Demonstrations against the imprisonment of refugees and asylum seekers, protests in Ramallah over the high cost of living, an anti-war candlelight vigil, and more. Activestills images tell the stories of the week.
Eritrean refugees and Israeli activists protest on August 31, 2012, against the imprisonment without trial of asylum seekers and refugees in a new, massive prison under construction in the Negev desert. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Palestinians block traffic in Ramallah’s busy Al-Manara square on September 4, 2012, protesting the high cost of living and calling for the resignation of the Palestinian National Authority’s PM Salam Fayyad and an end to his neoliberal “austerity” economic policies. Protesters condemned continous increases in taxes, cuts to public sector wages and the oppressive rule of the Paris Protocol on Economic Relations, an agreement signed with Israel in 1994 which laid out the economic relations between Israel and the PA within the Oslo framework, and which turned out to be mostly about ensuring Israel’s economic domination of the Palestinian market. (photo: JC/Activestills.org)
An Israeli solider attempts to arrest an activist during a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, August 31, 2012. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Palestinian youth clash with Israeli soldiers during a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, August 31, 2012. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Israeli soldiers hold riot shields with anti-occupation slogans written on them by Palestinian activists at a weekly demonstration against the separation wall, Al Ma’sara, West Bank, August 31, 2012. If completed as planned, the barrier will cut off the village from agricultural lands owned by its residents. (photo: RRB/Activestills.org)
Blood stains of Haj Ismail Ibrahim al-Adara, a resident of Khirbet Bir al-Eid, who was attacked by two masked men near his home in the South Hebron Hills on August 28, 2012. The visit was organized by Ta’ayush activists to show solidarity with the villages about to be demolished to make room for what Israeli authorities call “Firing Zone 918”, August 31, 2012. (photo: SG/Activestills.org)
A Palestinian activist makes mud bricks used for rebuilding Palestinian homes that were demolished. Jordan Valley, August 31, 2012. (photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/ Activestills.org)
A mango labeled with a sticker reading “Made in Israel” written in Arabic seen in a market in Amman, Jordan, August 28,2012. The mangoes are produced by the Israeli company “Zemach”. (photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)
Former Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan (second from right) participates in a demonstration in the West Bank city of Nablus in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners who are still on hunger strike: Samer Barq 105 days, Hassan Safadi 75 days, Ayman Sharawna 65 days and Samer Issawi 34 days. (photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)
Israelis light candles in front of the house of Ehud Barak, Israeli defense minister. The candles, usually used to commemorate the dead, were lit beside a sign that reads: “not more then 500”, referring to Barak’s estimation of the number of Israeli casualties in a war with Iran, Tel Aviv, September 2, 2012. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Activists for public housing read a letter in Tel Aviv on September 3, 2012, summoning the heads of the Ministry of Housing and Building, and the heads of Amidar and Halamish (the largest public housing companies in Israel), for a public trial that will be held on the October 3, 2012. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Remains of structures after a demolition conducted by the Israeli army the day before in the Al Kurshan Bedouin community, in the Judean desert, East of Dar Salah, Bethlehem region, August 30, 2012. The demolition targeted four families belonging to the extended Al Kurshan family who live in the Judean desert in two different close locations, east of Dar Salah village, in the Bethlehem area. In total, all of the four residential structures and three animal shelters were demolished, leaving nothing standing, and making 24 people homeless, including 12 children. Several tents which were provided by international agencies following the previous demolitions a few months ago were also confiscated. The Israeli army claims that the Al Khurshan families have to leave the area because they live inside “Firing Zone 914”. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Friends, relatives and colleagues of Bashar Qaddoumi hold a vigil demanding his immediate release in Ramallah’s Clock Square on September 4, 2012. Bashar Qaddoumi is a Palestinian journalist who was arrested on August 20 by Syrian security forces while covering the fighting in the Azez district of Aleppo. Syrian authorities have so far not disclosed any information about his current conditions, and there are rumours he was injured before being arrested. (photo by: JC/Activestills.org)
Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war – the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and the massive retaliatory Israeli attacks on Gaza. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing violence.
We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed unleashed by these events has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Hamas’ murderous assault in southern Israel has devastated and shocked the country to its core. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza is wreaking destruction on the already besieged strip and killing a ballooning number of civilians. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to escalate their attacks on Palestinians.
This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 13 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, the entrenched occupation, and an increasingly normalized siege on Gaza.
We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.
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