by JILLIAN WARD
The NGO B’Tselem, which calls itself ‘The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories’, released its annual report in March 2012. The sixty-three page document provides a broad overview of the Israeli authorities’ human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past year. The report provides an insight into both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the media debate surrounding it.
Entering its forty-fifth year, coverage of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories has generated a plethora of criticism from government, media, and NGO watchdog groups. While many try to provide fair and balanced coverage, bias is almost always evident when reporting on this situation.
Nevertheless, politically-charged motives of different countries, organizations and individuals are apparent in all forms of media they produce. According to a 2001 study by FAIR, only four percent of US media included the word ‘occupation’ when reporting on clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Without this context, US media uses an omission of information to reinforce the view that any Palestinian retaliation is an offensive attack. British media, on the other hand, has been praised for its accurate reporting of the conflict. B’Tselem is often the choice source material for such commentary—in 2011 alone, the organization was mentioned in local and international media over one thousand times.
Established by prominent academics, journalists, attorneys, and Knesset members, B’Tselem seeks to stand out as an objective authority whose sole goal is to protect individuals. As stated on their website, B’Tselem’s mission is to ‘document and educate the Israeli public and policy-makers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories’. In doing so, the organization hopes to ‘change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government […] protects the human rights of residents there […] under international law’.
In its 2011 report, B’Tselem notes an increase in the number of uninvolved Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the Gaza Strip. The document also shows an increase in the number of Israelis killed by Palestinians compared to the previous year. Hundreds of documented incidents of violence against Palestinians and harassment of Palestinians by Israeli security forces are also presented.
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(Thanks to Feroz Mehdi)