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Danielle Haas

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Apr 26, 2026, 1:36 PM

From Listening to Silence: NGOs’ Antisemitism Gap

After the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements erupted, Human Rights Watch held internal "listening sessions" to mull its failures and hear the "lived experiences" of colleagues. In 2019, after staff suicides, Amnesty investigated and committed to radical change. In...

Feb 10, 2026, 2:26 PM

Human Rights Watch’s Frankenstein moment

Omar Shakir, then the director of the Human Rights Watch program for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, waves ahead of entering the departures area at Ben Gurion Airport on November 25, 2019, after being expelled from Israel. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

The watchdog I once worked for rewarded divisive, aggressive tactics — especially when aimed at Israel. Now the forces it nurtured have turned on it

Jan 26, 2026, 1:03 PM

The New Israel-Lites

Rivera is a clothing outlet—a forgettable mix of drapey tops and wide pants—that describes itself online as “your Spanish fashion brand.” Yours, that is, if you live in Andorra, French Polynesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, North Macedonia, the Pitcairn Islands,...

Dec 11, 2025, 11:53 AM

Amnesty, October 7, and human-rights NGOs gone wild

Cover of Amnesty International report 'Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory: Targeting Civilians: Murder, Hostage-Taking and Other Violations by Palestinian Armed Groups in Israel and Gaza,' published December 2025.

In a new report on Hamas, Amnesty International has stopped pretending to be committed to real human rights values. It's about time

Nov 29, 2025, 8:08 PM

In Oslo, Human Rights Meets Its Own ‘Scream’

Life imitated art last week in Oslo—and not in a good way. At a panel on human rights and humanitarian groups, two iconic Norwegian images materialized before me: the iridescent Northern Lights and the raw angst of Edvard Munch’s The...

Oct 10, 2025, 11:28 PM

Dear American Jews, stop knocking on the country club gates

"Hotel Fontainebleau, the aristocrat of Florida hotels- largest and newest hotel in Miami Beach" by Boston Public Library is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

From rejected resumés to events scheduled on High Holidays, it's time to accept: Those invitations are not going to come

Sep 17, 2025, 2:39 PM

It’s time to replace the human rights NGOs

Doctors Without Borders staff gather at UN headquarters in New York to protest Israel's actions in Gaza, December 6, 2023, in New York. (Sara Kerens/AP Images for Doctors Without Borders)

When those who claim to be representatives of humanity and impartiality declare 'F*ck Israel,' they are anything but

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About Me

Danielle Haas was senior editor at Human Rights Watch from 2009 to 2023, and is a founder of EiGHT (www.eightrights.org).