The Only Democracy? » Archive
Israel to Reinvestigate Police Shooting of U.S. Activist Tristan Anderson
By Henry Norr A year ago. Israeli Border Police shattered the skull of Tristan Anderson with a high-velocity tear gas canister as he stood unarmed following a weekly demonstration against Israel’s Separation Wall in the West Bank village of Nilin. Since then, his family, friends, and supporters around the world continue the struggle to hold Israel accountable. Anderson, a now-39-year-old resident of Oakland, California, still lies in the Tel Hashomer hospital outside Tel Aviv, where he was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Three Protesters and Journalist Arrested During Beit Ommar Demonstration
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Beit Ummar demonstrators were attacked by dozens of tear-gas and stun grenades this morning as they approached Road 60 near their village. In response, the road was blocked by protesters for nearly an hour. Soldiers made four arrests, including that of an AP cameraman and a local leader. Dozens of residents of Beit Ummar, accompanied by Israeli and international supporters, marched from the center of the village towards Road 60 that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Secular, Religious Israeli Students Hold Different Views on Equal Rights and Military Service
Last month we posted an article about Israel’s increasing rejection of democracy as a preferred form of government. On the question of equal rights for Arab citizens, about half of those surveyed opposed such equality. A new poll of Israeli high-school students reveals that nearly half of them also do not believe that Arabs citizens are entitled to the same rights as Jews in Israel. That view was held by 82 percent of religious students, and 39 percent of secular students. Some 91 percent of secular high school students said they want to enlist in the IDF, versus 77 percent of religious students. Eighty-one percent of the religious students said they would refuse orders to evacuate outposts and settlements in the West Bank, versus 36 percent of secular students. Nearly a third of the students said they … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
New Profile, European Union Urge UN to Hold Israel Accountable
By Rela Mazali. On January 28th 2010, New Profile, a feminist movement working to demilitarize society and state in Israel, dispatched a letter to a list of top U.N. officials urging the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council to intervene to ensure implementation of the recommendations made by the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. “If the United Nations and wider international community are to meet their responsibilities in upholding the rule of … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Beit Sahour Professor Faces Arrest by Israeli Military for Nonviolent Protest
Mazin Qumsiyeh reports on his likely arrest next week by the Israeli military when he returns from a lecture tour in the U.S. to his village in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem. His crime? Participation in nonviolent protests against the military takeover of the only remaining open land in Bethlehem, which the Jewish-Israeli settlers covet for themselves. Qumsiyeh is a U.S. citizen and professor who lived in America for 29 years before returning to Beit Sahour in 2008. He contrasts the freedoms … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Fear makes us hypocrites: Israel’s new conversion law
By Jesse Bacon Israel’s new proposed conversion law provides a nice insight into the state of Israeli politics, 2010. It has drawn outrage, even among my right wing friends who would not ordinarily criticize the Israeli government, or support others right to do so. “The bill proposes that the Law of Return only be applicable to Jews or their offspring, and not to non-Jews who opted to convert – even if the conversion follows Orthodox … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Jamal Juma Calls on Obama to Support Palestinian Struggle for “A Life Free From Racial Discrimination”
Jamal Juma is the coordinator of the Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall) since 2002. He was arrested in December 2009 by the Israeli military following a series of protests against the construction of the Wall in the West Bank. He was one of 89 Palestinian human rights activists arrested in 2009; scores more have been arrested this year. With the intervention of Amnesty International, and campaigns by peace and justice organizations around the world, including Jewish … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Muli Peleg on Israeli Democracy
By Jesse Bacon. I attended a talk by Muli Peleg on “Israeli Democracy” at LimmudPhilly, the Jewish “Learningfest”. This is an event that is quite open to broad participation but certainly attracts many people from the organized “mainstream” Jewish community. This represented one of the few classes taught by an Israeli, or on the conflict at all.Peleg, a professor at Netanya College who is doing a visiting gig at Rutgers, laid out a shockingly honest critique … Read entire article »
Filed under: Victories for Democracy
Israeli Forces Invade Palestine Solidarity Project in Beit Ommar
The Palestine Solidarity Project reports on a March 8 raid by Israeli Forces on the Beit Ommar homes of the Project’s founders and family, and on the offices of the Project. This invasion comes one day after Beit Ommar residents blocked Routh 60 in southern Palestine, the main highway for travel between settlements in the area, in protest against Israel’s plan to annex religious sites as their national “heritage sites.” Bekah Wolfe, co-founder of the Palestine Solidarity Project with her husband Mousa Abu Maria, was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Photo Quiz: Can you identify the military prison?
Last week as I drove to Ofer Military Prison in the West Bank to attend a hearing of Abdallah Abu Rahma from Bili’in, it struck me that most people driving past these huge walls on their commute to Jerusalem don’t realize they are driving past a prison. That’s actually not surprising considering the concrete landscape of the west bank. Take the quiz for yourself and see how you do: Which of these photos is the a Military Prison in the Occupied Territories? … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.