Gideon Levy

Palestinian youths force open a gate in the Israeli separation wall, built on land belonging to the village of Bil’in, which leads to the Israeli settlement of Modi’in Ilit, also built on village land, February 17, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

One state? Two states? Israeli Jews aren’t the ones to decide

Trump’s recent remarks may have sparked a debate on the possibility of the one-state solution, but one thing is for sure: Israeli Jews are not in a position to decide the future of the occupied territories. The world works in strange ways sometimes. Who would have believed that just by mere words it would be President…

By Orly Noy February 18, 2017

Palestinian women cross the Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem to attend the first Friday of Ramadan prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 12, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

Is Israel ‘evil?’

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy, who in the past has called Israel Air Force pilots a ‘death squadron,’ condemned Israel as ‘pure evil.’ But is he right this time? By David Sarna Galdi Israeli media’s reigning provocateur, Gideon Levy, is an intellectual hooligan hanging around the neighborhood pub just waiting to cause some trouble. Levy insists…

By +972 Magazine August 10, 2016

Israel Prize winner and famed author Amos Oz. (photo: Michiel Hendryckx/CC BY 3.0)

The prestigious award that only goes to Ashkenazi men

While the prime minister’s attempt to intervene in the selection committee for the Israel Prize is clearly anti-democratic, so is the fact that the vast majority of its recipients look exactly the same. The uproar over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meddling in the nominations of three would-be judges for the prestigious Israel Prize selection committee caused many…

By Orly Noy February 13, 2015

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Free speech silenced (Yossi Gurvitz)

The thin line between incitement and freedom of the press

On the face of it, a protest by Likud youth against one of Israel’s most prominent newspapers seems like a non-issue. But in the context of last summer’s war and the growing threats against left-wing journalists, freedom of the press may no longer be able to protect the media. By Gaby Goldman Journalists, editors, media…

By +972 Magazine February 2, 2015

'Haaretz' journalist Gideon Levy (Photo by Yossi Gurvitz)

Dissent in Israel: On the margins, yes, in the mainstream, no

Regarding the controversy over Mairav Zonszein’s ‘New York Times’ op-ed: An ongoing climate of fear and suspicion is not conducive to ‘vibrant democracy.’ It is unfriendly to left-wing protest over security matters. Since my colleague Mairav Zonszein published her ballbuster op-ed “How Israel Silences Dissent” in the New York Times several days ago, there’s…

By Larry Derfner October 2, 2014

Hundreds gather in Tel Aviv to protest Israel's Operation Protective Edge, despite a police decision to revoke the demonstration's permit, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, July 9, 2014 (photo: Activestills)

How freedom of speech was crushed during Protective Edge

One of the side effects of Operation Protective Edge has been a dramatic narrowing of the political conversation in Israel. The author aggregates all the major incidents during the Gaza War in which freedom of speech in Israel was curtailed, often violently. By Orli Santo An entire spectrum of formerly acceptable left-leaning opinions and sentiments…

By +972 Magazine August 31, 2014

Right-wing demonstrators protest in front of a demonstration against the Israeli attack on Gaza, in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, July 26, 2014. Right-wing activists protested nearby and attacked left-wing activists during and after the protest. One left-wing activists was hospitalized with a head injury. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

How Europe’s Jews lost their humanity in Gaza

The racism that has swept across Israel is devastating to behold. It is also an abdication of what Jews have prized for centuries: A sense of common humanity. By Gilad Isaacs For centuries Jews knocked on the door of Eurasian civilization. As they stood precariously on the doorstep they understood that crossing the threshold –…

By +972 Magazine August 1, 2014