I would like to start
with the story of Mary,
a woman from an African village.
Her first memories
are of her family fleeing violent riots
orchestrated
by the ruling political party.
Her brother was murdered
by the state-sponsored militia,
and she was raped more than once
just because she belonged to the wrong party.
One morning, a month before the election,
Mary's village was called to another intimidation meeting.
In this meeting, these men standing in front of them
telling them, "We know who you are,
we know who you will vote for,
and if you're not going to drop the right paper,
we're going to take revenge."
But for Mary, this meeting is different.
She feels different.
This time, she's waiting for this meeting,
because this time, she's carrying
a small hidden camera in her dress,
a camera that nobody else can see.
Nobody is allowed to film in these meetings.
You risk your life if you do.
Mary knows that, but she also knows
that the only way to stop them
and to protect herself
and her community
is to expose their intimidation,
to make sure they understand
somebody is following them,
to break the impunity they feel.
Mary and her friends were filming
for months undercover
the intimidation of the ruling political party.
(Video) [Filmed With Hidden Cameras]
Man: We are going to speak about the upcoming elections.
Nothing can stup us from doing what we want.
If we hear you are with [the opposition]
we will not forgive you.
[Militia Intimidation Rally]
[The Party] can torture you at any time.
The youth can beat you.
[Disruption of Political Meeting]
For those who lie, saying they are back with [the Party],
your time is running out.
[Party Youth Militia]
Some have died because they rebelled.
Some have lost their homes.
If you don't work together with [the Party],
you will lead a very bad life.
Oren Yakobovich: These images were broadcast all over the world,
but more importantly,
they have been broadcast
back to the community.
The perpetrators saw them too.
They understood somebody is following them.
They got scared. Impunity was broken.
Mary and her friends forced
the ruling political party
not to use violence during the election,
and saved hundreds of lives.
Mary is just one of hundreds of people
that my organization had helped
to document human rights violations
using cameras.
My background should have led me to a different direction.
I was born in Israel
to a right-wing family,
and as long as I remember myself,
I wanted to join the Israeli army
to serve my country and prove that I was
what I believed was our right
for the whole land.
I joined the Israeli army just after
the first intifada, the first Palestinian uprising,
and I served in one of the hard-minded,
toughest, aggressive infantry units,
and I got the biggest gun in my platoon.
Quite fast, I became an officer
and got soldiers under my command,
and as time passed, I started serving in the West Bank,
and I saw these images.
I didn't like what I saw.
It took me a while,
but eventually I refused to serve in the West Bank
and had to spend time in jail.
It was a bit
— (Applause) —
It was not that bad, I have to say.
It was a bit like being in a hotel,
but with very shitty food.
In jail, I kept thinking that
I need people to know,
I need people to understand
what's the reality in the West Bank looks like.
I need them to hear what I heard,
I need them to see what I saw,
but I also understood, we needed
Palestinians themselves,
the people that are suffering,
to be able to tell their own stories,
not journalists or filmmakers
that are coming outside of the situation.
I joined a human rights organization,
Israeli human rights organization called B'Tselem.
Together, we analyzed the West Bank
and picked a hundred families that are living in the most risky places:
close to checkpoints, near army bases,
side by side with settlers.
We gave them cameras and training.
Quite fast, we started getting
very disturbing images
about how the settlers
and the soldiers are abusing them.
I would like to share with you
two clips from this project.
Both of them were broadcast in Israel,
and it created a massive debate,
and I have to warn you,
some of you might find them
quite explicit.
The masked men you will see in the first clips
are Jewish settlers.
Minutes before the camera was turned on,
they approached a Palestinian family
that was working their land
and told them that they have to leave the land,
because this land belongs to the Jewish settlers.
The Palestinians refused.
Let's see what happened.
The masked men that are approaching
are Jewish settlers.
They are approaching the Palestinian family.