B’Tselem’s Gaza war statistics under fire

[Jefferson23]

Both the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center and NGO watchdog organization NGO Monitor attack B'Tselem verification methods.

Two organizations in Israel have cautioned against accepting casualty figures coming out of Gaza.

Both the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center and NGO watchdog organization NGO Monitor this week criticized the verification methods of the left-wing human rights group B’Tselem – The Israel Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - for its claims of Gaza casualty numbers that were recently released for Operation Protective Edge.

“All figures or data originated from Hamas’s ministry are not reliable,” Dr. Reuven Erlich, the head of the Amit terrorism center, told The Jerusalem Post during a telephone interview on Sunday, adding that one should be “suspicious of all figures from the Gaza Strip.”

“Conversation orders come from Hamas and are not objective,” he added.

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/BTselems-Gaza-war-statistics-under-fire-by-right-wing-Israeli-groups-371590

Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center

Not to be confused with the California-based "Terrorism Information Center".

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israeli-based research group with close ties to the Israel Defense Forces and the American Jewish Congress.[1] The organisation is part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_and_Terrorism_Information_Center

NGO Monitor

snip*NGO Monitor is a Jerusalem-based organization linked to right-wing and neoconservative sectors in the United States and Israel that aims to curb what it regards as the undue influence of human rights groups critical of Israeli policies. Similar in purpose and ideological outlook to UN Watch (affiliated with the American Jewish Committee) and Global Governance Watch (a joint project of the Federalist Society and the American Enterprise Institute), NGO Monitor endeavors to marginalize the influence of certain human rights groups by claiming that they are biased, hypocritical, and/or anti-Semitic. -
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ngo_monitor

[oberliner]

1. "All figures or data originated from Hamas’s ministry are not reliable.."

That statement, at least, seems reasonable.

[intaglio]

2. So. because Israel keeps no track of casualties amongst Palestinians

and because Israel assumes that UN agencies are "on the side of Hamas", reporters should assume that there have been no Palestinian casualties until the body parts are counted by ... someone who the Israelis trust (ie no-one who has ever been critical of Israel)

[oberliner]

3. Maybe split the difference?

Not taking info from Hamas at face value seems reasonable. Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza has been pretty fair.

[Jefferson23]

4. So far Israel's leaders have been pressing hard to put distance between the numbers and

they're not cooperating with human rights groups...this is only the beginning.

[4now]

5. Maybe Israel only killed 399 innocent children

That should make everything better.