gun violence

Family and friends attend the funeral of five Palestinians who were shot to death in the Bedouin town of Basmat Tab’un, September 29, 2023. (Flash90)

Abandoned by the state, Palestinian citizens of Israel face record crime wave

Amid a proliferation of weapons and worsening police negligence since Oct. 7, violence by criminal organizations in Arab towns has reached historic levels.

By Baker Zoubi May 30, 2024

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, July 30, 2023. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)

‘Sorry Mohammad’: What’s behind Ben Gvir’s apartheid honesty?

The national security minister’s brazen remarks are simply an expression of what this government was elected to do: rip the mask off Jewish supremacy.

By Edo Konrad August 25, 2023

Baladna youth activists. (Maria Zreiq)

The Palestinian group building power through youth

Baladna head Nidaa Nassar explains how the Haifa-based NGO is raising a generation of Palestinians to overcome their fragmentation and erasure.

By Vera Sajrawi June 21, 2023

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Mourners at the funeral of 29-year-old Naeem Marjiyeh and 15-year-old Rami Marjiyeh in the the Catholic Church in the town of Yafa an-Nasariyye. The two were murdered, among three others, in a criminal shooting. June 9, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

‘Mama, are we going to die soon?’ Arab educators grapple with spiking violence

Lacking state support, three Palestinian citizens of Israel share what parents and schools can do to help children exposed to pervasive gun crime.

By Vera Sajrawi June 20, 2023

Members of the Palestinian community protest against the violence in their community, outside the Knesset, May 21, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israeli police aren’t the solution to Palestinian crime

The fixation on policing has funneled us into a debate that avoids the real roots of the crisis of gun violence among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

By Amjad Iraqi June 18, 2023

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene where five people were shot dead in the Arab Town of Yafa an-Naseriyye, northern Israel, June 8, 2023. (Fadi Amun/Flash90)

The return of Israel’s military rule over Palestinian citizens

Long wielded in the occupied territories, administrative detention could be the next tool in Ben Gvir's arsenal of repression against Palestinian citizens.

By Orly Noy June 13, 2023

Funeral of Diyar Omari, a 19-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the village of Sandala, who was shot dead by Jewish citizen Denis Mukin near the community settlement of Gan Ner, May 7, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

‘He thought killing an Arab was easy’

Palestinian citizens decry the shooting of Diyar Omari by a Jewish Israeli, blaming racist politicians for fomenting a trigger-happy atmosphere.

By Baker Zoubi and Oren Ziv May 8, 2023

Police and medical personnel at the scene investigate the murder of a woman in her 30's that was shot dead, in Lod, July 26, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

How crime in Lydd became a front for the Israeli right’s agenda

Palestinian residents say that politicians' attempts to link crime with nationalism avoids addressing the discriminatory reality in the 'mixed city.'

By Baker Zoubi February 22, 2023

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Why Ben Gvir wants more guns on the streets

The Israeli far right sees widespread gun ownership as a means of enforcing racial supremacy — a lesson taken straight out of the American playbook.

By Nate Orbach February 1, 2023

An Israeli police officer seen looking over a display of confiscated illegal weapons during a ceremony following the largest ever police operation against illegal gun dealers, Nazareth, November 9, 2021. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

All of a sudden, Israel cares about illegal weapons

So long as it was Palestinian citizens being killed, Israel never batted an eyelid. After last night’s attack on police officers, that's all about to change.

By Orly Noy March 28, 2022

Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel protest in Tel Aviv against police inaction and surging crime and violence in Arab communities, March 13, 2021. (Flash90)

Why Israel wants Palestinians to have guns

From criminal gangs in Lyd to security forces in Ramallah, Palestinians who turn their guns on each other are serving Israel's apartheid rule.

By Rami Younis September 8, 2021

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem against gun violence and organized crime in their communities, October 10, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

How crime became a cover for Israel to tighten control of Palestinian citizens

Rather than addressing the roots of crime and violence among Palestinian citizens, Israel is advancing plans to depoliticize the community.

By Shahrazad Odeh December 4, 2020

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against violence, organized crime, and recent killings in their communities, in the Arab town of Majd al-Krum, northern Israel, October 3, 2019. (David Cohen/Flash90)

‘No one cares’: Palestinian citizens decry Israeli inaction on gun violence

With casualties rising, Palestinian citizens of Israel say the police are refusing to address the root causes of crime and violence in their communities.

By Judith Sudilovsky September 29, 2020