The battered economy of Gaza in Palestine is a media staple in most parts of the world. Of course, not in Israel. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem decided to do something to mend matters. In mid-2009, it distributed video cameras to 18 young people in Gaza and set them up with an instructor. The assignment: tell us about your lives. “The idea was to help people there communicate their struggles to Israelis, to combat the stereotypes,” said Sarit Michaeli, spokesperson for B’Tselem.
   

“They are an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv but so much away for most Israelis.”

The result is a series of short subtitled videos on a variety of topics: working in the smuggling tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai, how the wounded are doing, a profile of a girls’ soccer team.