- Title: Palestinian village installs cameras, accusing Israeli settlers of attacks
- Date: 7th October 2020
- Summary: KISAN, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 6, 2020) (REUTERS) WORKER INSTALLING VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM VARIOUS OF WORKERS INSTALLING CAMERA ONTO POLE VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENT AS SEEN NEAR BY ROAD SIGN LEADING TO ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS AND PALESTINIAN VILLAGE PALESTINIANS WALKING WITH EQUIPMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT COFOUNDER, ALI FARAJ, SAYING: "The goal is to limit settler attacks on our villages, our children, our little ones, that live close to settlements." VARIOUS OF WORKERS SETTING UP BOX TO INSTALL CAMERAS WORKER CUTTING METAL WORKER SETTING UP BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT COFOUNDER, AHMED ESSA, SAYING: "We aim to help people in the areas nearby the (Israeli) settlements and in the shared roads with settlers. As you can see we installed column four to five meters high and we will install three fixed cameras and a mobile one. The goal is for these cameras to monitor the area and at the same time we can set these cameras to alarm us if anyone gets closer to these areas" RAWABI, WEST BANK (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 14, 2020) (REUTERS) 11 PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN BASHAR MASRI TALKING IN VIDEO TALKING ABOUT HIS INITIATIVE CALLED '3AL ARD' (ON THE GROUND, IN ARABIC) CROWD AT EVENT PALESTINIAN FLAG RAWABI, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 6, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN, BASHAR MASRI, SAYING: "It's an initiative to encourage my people, myself, to take matter with our own hands vis-a-vis stopping the mad expansion of the settlements. The settlements is the biggest cancer affecting the peace process, it's the biggest hurdle, it's a fact on the ground itself, and '3al Ard', which means on the ground, is creating our own facts on our land. This is our land, these are our hills, and we need to put ourselves on that land and firmly in front of the terrible expansion of the settlements." RAWABI, WEST BANK (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 14, 2020) (REUTERS) FOUNDERS OF VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM APPEAR IN VIDEO FOR '3AL ARD' INITIATIVE KISAN, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 6, 2020) (REUTERS) WORKERS INSTALLING VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENT WORKERS INSTALLING VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT COFOUNDER, FARAJ ALI, SAYING: "Because we are a state under occupation, the Palestinian Authority is committed to agreements preventing it from operating in area 'C' so the local residents have to fill the gap that we are living in under the occupation." VARIOUS OF WORKERS INSTALLING VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM / SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM INSTALLED
- Embargoed: 21st October 2020 10:21
- Keywords: CCTV Cameras East Jerusalem Israel Palestinians Settlements Surveillance West Bank
- Location: KISAN, WEST BANK
- City: KISAN, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001CZ4Q0D1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Palestinians are installing a video surveillance system in a remote village in the occupied West Bank to keep an eye on nearby Israeli settlers who they accuse of frequent attacks.
The project's founders hope the closed-circuit television cameras around Kisan, which lies in an area under complete Israeli military control, will help deter potential perpetrators wary of being caught on video.
"The goal is to limit settler attacks on our villages, our children, our little ones, that live close to settlements," Ali Faraj, one of the project's founders, said.
Cameras mounted in 10 locations will be linked to a mobile application that will warn residents of a breach and record alleged incidents that often go undocumented, Ahmed Essa, another of the project's founders, said.
Faraj said Kisan and surrounding villages have seen more than 450 incidents involving settlers, including attacks on people and damage to homes.
The United Nations has documented some such incidents, as well as acts of Palestinian violence against Israelis in the West Bank, where nearly 430,000 settlers live among some 3 million Palestinians on land Israel captured in a 1967 war.
The camera project is being funded through an initiative called 3al Ard -- on the ground, in Arabic -- founded by Palestinian-American businessman Bashar Masri.
Masri initially funded half a dozen projects in remote areas "to encourage people to take matters into their own hands vis-a-vis stopping the mad expansion of the settlements", he said.
While the Palestinian Authority (PA) has limited autonomy in some areas, many villages, like Kisan, lie in areas under complete Israeli military control, leaving them with little avenue for redress after alleged incidents involving settlers.
"The (PA) cannot enter here ... it is the duty of local residents to fill the gap," Faraj said.
(Production: Ismael Khader, Mohammad Abu Ganeyeh, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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