Holy Sites

Images of a cat generated by AI with the prompts "Palestinian keffiyeh" and "Dome of the Rock" (left) or "Jerusalem street" (center and right). (Ameera Kawash)

What a cat in a keffiyeh reveals about AI’s anti-Palestinian bias

Popular AI systems are reproducing the internet’s existing prejudices against Palestinians, creating new forms of digital erasure and discrimination.

By Ameera Kawash April 25, 2023

The Palestinian village of Nabi Samuil, also known as Nebi Samuel or Samuel's tomb, April 28, 2014. The mosque has been cordoned off and the section containing Samuel's tomb has been converted into a synagogue. (Keren Manor/Activestills)

Palestinian holy sites are crumbling under Israeli rule

Israeli land grabs are preventing Palestinians from accessing Muslim shrines in the West Bank, with some falling into ruin or being deliberately destroyed.

By Irit Segoli September 7, 2020

Snow around the separation wall that surrounds the Shuafat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem, February 20, 2015. (Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Snow on Jerusalem’s holy and unholy monuments

Snow blankets Jerusalem and the hilly West Bank late Thursday and Friday, shutting down roads and highways, covering holy sites and the separation wall alike. In Gaza, heavy rain causes flooding in the war-torn Strip. Related: The storm that only affects Jews PHOTOS: Denied services, Palestinian residents form emergency response team

By Activestills February 21, 2015

Latest

A sign warns of the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque sat Najah National University in Nablus, West Bank, September 26, 2013. The signs were hung by students in protest of visits by Jewish nationalists to Al-Aqsa Mosque and suspected Israeli intentions to divide the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

Why the status quo on the Temple Mount isn’t sustainable

Israel’s tightening grip on the Temple Mount — and reactions to it — cannot be disconnected from the wider political reality. Tensions on the Temple Mount lead to unrest in the streets of East Jerusalem, many argue, not the other way around. By Yonathan Mizrachi With the escalating violence and tensions in Jerusalem in recent months,…

By +972 Magazine October 29, 2014

Israeli Border Police officers prevent worshippers from entering the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, September 26, 2014. (Photo by Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

The illusion of religious freedom in Jerusalem

Official Israel loves to boast of the complete freedom of worship it grants to members of all religions. In reality, however, it’s just another deception brought to you by your local ‘hasbara’ dealer. By Orly Noy One of the main tools in the Israeli hasbara toolbox is the ‘religious freedom’ discourse. As subscribers of the…

By Orly Noy September 28, 2014

Price Tag against Baptist Church in Jerusalem (Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler)

Fresh price tag attack against Jerusalem monastery; no arrests made

Another “price tag” hate crime was carried out today against the Franciscan monastery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The monastery was spray painted with slogans against Christianity and Jesus. Names of Jewish outposts in the West Bank were also sprayed, indicating that settlement supporters carried out the attack. This is the latest hate crime in a…

By Aziz Abu Sarah October 2, 2012