Thread by @BlueWhiteRights

THREAD: The IZS conducts research into trends and issues that affect Israeli society. @BtSIsrael Breaking the silence is an organization claiming to “expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories” via anonymous first hand testimonies.

@BtSIsrael The IZS set out to research BTS’s analysis of its testimonies to see how representative they are of reality and if they are conducted with objectivity.

@BtSIsrael Our research shows several faults that may significantly impact the picture painted by @BtSIsrael about the norms of IDF's warfare and conduct with civilian populations:

@BtSIsrael #1 - Areas of Focus: BTS changed its areas of focus from IDF's actions in Judea and Samaria, (The West Bank) to IDF conduct in Gaza operations. The latter being a particularly tense and difficult time & not reflective of the norm.

Overall, BTS focuses on unusually high friction areas, Hebron (a complex situation) and times, such as the height of intifada. BTS uses these to color the entire conflict giving a false sense of the “norm”.

These choices of focus are not random, but made to present a much grimmer picture than the general IDF actions in the West Bank.

Problem #2 Lack of Detail: BTS testimonials are very scarce on details, lacking exact dates and locations:

Being anonymous, the testimonies are impossible to verify or investigate. Together, this limits the ability to truly estimate the scope of the depicted phenomenon. These facts indicate the weakness of BTS' testimonies in depicting the occupation's true reality.

Problem 3. Dismissing Context: Another element missing is context. Where did it happen, what happened before? Was it immediately after a terror attack or upon information of an imminent one?

In 71% of the total sampled testimonies, there is no attempt to understand the incidents' context, as described. The lack of context raises serious questions as to the motivations and integrity of @BtSIsrael

#4 Bias: BTS’s areas of focus + the removal of context seems to be affected by bias. Choosing impossible to verify testimonials from unusually high tension areas & times of great fear creates an impression of the IDF built on the most difficult times- not on day to day reality.

We conclude that BTS purposely chooses testimony from times & areas of highest tension, washes them of detail & context, presenting them as the everyday reality in the West Bank. Far from a productive way to make change,

@BtSIsrael is a source of extreme tension and vilification of Israel and the IDF.
For the full report on Breaking the Silence's faulty analysis of testimonies, see bit.ly/2wrKpj2
#IZS #BlueandWhiteRights