Paris attacks

Israeli police arrest an Arab youth during a protest in Nazareth in northern Israel, October 8, 2015. (Omar Sameer/Activestills.org)

In Israel’s democracy, dissent has always been off limits to Arab citizens

The banning of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement may seem like a new low, but a closer look at history reveals how the state has been at war with Palestinian political organizations since its very inception. Israel’s Palestinian citizens have never had an easy time organizing politically. The government’s decision to outlaw the…

By Edo Konrad November 17, 2015

Israeli men stand with a French flag at the Tel Aviv memorial for victims of the Paris terror attacks, November 14, 2015. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Prominent Israeli journalist tweets opportunism at Paris’s pain

There is a tendency on the Israeli right to express Schadenfreude when Europe is targeted by terrorists — especially when the perpetrators are jihadis. The subtext is that Israel is unfairly judged for its policies toward the Palestinians. As social media reporting from Paris increased in pace and volume on Friday, a well-worn pattern emerged.…

By Lisa Goldman November 14, 2015

Tel Aviv city hall lit up in the colors of the French flag during a solidarity vigil, Rabin Square, November 14, 2015. (Yotam Ronen/Activestill.org)

Israelis hold solidarity vigil with Paris terror victims

Roughly 2000 Israelis held an impromptu vigil Saturday night for the victims of the Paris terror attacks, in which at least 128 people were killed in seven different incidents. The Tel Aviv Municipality lit up the city hall building in Rabin Square with the French flag. Landmarks around the world were also lit up with…

By +972 Magazine November 14, 2015

Latest

French soldiers capture FLN fighters in Algeria, 1958. (Author unknown)

No, Mr. Netanyahu, answers to terrorism are not all the same

The prime minister compares Israel’s predicament with the Palestinians to France’s current one with jihadists, but the true comparison is to France’s struggle with Algeria in the 1950s and early 1960s. In Paris early this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drove home a message he’s been delivering for decades: “Israel supports Europe in its fight…

By Larry Derfner January 16, 2015

People holding Charlie Hebdo cover with Mohammed cartoon during a unity rally (Marche Republicaine), in which 50000 people paid tribute following the three-day killing spree in Paris, January 11, 2015. (Photo by Shutterstock.com/Hadrian)

On being murdered because some people can’t take a joke

If anything, satire in our society runs the risk of being too safe, of making its targets appear less dangerous than they really are. In cutting them down to size, satire sometimes humanizes as much as it disparages. By Don Futterman This week 17 French citizens were murdered because some people literally can’t take a…

By +972 Magazine January 13, 2015

Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Activestills.org)

The real reason Bibi wants French Jews to move to Israel

By calling on France’s Jews to move to Israel, Netanyahu is promoting a worldview in which there is no national conflict, no occupation and no Palestinian people. There are only Jews and radical Muslims. The terror attacks in France have caused Netanyahu to, once again, conflate his role as prime minister with his imaginary role as supreme…

By Orly Noy January 11, 2015