50 Years Too Many

Simon KAPWEPWE (standing), Foreign Minister of Zambia, addressing the Seminar on Apartheid, Racial Discrimination and Colonialism. 4/Aug/1967 (UN Photo)

Unlike South Africa, the world is giving Israel a pass on apartheid

A UN Security Council resolution rejecting South Africa’s 1983 constitution shows that there is precedent and necessity to act against Israel’s Nation-State Law. In a referendum on November 2, 1983, White voters in apartheid South Africa approved a new constitution to restructure their political system. In addition to consolidating executive power with the presidency, a tricameral parliament…

By Amjad Iraqi July 26, 2019

'My family had agricultural land near Hadera that was taken in 1948. We could see the land from our house, as well as the sea, but we couldn't reach them.' Khulud Sa'adi, from Atil, near Tulkarem, West Bank. (Miki Kratsman)

Fifty faces of occupation

A new exhibit by B’Tselem marks 50 years of occupation with portraits of 50 Palestinians born in the occupied territories, who have never known a day of freedom in their lives. There is a checkpoint next to my house. It determines my life’s routine. It is a source of constant worry: whenever my children are on their way…

By Orly Noy November 21, 2017

Druze villagers threshing corn in Majdak Shams, Golan Heights, 1967. (Moshe Milner/GPO)

The Syrian refugees Israelis prefer to forget

As opposed to Palestinian refugees, the fate of the Syrians expelled from the Golan Heights by Israel in 1967 was covered up and hidden from public awareness. Even today, most Israelis believe the area was largely empty of Syrians, and anyone who may have been there fled voluntarily. By Irit Gal Among the Syrian refugees fleeing their burning country…

By Haokets July 18, 2017

Latest

An Israeli soldier tries to prevent a photograph being taken of construction on the separation wall, Bethlehem, January 7, 2006. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Israel: State of denial

The Israeli government has fashioned the occupation into a ‘permanently temporary’ state of affairs — and made a policy of denial one of its cornerstones. By Gershon Shafir Military occupation is a rare phenomenon in today’s world. A half-century-long occupation, like Israel’s control of Palestinian territories captured in 1967, is even rarer. Grappling seriously with…

By +972 Magazine June 10, 2017

Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Hebron, on April 17, 2017. (Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

The occupation is a symptom, not source, of Israel’s racist system

It was the state’s policies within its 1948 borders that inspired the 1967 occupation, not the other way around. During a Knesset debate in May 2011, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chastised opposition parties for criticizing his government’s lack of progress in achieving a two-state solution. Referring to Palestinian demonstrations held the day before in commemoration of the…

By Amjad Iraqi June 8, 2017

Israeli activists clash with police officers during an operation to evacuate nine homes in the Jewish settlement of Ofra, in the West Bank, February 28, 2017. The Israeli Supreme Court ordered in 2015 to demolish nine homes which were allegedly built on private Palestinian land in Ofra. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

The settlers’ goal is not the settlements

It is the total transformation of Israel. The settlements, the settlers, and the occupation are all entirely associated with one another in the Israeli consciousness. The Left and the Right agree on this, albeit with varying considerations: the Left wants to apportion blame for Israel’s continuing control over the West Bank, while the settlers want to…

By Noam Sheizaf June 8, 2017

Demonstration against wall in Al Ma'asara (Activestills)

After 50 years, military violence is the norm for Palestinian children

Children under the age of 18 currently make up almost 50 percent of the Palestinians living in the occupied territories — and have grown up with systemic discrimination, settlement expansions, and war. By Jennifer Bing There are two places to visit if you want to know the human impact of Israel’s 50-year military occupation of…

By +972 Magazine June 7, 2017

Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, Nablus, May 15, 2017. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

When will the Israeli Left accept the occupation started in ’48, not ’67?

Only when the Israeli Left accepts that the occupation began in 1948 — and remains an open wound for Palestinians — can Arabs and Jews truly refuse to be enemies. One of the negative characteristics of the Israeli “Left” is how it terms the military rule over the West Bank and Gaza “The Occupation.” Part of…

By Rami Younis June 6, 2017

Activists hold a mock separation wall during a protest against the occupation on the West Bank's main Jerusalem-Hebron highway in full view of Israeli settlers, Beit Jala, West Bank, February 5, 2016. (Activestills)

Fifty years of opposition

Each decade of the occupation has brought changing fortunes to prospects for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and varying levels of opposition to Israel’s military rule. After half a century, could there finally be a proposal that stands a chance? Fifty-fever marking the anniversary since the 1967 war has swept both the Israeli Left…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 5, 2017

Students at a bilingual school in Jerusalem, December 22, 2005.
(Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Don’t blame the education system for Israel’s occupation denial

Ignoring Palestinians, whether the refugees from the 1948 War or those who remained under military rule in the occupied territories, is part and parcel of our Zionist outlook. By Gil Gertel We love to talk about the occupied territories. Because they are silent and they do not throw rocks at us. We have developed a…

By +972 Magazine June 4, 2017

Israeli soldiers take up position during clashes following a protest in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Hebron, May 19, 2017. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Half a century of occupation threatens our international legal order

Israel’s policy of cherry-picking legal obligations vis-a-vis Palestinians undermines the credibility of our legal order established in the aftermath of World War II. This could have dangerous implications for the rule of law beyond the region. By Gerard Horton On June 7, 50 years ago, Israeli military forces occupied the West Bank and imposed martial law…

By +972 Magazine June 4, 2017

Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops during a protest to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 21, 2017. (Flash90)

Palestinians play a lead role in the theater of occupation

For 50 years, Israelis and Palestinians have lived separately-together under one rule. Only one group has been able to reap the fruits of democracy. By Hagai El-Ad When Israelis vote, Palestinians do not. But they do get to participate: they can watch. Like the residents of the Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa in the occupied West…

By +972 Magazine June 2, 2017

The man on the heels of Israel’s settlement enterprise

Since 1967, the settlements have grown into Israel's greatest national project. Nearly a million Israeli citizens live beyond the Green Line, while their Palestinian neighbors live under military rule. A journey to the heart of the West Bank with Dror Etkes, the man who has dedicated the last two decades to monitoring the goings on in Israel's backyard.

By Edo Konrad June 1, 2017