In April it was announced that an Egyptian woman named Mona Seif was a finalist for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders – a prize established in 1993 to honour those “who demonstrate exceptional courage in defending and promoting human rights”. A jury, composed of officials from several NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, selects the winner.
On May 1 UN Watch issued the following statement:
UN Watch today called on the juryof the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, comprised of Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and eight other NGOs, and chaired by Hans Thoolen, to cancel its nomination of Mona Seif, an Egyptian activist who openly advocates terrorism and war crimes, as a top contender for the 2013 prize.
Further, the United Nations watchdog organization wasn’t alone in their condemnation of Seif, as the nomination was also fiercely criticized by such notable Egyptian human rights activists as Maikel Nabil and Amr Bakly.
On May 3, the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald – parroting the predictable narrative of Electronic Intifada – tweeted the following:
On the predictable smear campaign against Egyptian activist & hero @monasosh is.gd/pCx6u1- is.gd/QQc7mE
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 3, 2013
First, neither report which Greenwald linked to in his Tweet (which included a post by the virulently anti-Israel NY Times commentator Robert Mackey) demonstrated that Seif’s positions were unfairly characterized by UN Watch.
Moreover, as we’ve noted previously, Greenwald’s expansive definition of the word “smear” seems to include factually based claims about those whose political orientation he happens to be in alignment with, and this particular Tweet would suggest that he simply didn’t conduct serious research into Seif’s background before expressing his outrage at her opponents.
UN Watch’s evidence consists of the several quite unambiguous Tweets by Seif demonstrating that she did in fact defend Palestinian terrorism, including rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas.
Here are a few examples of Seif’s decidedly selective regard for human rights:
Support for Islamist terrorists involved with blowing up Egyptian gas pipelines to Israel:
We the Egyptian ppl DO NOT WANT OUR GAS TO BE EXPORTED TO ISRAEL.Sinai ppl are our heroes everytime they blow up the pipelines#FuckISrael
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) July 6, 2011
Here, Seif requests the services of one of the more prolific antisemitic cartoonists, Carlos Latuff:
@carloslatuff we need a cartoon for our masked heroes who Blow up Pipe lines exporting gas to Israel 4 consecutive times now
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) July 15, 2011
The following was Tweeted by Seif after Amnesty International called on both Hamas and Israel to stop attacks on civilians during the recent war in Gaza.
@amnesty you don’t ask an occupied nation to stop their “Resistance” to end violence!!!SHAME ON YOU!
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) November 16, 2012
Why is @amnesty tweeting abt what’s happening in #Gaza and putting the Zionist Occupier on same ground as Palestinian Resistance?!!!
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) November 16, 2012
@aidaseif @amnesty & @hrw r leading a shameful campaign asking Palestinians under occupation & non stop air strikes 2 stop their resistance!
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) November 20, 2012
Finally, just in case there was any doubt regarding her position, Seif Tweeted the following just a few days ago, after the row erupted.
i support a nation’s right to resist occupation! Sending me tweets calling me a terrorist wont change the fact that real terrorist is Israel
— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) April 30, 2013
And, Glenn Greenwald’s patently dishonest Tweets accusing UN Watch of of engaging in a “smear” campaign won’t change the fact that Mona Seif is an open and evidently proud supporter of terrorism against Israelis.
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Tagged: Amnesty International, anti-Zionism, Antisemitism, Carlos Latuff, Comment is Free, Delegitimization, Glenn Greenwald, Guardian, Human Right Watch, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MonaSeif, NGOs, Seif, Terrorism, UN Watch