demographic majority

Palestinian women cross the Qalandiya checkpoint, outside the West bank city of Ramallah, on June 23, 2017, (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Israel’s most racist law comes crumbling down — for now

The failure to renew the Citizenship Law offers Palestinian families a moment of respite. Four takeaways from the first big crisis plaguing the new coalition.

By Edo Konrad July 6, 2021

Ruth Gavison, Israeli law professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. February 22, 2016. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

For renowned legal scholar, Israeli democracy meant Jewish dominance

Ruth Gavison, who died last month, was seen as a civil rights pioneer in Israel — yet her views justified overriding those rights to preserve a Jewish majority.

By Ran Greenstein September 2, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his wife Sara stand alongside Likud party members at a rally in his support, as he and his wife face legal investigations, Tel Aviv, August 9, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

It’s not Netanyahu — it’s a country drunk on power

Even if Netanyahu’s corruption scandals force him out of office, Israeli politics will still be guided by the idea that Palestinians must be pummeled into submission. By Marzuq Al-Halabi It’s easy to understand the expressions of joy and hope emanating from the broad spectrum of Israelis who are fed up with the Netanyahu government and…

By +972 Magazine August 14, 2017

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Hundreds fill New York City's Washington Square Park to protest President Trump's decision to ban Muslim refugees from entering the U.S., January 26, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Welcome to the Jewish American dissonance

American Jews view a Muslim ban as a threat to the ideals they cherish, yet they also believe that too many Muslims in Israel is a direct threat to the Jewish people. In early December, just a month after the election of Donald Trump, American alt-right leader Richard Spencer sat down for an interview with Al Jazeera.…

By Edo Konrad January 28, 2017

A pro Israeli rally organized by the Israeli consulate in Chicago, IL, on July 22, 2014. At the same time, a protest against the Attack on Gaza was held across the street. (Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org

Stop asking whether Israel is Jewish or democratic

This isn’t a choice between ‘Jewish or democratic’ — the only question is whether Israel can still become a true democracy. For some years, the political center-left in Israel has committed itself to the idea of a Jewish and democratic state. For these mostly secular and traditional people, “Jewish” used to mean some sort of…

By Dahlia Scheindlin January 24, 2016