nir barkat

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Likud election rally in Jerusalem, February 26, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

How Israelis came to worship leaders who despise them

Israelis used to admire leaders who went to war against Palestinians. Today they admire leaders who go to war against average Israelis.

By Orly Noy February 27, 2020

Israeli police arrest a Palestinian protester outside the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. May 14, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why the Jerusalem embassy opening was a fitting way to mark the Nakba

Both the U.S. and Israeli governments are run by racist demagogues who simultaneously deny an occupation exists while doing all they can to perpetuate it. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat believes that East Jerusalem Palestinians are “satisfied” with the move of the U.S. Embassy to their city. Speaking to Israeli news website Ynet on Sunday, as…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 15, 2018

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III arrives at the Church of the Nativity in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem as Orthodox Christmas celebrations kicked off on January 6, 2016, in the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ. (Flash90)

Christian leaders shut down Holy Sepulchre church to protest Israeli policy

A bill to expropriate church property and a plan to charge the church 650 million NIS in back taxes prompt protest from Christian leaders. Christian leaders announced that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the holiest sites in all of Christianity, will be closed indefinitely to protest a Knesset bill that will allow…

By Joshua Leifer February 25, 2018

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Israeli military bullldozers demolish a Palestinian four floor building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya. July 11, 2017. Photo by Afif H. Amireh/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ?????
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In Israel’s ‘eternal capital,’ anti-Palestinian discrimination is built-in

A closer look at Jerusalem’s new construction plans are a testament to the fact that Israel cannot continue lording over hundreds of thousands of Palestinians without infringing on their basic rights. By Aviv Tatarsky After a considerably long lull, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat have rebooted their plan to build beyond the Green…

By +972 Magazine July 16, 2017

The Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which was seized under Israel’s Absentee Property Law, is demolished in order to build a Jewish apartment complex, January 9, 2011. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Stepping up the battle against home demolitions in East Jerusalem

The occupation takes many forms in Jerusalem, none more pressing and fundamental than housing inequality between Jews and Palestinians, and the continual home demolitions carried out in the east of the city. By Uri Agnon Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced last week, just ahead of this weekend’s anti-occupation protest in the city, that he is seeking…

By +972 Magazine March 31, 2017

A Palestinian father stands in the ruins of his son's family home a few hours after it was demolished by Israeli authorities, East Jerusalem, May 20, 2013. He is holding a portrait from 1983 in which he and his own father are seen standing near their demolished home in the Anata neighborhood. Seven family members, including 5 children were displaced due to the demolition. (Activestills.org)

The home demolitions Israel’s media isn’t talking about

The Jerusalem municipality has repeatedly refused to come up with master plans for its Palestinian neighborhoods. The result? It has taken to demolishing illegally-built homes. By Michal Haramati and Sahar Vardi Forty Israeli Jews set out for a tour beyond Jerusalem’s hills of darkness last week, paying a visit to the neighborhood of Ein al-Loza in Silwan.…

By +972 Magazine February 6, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a statement to the press at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, December 28, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

What happens the ‘day after’ Netanyahu?

Even as the end of Netanyahu’s reign seems to be approaching, it’s no time to celebrate — the problems in Israel run far deeper than one man. Over the past few years, the top echelons of the Jewish Israeli Left have been trying to figure out how to remove or “replace” Prime Minister Netanyahu. Those…

By +972 Magazine January 24, 2017

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

Schoolchildren in EAST JERUSALEM (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)

City Hall gets ever more creative in ignoring E. Jerusalem school shortage

As the Jerusalem municipality is gradually forced to acknowledge a catastrophic shortage of classrooms in the city’s Palestinian districts, it also finds brave new ways to avoid tackling it. By Aviv Tatarsky Let’s start with the bottom line: there is a shortage of 2,000 classrooms in East Jerusalem schools. In effect, that means Israel prevents more than…

By +972 Magazine September 2, 2016

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

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

There is no ‘day after’ Netanyahu

Short of allowing Palestinians to establish an independent state, there is nothing Netanyahu won’t do to ensure his political survival. Liberal Israeli columnist and Channel 10’s top political commentator Raviv Drucker published a piece in Haaretz Sunday, in which he waxes optimistic about the “day after Netanyahu” and who could possibly take over and bring…

By Edo Konrad January 11, 2016

The wall passes through the neighbourhood of Dahiyat el Barid. (photo: Yoav Galai)

You may not see it, but Jerusalem is being torn apart

Redrawing the map of Jerusalem will not lock out potential attackers. Instead, it will only spark the sort of reaction one could expect following the wholesale nullification of rights from a significant number of Palestinians. By Yoav Galai With so much being written about the volatility of the status quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, a…

By +972 Magazine October 30, 2015

Israel youth walk in Jerusalem's old city, as they take part in the flags march, to celebrate 48 years for the occupation of East Jerusalem May 17, 2015.

How Jerusalem makes Palestinians disappear

While the exclusion of Palestinian cab drivers from a Jerusalem megaplex is illegal and immoral, it is just the tip of the iceberg in a city that constantly tries to erase Palestinian existence. “If she wants a Jewish driver, she’ll get a Jewish driver, I don’t understand what difference it makes.” This is how Merav…

By Orly Noy May 23, 2015