This week: Clashes between Turkish protesters and police in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and the capital Ankara, Israeli soldiers threaten the children of the West Bank, Palestinians commemorate the Naksa and Israelis protest against the occupation in the streets of Tel Aviv.
A protester throws stones as fire works explode during clashes following an anti-government demonstration on the road between Taksim Square and Bashiktash Stadium, Istanbul, early June 5, 2013. Police used water canons and shot tear gas, arresting over 30 activists, including at least one medic and one photographer. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Ankara, Turkey on June 4, 2013. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/ Activestills.org)
A protester wears a gas mask as youth gather in Taksim Square in center Istanbul, Turkey, on the early morning of June 3, 2013. Police fired tear gas at activists after they set up barricades around the square and tired to march toward the local soccer stadium. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
Protesters sleep in a damaged bus in Taksim Square, early June 5, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Actviestills.org)
A window that was broken during clashes in Ankara, Turkey, June 4, 2013. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/ Activestills.org)
Members of workers unions march into Kizliay Square during a strike organized by the left-wing unions, Ankara, June 5, 2013. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/ Activestills.org)
A view of Taksim Square as anti-government protesters gather in the area, Istanbul, Turkey, June 3, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A solidarity protest with the Turkish upraise held in front of the Consulate-General of Turkey in Boston, MA, on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. The protests in Turkey started around May 28, 2013 over the fate of Taksim Square’s Gezi Park, a large park in the center of Istanbul and grew out of anger over excessive police force spiraled into anti-government demonstrations, challenging Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power. (Photo: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)
Two Palestinian boys age 14 and 15 hold a poster with their own photos on it with Arabic writing that reads: “We are the army. Be careful, we will arrest you if we see you, or come to your home.” The poster was posted on the village walls and near one of the boy’s houses by Israeli soldiers during an army raid on the village on the night of May 31, 2013. (Photo by: Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)
Activists demonstrate against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank on June 1, 2013, in the city of Tel Aviv. On June 5, Palestinians will mark the 46th anniversary of the 1967 occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza strip. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
Palestinians mark ‘Naksa Day’ with a rally at Damascus Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem, June 5, 2013. The Naksa, literally, the “setback”, refers to the capture of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Jordanian Jerusalem, including the Old City, by Israeli forces in the ‘Six Day War’ in 1967. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Human skeletons fill a mass grave found in a cemetery in the city of Jaffa near Tel Aviv, June 2, 2013. The grave was discovered on May 29, 2013 as workers carried out renovations, revealing six chambers full of skeletons, thought to be the remains of dozens of Palestinians killed during the Israeli-Arab war of 1948, when the Jewish state was founded. (Photo by: 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.
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