Holot

Asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea hold mock slave auctions outside the embassy of Rwanda in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, during a protest against the Israeli government's plan to deport African asylum seekers to third countries in Africa, January 22, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

In a single decade, Israel turned asylum seekers into criminals

By imprisoning and deporting asylum seekers, Israel has delegitimized the very concept of being a refugee.

By Oren Ziv December 31, 2019

African asylum seekers are seen upon release from 'Saharonim' prison in the Negev desert, Southern Israel, April 15, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Safe from deportations, asylum seekers in Israel still living in fear

2018 began with the Israeli government attempting to deport 35,000 asylum seekers to countries where they would face persecution and possible death. The tireless work of activists stopped the government in its tracks — yet asylum seekers in Israel continue to face an uncertain future.

By Oren Ziv December 30, 2018

African asylum seekers protest the suspension of an agreement between Israel and the UN to resettle 16,000 asylum seekers rather than deport them to third countries, south Tel Aviv, April 3, 2018. (Activestills.org)

Netanyahu’s gift to anti-deportation activists

Netanyahu inadvertently told the entire country that there is a better alternative to his policies. Now that the alternative is within reach, the work of anti-deportation activists will become easier. The terrible thing about Netanyahu’s UN deal, and its subsequent cancellation on Tuesday, is that behind the political flip-flopping are people — thousands of families…

By Noam Sheizaf April 3, 2018

Latest

African asylum seekers jailed in the Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, February 17, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)

In lead-up to mass deportation, Israel closes Holot detention facility

For the past four years, asylum seekers and their supporters have demanded that the Holot detention center be shut down. Now it’s finally happening, but not at all how they envisioned. The Israeli government shut down the Holot detention facility, the open-air, desert detention facility built for African asylum seekers, on Wednesday after four years…

By Joshua Leifer March 15, 2018

Najana Kombi, the refugee neighborhood where many Eritrean asylum seekers who came from Israel live. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Pushed out by Israel, asylum seekers find only limbo in Uganda

+972 Magazine joins Meretz MKs Mossi Raz and Michal Rozin in Rwanda and Uganda to find out what happens to the asylum seekers Israel is deporting there. After meeting humanitarian organizations, parliamentarians, and refugees, one thing becomes clear: Most are forced to continue their quest for safety and security elsewhere.

By Oren Ziv February 27, 2018

Asylum seekers protest outside Holot detention center against Israel's deportation plan. February 22, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

Hundreds of asylum seekers march to desert prison to protest deportations

Hundreds held in Israel’s desert detention facility march to nearby Saharonim Prison after seven asylum seekers were transferred and imprisoned there indefinitely — for refusing to leave the country. By Oren Ziv / Activestills.org Hundreds of asylum seekers detained in Holot, Israel’s desert detention facility for African asylum seekers, marched to nearby Saharonim Prison on Thursday after…

By Oren Ziv February 22, 2018

African asylum seekers take part at a protest against the "Deposit Law" in Tel Aviv on June 10, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israel to deliver asylum seekers to the hands of human smugglers

Even as it invokes the Holocaust at every turn, Israel is feeding the people who most need its protection to a brutal human smuggling industry. In doing so, it becomes an active player in the worst migration crisis since the Jewish people’s near-extinction. Exactly one decade ago, liberal Israelis were boasting of their government’s treatment of…

By Noa Yachot December 29, 2017

African asylum seekers jailed in the Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, February 17, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)

The Holot detention facility was a moral failure from day one

Holot was meant to hide the fact that the State of Israel sees African asylum seekers as enemies, as a demographic threat, as a foreign body to be expelled at any cost. It is expected to close in the coming months. By Omri Du-nour The Israeli government’s recent decision to close the Holot detention center…

By +972 Magazine November 26, 2017

African asylum seekers jailed in the Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, February 17, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)

Why is Israel refusing to teach African asylum seekers Hebrew?

Israel’s ‘Holot’ detention facility for asylum seekers, which is intended to rob them of so much hope that they’ll leave the country, refuses to provide Hebrew lessons as part of its education program for detainees. The result is empty classrooms and a parallel, asylum seeker-run program. By Omri Du-Nour Israel’s desert detention facility for asylum…

By +972 Magazine August 8, 2017

Right-wing protesters wave Israeli flags as they demonstrate against a ceremony commemorating the Nakba that was held by Palestinian and Israeli students in the entrance to the Tel Aviv University. The event took place under heavy police presence, May 13, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

The redundancy of Israel’s ‘Jewish Nation-State Law’

The Israeli government is pushing a law that would force judges to prioritize Israel’s Jewish character over democratic principles. But that has always been the case. The “Jewish Nation-State Law,” which is currently making its way through the Knesset as a proposed Basic Law – the closest thing Israel has to a constitutional amendment – would require…

By Amjad Iraqi July 12, 2017

Performers with the 'Holot Theater,' Holot, May 13, 2017. (Screenshot)

WATCH: African asylum seekers, Israelis stage play at detention center

For the second time, a group of African asylum seekers and Israelis put on the ‘Holot Theater’ — a staged performance at the Holot detention center in southern Israel, where thousands of asylum seekers are being held without trial. Read more: PHOTOS: Asylum seeker theater troupe re-imagines life in Israel Photo diary: Inside ‘Holot’ detention…

By Social TV May 30, 2017

An asylum seeker leaves Holot detention center, Negev Desert, southern Israel, August 25, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israel’s new tactic for forcing out African refugees — dock their wages

A new law compels African asylum seekers to deposit a fifth of their wages into a fund they can only access if they leave the country. It’s just the latest in a long line of methods the Israeli government is using to push black asylum seekers out. By Noa Kaufman African asylum seekers in Israel…

By +972 Magazine May 12, 2017

Eritrean asylum seekers protest in front of the European Union embassy in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, calling for the EU to try the Eritrean leadership for crimes against humanity, on June 21, 2016. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

WATCH: African refugees rally against Israel’s deportation policy

With Israel’s Supreme Court set to rule on Israel’s policy of deporting African asylum seekers to countries where they face danger and even death, hundreds of refugees gather in Jerusalem to demand their right to protection. Read more: What will happen to Eritrean asylum seekers after Israel deports them? Despite dangers, Israel sending asylum seekers…

By Social TV February 11, 2017