Syria

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Israel cannot hide the occupation by silencing (or killing) Palestinian journalists

The global solidarity campaign following the blinding of a Palestinian photographer by Israeli security forces is a reminder that try it might, Israel won’t be able to stop Palestinian journalists from telling the story of the occupation. By Omri Najad Last Friday, Palestinian photographer Moath Amarnih headed out to document a protest by the residents of Surif…

By Haokets November 18, 2019

Kurdish fighters in Northern Syria, December 16, 2014 (Kurdish YPG fighters/CC BY 2.0).

To protect its Kurdish allies, Israel must stand up to Turkey

Israel has repeatedly assisted in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by selling arms, training and know-how to murderous regimes. This makes it difficult to trust that it will do the right thing regarding the Kurds. By Eitay Mack The world is watching with alarm as the Turkish army commences its military invasion of…

By +972 Magazine October 14, 2019

Kurdish fighters in Northern Syria, December 8, 2014 (Kurdish YPG fighters/CC BY 2.0).

U.S. withdrawal is a tragic blow for Syria’s Kurds

Donald Trump’s apparent capitulation to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the fate of Syria’s Kurds risks paving the way for ISIS to renew its strength in the region, while adding to the growing murkiness of the Syrian conflict’s endgame. By Kareem Shaheen Even by Syria’s standards, the chaos of the last few days has…

By +972 Magazine October 10, 2019

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Omar Odeh helped establish a follow up committee dealing with the affairs of Palestinian refugees from Syria who fled to Gaza. (Mohammed Al-Hajjar)

Displaced again: Palestinian refugees from Syria struggle to survive in Gaza

With surging unemployment rates and high rents, Palestinian refugees who fled the Syrian war for Gaza are struggling to climb out of poverty. Like many Gazans, they hope to leave the strip in search of a better life. By Amjad Yaghi In mid-2012, Egyptian police arrested Omar Odeh for violating the conditions of his residence permit and overstaying his…

By +972 Magazine August 21, 2019

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a memorial ceremony for Golda Meir at Mount Herzl cemetery, Jerusalem, November 18, 2018. (Noam Revkin Fentonl/Flash90)

Win or lose, Netanyahu has already cemented his legacy

In his 10 years in power, Netanyahu has engaged in race-baiting against his own citizens, declared the occupation a permanent feature of Israeli reality, and shifted both the national and international conversation on Palestine. It is time to acknowledge that these are no mere trends — but his very legacy. Ten years after he was elected prime minister, it is…

By Edo Konrad April 2, 2019

Members of the Druze community in the Golan Heights protest the decision of President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the territory, Majdal Shams, March 23, 2019. (Basel Awidat/Flash90)

Talk of Golan annexation leaves out those expelled from it

President Trump’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights has been widely celebrated by Israelis. But do those same Israelis know of the hundreds of thousands of people expelled from the territory during the 1967 war? By Tom Pessah The vast majority of Israelis are still unaware that over 130,000 residents of the Golan Heights were expelled from…

By +972 Magazine March 24, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on the Iran nuclear program at the Kirya defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Netanyahu just made the best case for the Iran nuclear deal

Intent on killing the Iran nuclear deal, Netanyahu and Trump have dispensed with logic and are relying on emotion, confusion, and fear to try to achieve their objective. By Paul R. Pillar Benjamin Netanyahu’s display of a cartoon bomb before the United Nations General Assembly nearly six years ago received much ridicule but at least was grounded in some…

By +972 Magazine May 1, 2018

The ruins following the 2018 American-led bombing of Homs. (Fathi Nizam/CC BY 4.0)

After Syria strike, showdown looms over the future of the Iran nuclear deal

The success of a coordinated military strike on Assad’s chemical weapon stockpiles actually bodes well for the Iran nuclear deal. By Shemuel Meir Western powers made good on their warning to the Assad regime on April 14, 2018, and attacked the production and storage sites of the chemical weapons in his possession. The coordinated, wide-ranging operation by the United…

By +972 Magazine April 22, 2018

Palestinian Muslim worshippers pray overnight during Laylat al-Qadr, outside the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, July 13, 2015. Layal al-Qadr, falls on the 27th day of the fasting month of Ramadan, marking the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Koran were revealed to the Prophet Mohammed through the archangel Gabriel. Activestills.org

The obsession with exposing the ‘Muslim mindset’

After a decade of poor reportage, chaos in the region, and right-wing rule under Netanyahu, the Jewish Israeli public has hardened in its attitudes toward Islam. By Daniel Amir Zvi Yehezkeli is Israel’s Arabist par excellence. After over a decade as head of the Israel Channel 10’s Arab desk, Yehezkeli has become a trusted figure in Israel’s…

By +972 Magazine March 5, 2018

View of the remains of an F-16 plane downed Saturday morning by Syrian forces (Anat Hermony/Flash90)

A downed F-16 and an Iranian drone: The other side always started it

According to the Israeli narrative, the timeline of violence that resulted in Syria shooting down an Israeli fighter jet began just a few hours earlier. But Israel has been bombing inside Syria for months. Make no mistake: the dramatic escalation of violence on the Israeli-Syrian border Saturday morning was initiated by Israel, and it is…

By Haggai Matar February 10, 2018

President Donald Trump with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to Trump's departure to Rome at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Israel’s threats could push it into unnecessary war with Iran

Endless threats and the inclination toward a preventative strike are likely to push Israel into an arms race and a much wider and unnecessary war of attrition with Iran. By Shemuel Meir Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are striving together to cancel the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran. Even Netanyahu’s new mantra, that he only…

By +972 Magazine November 13, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks through binoculars during his visit to the border with Syria, August 18, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

As Mideast borders open, Israel is more isolated than ever

Over the past decade, Middle Eastern countries have viewed their borders as a physical obstacle. The recent warming of relations between Arab states has led to increase in trade, leaving Israel more regionally isolated than ever before. By Moran Zaga Over the last month, border crossings have opened along both the Jordan-Iraq and Iraq-Saudi Arabia…

By +972 Magazine September 18, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen with Israeli soldiers of the IDF Armored Corps during an army exercise in the Golan Heights, northern israel on October 15, 2013. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

The Syrian ceasefire in the Golan is good for Israel

Netanyahu called Trump and Putin’s ceasefire in Syria a ‘bad deal.’ But it could be the one thing that prevents Israel from being dragged into war — whether by miscalculation or military escalation. By Shemuel Meir The dramatic announcement by presidents Trump and Putin of a ceasefire in “south-west Syria” earlier this month was greeted…

By +972 Magazine July 20, 2017