Photos of the week: A taste of freedom

By Activestills January 3, 2014 | Edit

This week: African asylum seekers hold a silent march for freedom in Tel Aviv, though immigration raids continue unabated; 26 Palestinian prisoners are freed after years in Israeli jails; Tel Aviv residents resist evictions, Filipino migrant workers celebrate New Year’s Eve; and an 85-year-old Palestinian man dies after inhaling tear gas shot into his home by Israeli soldiers.

African asylum seekers gather in Levinsky Park before a March For Freedom to protest against the Holot detention center located in Israel’s south, and for the release of all refugees imprisoned under the Infiltrators Law, Tel Aviv, Israel, December 28, 2013. More than 5,000 thousands African refugees participated in the march, supported by a few hundred Israeli activists, all calling for recognition of all refugees rights. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

An African asylum seeker holds a candle during the March For Freedom, Tel Aviv, Israel, December 28, 2013. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Friends and family members of the 26 Palestinian prisoners celebrate their imminent release from Israeli prison in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Relatives of Ibrahim Taqtoq sit in his house during the preparation for his arrival after more than 24 years in an Israeli prison. He supposed to be released today midnight, Nablus, West Bank, December 30, 2013. Twenty-six Palestinian prisoners from Gaza and the West Bank were set to be released in the third stage of a prisoner release deal secured by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of renewed peace talks. A total of 104 Palestinian prisoners, all jailed before the start of the Oslo peace process 20 years ago, are eventually supposed to be released over the next five months. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

The Israeli separation wall seen in Ras Shehada, East Jerusalem, December 27, 2013. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

An African refugee is arrested and placed on a bus as part of a raid of Immigration police in Levinsky Park, south Tel Aviv, Israel, December 30, 2013. (Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Immigration police close the windows of a bus full of African refugees after being arrested as part of a raid of in Levinsky Park, south Tel Aviv, Israel, December 30, 2013. (Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Israeli nationalists demonstrating in support of arresting African refugees during a raid by the immigration police in Levinsky Park, south Tel Aviv, Israel, December 30, 2013. The nationalists argued and cursed an Ethiopian Jewish woman who came to defend the refugees, shouting “Go back to Ethiopia!” (Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Residents of the Givat Amal neighborhood in north Tel Aviv block a road during a protest against new luxury housing project planned to be built in the area, Tel Aviv, January 1, 2014. According to the plan, 130 families living in the area since 1948 will be evicted without proper compensation. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

African refugees gather in front of the Ministry of Interior offices in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2013 asking to renew their visas. Panic has spread among the refugee community in Israel as immigration authorities have started to deny visa renewals, leaving asylum seekers exposed to arrests and imprisonment under the Infiltrators Law. A big wave of arrests and forced detention was carried out throughout the week. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Filipino migrant workers celebrate New Year’s Eve in Tel Aviv’s southern neighborhood of Neve Sha’ana, Israel, January 1, 2014. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli immigration officers arrest African Asylum seekers in Levinsky park in South Tel Aviv, January 1, 2013. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Relatives of Said Jasir, 85 years old, mourn during his funeral in the West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum, January 2, 2014. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Palestinians youth throw stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes following the funeral march of 85-year-old Said Jasir, in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, January 2, 2014. According to Palestinian medical sources, Jasir died after the Israeli army shot tear gas into his house during a protest in the village on January 1. After inhaling tear gas, Jasil was evacuated to the hospital in Nabuls, were he died a few hours later. After the funeral, youth from the village marched to the area near the settlement of Kedumim, where they clashed with the Israeli army. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a 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 a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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