Support Yuval Ben-Ami’s Christmas journey in the holy land

By +972 Magazine December 7, 2011 | Edit

Dear +972 readers,

Christmas – it all began here – and today, it hides around the holy land in some unexpected places.

This December, +972’s resident travel writer Yuval Ben-Ami will find the smells, sounds, customs, and lives that go unnoticed at the heart of a holiday celebrated by billions around the world, and bring them to you.

He’ll spend 10 days traveling Israel and the West Bank looking for Christmas:

Israeli Christmas, Palestinian Christmas, the Christmas of pilgrims, of monks and nuns, Christmas in the Galilee, Christmas in the desert, Christmas in Bethlehem, Christmas in Tel Aviv. Christmas in the land of Jesus, and Christmas in the Jewish state.

The resulting words, images and media from his travels will be published as a multi-part Christmas Journey series on +972 Magazine, an exposé of the many faces of Christmas in the holy land.

We need your help to make this journey happen!

Help +972 raise $5,000 by Thursday, December 15, so Yuval can get going on the Christmas Journey.

Make a contribution by donating now.

+972 readers have sponsored some incredible journeys in the past.

This September, Yuval set out on a month-long journey throughout Israel and the West Bank, recording his impressions of a period in the region marked by political, diplomatic and social unrest. The resulting series, “The September Journey,” published on +972, is comprised of 24 posts – more than 40,000 words and hundreds of photographs. It stirred lively debates among readers and is a landmark of documentary writing on the region.

In March, during the early days of the Arab Spring, +972 readers came out in droves to send blogger Lisa Goldman to Cairo to cover Egyptians’ lives and thoughts as they took the first steps in shaping post-Mubarak Egypt. Lisa’s reports of many Egyptians’ first experiences in a participatory democracy, cleaning up Tahrir Square, and negotiating their changing lives and jobs provided fascinating personal stories behind the revolution.

These journeys couldn’t have happened without generous support from our readers.

As a volunteer-based independent media organization, +972 Magazine has since its founding been operated and led by its writers and editors. Owing nothing to any political party or corporate interest has allowed us to continue ensuring total editorial independence, bringing our readers a diversity of voices and opinions. Our small budget gathered mostly from reader support does not allow +972 to pay for writing on our site, and therefore we must look externally for special projects that place heavy expenses on our bloggers.

Please support the Christmas Journey on +972, by donating here, and by spreading the word to friends and family.

With deep gratitude,

+972 Magazine

Christmas in the holy land (Photo: Mati Milstein)

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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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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.

Make a Donation

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