...Most of the NGOs cited in the 2004 report do not have an independent research capability, are unable or unwilling to document allegations for verification, accept and rely heavily on politically motivated claims and anecdotal information, and selectively discriminate between sources based not on credibility but on political agendas.

As the former head of Amnesty International's branch in Israel has revealed, this NGO does not have the independent research capacity to support numerous claims of human rights violations. (Michael Ehrlich, "Amnesty International do your homework" The Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2005) Similarly, Alan Dershowitz sought to verify allegations in Amnesty's reports: "On Aug. 23, 2005, I spoke with Donatella Rovera, who is AI's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Territories and asked her to provide the data on which she had based her conclusion that violence against women had escalated to an 'unprecedented level' during the occupation, and especially during its most militarized phase. Rovera confirmed that the report was based on anecdotal information, primarily from Palestinian NGOs. 'We talk to anyone who would talk to us,' she said. When I asked her for a list of the NGO's that were the sources of the information, she refused to provide them because 'there are things we can simply not provide to outsiders.' It is impossible under these circumstances for any outside researcher to replicate AI's study and to confirm or disconfirm its conclusions." (Alan M. Dershowitz, "Scapegoat to the World," National Post, September 17, 2005)...