HaMoked

HaMoked, formally the Center for the Defence of the Individual, is an Israel-based human rights organization focused primarily on the rights of Palestinians living in or connected to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Its Hebrew name, HaMoked, means “the Center,” while its full Hebrew name identifies the organization as a center concerned with defending the individual. The organization describes its central purpose as assisting Palestinians affected by the Israeli occupation and seeking enforcement of international human rights and humanitarian-law standards. Founded by Dr. Lotte Salzberger, HaMoked operates through direct case assistance, legal advocacy, public documentation, and litigation. Its registered objectives are broader than any single legal issue: it seeks to assist people who have experienced violence, abuse, or deprivation of basic rights by governmental authorities, help them communicate complaints to state bodies, and protect basic rights through other legal means. These means include petitions to the Supreme Court of Israel sitting as the High Court of Justice, including petitions brought on behalf of individuals and friend-of-the-court interventions. The organization’s work expanded as Palestinians approached it with a wider range of problems. Its areas of activity include detainee rights, residency and family-unification rights, freedom of movement, violence by security forces and settlers, and punitive house demolitions. HaMoked also maintains an emergency human-rights hotline intended to secure real-time assistance by contacting relevant authorities. The hotline addresses urgent problems such as movement restrictions, delays in evacuating injured or sick people and women in labor, violence, and obstruction of humanitarian supplies including food, medicine, and water. Litigation and information requests are central to HaMoked’s model. Its Court Watch materials provide legal commentary on decisions by the High Court of Justice and other courts, assessing them against human-rights standards. The organization has also used Israel’s Freedom of Information Law to obtain information about government practices affecting Palestinian residency and movement. A notable 2011 disclosure concerned a previously undisclosed procedure used for decades to cancel the residency status of Palestinian residents of the West Bank who had lived abroad, including students and migrant workers. HaMoked has been involved in contentious public debates concerning Israel’s policies in the occupied territories and the role of Israeli human-rights organizations. It has challenged military orders, including measures related to the classification and possible deportation of Palestinians lacking Israeli permits. It has also sought information about Palestinians missing from the Gaza Strip during wartime. These activities have drawn criticism from some Israeli officials and advocacy groups, who argue that HaMoked’s work is politically one-sided or damages Israel internationally. Other Israeli civil-society organizations, legal advocates, and public figures have defended its legitimacy and human-rights mandate. The organization is funded through grants and donations, including support reported from international foundations and European sources. The available reference material identifies historical grants and funding flows but does not establish a current budget, ownership structure, or corporate group affiliation. HaMoked is a nonprofit civil-society organization rather than a conventional consumer brand. Its public identity is built around legal assistance, emergency intervention, rights monitoring, and advocacy for individuals affected by state policies and security practices.

HaMoked was established by Dr. Lotte Salzberger as an Israeli human-rights organization dedicated to assisting Palestinians affected by the Israeli occupation. Its institutional name, the Center for the Defence of the Individual, reflects an emphasis on individual complaints and remedies rather than only broad political campaigning. The organization’s registered objectives allow it to assist people who have suffered violence, abuse, or deprivation of basic rights by governmental authorities and to pursue protection of those rights through administrative engagement, court proceedings, and public advocacy. The organization’s activities developed in response to cases brought by Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Its work came to encompass detention, residency and family reunification, freedom of movement, violence by security forces and settlers, and punitive house demolitions. HaMoked combines casework with strategic litigation, seeking relief for particular individuals while also challenging policies and administrative practices with wider consequences. It petitions the Israeli High Court of Justice and may participate as a friend of the court. Its Court Watch section places judicial decisions in a human-rights framework and offers critical analysis of rulings by the High Court and other courts. A further component of HaMoked’s work is its emergency hotline. The service is intended to provide rapid intervention by communicating with government and security authorities during urgent situations. Cases may involve blocked movement, checkpoint delays, violence, delays in evacuating the injured or sick, difficulties affecting women in labor, and restrictions on the delivery of food, medicine, water, or other humanitarian assistance. This operational role complements the organization’s longer-term litigation and research programs. HaMoked became involved in a prominent institutional dispute in 2006. In a civil case filed on behalf of an East Jerusalem resident who alleged repeated arrests, checkpoint delays, and abusive interrogations, a state attorney submission attacked HaMoked and B'Tselem and questioned their characterization as human-rights organizations. HaMoked’s director complained to the Attorney General, arguing that the submission threatened the legitimacy of human-rights advocacy. The State Prosecutor’s Office subsequently disowned the statements, described them as unauthorized and inappropriate, and confirmed that the state recognized both organizations as human-rights organizations. In 2010, HaMoked joined nine other human-rights organizations in asking Defense Minister Ehud Barak to postpone implementation of Military Order No. 1650. The organizations argued that the order could expose Palestinian residents of the West Bank without Israeli permits to classification as infiltrators and possible deportation. Israeli security sources presented the measure as a mechanism that would permit judicial oversight of removals, while critics saw it as a substantial threat to Palestinian residency and security of tenure. A major information-development occurred in 2011 after HaMoked submitted a request under Israel’s Freedom of Information Law. Documents supplied by the Justice Ministry’s legal adviser for the West Bank described a covert procedure used between the beginning of the occupation in 1967 and the Oslo Accords in 1994 to cancel the residency status of approximately 140,000 West Bank Palestinians who had lived abroad. The reported cases included students and people who had left to work in other countries. HaMoked argued that large-scale withdrawal of residency amounted to permanent exile and violated international law. The material did not establish the number of Gaza residents affected. The organization has also worked on cases arising from war and blockade conditions. During the Gaza war, it approached the military regarding the status of roughly 900 Palestinians reported missing from the besieged territory. Across its activities, HaMoked has maintained a model centered on individual assistance, legal accountability, access to information, and challenges to policies affecting Palestinian civil and political rights. HaMoked has attracted both support and criticism. Gerald M. Steinberg of NGO Monitor criticized it for issuing political statements rather than promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked accused it of using what she called apartheid rhetoric and supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The organization’s supporters, including Israeli civil-society and human-rights figures, have defended its mandate and its role in scrutinizing government conduct. Historical funding reports identify grants from the Ford Foundation, European sources, the NGO Development Center, the Welfare Association, and the Finnish government, but the available material does not provide a current funding profile.

• 2011

  Residency cancellation procedure disclosed

  [1]HaMokeden.wikipedia.org

  A freedom-of-information request produces documents describing a long-running procedure for revoking the residency of West Bank Palestinians who had lived abroad.

• 2010

  Challenge to Military Order No. 1650

  [1]HaMokeden.wikipedia.org

  HaMoked co-signs a letter urging a delay to military measures concerning permits, infiltration classifications, and possible deportation of Palestinian residents from the West Bank.

• 2006

  Dispute over state litigation language

  [1]HaMokeden.wikipedia.org

  A state attorney submission attacks HaMoked and B'Tselem during litigation, but the State Prosecutor's Office later disavows the remarks and confirms their status as human-rights organizations.

• Organization founded

  [1]HaMokeden.wikipedia.org

  Dr. Lotte Salzberger establishes HaMoked as an Israeli organization assisting Palestinians affected by rights violations connected to the occupation.

A rights-focused Israeli civil-society organization providing direct assistance, legal representation, emergency intervention, litigation, and public advocacy for Palestinians affected by occupation-related restrictions and alleged violations of fundamental rights.

• Emergency assistance

  Emergency Human Rights Hotline

  A rapid-response service through which HaMoked attempts to resolve urgent rights and humanitarian problems by contacting relevant authorities. Reported situations include movement restrictions, checkpoint delays, violence, delayed evacuation of injured or sick people, complications affecting women in labor, and restrictions on humanitarian supplies.

• Legal advocacy

  Legal assistance and strategic litigation

  HaMoked assists individuals dealing with alleged abuse, detention, residency problems, family-unification barriers, restrictions on movement, violence, and punitive house demolitions. It can engage administrative authorities, petition the Israeli High Court of Justice, and participate in proceedings as a friend of the court.

• Legal research

  Court Watch

  The organization’s Court Watch materials provide commentary on judgments of the High Court of Justice and other courts. The analyses assess judicial reasoning and outcomes against international human-rights and humanitarian-law standards.

• Public-interest research

  Freedom-of-information advocacy

  HaMoked uses Israel’s Freedom of Information Law to obtain records concerning policies affecting Palestinians. One significant disclosure concerned the historical cancellation of residency status for West Bank residents who had spent extended periods abroad.

• 2006

  State attorney's attack on HaMoked and B'Tselem

  A state attorney filing in an East Jerusalem civil case described HaMoked and B'Tselem in hostile political terms and questioned whether they were genuine human-rights organizations. HaMoked objected, and the State Prosecutor's Office later rejected the remarks as unauthorized and inappropriate, ordering that they be removed from the filing.

  Source

• Political criticism of HaMoked's advocacy

  HaMoked has been criticized by Gerald M. Steinberg and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, among others, over its political positions, public statements, alleged use of apartheid-related rhetoric, and alleged support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The available material describes criticism rather than a legal finding of misconduct.

  Source

Read more

• 2011Residency-rights disclosure campaign

  West Bank · Israel

  HaMoked used a freedom-of-information request to obtain documentation concerning the cancellation of Palestinian residency status after residents spent extended periods outside the West Bank.

  Source
• 2010Opposition to Military Order No. 1650

  West Bank · Israel

  HaMoked joined nine other human-rights organizations in a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The letter sought to delay implementation of provisions that critics said could classify Palestinians without Israeli permits as infiltrators and enable their removal from the West Bank.

  Source

• 2011

  Freedom-of-information request on residency revocationsOther

  Background

  HaMoked sought records concerning the treatment of Palestinian residents who had lived outside the West Bank for extended periods.

  Action taken

  It obtained a Justice Ministry document describing a covert residency-cancellation procedure used between 1967 and 1994.

  Aftermath

  HaMoked characterized the reported mass withdrawal of residency rights as an illegitimate demographic policy and a violation of international law.

  Source

• 2010

  Joint challenge to permit and deportation provisionsStrategy

  Background

  HaMoked and nine other organizations argued that Military Order No. 1650 could expose many Palestinian residents of the West Bank to removal if they lacked newly required Israeli permits.

  Action taken

  HaMoked co-signed a letter asking the Defense Minister to postpone implementation of the order.

  Source

• 2006

  Complaint over state attorney's submissionOther

  Background

  A state attorney's filing in litigation supported by HaMoked attacked the organization and B'Tselem and disputed their human-rights status.

  Action taken

  HaMoked's director complained to the Attorney General and demanded that the state submit a revised statement.

  Aftermath

  The State Prosecutor's Office dissociated itself from the comments, stated that they were not authorized, and confirmed that HaMoked and B'Tselem were recognized as human-rights organizations.

  Source

1. 1HaMokeden.wikipedia.org
2. 2HaMoked official websitehamoked.org.il