Atalya Ben-Abba went to prison rather than be conscripted into the Israeli army because of her refusal to take part in the occupation. By +972 Magazine Staff The Israeli army released conscientious objector Atalya Ben-Abba from mandatory military service on Tuesday after she spent 110 days in military prison for refusing to be drafted. Ben-Abba was released on grounds of unsuitability, after her request to be recognized as a conscientious objector was rejected a day earlier. [tmwinpost] “The army can call the waiver [from mandatory conscription] whatever it wants, but the fact of the matter remains that it gave me…

Israel's justice minister demanded an investigation of an anti-occupation activist after he admitted to beating a Palestinian during his army service. Now other former soldiers are stepping up to show solidarity.  By Yael Marom Dozens of Israelis demonstrated outside Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's home in north Tel Aviv Sunday night, after she called to investigate the spokesperson of anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence. [tmwinpost] Breaking the Silence Spokesperson Dean Issacharof was summoned for interrogation last week by Israeli police at the behest of Shaked, over a testimony he gave to the organization in which he admitted to beating a Palestinian man during his…

During the month of Ramadan, Palestinians were more freely able to pass between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Now it's back to the old rules of military occupation. Text by Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org The final Friday of Ramadan was also the final day in which Israel temporarily "relaxed" its restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank. Throughout the past month, which Muslims mark as the holiest time of the year, Israel allowed women of all ages, men over 40, and children under 12 to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayers without special entry permits. Palestinians were also granted permission…

From asylum seekers demanding their wages to protests against the Gaza blackout to raising awareness over disappeared Yemenite babies, this summer's protests give us every reason to stay optimistic about this place. It's hot outside. The Israeli summer often brings with it a new wave of social and political protests, and yet it looks like summer 2017 will be a special one. [tmwinpost] Since the social justice protest of 2011 — and its successors in the following years — there has been a sense that Israeli citizens have lost faith in their ability to influence, change, protest, and get results. Meanwhile, the strengthening of…

We must challenge masculinity that derives its power from the backs of the weakest segments in our society, while at the same time proposing an alternative masculinity that fights back against our humiliation. By Abed Abu Shehadeh After every catastrophe that befalls Arab society in Israel, I find myself typing away. I write to try and describe and analyze political events, focusing specifically on mechanisms of oppression. Time after time I ask myself why I even write in the first place, when I am well aware of the fact that I am using rationalistic tools to analyze irrational events. After all, there…

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's latest crusade has led to a Breaking the Silence spokesperson being questioned under caution. But if she's so concerned about army abuses against Palestinians, why isn't she ordering an investigation into the string of unlawful killings carried out by soldiers? In Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s latest stunt, Breaking the Silence spokesperson Dean Issacharoff has been questioned under caution after he testified on a group tour that he had assaulted a Palestinian during his army service. There’s no point trying to spin this: that is what members of Breaking the Silence do. They testify in front of…

The very people the Left categorically rejects — Mizrahim and settlers — are exactly whom they need to make peace. By Avi Dabush Three weeks ago, I attended the Peace Now rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, standing among the “peace camp” and meeting many people whom I love and value. They are committed, devoted, and get out of the house to actually protest and work toward peace. [tmwinpost] As I was listening to the speeches, I thought of a poem by Roy Hasan that ends in the line “They’ll never make peace, because if there’ll be peace, all the…

After 60 years of covering up the disappearance of hundreds of Yemeni babies in the early years of the state, the time has come for justice and accountability. There were moments during Wednesday night's rally to commemorate the Yemenite children affair in which I wondered how the tiles beneath us, in Jerusalem's Mashbir Square, failed to crack under the unbearable weight of pain and grief. [tmwinpost] Veteran Jerusalemites will likely remember this plaza as "Talita Komi," one of the city's most vibrant areas. On Fridays people would stand here and deliver speeches to passersby, on Saturday evenings it was where young men and…