Cambridge Forecast Group Blog

CHECKPOINTS PALESTINE

Machsom Watch

Machsom Watch was founded in January 2001 in response to repeated reports in the press about human rights abuses of Palestinians crossing army and border police checkpoints. The excessive Israeli response to the El Aksa Intifada, the prolonged closure and siege of villages and towns on the West Bank provided the stimulus and the motivation for what at first seemed an impossible mission. The initiative of three women – Ronnee Jaeger, a long time activist with experience of human rights work in Guatemala and Mexico, Adi Kuntsman a feminist scholar who emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1990 and veteran activist Yehudit Keshet, an orthodox Jewess – Machsom Watch now boasts 400 women all over the country.

The goals of the group are threefold:

1. To monitor the behaviour of soldiers and police at checkpoints

2. To ensure that the human and civil rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are protected

3. To record and report the results of our observations to the widest possible audience, from the decision-making level to that of the general public.

Machsom Watch is open exclusively to women. Our, quiet but assertive, presence at checkpoints is a direct challenge to the dominant militaristic discourse that prevails in Israeli society. It demands accountability on the part of the security forces towards the civilian estate, something hitherto almost unheard of.

Machsomwatchers comprise a wide spectrum of ages and backgrounds, with a definite bias towards mature, professional women. All members are Israeli. The group is politically pluralistic within the context of opposition to the occupation and a commitment to human rights.

Phone: 054-5300385

Email: machsomwatch@gmail.com

To join click here

Donations, to enable us to get deep into the Occupied Territories, will be most welcome.
They can be deposited into our bank account

Bank Hapoalim
HaPalmach Branch No. 574
Jerusalem
For beneficiary “women’s Fund for Human Rights Ltd.”
AC number 333401
Jerusalem

* For US tax deduction, make out cheque and send to:

New Israel Fund
P.O.Box 91588
Washington, DC 20090-1588 U.S.A

or make a transfer to their account at

Citibank

1000 Vermont Ave NW
Washington, DC 20005
ABA #254070116
Acc# 66796296

and state that it is earmarked for “Women’s Fund for Human Rights Ltd.”

For UK tax deduction write a cheque to New Israel Fund and send to their office at:

26 Enford Street
London W1H 2DD
England
Tel: 44-20-7724-2266
Fax: 44-20-7724-2299

and earmark it for “Women’s Fund for Human Rights Ltd.”

* Or you can make a swift transfer directly into our bank account:

Bank Hapoalim
HaPalmach Branch No. 574
Jerusalem
For beneficiary “women’s Fund for Human Rights Ltd.”
AC number 333401
Swift Code: POALILIT

* Or write a cheque to “Women’s Fund for Human Rights Ltd.”
and send it to

POB 11334
Jerusalem 91113
Israel

Special Reports

• The Bureaucracy of Occupation: The District Civil Liaison Offices
• Systematic Abuse by Administrative Means: A Matter of Policy?
• Extension of Remand in Custody in Israeli Military Courts During 2006
• Invisible Prisoners – Palestinians Blacklisted by the General Security Services – April 2007

Exhibition

• Endless Checkpoints
• Photographs taken by MachsomWatch Women

http://www.machsomwatch.org/reports/viewReport.asp?link=viewReport〈=eng