Dawabshe murders

Hussein Dawabshe seen outside a court hearing in Lod, during a hearing on the attack on the West Bank village of Duma, where three members of the Dawabshe family were murdered, June 19, 2018. (Roy Alima/Flash90)

Torture ruling unites right and left, but leaves justice by the wayside

Both left and right-wingers hailed a decision by an Israeli court to throw out parts of confessions provided by two Israelis suspected of a murdering a Palestinian family because they were obtained through torture. The shared satisfaction across political camps is rare. It is also flawed and worrying. Both left-wing and right-wing voices lauded an Israeli court…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 21, 2018

Siam Nuwara, the father of Nadeem Siam Nuwara, mourns over his son before his funeral procession in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 16, 2014. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

‘There is no justice in Israel — it’s always postponed’

The Nawara family expected to hear the sentence of the Israeli soldier who killed their son, Nadeem. Instead, they were forced to sit quietly while the soldier’s lawyer argued that it was not his client but Nadeem who was guilty of a crime. The hearing began poorly. Siam Nawara was on the stand, testifying in what was supposed…

By Joshua Leifer January 10, 2018

Mother of Saad Dawabsheh (center) reacts during her son's funeral procession, in the West Bank village of Duma, August 8, 2015. Saad Dawabsha and his toddler son Ali, 18-months-old, were burned to death in an arson attack by Jewish extremists on their house last week. Saad died of his injuries after a week in the hospital, while his wife still fights for her life. (Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org)

Good riddance, 2015

2015 was a year full of murder, stabbings, homophobia, and gender-based violence. I can’t wait for it to be over. Damn you, 2015. Your place is in the dustbin of history. Leave us alone. You fraud. You began to shower us with specks of hope when the last elections were announced. We thought perhaps that…

By Samah Salaime December 28, 2015

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Jaffa protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners (Mati Milstein)

Israel isn’t denying that it uses torture, it’s justifying it

Responding to a right-wing campaign accusing it of torturing ‘Jewish terrorism’ suspects, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency basically admits doing so, and insists it is acting within the law. Last week’s episode of “This American Life” was called The Poetry of Propaganda. The Chicago-based radio program discussed how official government messaging often contains different meanings for different…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 25, 2015