Samarian Jews Train to Film the Enemy and Anti-Zionist Harassers
(IsraelNN.com) Jewish leaders in Samaria are launching a new initiative aimed at countering the successful media war that has been waged against them for years by Arabs and their anti-Zionist accomplices. The project, launched by the Shomron Settlers' Committee in cooperation with the Shomron Liaison Office, will train dozens of volunteers of all ages to film attacks and provocations by Arabs and anarchists, and to document anti-Zionist activists' harassment of IDF soldiers.
Camera
teams will be trained in documenting the activities of Machsom Watch – an all-female pacifist group which sends its volunteers to harass IDF soldiers at security checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. Machsom Watch's volunteers stand a short distance away from IDF soldiers at the checkpoints and document what they claim are human rights abuses. According to eyewitnesses from Nadia Matar's “Women in Green,” they also routinely hurl abuse at soldiers and assist Arabs in circumventing the checkpoints.
Machsom Watch's activity includes photographing the soldiers' actions and filing legal complaints against them.
The Samaria video teams will “watch the watchers”: they will document harassment of soldiers and use the documentation to back up complaints against the Machsom Watch activists.
In addition, the video teams will be trained to film Arab attacks on Jewish motorists. While the unexpected nature of these ambushes makes it difficult to film them as they happen, some of the video volunteers will be embedded with rapid response teams and will be able to provide initial footage of the aftermath.
Shooting Back at 'Shooting Back'
The graduates will film demonstrations, police actions, Arab riots and activities by anarchists, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and similar groups. If needed, the materials will be used for legal support in cases where Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are wrongfully accused.
The more Jews who are armed with quality video cameras and know how to use them, the organizers believe, the greater the videos' potential effectiveness as a tool in the media war. “You never know where valuable footage can come from,” says David Ha'ivri, who heads the Liaison Office's North America desk. “Unfortunately, there is no shortage of Arab and leftist provocations and violence. Until now, however, it was the Left – through projects like B'tzelem's 'Shooting Back,' which armed Arabs with cameras – that organized more effectively on the media front. They film events from their angle and doctor the videos to show a slanted picture against the IDF and the settler enterprise. Our challenge will be to provide footage that shows the true character of the enemy and its collaborators. And if the mainstream media doesn't show the videos – at least we have the Internet.”
Israel News photo
Ha'ivri returned from a North American fundraising tour last week in which he received anonymous donations for the first batch of cameras, which can be used for both videos and still photos. The organizers immediately launched a course for young video volunteers and intends to open a course for adults as well soon.
Time to Fight Back
At the first briefing for the volunteers held in Kedumim this week, Ester Karish of the Shomron Settlers' Committee told the would-be camera crews that “it is time to fight back.” She informed them that the course would give them professional tools in filming, editing and working with news media. Gamilel Shilo of Revava noted that the Internet is “open ground” that anyone can access to upload videos for the world to see. “We must learn how to use this platform to our advantage,” he said, and promised that activists who supply of a good flow of material will have their equipment upgraded.
Filmmaker Amatzia HaEitan told the group of his extensive experiences in supplying the media with footage of events and the influence his materials had on the end result of the stories broadcast on TV. A pilot course will be taught by filmmaker Hadas Ya'akobi and will include classes in scriptwriting, sound, production, practical exercises in film-making and more.
The organizers dream of setting up an editing facility in which they will train Shomron youth to produce short infomercials for video-sharing sites.