour to make allowances for it. The pro israel lobby are being manipulative and insincere/deceitful, hoping to pull the wool over many peoples eyes knowing full well that a large portion of the population can see right through them.

Re whether you need to be worried about your hobby or not, I would say you need to make your own call on that. i don't think it was on my last one, but leaving it out was not out of apprehension more to do with running out of space from what I remember (as it was a few years ago now).

BlackEdelweiss

I think the only reason I would consider leaving it out is that if a prospective employer happened to ask me about my collection I would either have to lie about what I have or tell him it is all Third Reich based memorabilia, neither of which is probably a great think to do in an interview. My wife says people would compare it to the priest in the episode of Father Ted with all the Nazi gear in the house.

Morlar

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

My wife says people would compare it to the priest in the episode of Father Ted with all the Nazi gear in the house.

"Hmmm, so it's mostly the German side you'd be collecting then is it?" That episode always has me in stitches.

FiSe

The basic rule in CVs is: mention your hobbies in general terms, like 'keen interest in history' that's enough. After all, you can elaborate on this subject if invited and asked on the interview.
German army is, after all, still only a army and most people of today do not know who fought in the last big war anyway, so you want be probably asked too much about this subject.

Fuinseog

Morlar wrote: »

As an aside the bbc have just published a more general article on this topic

Is it OK to collect Nazi memorabilia?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8261002.stm

one could also argue that it is shameful for Irish people to collect British militaria, given the latters poor track record in this country.

it is unfortunate that items from the Third Reich attract such notoriety. it jacks up the price. I mean German iron crosses from WW1 are much cheaper than WW2 ones. anything with a swastika sells.

Fuinseog

Morlar wrote: »

"Hmmm, so it's mostly the German side you'd be collecting then is it?" That episode always has me in stitches.

i don't think I would show my collection to someone from the Socialist workers Party.
the allies might have had their morals, but the Germans had the cool gear. the leather jackets stil look good, especially the luftwaffe ones, of which copies are available for sale online.
they also pioneeered camouflage clothing. the austrian army wore SS camouflage until the 1980s.