Watchdog organisation has had tension with Israeli government over criticism of military actions in Gaza Tension between the Israeli government and Human Rights Watch, the international body that has been critical of the Israeli military's tactics in Gaza, has intensified over revelations that one of the watchdog's investigators is a collector of Nazi memorabilia. Marc Garlasco, a former Pentagon intelligence officer, has reported for Human Rights Watch on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the two Israeli wars in Lebanon and Gaza. He is described as the watchdog's senior military expert. It has now emerged that he is also an avid collector of German and American wartime memorabilia, including awards badges handed out to soldiers working in the anti-aircraft Flak units. He is the author of a 430-page book on the Flak badges of the Wehrmarcht, and a regular contributor to two internet bulletin boards used by military collectors under his moniker Flak 88. Several pro-Israeli bloggers have latched on to Garlasco's hobby, questioning whether it is appropriate for a human rights investigator involved in the Middle East. They have unearthed one blogpost in which Flak 88 writes: "That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!" In another Garlasco is shown in a photograph wearing a jumper bearing an Iron Cross. A correspondent comments on the picture: "Love the sweatshirt Mark [sic]. Not one I could wear here in germany [sic] though (well I could but it would be a lot of hassle)." Garlasco replies: "Everyone thinks it is a biker shirt!" Human Rights Watch has responded to the mounting internet attacks on Garlasco by insisting that the implication he is a Nazi sympathiser is demonstrably false, absurd and an affront to serious military historians. It points out that his grandfather was a conscript in the German anti-aircraft units, hence Garlasco's interest, while another relative was an American B-17 crewman. In the foreword to his book, Garlasco writes "the war was horrible and cruel, Germany lost and for that we should be thankful". The watchdog contends that the attack on their investigator is part of a sustained campaign by the Israeli government to discredit its attempts to uncover human rights abuses committed by the Israeli Defence Forces. "The Israeli government is trying to eliminate the space for legitimate criticism of the conduct of the IDF, and this is the latest salvo in that campaign," said Iain Levine, the watchdog's programme director. Several of the websites that have been running with the Garlasco story, Human Rights Watch says, are the same websites that have been attacking its reporting of the Gaza war. They include Elder of Ziyon, NGO Monitor and Mere Rhetoric. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/10/human-rights-watch-israel-nazi
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