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Machsom Watch is a human rights organization composed exclusively of Israeli women. The word machsom is Hebrew for "checkpoint", in reference to Israel Defense Forces checkpoints in the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel. The group also calls itself "Women for Human Rights".

The group's stated aims, according to its website, are to:

• monitor the behavior of soldiers and police at checkpoints;
• ensure that the human and civil rights of Palestinians attempting to enter Israel are protected;
• record and report the results of their observations to the widest possible audience, from the decision-making level to that of the general public.

Some members of Machsom Watch see their role as protesting against the very existence of the checkpoints. , .

In response the the organizations claims, IDF chief of staff has invited the women for a metting and responded that: "Humanitarianism is not exclusively owned by Machsom Watch and it is tested not only at the checkpoints, but also in preventing suicide bombers from reaching the markets of Tel Aviv and Netanya."

History

Machsom Watch was founded in 2001 by Ronnee Jaeger, Adi Kuntsman, and Yehudit Keshet in response to concerns about reports of human rights abuses against Palestinians at IDF and border police checkpoints. The group has also expressed concern about what they say is "the excessive Israeli response to the Al Aqsa Intifada, the prolonged closure and siege of villages and towns on the West Bank". At the beginning of 2004, the group claimed approximately 400 members. Early on, Machsom Watch had some male monitors, but men turned out to show solidarity with the soldiers. According to Keshet, "Their relationship was totally different. They were horrified by what was going on, but at the same time they bonded with the troops."

Ronnee Jaeger is an activist who was previously a human-rights worker in Guatemala and Mexico. Adi Kuntsman is a feminist originally from the Soviet Union, who arrived in Israel in 1990. Yehudit Keshet was an Orthodox Jew and scholar of Talmudic ethics, although she has abandoned Orthodoxy.

In March 2004, Machsom Watch received the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award. This annual prize is given by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel "to an individual or NGO that has made a unique contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel".

Accusations of bias and the "violin incident"

The group has criticized by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and non-governmental organizations for alleged disruption of the operation of checkpoints, hostility to the troops, false accusations against the IDF, and for "using emotive and politically charged language that contributes to the demonization of Israel." . The group has often been accused by individuals soldiers and soldiers mothers throwing derogatory comments and curses toward soldiers. . According to Yossi Olmert, a political commentator, Machsom Watch volunteers "disrupt the work of soldiers at checkpoints who are trying, not always successfully, to prevent the entry of terrorists."

Right wing organizations in israel demanded that the IDF remove the women from checkpoints,, but IDF has agreed to the women presence in checkpoints and even invited them to speak to soldiers.

Late in 2004, Machsom Watch was accused of falsely claiming that the IDF forced a Palestinian violinist to play his violin at a checkpoint, a story which was printed worldwide. While originally the IDF said the soldier had acted insensitively, the IDF's commission on the issue, citing the testimonies of several soldiers, members of Machsom Watch, and after reviewing the videotape of the incident, concluded that the violinist had played voluntarily. The Palestinian in question claimed that he was "asked" to play a sad song.

References

• Hammer, Joshua, "Grandmothers on Guard". Mother Jones, November/December 2004, 36-41.
• Nirgad, Lia, "Winter in Qualandia - Eine Strassensperre zwischen Jerusalem und Ramallah", Melzer Verlag Neu-Isenburg 2005, ISBN 3-937389-57-1 (German translation of Hebrew original, Xargol Books/Israel)

External links

• Machsom Watch home page
• Press articles about Machsom Watch
• Checkpoint photos by Eyah Dor-Ofer some including Machsom Watch volunteers
• NGO Monitor on Machsom Watch
• Gallery of photos by Machsom Watch women
• An attack on a checkpoint witnessed by Checkpoint watch

• Human rights bodies
• Social justice
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Israeli organizations