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Encyclopedia > B'Tselem

B'Tselem (Hebrew: בצלם, "in the image of", as in Genesis 1:27) is an Israeli 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. “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Genesis (Hebrew: ‎, Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ... The term non-governmental organization (NGO) is used in a variety of ways all over the world and, depending on the context in which it is used, can refer to many different types of organizations. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... English barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The modern Knesset building, Israels parliament, in Jerusalem Though similar-sounding, Beit Knesset (בית כנסת) literally means House of Assembly, and refers to a synagogue. ...


B'Tselem's stated goals are to document and inform the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and to help inculcate a "human rights culture" in Israel.

Contents

Main activities

The B'Tselem organization publishes reports on various issues such as torture, fatal shootings by security forces, restrictions on movement, expropriation of land and discrimination in planning and building in East Jerusalem, administrative detention, house demolitions, and settler violence. Over one hundred reports have been published so far. 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. For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ...


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. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The West Bank The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) is a semi-autonomous state institution nominally governing the bulk of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (which it calls the Palestinian Territories). It was established as a part of Oslo accords between the PLO and Israel. ... Mahmoud Abbas (Arabic: محمود عباس) (born March 26, 1935), commonly known by the kunya or nom de guerre Abu Mazen (ابو مازن), was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on January 9, 2005, and took office on January 15, 2005. ...


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. Dominique De Menil (1908-1998) She was an heiress to the Schlumberger Limited oil-equipment fortune, and well known for being devoted to art and civil rights. ...


Founding members

B'Tselem's key founders were:

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

Bat Shalom is one of the smaller organizations of the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace. ... Ratz (Hebrew: רץ), officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Hebrew: התנועה לזכויות האזרח ולשלום, HaTenoaa Lizkhuyot HaEzrakh ve-Shalom) was a left-wing political party in Israel from 1973 until its formal merger into Meretz in 1997. ... Mapam - United Workers Party (in Hebrew: מפם - מפלגת פועלים מאוחדת Mifleget Poalim Meuhedet) was initially a Marxist-Zionist party. ... Ratz (Hebrew: רץ), officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Hebrew: התנועה לזכויות האזרח ולשלום, HaTenoaa Lizkhuyot HaEzrakh ve-Shalom) was a left-wing political party in Israel from 1973 until its formal merger into Meretz in 1997. ... Meretz (מרצ, Hebrew: vitality, energy) was an Israeli leftist secular political party. ... Ratz (Hebrew: רץ), officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Hebrew: התנועה לזכויות האזרח ולשלום, HaTenoaa Lizkhuyot HaEzrakh ve-Shalom) was a left-wing political party in Israel from 1973 until its formal merger into Meretz in 1997. ... Mapam - United Workers Party (in Hebrew: מפם - מפלגת פועלים מאוחדת Mifleget Poalim Meuhedet) was initially a Marxist-Zionist party. ...

Funding

According to B'Tselem [1], the list of their donors includes:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ... Activists from Christian Aid lobbying for Trade Justice Christian Aid promotion to buy goats to assist children of Rwanda Christian Aid is an agency of the major Christian churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ... Flag of Switzerland. ... The Ford Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City created to fund programs that promote democracy, reduce poverty, promote international understanding, and advance human achievement. ... Trócaire is the name of the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. ...

Criticism

B'Tselem has been criticized by NGO Monitor for having a "political agenda." According to NGO Monitor, a watchdog group that monitors anti-Israel bias in NGOs and media, B'Tselem also employs "abusive and demonizing rhetoric designed to elicit political support for Palestinians" [3] NGO Monitor (Non-governmental organization monitor) is a project with the stated aim of monitoring non-governmental organizations operating in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. ...


NGO Monitor claims that B'tselem "pays lip service to Israel's right to self-defense, declaring its security policies to be 'racist', 'discriminatory' and part of a policy of 'apartheid'. The use of such intemperate and demonizing language is part of this NGO's politicized campaign against Israel and in support of Palestinian efforts to delegitimize Israeli self-defense. B'Tselem's campaign of demonization thus harms its own credibility and demonstrates core motivations that are antithetical to human rights norms."


Some critics have voiced concern that B'Tselem classifies casualties into military versus civilian rather than combatant versus non-combatant,[4] though B'Tselem says that they make the distinction using the "civilians not participating in hostilities" classification. B'Tselem's statistics have also been criticised for defining as "civilian" Palestinians killed while engaged in attacks on Israelis.[1][2]


In response to B'Tselem's 2004 summary of casualties, the Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA), an Israeli digest, 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". [5]


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


See also

Hamoked (Hebrew:המוקד, Center for the Defence of the Individual) is an Israeli human and civil rights group that works on behalf of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. ... The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is a joint Palestinian-Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) which engages in dissemination of information, political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (taken from the AIC Mission Statement). ... Bimkom (Planners for Planning Rights) is a non-profit group established in May 1999 by planners and architects who sought to include human rights concerns in their spatial and urban planning work. ... Bustan is a joint Israeli-Palestinian non-profit organization of eco-builders, architects, academics, and farmers who promot environmental and social justice in Israel/Palestine. ... Meretz (מרצ, Hebrew: vitality, energy) was an Israeli leftist secular political party. ...

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