- Title: Israeli and Palestinian rights groups are possible Nobel Peace Prize contenders
- Date: 30th September 2021
- Summary: JERUSALEM (SEPTEMBER 15, 2021) (REUTERS) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF B'TSELEM (THE ISRAELI INFORMATION CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES), HAGAI ELAD, ON BIKE ELAD ON BIKE NEAR ISRAELI WEST BANK BARRIER ELAD TALKING ABOUT WEST BANK BARRIER WATCHTOWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF B'TSELEM, HAGAI ELAD, SAYING: "B'Tselem was established in 1989, 32 years ago, during the days of the first intifada by a group of Israeli academics, journalists, social activists, lawyers and scholars, people that felt that something is missing and that essential aspect that is missing is credible timely information from a local source about the moral consequences of the oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel." VARIOUS OF ISRAELI FORCES CLOSING GATE AT CHECKPOINT BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM WATCHTOWER AT ISRAELI CHECKPOINT (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF B'TSELEM, HAGAI ELAD, SAYING: "B'Tselem, about a quarter of our team are Palestinian field researchers based in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, all over the occupied territories. And in addition to field researchers B'Tselem has, for just over a decade now a camera project based on some 100 Palestinian volunteers -- again all over the West Bank -- that are documenting their daily life, their exposure to state violence, to settler violence, to soldier violence and the consequences of living under Israeli apartheid and occupation." WEST BANK BARRIER GATE AT ISRAELI CHECKPOINT (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF B'TSELEM, HAGAI ELAD, SAYING: "Over the years there have been ongoing efforts by Israeli authorities to try and make the work of human rights organisations more difficult. The first one that suffer from this obviously our Palestinian colleagues but also B'Tselem faces some pressure. We are a mature organisation, we've been working at this for more than three decades. We are holding our line and we will continue doing this work for as long as is needed and as long as is needed means until the end for occupation and apartheid."
- Embargoed: 14th October 2021 09:05
- Keywords: Israel NGOs Nobel Prize Palestinians human rights
- Location: NILIN AND HEBRON, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM / GAZA CITY, GAZA
- City: NILIN AND HEBRON, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM / GAZA CITY, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA002EWWTP3B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations are among the possible contenders to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
The winner, or winners, are to be announced on October 8th.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem was founded in 1989 to document rights violations in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem
B'Tselem describes itself as a non-partisan, independent organisation funded only by donations, mainly from North America, Europe and Israel.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) was founded in 1995 and has been one of the leading Human rights groups in Gaza and the West Bank.
It has received several international awards in recognition of its humanitarian and legal advocacy.
Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of destroying the two-state solution with actions he said could lead Palestinians to demand equal rights within one binational state comprising Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly via video link from the West Bank, Abbas urged countries to act to save the two-state formula that for decades has been the bedrock of diplomacy for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Most countries view the Israeli settlements on land that the Palestinians want for a future state as illegal, a position Israel disputes.
(Production: Arafat Barbakh, Sinan Abu Mayzer, Mohammed Shana, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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