Violence and Abuse on Film – B’Tselem camera distribution project

In January 2007, B’Tselem launched it’s camera distribution project, a video advocacy project focusing on the Occupied Territories. We provide Palestinians living in high-conflict areas with video cameras, with the goal of bringing the reality of their lives under occupation to the attention of the Israeli and international public, exposing and seeking redress for violations of human rights.

The camera distribution project works with families who live in close proximity to settlements, to military bases or at the sites of frequent army incursions. Settlers daily harassing a family in Hebron or attacking farmers in the South Hebron Hills, soldiers invading Qalqilya, daily life in the village of Yanun… these are just some examples of the material filmed by over 100 cameras that we have distributed to families throughout the Occupied Territories. B’Tselem has succeeded in airing this material on major Israeli and international news networks, exposing global audiences to the previously unseen.

Settlers throw stones at children from the village of a-Tuba in the southern Hebron Hills. Filmed by Muhammad Jundiyeh, 15, camera distribution project,11 August 2007.

Citizen journalism – a phenomenon that has garnered much attention of late – is particularly relevant in the context of the Israeli occupation, in which various types of abuse occur on a frequent basis and impact the daily lives of Palestinians. The ever-present violations of human rights constitute the mundane, ongoing reality of military occupation and settler enterprise, and are too often overlooked.

Settler curses Fida’ Abu ‘Ayesha in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron. Filmed by Fida’ Abu ‘Ayesha, 14, camera distribution project, 4 July 2006.

B’Tselem also uses this footage as a powerful tool for filing complaints with the army and the police, and as supporting evidence in court cases. In the West Bank, victims of abuse by settlers or soldiers are often discouraged from lodging complaints by weighty bureaucratic obstacles. B’Tselem now uses video as one way to promote accountability and seek legal redress for Palestinian complainants.

100 Palestinian Video Cameras

Settlers Shooting Palestinians in Hebron

Hebron Settlers

Settlers attack the Palestinian Village of Asira