By: Sameer Padania, Posted: Jul 21 08

Regions: Israel, Palestine

Issues: Armed conflict, Discrimination, Violence

Tags: B'Tselem, btselem, evidence, Shooting Back, video

UPDATE (30 July 2008): The Guardian newspaper has just released a video looking in more depth at the Shooting Back project here.

[ORIGINAL POST] In the past day, international news media have broadcast a video clip that appears to show an Israeli soldier shooting a Palestinian detainee at very close range with a rubber bullet. The incident was filmed by a Palestinian girl in the village of Nil'in on 7th July, and was released yesterday by the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem. 

The video is just the latest in a string of sometimes shocking point-of-view videos (already viewed 180,000 times on the Hub) that have sparked public debate and promoted accountability in Israel. Many of these videos have been shot by Palestinians trained by B'Tselem to document the human rights abuses they face on a daily basis.

In this interview, Oren Yakobovich, Director of Video at B'Tselem, explains their new initiative, "Shooting Back", which equips and trains Palestinian families to use video cameras to document human rights violations in high-conflict areas in the West Bank.

To see more from the Shooting Back project, click here. To find out more about B'Tselem, how to support B'Tselem's work and how to take action, click here.