‘Behind closed doors’: 70+ NGO staffers allege antisemitism, lack of accountability in new report

A new report compiled by over 70 current and former staff members of major human rights and humanitarian organizations reveals deep-seated issues of antisemitism and a pervasive lack of accountability within the sector. The initiative, called 'Insiders Speak,' was launched by EiGHT, a Geneva-based non-profit founded by professionals with direct experience in organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Greenpeace.

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As people committed to human rights and humanitarianism, we felt what’s going on in these organizations is incredibly dangerous.

Danielle Haas, Executive Director of EiGHT and a former senior editor at Human Rights Watch, expressed concern that the issues within these organizations are "incredibly dangerous." She noted that these groups are influential in decision-making across academic, legal, and media structures, yet are often treated as unquestionable sources of truth. Haas stated that "what I had taken to be personal experiences in the organization, I suddenly realized were actually shared by other people. That these were not individual problems but rather systemic ones."

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What I had taken to be personal experiences in the organization, I suddenly realized were actually shared by other people. That these were not individual problems but rather systemic ones.

The report details how antisemitism is tolerated and how methodological failures and retaliation against those who speak out are common. The founders of EiGHT were particularly troubled by the sector's reaction following the October 7 massacre. They argue that these organizations, which were instrumental in popularizing concepts like "apartheid" and "genocide" in relation to Israel, need critical examination, just like any other industry.

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These human rights and humanitarian groups are really the ground zero for the world we’re living in today, because out of them came, for example, the label of apartheid.