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Why Israeli NGO’s UN testimony against occupation backfired

The decision by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem to testify to the UN Security Council against the occupation has weakened its own camp and played into the hands of the Israeli right.
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Israeli nongovernmental organization B’Tselem has come a long way from when it was founded in 1989, around the time the first intifada erupted, as an organization devoted to defending human rights in the occupied territories. On Oct. 14, it addressed the UN Security Council in an informal meeting on "Illegal Israeli Settlements: Obstacles to Peace and the Two-State Solution."

Over the years, the organization has become a favorite punching bag for the right, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday, it gave the right another chance to score political points at its expense, while causing enormous damage to the Israeli center-left.

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