This week: Memorials for those killed protesting the separation barrier, weekly protests against the occupation, Palestinians and internationals destroy an Israeli barrier, Palestinians return to their land after 35 years, and more.
Before the weekly protest against the wall, Palestinian Sabiha Abu Rahme cries near the memorial monument for her son, Bassem, who in a 2009 protest was shot and killed with a high-velocity tear gas grenade by Israeli soldiers, Bil’in, West Bank, October 4, 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Youth throw stones at an Israeli military bulldozer during the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum, a West bank village located East of Qalqiliya, on Friday, October 4, 2013. Kafr Qaddum started to organize regular demonstrations in July 2011, protesting against the blocking of the main road east of the village which used to linked it to Nablus. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Palestinian activists march under the gaze of Israeli soldiers during the weekly protest against the wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, October 4, 2013. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Israeli border police man detain a international activist, during the weekly protest against the wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, October 4, 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian and International activists remove a gate built by the Israeli army blocking the road between the village of Al Walaja and the West Bank town of Beit Jala, October 3, 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
For the first time in the West Bank, Palestinians return to their land that was an Israeli settlement. People from the village of Burka return to cultivate their land after 35 years, October 3, 2013. The land was confiscated in 1978 under a seizure order for military purposes, which was common practice for establishing Israeli settlements until the late 1970s. The return was an outcome of legal action by the Israeli human rights NGO Yesh Din. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
As Palestinians return to their land that was an Israeli settlement, people from the village of Burka paint over Jewish symbols on a water tank, October 3, 2013. The land was confiscated in 1978 under a seizure order for military purposes, which was common practice for establishing Israeli settlements until the late 1970s. The return was an outcome of legal action by the Israeli human rights NGO Yesh Din. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
With the Israeli settlement Gilo covering a nearby hillside, a Palestinian priest leads an open air Catholic mass as a form of nonviolent resistance against the Israeli separation wall, Beit Jala, West Bank, October 4, 2013. If built as planned, he Israeli separation wall will divide Beit Jala land and separate a Catholic convent from a monastery, as well as cutting off access to village olive groves. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Afghan children and women sit in a room belonging to a church, used as a temporary shelter, in Brussels, Belgium, October 1, 2013. Hundreds of Aghan asylum seekers have been demonstrating to request protection in Belgium. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Afghan protesters hold a sign reading “Free the 42 Afghans arrested and in closed centers” during a demonstration by hundreds of Afghan asylum seekers, demanding for protection and asylum in Belgium; Brussels, October 2, 2013. Without papers, they cannot work or find decent housing. Belgium has been involved in the Afghan conflict for 10 years. There are about 2.7 million Afghans who continue to live in exile and some 450,000 are internally displaced. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
An Israeli activist lights candles as activists gather near Rothschild Boulevard, during a memorial event for Haim Atya, October 2, 2013. Haim, 56, became unemployed and homeless after a cerebrovascular accident. After the eviction of the tent camp in Rothschild boulevard two years ago he used to sleep outside Leumi bank. He was found dead on June 2013. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A Palestinian boy sells coffee to drivers waiting in line at the Israeli military checkpoint controlling movement between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, West Bank, September 30, 2013. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/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.