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Last update - 13:38 17/06/2008 B'Tselem cameras pay off for victims of settler attacks By Yuval Azoulay Tags: settlers, West Bank, B'Tselem Three months ago, the B'Tselem human rights organization gave Muna al-Nawaja a video camera. Nawaja, 24, lives near the Israeli settlement of Sussya, in the southern West Bank. Between caring for her young son and tending the family's sheep, she learned to use the camera, fell in love with it and now carries it with her everywhere. But its "baptism of fire" occurred last week, on Sunday afternoon. Most Israelis were busy preparing for the Shavuot holiday. But some had a different priority: savagely beating Nawaja's relatives. She managed to capture a few seconds of the beating - in which her 57-year-old aunt was severely injured, and two uncles, age 60 and 33 were hurt - on film. But she never dreamed that it would prove to be the main, and possibly only, evidence available to the police investigating the assault. "There have been previous incidents in this area in which Palestinians were beaten; that is why they gave me a camera," she explained two days ago. Advertisement A few seconds before the attack occurred, Nawaja saw four masked men, some carrying clubs, approaching her relatives, who were tending the family flock. They were clearly not dropping by for coffee, so she aimed her camera at them. "I saw them coming from the direction of a Jewish settlement," she said. The men began beating her relatives, but the victims' screams brought no succor. "So at that point, I stopped filming and ran to summon help," she recalled. But by the time the police arrived, the assailants had fled. B'Tselem, which used to make do with collecting oral testimony from Palestinians about alleged crimes against them, concluded last year that more graphic documentation was needed, on the theory that a picture is worth 1,000 words. "From our past experience, in many cases a Palestinian's word is given less weight than that of a soldier, a policeman or a settler," explained Oren Yakobovich, who heads the organization's video distribution project. He said a large American Jewish organization, whose members visited Hebron and were shocked, donated a substantial sum of money to purchase the cameras. As part of its "Shooting Back" project, B'Tselem has distributed about 100 cameras to Palestinians throughout the West Bank over the last year. Of these, several dozen were handed out in the Hebron area, where friction between Palestinians and Israelis is routine. Even in its pilot stage, about 18 months ago, the project proved its worth, when Rajah Abu Aisha of Hebron videotaped his Jewish neighbor, Yifat Alkobi, verbally assaulting his wife, including calling her a slut. A soldier was nearby, but did nothing. Since the "Shooting Back" project was launched, Palestinians have filed 15 complaints of assault or other rights violations, backed by video documentation, with the police and army. "The army and the police welcome this," said Yakobovich. "They have documentation of the incidents, and that makes the investigation much shorter and quicker." He said the free cameras have also proved popular among the Palestinians. "There are people who call me and request a camera, because they want to feel protected. And undoubtedly, when they carry a camera, they suffer less violence, because a camera is a deterrent. There are even some who go around with a broken camera, just so that people won't come near them." Nasser al-Nawaja, who distributes the cameras to Hebron-area Palestinians on B'Tselem's behalf, concurred. "Now, they feel that they are safer and better protected," he said. "That is our response. It is better than stones or aggressive weapons. We simply will film what happens here and show it to all of Israel, which doesn't really know what goes on in the territories." Related articles: Rights Group: More than 50% of Gaza casualties weren't militants Bookmark to del.icio.us   Robbed in the war zone Two Haaretz journalists robbed by armed Russian troops in Georgian city of Gori. The Jewish Brad Pitt Hollywood star plays American-Jewish hillbilly in the latest Tarantino film.   1.   Where are Bselem videos when Jews are attacked by Arab terrorists 05:13  |  Judith 17/06/08   2.   HAVE they given any cameras to the residents of Sderot Ashkelon - 05:18  |  PETER SM 17/06/08   3.   To #1 05:47  |  Abe 17/06/08   4.   By using the Hebron Video as an example shows the duplicity 05:50  |  Jabadini 17/06/08   5.   To No. 1 (second post) 05:56  |  Abe 17/06/08   6.   Masked Men - Arab Actors 06:13  |  * BEN JABO 17/06/08   7.   to Judith and Peter SM 06:16  |  Colin Wright 17/06/08   8.   BTselem cameras 06:22  |  Michal 17/06/08   9.   arabs cry wolf ,B`Tselem comes running 06:27  |  kate 17/06/08   10.   here is a video from hebron 06:36  |  kate 17/06/08   11.   To Judith and PeterSM 06:50  |  MarkC 17/06/08   12.   #2 PeterSM. Unfortunately the residents of the Arab village, Nadj 06:56  |  Maureen Ann 17/06/08   13.   Jews aren`t beaten by arabs though 06:58  |  Marilyn 17/06/08   14.   Getting Minor bruises vs getting lynched to death 07:29  |  enrique 17/06/08   15.   Settlers, Hamas both terrorists 07:31  |  Adam 17/06/08   16.   #3 Abe 07:42  |  howiej 17/06/08   17.   Documenting the Pogrom 07:44  |  Nathalie Gerson 17/06/08   18.   B`Tselem = TERRORIST ORGANIZATION!!! 07:46  |  OLMERT=CRIMINAL 17/06/08   19.   The truth in this case has to be exposed 07:52  |  Umm Danny 17/06/08   20.   The professional naysayers 07:56  |  Esther 17/06/08   21.   colin wright - you STILL owe me an ANSWER 08:04  |  CK Tan 17/06/08   22.   A thousand cameras for Palestine 08:05  |  Nemesis 17/06/08   23.   #7 colin - you have NO problem with BTselem`s SKEWED agenda 08:20  |  CK Tan 17/06/08   24.   Unfortunately in Israel the video will not help 08:33  |  observer 17/06/08   25.   WRIGHT Where did I say I objected? Confabulating AGAIN 08:48  |  PETER SM 17/06/08   26.   MAUREEN Unfortunately the unarmed Yeshiva boys did not have 08:51  |  PETER SM 17/06/08   27.   MARYLIN "Jews aren`t beaten by Arabs" Not even lynched? 08:56  |  PETER SM 17/06/08   28.   MARK C Why can`t they video the terror on Israeli childrens faces 09:03  |  PETER SM 17/06/08   29.   All very Strange 13:05  |  Allan Last 17/06/08   30.   #29 14:02  |  Reuben 17/06/08   31.   ANY CAMERAS FOR THE ROCKETS INTO SDEROT? 14:04  |  petra 17/06/08   32.   As someone who has witnessed beatings... 14:09  |  Woody 17/06/08   33.   Petra et al 14:46  |  Reuben 17/06/08   34.   The IDF has such cameras as well - they use them to capture 14:56  |  J 17/06/08   35.   Beatings 15:39  |  Allan Last 17/06/08   36.   Adam 00:13  |  Ed 18/06/08   37.   Allan Last 00:34  |  Ed 18/06/08   38.   # 2 no need to peters m; sderot is israel`s showcase 09:30  |  eric 18/06/08   39.   #1 to judith in NEW YORK 09:56  |  eric 18/06/08   40.   #12 Maureen Ann - Tell me 04:06  |  * BEN JABO 19/06/08   41.   Pallywood cameras 17:17  |  S Freedman 23/07/08   42.   Bad coverage 08:28  |  Alex 11/08/08

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