Interview

Remains of the Berlin Wall. October 26, 2012. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

How Berlin became the ‘capital city of Arab exile’

The Arab sociologist Amro Ali has illuminated Germany’s capital city as the center of an intellectual and artistic renaissance, fueled by Arab exiles from the authoritarian crackdowns that followed the 2011 uprisings. By Mati Shemoelof Berlin has become a magnet for political exiles from the Middle East in the years since the failed 2011 uprisings…

By +972 Magazine October 17, 2019

A Jewish Israeli man shouts at Palestinians while waving the Israeli flag in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, June 2, 2008. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Voting Netanyahu out is not going to ‘save’ Israel-Palestine

Israeli citizens are about to vote in national elections for the second time in six months. But has anything changed since April? Why is no one talking about the occupation? And are we really about to see the end of the Netanyahu era? +972 writers talk about why these elections matter. Israeli voters will head to the…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 15, 2019

Sudanese asylum seekers embrace in south Tel Aviv's Levinksy Park following the announcement that Omar al-Bashir will step down after 30 years in power, April 11, 2019. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

PODCAST: Witnessing regime change in Sudan as a refugee in exile

The Sudanese refugee community in Israel watched ecstatically as long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was deposed. But there’s a catch. Listen to the latest episode of The +972 Podcast. Listen here: iTunes/Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify “The uprising in Sudan did not start a couple of months ago, it started years ago,” says Mutasim Ali, one of the leaders…

By +972 Magazine May 7, 2019

Latest

A Palestinian man checks the damage following an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, March 10, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

PODCAST: Suffering in Gaza isn’t a humanitarian issue, it’s an Israeli political decision

Recent rockets fired into central Israel by armed groups in Gaza were not ‘mistakes,’ as both Hamas and Israel claim. The counter-intuitive context, Tareq Baconi explains, is a Hamas attempt to get Israel back onboard with a cease-fire agreement. Excerpts from The +972 Podcast. Hamas and Israel reached a cease-fire agreement last November following months…

By Henriette Chacar March 29, 2019

Thousands of Palestinians march toward the the Gaza-Israel fence during a Great Return March demonstration east of Gaza City, May 14, 2018. (Mohammad Zaanoun)

Everywhere you go in Gaza, you see people wounded in the Return March

Hasan al-Kurd, one of the organizers of last year’s Great March of Return in Gaza, says the protests gave people in Gaza a reason to live. In a frank interview, he talks about the shocking number of casualties, how Hamas took over the nonviolent initiative, and what he would do differently today. “This is kind…

By Rami Younis March 28, 2019

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, at the organization's offices in Brooklyn, NY, January 23, 2019 (Kevin Hagen for +972 Magazine)

JVP just declared itself anti-Zionist and it’s already shifting the conversation

‘We often play the role of being able to say things that the rest of the movement cannot,’ Jewish Voice for Peace director Rebecca Vilkomerson says in a wide-ranging interview about the group’s decision to come out as opposed to Zionism, how to fight the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, and recent attacks on Black-Palestine…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 30, 2019

Black Lives Matter activists organize a die-in action outside Memorial Church in Harvard University on December 7, 2014 in Cambridge, Mass. (Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

From Palestine to Ferguson: Reflections on shared grief and liberation

Formerly incarcerated women of color perform the story of a Palestinian teen killed by Israeli police in October 2000. The act of Black-Palestine solidarity highlights shared trauma, but also concrete ways toward liberation. By Jen Marlowe and Je Naé Taylor On October 2, 2000, Aseel Asleh, a 17-year old Palestinian citizen of Israel, was shot…

By +972 Magazine October 1, 2018

Palestinian youth hold a Palestinian flag outside the Aqsa Mosque in the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount compound, East Jerusalem. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

‘This is how you change the status quo’: Rethinking the Palestinian boycott of Jerusalem elections

Aziz Abu Sarah withdrew his historic bid for Jerusalem mayor after Israeli and Palestinian pressures, but he hopes his short campaign ‘provokes’ new ideas on how to build stronger, younger Palestinian political activism in the city. Less than a month after declaring his candidacy to become the first Palestinian mayor of Jerusalem, Aziz Abu Sarah…

By Amjad Iraqi September 28, 2018

Avi Katz's cartoon depicting Netanyahu and Likud MKs as characters in George Orwells' 'Animal Farm, as published in 'The Jerusalem Report' on July 25, 2018. (Avi Katz)

‘Criticizing the government nowadays makes you a traitor’

Avi Katz, the cartoonist let go by ‘The Jerusalem Report’ over a caricature depicting Netanyahu and Likud lawmakers as characters from ‘Animal Farm,’ talks about what happened behind the scenes, why accusations of anti-Semitism are so off-base, and what the saga says about freedom of expression in Israel today. By Oren Persico Avi Katz wasn’t…

By The Seventh Eye September 23, 2018

Border police officer stands in front of Palestinian as they wait to cross from Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem to attend the Ramadan Friday Prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 26, 2013. Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org

‘The law is what keeps the edifice of occupation from crashing down’

Michael Sfard has spent the past two decades fighting the occupation in Israeli courts. His new book dissects the moral dilemmas of engaging with the occupation’s legal system, its role in making the status quo sustainable, and why, despite it all, he remains optimistic that Israel’s military rule over the Palestinians will end. By Yossi Gurvitz “The…

By +972 Magazine June 22, 2018

An Israeli soldier raises his rifle toward unarmed Palestinian protesters along the border fence separating Israel and Gaza, Gaza Strip, near the Nahal Oz crossing, October 30, 2015. (Ezz Zanoun/Activestills.org)

Gaza ‘Return March’ organizer: ‘We’ll ensure it doesn’t escalate to violence — on our end’

Palestinians in Gaza are planning 45 days of protests along the border with Israel leading up to the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, and they fear Israeli troops may open fire. One of the organizers speaks to +972 Magazine about why he believes hundreds of thousands of people will show up, and what message he’d…

By Rami Younis March 27, 2018

Ofir Averbukh (Screenshot)

After 5 months in jail, it’s time to talk about why I refuse to serve

Ofir Averbukh has served more than 150 days in Israeli military prison for his refusal to be conscripted into the army. In the following interview, Ofir explains why he is only going public about his refusal now, and why Israeli youth should view choosing to be conscripted, not just refusing, as a decision of significant…

By Social TV October 27, 2017

A pro-Palestine action at the Port of Oakland, California, August 16, 2014. (Alex Chis/CC)

‘A legal shield for the Palestine movement in the U.S.’

Pro-Israel organizations are increasingly using the law to target Palestinian solidarity groups in the United States. Dima Khalidi, head of Palestine Legal, speaks with +972 Magazine about the ‘Palestine exception’ to free speech, and what her organization is doing to fight back.

By Amjad Iraqi October 18, 2017