B'Tselem

From Free net encyclopedia

B'Tselem (Hebrew בצלם, "in the image of", as in Genesis 1:27) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that describes itself as The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It was founded in 1989 by a group of Israeli public figures, including lawyers, academics, journalists, and members of Knesset.

B'Tselem stated goals are to document and inform the Israeli public and policymakers about what it views as human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to fight what it sees as "denial" (which it believes is common amongst Israelis), and to help inculcate a "human rights culture" in Israel. The organization has published over one hundred reports on human rights violations, including torture, fatal shootings by security forces, restriction on movement, expropriation of land and discrimination in planning and building in East Jerusalem, administrative detention, house demolitions, and settler violence. The organization serves as a source of information for journalists, researchers and the diplomatic community at the national and international level. B'Tselem's activities receive extensive media coverage.

B'Tselem also campaigns against the death penalty and the human rights record of the Palestinian Authority. On 17 February 2005, the organization called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to commute the sentences of Palestinians condemned to death and abolish the death penalty. Abbas had shortly before ratified the death sentences of a number of Palestians accused of collaborating with Israel or of other criminal charges.

B'Tselem is funded by contributions from foundations in Israel, Europe, and North America, and by private individuals in Israel and abroad. In 1989, B'Tselem received the Carter-Menil Award for Human Rights.

1 Criticism
2 Founding members
3 B'Tselem funders
4 See also
5 External links

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Criticism

B'Tselem has been criticized by the pro-Israeli NGO Monitor for having a "political agenda" and using "outdated sources" and "abusive and demonizing rhetoric designed to elicit political support for Palestinians" [1]

The organization is also assailed for its casualty statistics. Critics regularly complain that B'Tselem classifies casualties into military versus civilian rather than combatant versus non-combatant. This can easily mislead others into thinking that the "civilian" casualties were all innocents, whereas the civilian classification means only that the person was not a member of an armed organization. According to Tamar Sternthal of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), "B'Tselem has a very loose definition of the term 'civilian', including countless Palestinians who were killed while they attacked Israelis." [2]

The Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) has also taken issue with B'Tselem's statistics. In response to the latter's 2004 summary of casualties, IMRA argued that "the figures reported by B'Tselem about noncombatant minors includes children shielding combatants as they prepare and launch Qassam rockets or shielding gunmen as they engage in battle against Israeli forces." This was in response to a clarification by B'Tselem that the term "did not participate in hostilities" may include individuals killed while next to those participating in hostilities, thereby acting as a "human shield". [3]

B'Tselem publishes the official responses and criticism of the Israeli military at the end of the majority of its print publications.

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Founding members

B'Tselem's key founders were:

Dr Daphna Golan-Agnon (academic and founding director of left-wing feminist peace group Bat Shalom)
Dedi Zucker (Knesset member for the leftist Ratz party)
Haim Oron (Knesset member for the leftist Mapam party)
Zehava Gal-On (Ratz party activist and future Knesset member for the Meretz party formed through the merger of Ratz and Mapam)
Avigdor Feldman (left-wing civil liberties lawyer)
Dr Edy Kaufman (academic and civil liberties activist)