northern ireland

Graffiti in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Ben Kerckx/CC BY-SA 2.0)

What Northern Ireland can teach us about Israel-Palestine

Imagine if Jerusalem had an Israeli mayor from the Likud party, and a Palestinian deputy mayor from Fatah. It’s not so far-fetched — the equivalent is already in place in Belfast. By Liel Maghen and Eran Tsidkyahu Walking around Belfast’s various neighborhoods can remind one of the situation in Jerusalem. It’s not just the wall that…

By +972 Magazine June 16, 2017

British peace activist Gary Spedding holds up his passport, with a refusal stamp from the Israeli border authorities. (photo: Aaron Dover)

British national challenges Israel’s policy of deporting peace activists

Israel’s Interior Ministry banned British peace activist Gary Spedding from the country for 10 years, claiming that he was an anti-Semitic liar who might start a riot. Unlike other activists who have suffered the same fate, Spedding isn’t giving up without a fight. An Israeli court is slated to rule next month on a case…

By Haggai Matar August 24, 2015

Israelis take cover near a bus stop in a street in center Tel Aviv during a siren alarm as a rocket Is launched from Gaza strip, August 3, 2014. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

What if Hamas fired rockets at Britain?

When Israeli spokesmen defend the IDF’s actions in Gaza by asking what you would do if rockets rained down on your home, the example of Northern Ireland can serve as one response. By John Jackson Over the last weeks Israeli government spokesmen have provided cover across international TV and radio airspace for their military onslaught in…

By +972 Magazine August 30, 2014

Latest

Dror Khenin's father mourn hum during the funeral ceremony, July 16, 2014 in the city of Yahud, Israel. Khenin is the first Israeli to be killed by a rocket since Israel started the recent attack on the Gaza strip, as he offered food to Israeli soldiers near the Erez border crossing between Israel and Gaza. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Mourning death wherever it strikes

(Translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe) Sometimes it feels like this is some sort of a test. Will the leftists mourn now? Will they say that they feel the pain? Will they dare criticize the war now that our soldiers have died? So there, yes, it hurts. I know that that doesn’t necessarily apply to…

By Haggai Matar July 21, 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington DC, March 2012 (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / Government Press Office)

What progressive Jews can do for Mideast peace

The Middle East peace process is very much a partisan issue in American politics. Until J Street figures out how to solve the problem of Likud penetration of the Republican Party, there is no American solution for the Middle East. By Thomas G. Mitchell It appears that Secretary of State John Kerry’s mediation in the Israeli-Palestinian…

By +972 Magazine April 12, 2014

Human Rights March 2009 (Naama Saar Stavy)

Ending the conflict means engaging Israeli, Palestinian civil society

How can the peace process in Northern Ireland help bring the occupation to an end? If that conflict teaches us anything, it is that engaging every level of civil society must come before signing an agreement. By Gary Spedding No two conflicts have exact the same circumstances; this is an important aspect to remember when…

By +972 Magazine March 16, 2014

Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on Republican walls (Haggai Matar)

Lessons for a fruitful peace process from Northern Ireland

Achieving genuine conflict resolution requires a dedicated approach that incorporates building trust and relationships between communities from opposing sides of a deeply divided society. Lessons for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process from Northern Ireland. By Gary Spedding Israeli and Palestinian flags are frequently seen flying in Northern Ireland, often in Loyalist and Republican areas respectively. This…

By +972 Magazine May 18, 2013

Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on Republican walls (Haggai Matar)

Maintaining conflict, stopping bloodshed: Lessons from 15 years of peace in Northern Ireland

Although Republicans and Unionists still have extremely different ideas as to where the country should be heading they still accept each other’s right to imagine opposite identities and futures. Fifteen years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there is much Israelis and Palestinians can learn from Northern Ireland. “No two conflicts are alike,…

By Haggai Matar April 12, 2013

Protesting arrest without charges, Khader Adnan is dying

Adnan is held for at least the 7th time in administrative arrest, a practice used at any given moment to detain hundreds of Palestinians. This is a translation (with slight changes) of an article published in Hebrew in my weekly column at TimeOut Tel Aviv The IDF’s court of appeals rejected this week the motion…

By Noam Sheizaf February 18, 2012

Memorial Day: The book of lost lives

I published this post on last year’s Memorial Day, on my old blog. Somehow, it feels only fitting to repost it again – so little has changed. Some years ago, a team of authors released a book: The book documents, without exception, every single human being who died in that conflict. The order is chronological,…

By Dimi Reider May 8, 2011

Stop the press! We know the dissidents’ wish list!

Ardoyne Riot. Credit: Belfastgonzo, Flickr The Observer leads today with one of the weirdest stories I ever read: Irish terror groups target Conservative party conference in Birmingham Irish republican dissident groups are targeting the Conservative party conference this autumn, raising fears of a repeat of the 1984 Brighton attack that nearly killed the then prime…

By Dimi Reider August 22, 2010