Galilee

Abd Al Mannan Shbita speaks to Palestinian and Jewish Israeli activists, at the site of the former village of Miska, depopulated in the 1948 war, central Israel, April 22, 2026. (Iddo Elam, Zochrot)

Israel blocked the March of Return. Palestinians marked the Nakba anyway

After police prevented the main procession, families returned to depopulated villages across the country, keeping alive the memory of what was lost in 1948.

By Baker Zoubi April 28, 2026

People gather near the entrance to the the church at the Christmas market in Bir'im, Dec. 13, 2025. (Anna Maria Hawa)

In the Galilee hills, Christmas celebrations revive a depopulated Palestinian village

After a two-year absence, displaced residents and their descendants returned to Bir'im — part of efforts since 1948 to keep the community alive.

By Samah Watad December 24, 2025

+972 editor Vera Sajrawi stands in front of the well in the depopulated village of Al-Sajara. (Maria Zreik)

‘Your grandparents couldn’t return to Al-Sajara. But I know they died hoping’

Little remains of the village from which +972 editor Vera Sajrawi’s grandparents were uprooted in 1948. Living out the rest of their lives close by as internal refugees, they yearned for what was taken from them.

By Vera Sajrawi September 22, 2023

Latest

The scene of the deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on February 8, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Are Palestinians prepared for a major earthquake of their own?

Experts warn that Israeli planning restrictions, a weak health system, and a lack of awareness pose serious risks in the event of a large-scale disaster.

By Vera Sajrawi February 24, 2023

A bartender pours a pint at Kamun Pub. (Steven Davidson)

One Galilee pub shows that ‘economic peace’ is not enough

At Samim Bishara’s Kamun Pub in the northern town of Ma’alot-Tarshiha, Arabs and Jews can sit alongside each other to drink beer and eat pizza. But even in what might appear to be an oasis of coexistence, fundamental inequality is inescapable. By Steven Davidson Tarshiha is technically one of the few mixed, Jewish-Arab villages in all…

By +972 Magazine June 4, 2018

Laila Abdel Meguid Tafesh, 78, from Rafah refugee camp, holds up a key from her house in Jaffa, May 15, 2009. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Yes, the right of return is feasible. Here’s how

Seventy years after the violent displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, it is time to undo the injustice and to enable whoever desires to return as equal citizens to do so, while respecting the rights and identities of all who live in Israel-Palestine. By Tom Pessah (translated by Yoni Molad) For millions of Palestinians worldwide, the right…

By Haokets November 7, 2017

Residents collect their belongings from the ruins of their demolished homes in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran, January 18, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

For Arab citizens, ‘Jewish and democratic’ means demographic war

While much of the world justly focuses on land theft in the occupied territories, we must not forget that Israel uses the pretense of ‘Jewish and democratic’ to actively dispossess its own Arab citizens. Israeli citizens who may be feeling doubtful about the efficiency of their country’s institutions should take a hard look at the…

By Orly Noy August 22, 2017

A Palestinian man takes part in the March of Return, Galilee, April 23, 2015. (Akron Drawshi/Activestills.org)

Thousands return to destroyed Palestinian villages in Israel

The March of Return, which coincides with Israeli Independence Day, calls for the right of return for Palestinians who were expelled from or fled the land in 1948. Approximately 10,000 people of all ages — mostly Palestinian citizens of Israel — took part in the 18th annual March of Return Thursday, on the land where the…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth April 24, 2015

Palestinian refugees seen in Yarmouk refugee camp, Damascus, Syria. (photo: Walla Masoud/UNRWA)

Finding my family in Yarmouk — then losing them again

Six decades after the Nakba forced us into different corners of the world, social networks allowed us to reconnect with our families and villages. In Yarmouk, I found the people I should have grown up around—the ones who looked like me and my immediate family. And then war broke out in Syria, Facebook went dark…

By Samah Salaime April 8, 2015

The home of the Palestinian Adgluni family is demolished by Israeli authorities, East Jerusalem, January 27, 2014. Israeli authorities claimed the house was built on lands that do not belong to the family. (Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)

Every day is Land Day, on both sides of the Green Line

The word 'occupation' evokes the West Bank, but the policies of land expropriation and Judaization were perfected inside Israel long before they were used on Palestinians in the occupied territories.

By Edo Konrad March 30, 2015

The Israel-Palestine Lorde Diaries, chapter 7: Bus jammin’

Ironically, it’s a break from music-making and partner-searching that produces a first duet, and with a very special musician, too. Read the previous chapters of The Israel-Palestine Lorde Diaries here. On the fifth morning of the tour, after having breakfast at the group’s Jerusalem hotel, I climbed aboard the bus and found that we had a…

By Yuval Ben-Ami February 6, 2015

The Beaten Path: The unholy hierarchies of Nazareth (part 4)

If the heart of Nazareth is sacred, its outskirts are very much the opposite. If anything, they provide a perfect example of a system that stubbornly preserves a hierarchy of communities: Arabs below, Jews on top. The third stop on the reconstructed tourist trail. There is a painting by an Italian master, the great Pierro della Francesca,…

By Yuval Ben-Ami October 27, 2014

The "unrecognized" Bedouin village of Atir, May 21, 2013. On May 16, hundreds of Israeli policemen surrounded the village completely and demolished 15 structures. Residents of the village have built temporary tents to replace their demolished homes. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Contradicting its own ruling, Israel’s Supreme Court legalizes segregated communities

The Israeli Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed various petitions against the Admissions Committees Law, which allows admissions committees in hundreds of communities in Israel to reject housing applicants based on their “social suitability.” March 8, 2000 marked a unique moment in Israeli history. In a major decision, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that the town of Katzir, which was…

By Amjad Iraqi September 18, 2014