Our Story
The idea for establishing the Palestinian NGO Documenting Violations stemmed from a painful incident involving a young girl from the closed areas of Hebron’s Old City. She was stoned by a settler, sustaining a head injury that caused bleeding. When the girl’s family filed a complaint with the Israeli police, they were asked to provide evidence, only to be told that the security camera footage in the area was “damaged.” This incident spurred the girl’s father to begin documenting violations with his personal camera. As the problem grew and other local activists joined him, the individual initiative transformed into a serious community project aimed at recording and disseminating information about what happens behind the military checkpoints.
The organization was established in response to the lack of local and international media coverage and the Israeli military closure imposed on the closed areas of the Old City, known as H2, and to counter narratives that deny or justify violations. The organization seeks to collect documented and reliable evidence, including photographs, video recordings (via camera documentation software), and testimonies that refute false claims and present the realities as experienced by residents under a system of segregation and denial of basic rights: ongoing military closures, repeated attacks, arrests and targeting of activists, and restrictions on freedom of movement and expression.
Our mission: To document the facts accurately and transparently, protect the rights of the civilian population, and convey the documented Palestinian narrative to human rights bodies and the international community for the purpose of accountability, protection, and support. The organization works in cooperation with local activists and international partners to ensure the integrity of evidence, adherence to information-gathering standards, and its presentation in a professional manner that supports legal proceedings and international advocacy campaigns.
Email:info@hrd.org.ps
Tel:+97022251428