Occupation vs. democracy: A view from the ground

An Israeli Border Police officer harasses a Palestinians journalist covering clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces outside Ofer Military Prison, near Betunia, West Bank, August 3, 2016. (Flash90)

The Israeli gov’t must stop threatening to defund media outlets

+972 Magazine stands in solidarity with our colleagues at Israel Social TV, who are being targeted for political reasons by two government ministries. Israel’s Communications Ministry appears to have its crosshairs on “Israel Social TV,” one of a very small number of independent media outlets providing on-the-ground coverage of social and political struggles in Israel…

By +972 Magazine October 9, 2016

A member of the Palestinian Ghaith family stands with the belongings of her family after her house was demolished by Jerusalem municipality workers in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of At-Tur on April 29, 2013. (Tali Mayer/ Activestills.org)

After 46 years of occupation, land confiscation renders Israeli law obsolete

Since Israel occupied the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, it has continued to engage in legal acrobatics to confiscate Palestinian homes and land. In doing so, the state is actively erasing its internationally recognized border – the Green Line. One thing has become abundantly clear about Israeli policy when it comes to land:…

By Mairav Zonszein June 5, 2013

Israeli children on a ride at 'Superland' (Photo: Superland website)

‘Superland’ and the normalization of segregation in Israel

An Israeli amusement park found itself in hot water after being caught segregating Jewish and Arab school groups. But instead of being an aberration, the incident is reflective of the dominant culture of segregation and discrimination that permeates Israeli society from the bottom up. “Superland” – the Israeli amusement park exposed for segregating Arab and Jewish citizens…

By Mairav Zonszein May 31, 2013

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Israeli police. [illustrative photo] (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why a Jewish state cannot fully protect its non-Jewish citizens

Israeli police’s failure to stop the murder of two young Bedouin sisters highlights the arbitrariness of citizenship and discrimination for Palestinians under occupation – regardless of whether they are citizens. Abir Dandis, the mother of the two girls found dead in an unrecognized Bedouin village in southern Israel last Tuesday, is not an Israeli citizen. In…

By Mairav Zonszein May 26, 2013

Violence is a cruel reminder of a reality that is neither calm nor stable

When murder and violence flash in the West Bank, Israelis should remember that on the other days they don’t hear about terror, lots of violence is taking place. Those who choose to live in an illusion of calm and stability should consider themselves both privileged and lucky. And neither of those things can last forever. …

By Mairav Zonszein April 30, 2013

Adeeb Abu Rahme, one of the residents of Bil'in who appears in 5 Broken Cameras, confronts the IDF during a protest in 2007 (Activestills)

Occupation goes to the Oscars – but films carry very different messages

Both Oscar-nominated documentaries from this region are important documents of Israeli occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in their own right. But if ‘The Gatekeepers’ wins, it will whitewash occupation by presenting Israeli guilt in a redeeming light. If ‘Five Broken Cameras’ wins, it will go beyond the message that what Israel is doing is wrong and…

By Mairav Zonszein February 24, 2013

ILLUSTRATION (Protest against a new Jewish settlement in Ras Al Amud, East Jerusalem, 27.05.2011 photo: Activestills)

Why I let a Palestinian woman from East Jerusalem decide my vote

It doesn’t feel good or empowering to give up my right to vote. It feels mostly shitty, and maybe that is how it is supposed to feel. But as long as it is not an inalienable right for those who live under the same governmental roof, it is absolutely alienable to me. I just returned from…

By Mairav Zonszein January 22, 2013

"Gaza" price tag in East Jerusalem, Nov 25, 2012 (Ir Amim)

Settler violence and IDF raids: For West Bank Palestinians, there is no ceasefire

While Israelis are breathing a sigh of relief that quiet has mostly been restored (for the time being), and life can supposedly just go back to normal, with Gaza out of sight and out of mind, the other elephant in the room – the West Bank and East Jerusalem – is all but quiet. This…

By Mairav Zonszein November 25, 2012