Gilad Shalit

Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet approved the call-up of an additional 10,000 reserve soldiers. (photo: Activestills)

Israel kills three top Hamas commanders in Gaza

At least 34 Palestinians were killed Thursday when the Israeli air force bombed Gaza for a second day after a temporary ceasefire broke down and negotiators failed to reach a ceasefire agreement. While the fate of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif remains unknown after Israel attempted to assassinate him, and consequently killed his wife and…

By +972 Magazine August 21, 2014

Artwork by Palestinian artist Bushra Shanan

Palestinians continue to create life from death

Gaza’s injuries have provoked every Palestinian and created in us the desire for all Palestinians to live in unity in our lands occupied since 1948. By Badia Dweik I was unable to recognize him from the photos I saw on social media sites. Neither could I recognize him from the hospital photos that showed him…

By +972 Magazine August 20, 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of an Israeli flag (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

This is a war of choice. Netanyahu’s choice

Netanyahu is no hero, and the tragedy is our own. Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on Tuesday, after the latter criticized Netanyahu for holding fire, and even called him “a lefty,” which is probably the worst thing you can say to someone in the current political atmosphere. Sacking Danon is not…

By Noam Sheizaf July 16, 2014

Latest

Israeli soldiers raid the village of Halhul, near Hebron. (photo: Activestills)

Why Israel’s response to the kidnappings feels awfully familiar

If the past is any gauge of what’s to come, things are not looking good in the West Bank – neither for the Palestinians who remain under occupation there, nor for the three missing teenagers. From a Haaretz report: The Israel Defense Forces plans to arrest additional senior Hamas officials. Yesterday security forces arrested 65 key…

By Samer Badawi June 18, 2014

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

Putting a halt to the ‘assembly line’ of Palestinian prisoners

Rather than arguing over the ‘gestures’ of releasing long-term prisoners, Israel must use restraint during arrests in the West Bank, while ensuring fair and swift procedures in the military courts. (Translated by Ofer Neiman) One of the main factors behind the failure of the recent round of Israeli-Palestinian talks was Israel’s decision to cancel the release…

By Roi Maor May 29, 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House on September 13, 1993. (Vince Musi/The White House)

What went wrong? Learning from the mistakes of Oslo

Can Israeli, Palestinian and American negotiators learn from their mistakes in order to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict? New negotiations offer hope like a quarter-drop of water splashed onto scorched and desiccated earth. How quickly such a drop can be absorbed as if it never was, and ground into the dust by…

By Dahlia Scheindlin July 31, 2013

An Israeli prison guard escorts Samer Issawi, a Palestinian political prisoner, out of his court hearing in Jerusalem, January 16, 2013. Samer Issawi is on his 174th day of hunger strike, the court postponed the decision in his case to the 5th of February, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Hunger-striker Samer Issawi is another statistic in an unjust legal system

Unlike Prisoner X, there is no public outrage in Israel over the way the legal system is preventing Samer Issawi from receiving a fair trial. But then again, Issawi is Palestinian. Samer Issawi, the Palestinian prisoner who has been on an intermittent hunger strike for over 200 days, had his day in court on Thursday.…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 21, 2013

Demonstration in Nablus in solidarity with hunger strikers, yesterday (Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills)

Weeks after prisoner strike ends, Israel not holding up its end of deal

New report by Israeli and Palestinian human rights NGOs shows that Israel is not meeting the conditions to which it agreed in a deal to end a massive hunger strike almost two months ago. Three Palestinians are still on strike, one in mortal danger. Fed with lies? Almost eight weeks have passed since some 1,550…

By Haggai Matar July 5, 2012

All signs point to Israel’s weak democracy

The assassination of Zuhair al-Qaissi, which sparked the escalation in the south, points to Israel’s weak Supreme Court, a lack of transparency and accountability, and the state’s flip attitude towards its judicial branch–as do some street signs in Tel Aviv The recent escalation between Israel and Gaza began after Israeli forces assassinated Zuhair al-Qaissi, a leader…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat March 14, 2012

Noam Schalit – instead of Knesset, go home

It’s not enough that for years, Israeli society dropped everything it was doing and ultimately risked people’s lives to bring Noam Schalit’s son home. Now he wants Israeli voters to send him to the Knesset. The whole Gilad Schalit saga was so weird, so unnatural, so out of proportion – why didn’t we all just commit mass suicide to show…

By Larry Derfner January 10, 2012

Freed Palestinian prisoner recounts torture in Israeli jails

Mukhlis Burghal is one of the Palestinian prisoners who was exchanged for Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. His experience in Israeli jails points to the state’s disregard for prisoners’ human rights The Alternative Information Center has an in-depth interview with Mukhlis Burghal, one of the Palestinian prisoners who was freed in exchange for Gilad Schalit. Speaking…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat November 3, 2011

US-Israeli national, Ilan Grapel, in Cairo in 2011 (photo: Ilan Grapel's facebook)

Dual US-Israeli citizen held in Egypt released

Coming on the heels of last week’s prisoner swap, Egyptian authorities have released to Israel 27-year-old Ilan Grapel, suspected in Cairo of having spied on Israel’s behalf. Some two dozen Egyptians held in Israel were released in exchange. The only image much of the world saw of 27-year-old Ilan Grapel over the past four months…

By Roee Ruttenberg October 27, 2011

This government WANTS Hamas for its “partner”

Mahmoud Abbas’ popularity in the West is a headache for Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s no wonder he’d rather do business with Hamas If I were Bibi Netanyahu, that’s what I’d want. I’d say to myself: “Mahmoud Abbas is a pain in the neck, he’s popular with the West, he makes Israel look bad – he cooperates…

By Larry Derfner October 24, 2011