civil rights

Israeli Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Supreme Court Justices at a court hearing on petitions against the government's "Reasonableness Bill," at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israel’s top court is greenlighting a civil rights crackdown

After a year of fierce battles over the judicial coup, Israel’s Supreme Court seems totally subservient to the state’s policies since Oct. 7. What's changed?

By Eyal Lurie-Pardes December 12, 2023

President Donald Trump arrives in the House chamber prior to delivering his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., February 4, 2020. (Official White House Photo / Andrea Hanks)

GOP twists debate over civil rights law to smear Democrats as antisemitic

A parliamentary maneuver centered on antisemitism is part of a Republican effort to peel away Democratic Jewish voters ahead of the election.

By Alex Kane October 12, 2020

A Jewish Israeli man holding an Israeli flag confronts a Palestinian woman holding a kaffiyeh on the sidelines of the ultra-nationalist "Jerusalem Day" march, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A state that belongs to only some of its citizens

According to the proposed ‘Jewish Nation-State Law,’ Israel does not belong to Israeli citizens, more than 20 percent of whom are not Jewish. Instead, it is the state of the Jewish people, roughly half of whom are not even Israeli. There is a form on the Israeli Interior Ministry’s website, where one can order duplicate…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 13, 2018

Latest

Illustrative photo of a woman in a burkini. (bellmon1/CC BY-NC 2.0)

Liberal Europe doesn’t understand: The burkini is a feminist issue

By banning the burkini, the French view themselves as the ones liberating veiled women from Muslim patriarchy. Instead they are only imposing a different form of oppression. By Eiad Shalabne The images of French policemen handing out tickets to Muslim women in religious garb on the beaches of Nice this past week reflect a depressing interpretation of the essence of…

By +972 Magazine August 26, 2016

Illustrative photo of an Israeli riot police officer giving orders to an Arab woman in Umm el-Fahm. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

Conditional rights, conditional citizenship

Palestinian citizens of Israel have never known what it means to be welcome citizens in the country of their birth. In a much-discussed video message to Palestinian citizens of Israel last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu lauded the achievements of Arabs in the arts, business, politics and the legal world. “Israel is strong because of our…

By Sawsan Khalife' August 1, 2016

Illustrative photo of Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian man in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Will Israel be in a ‘state of emergency’ forever?

The anti-terror law passed through Israel’s Knesset last week without one of its scariest pieces, the normalization of administrative detention, which remains dependent on the country’s 67-year-old self-declared state of emergency. That could have a bizarre consequence. A new anti-terrorism bill passed by Israel’s Knesset last week may have actually perpetuated the single, looming problem its writers…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man June 20, 2016

BDS graffiti on Israeli separation wall, Bethlehem, West Bank, June 17, 2014. (Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

The right to boycott is non-negotiable

Regardless of one’s views of BDS, it is ridiculous that one should have to tell self-proclaimed ‘democracies’ that the right to boycott is a basic civil right, not a punishable crime. Last week, over 120 people attended a conference in Nazareth on the subject of “BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) and ‘48 Palestinians (citizens living…

By Amjad Iraqi March 2, 2016

Israeli policemen search a Palestinian man at Damascus gate, in Jerusalem's old city, October 18, 2015. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

The best response to Israel’s new stop-and-frisk law: Stop showering

A new law in Israel gives police broad powers to search anyone in an area they say there’s a fear of ‘hostile terrorist activities.’ Or in other words: anywhere with a critical mass of Arabs. Here’s how to fight back. By Fady Khoury What does Israel’s new stop-and-frisk law mean? What should you do about…

By +972 Magazine February 4, 2016

An Israeli votes in the 2015 election, March 17, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Poll: 45% of Israeli Jews don’t think Arabs should have equal rights

Did the good folks at Israel’s Army Radio station not think to ask Arab citizens themselves whether they think they deserve full and equal rights? Israel’s Army Radio conducted a poll of Jewish citizens of Israel and asked them whether Arab citizens of Israel should have equal rights. No, this is not the start of…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 19, 2016

Israeli left-wing activist is led into the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, January 12, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli left-wing activist denied access to lawyer, to be held for another week

A gag order bars publishing any identifying information about the activist, who was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport a day earlier. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday extended by one week the arrest remand of a well known left-wing Israeli activist. The court also barred him from meeting his lawyer. The activist was arrested at…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 12, 2016

Illustrative photo of Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli military prison (By ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

Views on torture split along ethnic lines, Israeli poll finds

Attitudes toward torture in Israel differ significantly among Jews and Arabs. Poll also finds conciliatory views about the legitimacy of the ‘other’ and their claims to the land. More than 55 percent of Jewish Israelis think it is permissible to use “physical methods” of interrogation, i.e. torture, against terrorism suspects even if there is no “ticking…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 5, 2016

Ayalon prison facility, near the city of Ramla (photo: Activestills)

More and more Israelis are being imprisoned without trial

Out of 402 people Israel was holding in administrative detention at the start of November, at least 31 were citizens or residents of Israel. Over the past decade, Israel has held 3,761 people without trial. By Noam Rotem Israel held at least 31 of its own residents and citizens in administrative detention during the month…

By +972 Magazine December 23, 2015

Hilltop youth settlers protest the torture of Jewish minors by the Shin Bet, central Tel Aviv, December 23, 2015. (photo: Edo Konrad)

Settlers protest alleged torture of Jewish teens in Tel Aviv

Israel’s security service, the Shin Bet, has been using torture against suspects in the arson-murder of an entire Palestinian family, their attorneys and friends allege. Approximately 15 far-right settlers gathered in front of Israel’s national theater in central Tel Aviv Wednesday afternoon to stage a theatrical protest against Israeli authorities’ alleged use of terror against…

By Edo Konrad December 23, 2015