The Arab section coordinator at B'Tselem website Suhad Saqallah said that the video deals with the sufferings faced by the Palestinians due to the roadblocks and checkpoints through a popular Israeli song entitled “Seoum”, which means “Eyes wide open.”

“The song is performed by seven Israeli singers who oppose the notion of barriers and the policy adopted by the occupation authorities against the Palestinians. Some words have been modified by the website itself to suit the issue of Israeli practices on the barriers,” she added.

The original song has been written by the Israeli song writer Nathan Alterman and previously performed by an Israeli singer called Eric Einstein.

The song will be accompanied by several shots for the Israeli roadblocks established on the Palestinian lands as well as some quotes from Israeli military officers and soldiers who denounce the policy of siege around Palestinian cities.

B'Tselem website underlined that “all such scenes are realistic and a genuine expression of events.”

The human rights center wishes that this project will have its repercussion on the international arena in an attempt to change current policies that lead to such barriers.

“This project is a part of a huge campaign against the barriers and the permanent siege imposed on Palestinians,” Saqallah pointed out, adding that the campaign basically focus on the barriers held deep in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, separating towns and villages in the two regions.

The video clip campaign has been launched on February 7, 2004, and will last for six weeks, the media coordinator added, pointing out that she will adopt several other methods to activate the project, including publishing ads in Israeli papers and online in three languages: Arabic, Hebrew and English.

“Since September 2000, the Israeli army has erected an extensive network of checkpoints, road blocks, trenches and other obstacles - a virtual siege around every Palestinian community in the West Bank. Most West Bank roads are now reserved exclusively for Jewish travel,” the website said.

“Most checkpoints and physical obstacles do not prevent entry into Israel; they prevent travel between Palestinian cities and villages within the West Bank. They disrupt every aspect of Palestinian daily life. Children cannot get to schools, adults cannot reach jobs, and patients cannot get medical treatment. The restrictions on movement have contributed to a collapse of the Palestinian economy,” it added.

The checkpoints do not target only those who pose a security threat to Israel; they target everyone. In fact, those most harmed are people physically unable to bypass the obstacles: families with small children, pregnant women, the sick and the elderly, it explains.

“When over two million people cannot travel even a few miles down the road, cannot conduct any aspect of their daily lives without encountering innumerable obstacles, such restrictions are no longer legitimate security measures - they are collective punishments.”

This isn't security. It's humiliation, the website concluded.

Meanwhile, B'Tselem spokesman Nauam Hophtcher said that the organization seeks to get public figures involved in the campaign against the barriers.

“We exert constant efforts to talk Israeli prominent public figures into participating in our activities. Several artists have positively responded. Our objective is to convey a strong and clear-cut message to the greatest possible number of Israelis,” she said.

Hence, the participation of popular Israeli figures is an integral part of the campaign,” he added.

“We should be watchful and see the whole facts. We can not keep violating the rights of three millions people. Depriving them from the means to earn their living and get medical treatment is unbearable,” Israeli actor Yussi Boulak, who has actually joined the campaign, said.

The video clip director Eric Dvidovic has expressed his delight for such participation, saying “I am very happy that I got this opportunity to link my art to the principles I adhere to.”

"Eyes Wide Open" art work comes to stress the call made by the head of the civil administration in the West Bank brigadier General Elan Baz and published by Israeli Yedout Aharonot newspaper on Friday, January 23, to demolish the separation roadblocks and checkpoints.

“Facilities could and should be provided to the Palestinians, including the dismantling of the internal barriers,” he said.

Permanently-existing Israeli barriers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which amount to 50, pose a nightmare that chases Palestinian citizens and university students since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa uprising against Israeli occupation in September 28, 2000.

B'Tselem was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.

B'Tselem in Hebrew literally means "in the image of," and is also used as a synonym for human dignity.

Eyes Wide Open
Lyrics: Nathan Alterman - Music: Miki Gavrielov - Adaptation: Eldar Lidor