This week: Clashes in Jerusalem and the West Bank at the heels of provocative visits to al-Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount area by right-wing Jewish activists, weekly demonstrations against the wall and the occupation, Tel Aviv activists march at night, and some local color in Ramallah.
Israeli undercover policeman and a border policeman arrest a Palestinian youth during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al Amud, September 27. Clashes broke out in different locations in Jerusalem after Israeli police limited accesses to the Friday prayers in Al Aqsa Mosque. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian youth throw stones during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al Amud, September 27. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinians pray outside the Lions Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City, September 27, 2013. Israeli police prevented Palestinian worshipers under the age of 50 from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque so Palestinians prayed in different locations near the checkpoints. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Israeli policemen arrest a Palestinian man after they shot him with a Taser gun in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al Amud, September 27, 2013. Israeli police prevented Palestinian worshipers under 50 from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque. After the prayers, clashes started in different neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Clashes broke out at Damascus Gate as Palestinians protested against Israeli Jews entering the Aqsa Mosque area under heavy police protection in the Old City of Jerusalem, September 24, 2013. (photo: Guest photographer Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators clash with Israeli soldiers during the weekly demonstration against the occupation in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, on September 27, 2012. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
A journalist is injured during the weekly demonstration against the occupation in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, on September 27, 2012. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Israeli forces fire tear gas into the Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, West Bank, September 27, 2013. The clashes were in reaction to recent provocations at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque by right-wing Jewish activists. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
A Palestinian throws stones at the separation wall in Aida Refugee Camp during clashes with Israeli forces, Bethlehem, West Bank, September 27, 2013. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
A Palestinian car decorated for a wedding passes by Israeli soldiers blocking the path of the weekly demonstration against the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Al Ma’sara, September 27, 2013. If built as planned, the wall would cut off the village from its agricultural lands. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Israeli activists and members of the local political party “City for All” take part in a march calling to improve the street lighting in South Tel Aviv, Israel, September 23, 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian women climb painted stairs in the city center of Ramallah, West Bank, September 23, 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/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.
Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is the leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists and activists can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.