Mouin Rabbani permitted me to share this letter he wrote to Sarah: "Dear Sarah,
I hope this finds you well. I have made it a point not to contact you since
you peremptorily severed our previous communication during the Israeli assault
on the Gaza Strip with your statement that you were busy and had more important
things to do with your time.
I am sure you remain busy with more important things to do. Nevertheless, I
feel compelled to intrude on your schedule with the observation that I find it
thoroughly objectionable that HRW responds with absolute silence to Robert L.
Bernstein's hate speech towards Palestinians and Arabs (most recently in the
Washington Post), and find it difficult to accept that the organisation retains
a relationship with an individual who repeatedly engages in such contemptible
denunciations of an entire group of people. I cannot imagine HRW would ignore
similar utterances if directed at any other group.
I wanted to let you know that I am in the process of contacting people and
organisations who share my concerns. Not in order to embark on the fool's errand
of persuading Bernstein to discontinue his racist attacks on Palestinians and
Arabs, but rather to demand that HRW either act on this matter or publicly
clarify why it finds it appropriate to maintain its relationship with
Bernstein.
It is not often that HRW does the right thing when it comes to the
Palestinian people, I very much hope this will be an instance when it
does.
Best regards,
Mouin"
