Welcome to +972’s Sunday Recap!
On Monday, the Israeli Knesset passed a death penalty law aimed squarely at Palestinians — and next on the agenda is a tribunal to execute those convicted of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks. Jared Hillel wrote about why Israel was previously reluctant to implement capital punishment, and how this move represents a logical extension of an already lethal carceral system.
For the past month, Iddo Elam has been gathering with fellow Israeli radical left activists in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to protest the war with Iran. As dissent spreads to the political center and these anti-war demonstrations expand, demonstrators face violent crackdowns by Israeli police — while opposition lawmakers are still nowhere to be seen (originally published on Local Call).
A spike in West Bank settler attacks since the start of the Iran war has triggered an unusually large wave of condemnations from the Israeli right, including the chief of staff of the army, prominent right-wing commentators and journalists, and even far-right ministers. Yet as Oren Ziv argued, these denunciations are a smokescreen: they aim to obscure the fact that settler violence is state policy (originally published on Local Call).
This week, Palestinians marked the 50th anniversary of Land Day — the 1976 uprising against land confiscation, widely regarded as a foundational moment in the political history of Palestinians inside Israel. Noor Dadosh spoke with Palestinian sociologist Nabih Bashir about its enduring legacy at a time of war, fragmentation, and political impasse (originally published on Sabra).
And Meron Rapoport, Local Call editor, reflected on how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s use of historical analogies — from “super-Sparta” to Genghis Khan — betray an appetite for eternal war and barbaric aggression, a worldview now reflected in Israel’s regional policy.
***
We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine, one defined by genocide, apartheid, and Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea. It has never been more vital for our journalists, led by Palestinians and Israelis, to report on and analyze what is happening on the ground and beyond, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. +972 Magazine is proof that an alternative is possible — and we need your support to increase our impact. Join us.
