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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. 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. The organization has published over one hundred 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. 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.
Criticism B'Tselem has been criticized by NGO Monitor for having a political agenda, using outdated sources for reports on highly charged political topics such as roads in the West Bank. It also employs "abusive and demonizing rhetoric designed to elicit political support for Palestinians" * According to NGO Monitor, 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. Betselem's campaign of demonization thus harms its own credibility and demonstrates core motivations that are antithetical to human rights norms." The organization has also been assailed for its casualty statistics. Some Critics have voiced concern that B'Tselem classifies casualties into military versus civilian rather than combatant versus non-combatant. This can, according to these critics, 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. Some people and organisations - i.e. CAMERA* have been particularly vocal in this respect - although others have called into question the motives of such statements. The Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA), an Israeli digest, has taken issue with more of 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". * B'Tselem publishes the official responses and criticism of the Israeli military at the end of the majority of its print publications. Founding members B'Tselem's key founders were: BTselem funders According to B'Tselem *, the list of their donors includes: See also | ||||||||
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