Ahmed Tibi

File photo of Donald Trump (Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com)

Trump is no more racist than mainstream Israeli policy

Israeli politicians are joining the global pushback against Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim racism. But guess what other country bans Muslim immigration? Just days after Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump announced that he will be visiting Israel by the end of December, the billionaire populist called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United…

By Mairav Zonszein December 9, 2015

MK Ibrahim Zarzur (center) and MK Ahmad Tibi (photo: Yotam Ronen / activestills.org)

The Arab parties united? Great, now it’s time to get to work

After a great deal of work, the joint Arab election slate has finally come into fruition. But what does the list say about the place of women in Arab politics? Who proved himself to be the real leader of the group? And what can the Arab public do now? You know that joke about how…

By Samah Salaime January 24, 2015

Members of newly announced "United List" of Arab parties in Israel ahead of March 17, 2015 election Photo: Courtesy Balad)

Arab parties announce joint slate for upcoming election

In a bid to remain relevant with an increased electoral threshold, the three Arab parties and Communist party Hadash are to run on one list in the March 17 elections. In an unprecedented, historic move, Israel’s Arab parties Hadash, Balad, Ta’al and Ra’am announced late Thursday night that they will run on a joint slate…

By Mairav Zonszein January 22, 2015

Latest

Arab parties likely to announce historic joint election slate in coming days

Islamists, Marxists, women and Jews: The Arab parties have done the seemingly impossible and are likely announce a united election slate in the coming days. By Yael Marom and Nadav Frankovich Israel’s Arab parties are expected to announce the formation of a combined election slate in the lead-up to the upcoming elections. The slate, which…

By +972 Magazine January 22, 2015

Raam-Taal MK Ahmad Tibi (L) and Balad MK Jamal Zahalka (Photo by Activestills.org)

Why won’t the Arab parties just unite already?

Raising the Knesset threshold was a game-changer, and now the Arab parties must find a way to unite in order to stay relevant. Will they put aside their egos and political differences for the sake of Israel’s Palestinian minority? A war of attrition has been declared on the Palestinian minority in Israel, in the wake…

By Samah Salaime January 8, 2015

'Haaretz' journalist Gideon Levy (Photo by Yossi Gurvitz)

Dissent in Israel: On the margins, yes, in the mainstream, no

Regarding the controversy over Mairav Zonszein’s ‘New York Times’ op-ed: An ongoing climate of fear and suspicion is not conducive to ‘vibrant democracy.’ It is unfriendly to left-wing protest over security matters. Since my colleague Mairav Zonszein published her ballbuster op-ed “How Israel Silences Dissent” in the New York Times several days ago, there’s…

By Larry Derfner October 2, 2014

Protest against the boycott Law, Tel Aviv, June 12 2011 (photo: Oren Ziv/activestills)

Let’s stop using the terms ‘fascism’ and ‘democracy’ from now on

The debate over the state of Israeli democracy (or the rise of fascism) is code designed for lefty Zionists. Others don’t get it, and it may even do more harm than good. Some thoughts following Haaretz’s interview with Prof. Ze’ev Sternhell. There has been growing discussion over the last few weeks regarding the risk of fascism…

By Noam Sheizaf August 17, 2014

Palestinian construction workers in an Israeli settlement (Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Protecting the secrets of Israel’s settlement enterprise

MK David Rotem unabashedly stopped a vote that would apply Israel’s freedom of information act to the World Zionist Organization’s (WZO) “Settlement Division,” an extra-governmental organization that receives 100 percent of its budget from the State of Israel and is responsible for much of the settlement building in the West Bank. Why would he do…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man April 3, 2014

PM Netanyahu, with President Peres and Supreme Court President Grunis (L) at the official Rabin memorial, Mount Herzl, October 16, 2013. (Photo: GPO/Mark Neyman)

Israel 2013: Netanyahu preaches the lessons of Rabin’s murder

And nobody objects. I was listening on the radio to the prime minister’s speech in the Knesset on Wednesday for the 18th anniversary (on the Hebrew calendar) of the Rabin assassination, and it just struck me how far we’ve come in this country. Bibi Netanyahu is now preaching to Israel the lessons of Rabin’s murder.…

By Larry Derfner October 18, 2013

Knesset Members protest in silence the rise of election threshold to 4 percent, a move that could see all Palestinian perties eliminated. From top-left corner: MK Barakeh (Hadash); MK Tibi, with back to the Knesset (Ra'am Ta'al); MK Zoabi (Balad); MK Gal-On (Meretz); MK Zahalka, with tape on his mouth (Balad); MK Gafni (United Torah Judaism); MK Zandberg (Meretz); MK Michaeli (Labor); MK Horowitz (Meretz)

Knesset approves bill that could push Arab parties out

After a stormy night session, the coalition was able to pass the necessary amendments and election laws that would make it more difficult to topple a government and eliminate small factions. Left-wing and Palestinian members of Knesset protested the legislation in ‘silent speeches.’ Ultra-Orthodox MK Eichler spoke to the Arab public in Arabic, saying ‘we…

By Noam Sheizaf August 1, 2013

MK Hanin Zoabi (photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Resource: Israeli elections and Palestinian parliamentarians

Who are the leading Arab candidates in the upcoming Knesset elections? Who is trying to ban them from running, and how? How did such attempts end in previous elections? How many Palestinian citizens can vote in the Knesset elections, and how many are expected to vote? A Q&A by the human rights organization Adalah answers…

By +972 Resources December 13, 2012

On the Nakba, Jewish identity and memory

On Monday, the eve of Nakba Day, I attended a book launch for the memoirs of five elderly Holocaust survivors who emigrated from Europe to Canada after the Second World War. The event took place in the main sanctuary of a large, well-established Conservative synagogue in a prosperous area of Toronto, very much like the…

By Lisa Goldman May 15, 2012

Omissions, half-truths, lies: Ambassador Oren in Foreign Policy

In a piece recently published, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren rejected claims regarding anti-democratic trends in his country, and compared the legal status of Palestinians in the West Bank to that of American citizens in Washington DC and the U.S. territories. A response. When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed Professor Michael Oren – a historian…

By Noam Sheizaf April 10, 2012