Hamoked

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Hamoked (Hebrew:המוקד, "Center for the Defence of the Individual") is an Israeli human and civil rights group that works on behalf of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It started in 1988 in response to the first First Intifada.

HaMoked's aims, as registered with Israel's Registrar of Non-profit Organizations, are to: "Provide assistance to persons who have fallen victim to acts of violence, abuse or deprivation of basic rights by governmental authorities (including local government), especially those needing assistance in conveying their complaints to these authorities, and also to protect basic rights in any other manner, including application to legal instances and among them - petitions to the Supreme Court in its capacity as High Court of Justice, whether in the name of an individual who claims that his basic right was harmed and whether as a "friend of the court."

But despite claiming a univesal agenda, the NGO actually serves only the Palestinian population. HaMoked also operates an Emergency Human Rights Hotline in order to attempt to offer real time solutions by working vis-?-vis relevant authorities in the field. Emergency situations include those arising from restrictions on movement within the territories; from violence; from delays in the evacuation of the injured, the sick, and women in labor; and from the blockage of humanitarian aid such as food, medicine and water.

[edit] Criticism

According to NGO Monitor, HaMoked employs charged, incomplete and inaccurate reporting on events in the territories, resulting in highly partisan political lobbying. This goes beyond the scope of it mission statement since nowhere does HaMoked define itself as a political lobbying group. [1]