Settlers ask B'Tselem for cameras

[oberliner]

The Yesha Human Rights Organization has asked the B'Tselem human rights group to provide settlers with cameras in order to document "provocations" on the part of Palestinians and left-wing activists in agricultural areas. According to the settlers, they have yet to receive the cameras.

B'Tselem has been supplying cameras to Palestinians in order to document acts of harassment by settlers and IDF soldiers in the West Bank. In once instance, the rights group released a film taken with one of these cameras, featuring a soldier firing at a bound Palestinian in the village of Naalin.

Orit Struck, head of the Yesha Human Rights Organization, claims that Oren Yakobovich, director of video at B'Tselem, recently offered to supply cameras to settlers as well. Struck says she was pleased with the offer, but has yet to receive even one camera.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3580195,00.html

[Violet_Crumble]

1. They've had their own cameras for a few years no and haven't documented a single thing...

From what it says in the article, it sounds like they weren't too interested after B'Tselem said they could have cameras. I expect they wanted B'Tselem to say no so they could jump up and down and yell about equality...

[sharesunited]

2. I support Israel's right to exist in peace and security.

But is "settlement" a euphemism for expansionism?

When Sharon was shutting down settlements and dragging Jews out of their homes, how was it determined which settlements could remain and receive IDF protection?

And what is being sought by those Palestinians who harass settlers? These appear to be outposts of civilization attempting to withstand pillaging hoards.

[Violet_Crumble]

4. The Hebron settlers are 'outposts of civilisation attempting to withstand pilliaging hoards'??

Boy, if what those loonies do is called *civilisation*, count me out of wanting to be civlised when I grow up! ;)

[sharesunited]

5. It's religion-driven lunacy. Atheism and abandonment of heritage are the answer.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

18. Why do you suppose the gov't does so little to reign these people in? nt

[ProgressiveMuslim]

3. That's rich. Thanks for sharing, Oberliner.

[breakaleg]

6. I wonder if they intend to take video of Palestinians walking down the street and calling that

provocation? Or perhaps some children walking to school?

[Crunchy Frog]

9. They consider harvesting olives to be a terrorist act, don't they?

[oberliner]

11. They consider shooting a rabbi in his car to be a terrorist act

Also, shooting Israelis who are out hiking.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. What's yr point, Oberliner? n/t

[oberliner]

20. The previous posters sarcastic comments seemed to imply that

there had not been any terrorist attacks against Israeli settlers, when, in fact, there have.

[Crunchy Frog]

21. The comment was not intended as sarcasm.

It refers to the very well known phenomenon of violent harrassment of Palestinians by settlers while they attempt to carry out the annual olive harvest. I have seen Israeli comments on talkbacks that treat the attempted harvesting of olives as if it were attempted terrorist attacks.

I'm not trying to imply that there are no terrorist attacks against settlers, but there are plenty of terrorist attacks by settlers as well.

I think it would be great if everybody in the region had cameras so that everything that happens there could be documented. I would guess that in general it is harder for Palestinians to obtain cameras because they tend to be much worse off economically, plus the local electronics store is most likely closed to them. If the settlers need cameras, I hope there is some charity around willing to assist them.

[oberliner]

22. Thanks for the clarification

There is a lot of ugly stuff going on resulting from the whole settlement enterprise.

It is my fervent hope that in the near future a two-state solution can be worked out between Israelis and Palestinians and this entire phenomenon of settlements will come to an end in the West Bank as it did in Gaza.

[Crunchy Frog]

23. There are probably some very sound reasons

why there are international laws against things like the settler enterprise. It doesn't look to me like any good at all comes out of it. It seems to promote a general escalation on all sides of violence, resentment, and extremism, and leaves everyone in the region far less safe.

I'm not as optimistic as you are about this business ever being resolved. I don't think it would be physically or politically possible to remove the settlements at this point.

[oberliner]

25. What do you predict will happen?

If you do not think it would be possible to remove the settlements, what do you think the future holds for the West Bank and for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general?

[Crunchy Frog]

29. I honestly don't know.

I expect that at some point in the future the status quo will simply become unsustainable. I'm just glad that I won't be anywhere near the region when that happens.

[Vegasaurus]

28. There can be a transfer of land, as has been offered in the past

and the smaller settlement blocs will be disbanded.

[azurnoir]

15. I was wondering if

there would be a "surge" in the demand for Mizrahi actors:sarcasm:

[LeftishBrit]

7. Interesting article.

Can't the settlers afford to buy their own cameras?

[Sezu]

12. Well can't the Palestinians? n/t

[Vegasaurus]

19. Too many TVs and motorcycles to buy nt

[azurnoir]

24. Isn't that supposed to be

cigarettes and beer with their foodstam? Oops wrong group, but as I have said change the group named in the comment and if it quacks like a duck and wattles like a duck, well most likely it is a ..........

[Vegasaurus]

27. self delete

[Crunchy Frog]

8. Are they unable to procure cameras for themselves?

[Sezu]

13. Aren't the Palestinians? n/t

[azurnoir]

14. Maybe the JDL could provide them n/t

[LeftishBrit]

26. Maybe the Brits could - we certainly have more than enough cameras around!

[Scurrilous]

10. From Breaking the Silence:

"Testimony from the new booklet

Name: ***
Rank: ***
Unit: ***

And the cameras inside Hebron itself?

The police has them, as far as I know at *** Just surveillance of what goes on around there. And the army has them, it goes to *** They have monitors there.

Monitors at the war-room?

Yes, incredible stuff.

And the footage, where does that go?

Nowhere, it stays in the computers. In case there’s any incident… There’s closed-circuit television, cameras everywhere… Like in “The Truman Show”, which are controlled by joystick and zoom and… really state-of-the-art. All the films are kept on the computer.
Poor quality. That’s it. So in those films I saw all kinds of assaults. And breaking in to houses and assaulting people.

Breaking into settler homes?

No, settlers breaking into Arab homes.

Okay, what did you see?

You see them… you see really well. Breaking windows and all. Breaking, kicking and…

So what you see is settlers banging on doors, breaking into houses, you see soldiers standing around nearby and not doing a thing?

No. After a while soldiers come along beacuse they are alerted, and usually do nothing. Maybe catch them… Stop the… Cut the power.

What do you mean?

Most of the cameras, if not all of them, get their power from the settlers’ houses. When they anticipate some rioting, they disconnect the… electricity.

The settlers? Disconnect the cameras, and so…

Yes. Or otherwise disrupt them, yes…

You have witnessed such things sitting at the war-room receiving end?

Sure. It happens. They don’t always know there’s another camera catching them from another direction.

Who is there actually seeing what happens in real time?

Women-soldiers monitoring screens. They have this monitoring system in which they are trained.

How many cameras are there?

About ***. Not just covering the Jewish settlements. They also cover H1 (The part of Hebron supposedly under full Palestinian control). You see, the cameras are situated inside the area of the Jewish settlement – otherwise they’d be vandalised – and cover H1 as well.

So what do they show? Anyone approaching the Jewish settlement?

Yes, anyone there.

What is done with this material?

You mean in case the settlers attack Palestinians? When I was there I know that it could not be passed on to the police…

Forbidden?

Yes. To avoid friction, perhaps. I don’t know. I have no idea what it’s like now. If something happens, say, I know that once there was this incident, I don’t know how to label it – not criminal, not insurgency, but the other way around – on the part of the settlers.

What happened?

I don’t know, *** or someone beat up one of the Arabs. Then, during the police investigation he was shown this film where he was plainly seen. Naturally he called the brigade commander right away and said that these cameras are there to protect the settlers, the Jews. Not to protect the Arabs. And this must not be misunderstood: what happened there was a criminal felony, not insurgent activity. Since then, anytime something like takes place, the army may not hand this material over to the police. And since then, no policeman has been allowed to enter the closed-circuit television monitoring room.

Policemen were not allowed into the war-room?

For a while. Until that was changed. For about a month, no policemen was allowed.

And the army was not supposed to let the police have these tapes?

Yes. I was at the war-room, a policeman came in so this woman-officer said: “I’m sorry, we have our orders from the brigade commander not to let you in here, please leave.”

http://deniedentry.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/breaking-the-silence-continue-to-speak-out-on-the-moral-price-israel-pays-for-holding-on-to-the-occupied-territories/

[Violet_Crumble]

17. The settlers disconnect the CCTV cameras?

From the article:

'Most of the cameras, if not all of them, get their power from the settlers’ houses. When they anticipate some rioting, they disconnect the… electricity.

The settlers? Disconnect the cameras, and so…

Yes. Or otherwise disrupt them, yes…'

These folk sure are camera-shy. Here's a video of a settler attacking someone because they wouldn't turn a camera off...

http://www.btselem.org/English/Video/20080807_SB_Settler_violence_in_Hebron.asp