kibbutzim

Ayala Metzger stands in front of the home of her in-laws, Tamar and Yoram Metzger, who were kidnapped to Gaza from Nir Oz on October 7. Tamar was returned in a hostage-prisoner exchange last November, while Yoram was killed while in captivity earlier this year. November 8, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

How a hostage family leader became one of the loudest anti-war voices in Israel

After Ayala Metzger's relatives were kidnapped from Nir Oz and abandoned by the government, she had no choice but to become an ‘anti-regime dissident’ — and insist on a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.

By Edo Konrad and Oren Ziv December 6, 2024

The scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants hit an apartment building in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, October 9, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

How Israel’s emergency plans widened the south’s class divides

Four teachers at an Ashkelon high school reveal how the state’s handling of Oct. 7 evacuees played into racial, economic, and geographic inequalities.

By Roy Cohen January 10, 2024

An aerial view of the Asi River in Kibbutz Nir David, August 9, 2020. (Menachem Lederman/Flash90)

In one kibbutz, coexistence becomes an existential threat

The struggle to access a river in northern Israel has become a symbol of the discrimination Mizrahim face — and the myths Zionism tells about this land.

By Omri Najad August 16, 2021

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Israeli activists and supporters enter Kibbutz Nir David and swim in the Asi River for a couple of hours on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Mati Milstein)

The story of Israel’s Ashkenazi supremacy in one river

A river running through an Israeli kibbutz has turned into a site of controversy and violence that highlights how irrelevant the Zionist left has become.

By Lihi Yona August 18, 2020

Police spray ultra-Orthodox demonstrators with blue liquid during a protest against the arrest of a Haredi IDF deserter, Jerusalem, March 23, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

The kibbutz that sells riot control weapons to war criminals

For decades, Kibbutz Beit Alfa has sold riot control vehicles to despotic regimes such as Pinochet’s Chile and Nkunrunziza’s Burundi. By Eitay Mack (translated from Hebrew by Ofer Neiman) Hundreds of ultra-orthodox demonstrators blocked the entrance to Jerusalem last week to protest the arrest of yeshiva students deemed ‘deserters’ by the IDF because they refused to…

By +972 Magazine November 8, 2017

The old church in Kfer Bir'im. (photo: Activestills.org)

How we learned to forget the villages we destroyed

‘Erased from Space and Consciousness’ is the product of years of meticulous research to raise awareness of the hundreds of villages Israel destroyed during and following the 1948 war. But is awareness enough to remedy the injustices of the past? By Tom Pessah Kadman, Noga: Erased From Space and Consciousness – Israel and the Depopulated Palestinian Villages…

By Haokets October 3, 2016

Kibbutz members march in a 1951 ceremony. (photo: אביבה שני בית חרות/CC BY 2.5)

It’s time for the Israeli Left to part with the kibbutz

Between unequal distribution of municipal taxes that discriminate against development towns and admittance committees that bar entry to those who do not belong to the ‘white tribe,’ the Left must lead the struggle against the kibbutz’s sectorial policies. By Elad Wolf Since the founding of the state, the kibbutzim have undergone a process of privatization.…

By +972 Magazine September 26, 2015

All That’s Left activists planting working on the za’atar field in Susya, June 13, 2015. (Photo: Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man)

Diaspora Jews bring solidarity to south Hebron Hills

Over 70 Jews from around the world headed to Susya last weekend, where they stood with the residents of the West Bank village under threat of demolition against displacement and settler violence. It was part anti-occupation activism, part Jewish summer camp, part WWOOF and a little reminiscent of young foreigners coming to volunteer on a…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man June 15, 2015

Israelis march during a protest calling for social justice, Hatikva neighborhood, south Tel Aviv, June 14, 2012. (photo: Activestills.org)

Israeli Black Panther: Mizrahim must boycott the elections

Since its establishment and until today, not a single election has fundamentally changed the status of Mizrahim in the ‘only democracy in the Middle East.’ Now we must use the only tool we have left at our disposal and refuse to participate in the game altogether. By Reuven Abergel For Palestinian citizens of Israel, the upcoming…

By Haokets February 20, 2015

Protesters march on Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway on July 15, 2012. (photo: Activestills.org)

What Mizrahi activists really want: A ten-point program

Mizrahi activists have tried explaining their positions for years. Now, in the run-up to the elections, they lay out their political vision for education, land reform, health care and representation in a ‘ten-point program.’ By Roi Grufi Throughout my years of being active in the Mizrahi struggle in Israel, I found that there are several…

By Haokets February 14, 2015

Mizrahi activists protest outside Finance Minister Yair Lapid's house, north Tel Aviv. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Why Mizrahim don’t vote for the Left

It is no wonder that Mizrahim vote for right-wing parties when the Ashkenazi-dominated Left has done everything in its power to exclude them. Want things to change? Start talking about Ashkenazi privilege. By Tom Mehager Those who have, historically, voted for Israel’s left-wing camp are often nicknamed “the white tribe.” On the other hand, the…

By Haokets January 24, 2015

A Palestinian photographer standing during a minute of silence commemorating the Nakba, during a ceremony held by Palestinian and Israeli students in the entrance to the Tel Aviv University. Rightwing vigil protesting the ceremony and policemen are seen in the background. May 13, 2013 (photo: Yotam Ronen / Activestills)

Despite efforts to erase it, the Nakba’s memory is more present than ever in Israel

The Israeli Right has been waging a war on history in recent years, using extreme measures to remove evidence of the Nakba from the national discourse. It failed. Yedioth Hakibbutz is the weekly magazine of the United Kibbutz Movement. It is delivered every week to hundreds of Kibbutzim as part of the weekend edition of Yedioth Ahronoth,…

By Noam Sheizaf May 14, 2013

Housing protest on Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv, 14 July, 2011 (Photo: Eyal Warshavsky)

Despite promises, government falls short on housing goals

Although the tent protests of 2011 succeeded in changing the public discourse about housing, the country’s policies regarding availability, affordability, and recognition of Bedouin villages in the Negev have not changed. By Gil Gan Mor Last month, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published its annual report on the state of human rights in…

By +972 Magazine January 17, 2013