When you hear of a group called Human Rights Watch...what do you think this group does? In the simplest definition, even before going to their website, one can deduce that it's an organization that watches, and probably, for the sake of argument, protects the rights of humans.  So when it came out this month that one of their analysts, Marc Garlasco, was not just an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia, but also a giddy one at that (he actually used the adjective "cool" to describe certain pieces...and more than once, too), people got a lil' pissy. Garlasco has been suspended while his "hobby" is further investigated...suspended with pay, mind you. I'm all for hobbies, but when your hobbies specifically contradict your life's work, one needs to wonder what the hell is going on there. It would be like finding out your buddies at PETA were having weekly Veal Pie Eating Contests...first you're confused, then you're shocked, then you're gagging at the thought. Who even eats veal pie anyway?

It's no news that Third Reich paraphernalia collectors are alive and well, and living amongst us. It's just when one of them is supposed to be an advocate for human rights that one's brain is sort of thrown for a loop. Garlasco blames his infatuation with these pieces on his German grandfather's draft into Hitler's army. I'm not really buying it. Granted, I don't know this Marc Garlasco fella personally, but my grandfather had his indiscretions too: you don't see me taking up heroin just because he spent some quality time in opium dens in Vietnam in the early 1960s.

In further Hitler-related news, it was discovered that Hitler was a woman. Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. According to the BBC, US scientists have revealed that part of a skull that was once believed to be Hitler's actually belongs to a woman...between 20 and 40 years old. Even before DNA testing, scientist Nick Bellantoni said he "suspected" that the bone didn't come from an adult male, because "normally male bones are much more robust." Does anyone really think of Hitler as "robust"?

Alas, DNA has proven that the skull fragment is indeed that of a woman, but who? Eva Braun was 33 years old when she and her new husband committed suicide in that bunker, but it doesn't seem to belong to Eva Braun...or they would've said so, I would imagine. Eva and Adolf were married for less than forty hours when they did themselves in, so I guess that says something about the two of them. I'm not judging, of course, but even celebrity marriages last a few days longer and we all know how awful and self-involved that lot is.

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“You can only imagine what would happen if Israel dealt with its internal political enemies or dissenters in such a fashion,” writes Richard Cohen of a new Human Rights Watch report detailing the appalling abuses of human rights entailed by the continuing rule of Hamas in Gaza.

“Of particular concern is the widespread practice of maiming people by shooting them in the legs, which Hamas first used in June 2007, when it seized control inside Gaza from Fatah,” says the HRW report. And there’s this too: “Abductions and severe beatings are another major concern. According to ICHR, unidentified perpetrators physically abused 73 Gazan men from December 28 to January 31, causing broken legs and arms. Human Rights Watch documented three such cases of Fatah supporters assaulted during and after the Israeli offensive, as well as one case of what appeared to be a politically motivated house arrest.”

This particularly harrowing story does not, thusfar, appear to have inspired any demonstrations from the “We Are All Hamas” crowd who took to the streets to protest Israel’s invasion of Gaza earlier this year:

In the case resulting in death, at around 6 p.m. on January 4, 2009, members of the al-Najjar family were sitting outside their home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City when four men wearing masks and carrying AK-47 assault rifles approached the house. Two family members who were present told Human Rights Watch that the gunmen wore unmarked black uniforms and ammunition vests, but the family did not identify them as Hamas. When the gunmen ordered everyone to stand up and raise their hands, the head of the household, Hisham al-Najjar, age 55, protested, the two witnesses said. An argument ensued and one of the gunmen fired a shot, hitting no one. At least five women inside the house came rushing out, and in the chaos the gunmen opened fire, killing Hisham al-Najjar and wounding ten members of the family and a family friend. The victims ranged in age from a 12-year old girl, Ahlam Hisham al-Najjar, who was shot in the leg, to Zakkia al-Najjar, 70, Ahlam’s grandmother, who was shot in both legs. Human Rights Watch observed the bandages on both her legs.

“After the gunmen left, I saw a sea of blood,” said Amar Hisham al-Najjar, 25. He told Human Rights Watch that the gunmen shot his father Hisham in the chest, the abdomen, and the legs.”There was no electricity and no ambulances because of the war, so we tried to stop the bleeding and got our friends to drive the wounded to al-Shifa hospital, where my father died,” he said. “The Hamas police at the hospital questioned me about what happened, and they said they’d get back to me, but there’s been nothing. I’m not accusing anyone, but we demand a real investigation.”

Human Rights Watch is hardly regarded as a friend of Israel. Many Israel advocates view them as a foe, pure and simple. I’ve always thought that take is too crude. Of course, HRW’s reports should not, a priori, be regarded as beyond challenge or reproach. But to portray them as a mere cog in the Israel demonization machine is, as this new report demonstrates, deeply unfair. What’s really interesting here is whether HRW’s documentation of the hideous character of Hamas rule will compel at least some of those who regard the Islamists as a resistance movement to think again.