Jerusalem Pride Parade

People hold a Palestinian flag during a pride event under restrictions following the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, June 28, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Palestinian trans woman’s story peels away Israel’s pinkwashing veil

From oppressive institutions to social prejudices, MC's ordeal embodies the dark reality of LGBTQ Palestinians who thought they could find safety in Israel.

By Sharona Weiss June 8, 2023

Israeli border policemen stop and check Palestinians going out of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya, on October 15, 2015. Israel set up checkpoints in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem and mobilised hundreds of soldiers as a collective punishment after recent attacks by Palestinians. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Jerusalem mayor believes collective punishment is key to coexistence

How does one go about fostering neighborly relations in Jerusalem? It’s very simple, according to the city’s mayor: curfews, closures, concrete blocks and lots of police. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat regularly holds forth about how his city’s various demographics can rub along in peace and quiet. Back in July, in deference to the city’s ultra-Orthodox population,…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 12, 2016

Participants at the Jerusalem Pride Parade, West Jerusalem, July 21, 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Year after teen’s murder, largest turnout ever at Jerusalem Pride

Massive, unexpected turnout sent a powerful message in the wake of anti-LGBTQ hate speech in recent weeks. Yet the sterile police cordon in which the Pride Parade was forced to take place also served as an eerie reminder of its insecurity. [Photo gallery follows the text.] More than 25,000 Israelis turned out to march in Jerusalem’s 15th annual Pride Parade Tuesday evening, the largest…

By Mairav Zonszein July 21, 2016

Latest

Hundreds of people march through Jerusalem several hours after a stabbing attack at the city’s Pride Parade, July 30, 2015. One teenager was killed. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Homophobia rears its ugly head in Pride month in Israel

‘Sick,’ ‘perverts,’ ‘abomination,’ ‘blasphemers,’ ‘handicapped’: Hate speech against Israel’s LGBTQ community has reached fever pitch this week, and comes as police have detained queer activists and the High Court has capitulated to homophobia. The last seven days in Israel have been particularly hostile for the country’s LGBTQ community. A steady stream of homophobic slander from nationalist and…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland July 21, 2016

Israeli activists graffitied anti-occupation slogans across Tel Aviv in the run-up to the 2016 pride parade. (photo: Activestills.org)

Ahead of Tel Aviv Pride, queer activists bring the occupation home

LGBTQ activists hang banners and graffiti anti-occupation slogans across Tel Aviv in the run-up to the city’s annual pride parade. 180,000 people are expected to take part in the festivities, at least half of them tourists. By Yael Marom In the run up to Friday’s Tel Aviv Pride festivities, Israeli LGBTQ activists hung banners and spray-painted…

By +972 Magazine June 3, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks out at the Negev desert in Sde Boker, November 18, 2015. (Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO)

The duality of Israel’s occupation, at home and abroad

Slowly but surely, the process of shedding democratic characteristics in favor of ‘ethnocratic’ ones is becoming clearer and clearer for all to see. By Tomer Persico (translated by Maya Haber) Over the last few weeks we have heard about the collapse of the delicate duality the Israeli government has been trying to preserve for years.…

By +972 Magazine March 29, 2016

LGBT activists protest Yuval Steinitz as he speaks during a rally protesting the attacks on the Jerusalem Pride Parade, August 1, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Increasing homophobia mars Knesset LGBT day

As the Knesset marks first ever ‘gay community rights day,’ new reports on homophobia in Israel show 80 percent increase in documented homophobic incidents, alarming statistics about levels of violence faced by the LGBT community. The state of LGBT rights in Israel can effectively be summed up in a series of events surrounding the Knesset’s first…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland February 26, 2016

A Palestinian youth kicks a tear gas canister during clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, November 20, 2015. (photo: Activestills.org)

The Year in Photos: Palestine and Israel in 2015

Activestills selects the most powerful, important and moving images of 2015 — in chronological order. Photos by: Oren Ziv, Ahmad al-Bazz, Yotam Ronen, Faiz Abu-Rmeleh, Keren Manor, Hosam Salem, Ezz Zanoun, Anne Paq, Shiraz Grinbaum Editing: Anka Mirkin, Merieke Lauken / Activestills.org …

By Activestills December 31, 2015

PHOTOS: LGBT activists confront far-right protest in south Tel Aviv

‘We are here to protest those who were a part of the incitement that led to the death at the pride parade in Jerusalem,’ says one participant. Text by Oren Ziv, Photos by Oren Ziv and Keren Manor/ Activestills.org Some 50 LGBT activists confronted a right-wing protest in south Tel Aviv where leaders called to condemn…

By Activestills August 20, 2015

A man is seen crying following a mass stabbing attack against the Jerusalem LGBTQ Pride Parade in Jerusalem, July 30, 2015. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Pride parade stabber found fit to stand trial

Yishai Shlissel, the ultra-Orthodox man arrested for attacking marchers at Jerusalem’s Pride Parade for the second time, has been declared mentally fit to stand trial — again. Yishai Shlissel, the ultra-Orthodox man accused of murdering a teenage girl and injuring five other people in a stabbing attack at the Jerusalem pride parade last month, was declared mentally fit…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland August 20, 2015

Seven Nights 5: Sodom Burning

I don’t always drink beer in bars with racist symbols on the wall. But when I do, it’s for a good cause. Part five of the nighttime journey. For other nights click here. Saturday night we were back on the streets. Hundreds of left-leaning urbanites marching through central Tel Aviv, condemning the government for turning this…

By Yuval Ben-Ami August 12, 2015

Seven Nights 3: Sidewalks and playgrounds

Part three. In which old friends reunite and talk about leaving. For other nights click here. Some time after sunset, the muezzin at Jaffa’s Abu Nabout mosque called for prayer one last time. Meanwhile, protesters at the nearby Clock Square stretched a clothing line across the street. On the line hung baby clothes, reminders of…

By Yuval Ben-Ami August 8, 2015

Palestinians mourn during the funeral march for Palestinian baby Ali Saad Dawabshe, Duma, West Bank, July 31, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Translating a Palestinian family’s grief for Netanyahu

The least I could do was go to the hospital to support the Dawabshe family after their 18-month-old baby was burned alive by Israeli settlers. But before I knew it I became Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Arabic translator. On that terrible Friday morning I found myself finishing up a lecture in Tel Aviv and driving toward…

By Samah Salaime August 6, 2015