On Friday, December 7th, thousands hit the streets of Tel Aviv for the annual Human Rights March, put on by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). The march gathered more than 130 organizations that promote human rights, social change, equality, and democracy. The march marked International Human Rights Day, which is observed every year on December 10th, the day in which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The event ended in Rabin Square with performances by several Israeli artists and a keynote speech by author and ACRI President Sami Michael.
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Tel Aviv on December 7, 2012 in the annual Human Rights March. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills)
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Tel Aviv on December 7, 2012 in the annual human rights march. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills)
African immigrants organized by Amnesty International demand their rights in the annual human rights march in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2012. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills)
Border police checking the ID card of a Palestinian during the human rights march.
(photo: Shachaf Polakow/Activestills)
Israeli activists take part in a performance illustrating Palestinian detainees during the annual human rights march, Tel Aviv, Israel. (photo: Shachaf Polakow/Activestills)
An Israeli activist at the annual human rights march in Tel Aviv holds a poster asking “Who Killed Mustafa Tamimi?” December 7, 2012. Tamimi was killed on December 9, 2011, when he was shot in the face with a tear gas canister at close range by Israeli soldiers. Also pictured on the poster is Lieutenant Colonel Shay Ben Yshai, the direct commander of the soldier who killed Tamimi. No one responsible for Tamimi’s death has been brought to justice to this day. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills)
Writer Sami Michael speaks at a rally held in the end of the human rights march. Thousands of people marched through the streets of Tel Aviv on December 7, 2012 in the annual human rights march. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in shorts and a T-shirt, watching over the annual Human Rights March, passing beneath his house in Gindi Tower, central Tel Aviv. (photo: Sebastian Wallerstein)
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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