Machsom Watch

Machsom Watch or Checkpoint Watch ( Hebrew מחסום; after English watch for "checkpoint observer") is a group of Israeli women who observes Israeli checkpoints; the control posts that are between Israel and the territories occupied by Israel and within the occupied territories. The human rights organization, which describes itself as "politically pluralistic", consists only of women. Most of them are employed and have a “liberal or left-wing background”. Machsom Watch claims it has 400 members; this also includes the daughter of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert , Dana Olmert.

History and activities

Machsom Watch was founded in 2001 by Ronnee Jaeger, a human rights activist, Adi Kuntsman and Yehudit Keshet. According to the company, this was a response to human rights violations against Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints. The group expressed concern about "the escalating Israeli response to the Second Intifada and the cordoning off of entire villages and towns in the West Bank".

The volunteers from Machsom Watch visit the checkpoints in groups of two to four members, observe what is happening during the clearance by the soldiers of the Israeli Armed Forces and document them in text and photos in the media and on their website. In problematic situations they try to intervene and mediate between soldiers and civilians.

Although the organization is sometimes seen as a disability by the soldiers, it is often successful in this mediation. Through personal contacts with commanders and interventions at brigade level , partial cooperation between the armed forces and Machsom Watch could be established.

Awards

In March 2004 the organization was awarded the Emil Grünzweig Human Rights Prize of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel . In 2008 she received the Aachen Peace Prize for her “exemplary commitment 'from below' for peace and for a civil and non-violent solution to conflicts”.

criticism

During a two-hour conversation in March 2006 between Machsom Watch and the Israeli Army Chief of Staff Dan Chalutz said that humanity is not just a quality of Machsom Watch that can only be tested at checkpoints. It also lies in preventing suicide bombers from reaching markets in Tel Aviv and Netanya .

Reporting by the organization has also met with criticism: Also in March 2006, a planned photo exhibition by Machsom Watch in the city of Beersheba was banned by the city's mayor because it was "harmful to the public's sensibilities". This ban was challenged but was found lawful by the Supreme Court .

literature

• Monica Den Boer, Jaap de Wilde: The Viability of Human Security . Amsterdam University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-90-5356-796-8 , pp. 139-146, books.google.ch
• Janet M. Powers: Blossoms on the olive tree: Israeli and Palestinian women working for peace . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, ISBN 978-0-275-99001-5 . P. 139, books.google.ch
• Women at the front . In: Focus , No. 44, 2004

Web links

• www.machsomwatch.org , Machsom Watch website
• Photo gallery with pictures from Machsom Watch on ziv-p.com
• The talk of the day , interview on Swiss Radio DRS on the occasion of the award of the Aachen Peace Prize (September 8, 2008, podcast)
• The traitors . Zeit online / zeit.zuender, 2007; Interview with a co-founder

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} About Us ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Machsom Watch website 
2. ^ Grandmothers on Guard . In: Mother Jones , November / December 2004
3. ^ Long on Outskirts of Power, Olmert Looks to Lead Israel . In: The New York Times
4. ↑ Monica Den Boer, Jaap de Wilde: The Viability of Human Security . Amsterdam University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-90-5356-796-8 , p. 140
5. ↑ 50 years of occupation - 50 years of resistance. In: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Israel Office. May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Monica Den Boer, Jaap de Wilde: The Viability of Human Security . Amsterdam University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-90-5356-796-8 , p. 141
7. ^ Association for Civil Rights in Israel - Winners ( October 26, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ) - Website of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel
8. ↑ Prize winners 2008 ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Website of the Aachen Peace Prize 
9. ^ IDF chief invites anti-fence protesters to Tel Aviv meeting. In: Haaretz . Archived from the original on March 6, 2006 ; accessed on October 30, 2014 . 
10. ↑ High Court upholds ban on Machsom Watch exhibit in Be'er Sheva . Haaretz