An unspoken but driving force in the output of human rights and humanitarian organizations is audience - whether donors, politicians, or the broader public. How the public responds to an issue or imagery - including Palestinian children in Gaza vs starving children in South Sudan - can affect the emphasis and "play" it receives by the organization. The first tweet issued by then-HRW Program director Sari Bashi on Oct 7, 2023 - despite footage live-streamed by Hamas itself - failed to unequivocally condemn the massacres, and repeated the organization's "apartheid" talking points: “The reports and unverified videos of Israeli families taken hostage in their homes, kidnapped into Gaza- are terrifying. There’s no honor in unlawful attacks on civilians. No matter how just your resistance to apartheid and oppression is.”

This communication from a senior Human Rights Watch manager - referring to Bashi's tweet - provides an unguarded glimpse into the reality that appealing to "a wider audience" can get in the way of standing up for basic human rights principles for all people - including Israelis.

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