This week: Border Police bloopers in Bil’in, asylum seekers in Tel Aviv, Palestinian activists launch campaign in the Jordan Valley, anti-Arab graffiti in Silwan, ultra-orthodox Jews against the draft in Jerusalem, a far-right politician hands out award for McCarthyism in Israeli schools, and solidarity outside Holot ‘open’ detention center.
Israeli Border Policemen jump out of their jeep after a tear gas grenade unintentionally exploded inside it, as they were trying to disperse the weekly protest against the Israeli wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, February 7, 2014. (photo: Hamde Abu Rahma/Activestills.org)
African asylum seekers sleep in Levinsky Park, south Tel Aviv, on the fifth day of an ongoing protest, February 6, 2013. The sit-in protested the new Holot detention center for African immigrants and called on the Israeli government to recognize their refugee rights. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
An Eritrean Asylum seeker sweeps the ground, after spending the night in Levnisky park, South Tel Aviv, on their eighth day of an ongoing protest, during the early hours of February 9, 2014. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A Palestinian youth stands among the buildings of the Jordan Valley protest village of Ein Hijleh, West Bank, February 6, 2014. As part of its Melh Al-Ard (Salt of the Earth) campaign, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Coordination Committee began to restore and occupy abandoned homes in Ein Hijleh to protest the ongoing Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
A ‘price tag’ graffiti is seen sprayed on the wall of a Palestinian house in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, February 10, 2014. The graffiti reads: Arab labor = assimilation.’ (photo: Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews take cover as an Israeli police water canon sprays the crowd under the Chord Bridge at the entrance to West Jerusalem, during a protest against drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli military, February 6, 2014. Several thousand Haredi Jews protested in Jerusalem and other cities after an ultra-Orthodox young man was arrested for dodging the draft. Police used water canon, horses and physical force to break up the protest. (photo: Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)
The “Jewish State Award” is given to Sapir Sabah during a ceremony organized by former MK Michael Ben-Ari, Israel, February 9, 2014. Sapir Sabah is a high-school student who publicly denounced her teacher, Adam Verete, for questioning the morality of the Israeli army’s actions in class. The award ceremony was attended by far-right activists Itamar Ben-Gvir, Baruch Marzel and their followers. (photo: Activestills.org)
Israeli soldiers patrol in the the Ein Hijleh protest camp, Jordan Valley, West Bank, February 5, 2014. (photo: Hamde Abu Rahma/Activestills.org)
Israeli army and police raid and evict Ein Hijleh protest camp, Jordan Valley, West Bank, February 7, 2014. (photo: Hamde Abu Rahma/Activestills.org)
African Asylum seekers board a bus of the Israeli immigration authority before leaving for Holot detention center, Tel Aviv, Israel, February 9 , 2014. The Israeli immigration authority summoned a few dozens asylum seekers, ordering them to arrive at Holot ‘open’ detention center. Approximately 50 complied. According to human rights organizations, over 1,700 African asylum seekers received similar summons scheduled for the coming weeks, informing them their current visa is cancelled. (photo: Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)
African asylum seekers held in the Holot detention center eat food brought by community members during a solidarity visit held outside the detention center, Negev, February 8, 2014. (photo: Activestills.org)
Victims of torture camps in the Sinai Desert, Egypt, show their injuries as African asylum seekers shout slogans during a protest in front of Israel Ministry of Interior offices in Tel Aviv, February 11, 2014. African asylum seekers marched from Levinsky park to protest against the new Holot detention center for African immigrants and called on the Israeli government to recognize their refugee rights. (photo: Activestills.org)
African asylum seekers shout slogans during a protest in front of Israel Ministry of Interior offices in Tel Aviv, February 11, 2014. (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.