Shira Banki

A participant in the Jerusalem pride parade holds up a sign in solidarity with LGBTQ Palestinians, Jerusalem, August 3, 2017. (Activestills.org)

Two years after stabbing, 20,000 participate in J’lem pride march

Police arrest man carrying a knife, two years after 16-year-old Shira Banki was stabbed to death at the Jerusalem pride march. Over 20,000 people took part in the annual Jerusalem pride march on Thursday afternoon, two years after 16-year-old Shira Banki was murdered at the march by a religious extremist. Hundreds of police officers were on hand,…

By Activestills August 4, 2017

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)

No more waiting: LGBTQ Israelis must take the rights they deserve

The Israeli government doesn’t believe LGBTQ Israelis should be able to adopt children, yet continues to tell the world what a wonderful place Israel for the queer community. The past few days have been a stark reminder of just how the Israeli government views the LGBTQ community. The Welfare Ministry’s statement calling LGBTQ families “irregulars,” who…

By Yali Marom July 18, 2017

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 Soffer-Roth July 21, 2016

Israeli youth mourn Shira Banki, who was murdered by an ultra-Orthodox man at the Jerusalem Pride Parade, August 2, 2015. The attacker, Yishai Schlissel, stabled six people. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Straight terrorism

It doesn’t matter if the murderer in Orlando was Jewish, Christian or Muslim — the same hate crimes keep targeting us, over and over again, across the world. By Yael Marom and Ma’ayan Dak At least 50 people were killed and another 53 wounded early Sunday morning in a massacre at the “Pulse” club, a…

By +972 Magazine June 12, 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

Israeli protesters wave red-painted hands and calling against racist and homophobic propaganda disseminated by Israeli government officials and members of Knesset during their speeches in protest against racism and homophobia, Tel Aviv, Israel, August 1, 2015. Protests were held tonight in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva and Gan Shmuel Junction, following recent deadly attacks on the Dawabsha family and the stabbing attack in annual Jerusalem Pride Parade. (Activestills.org)

Photos of the Month: A long, hot summer of hate crimes

A Palestinian family is burned alive in their sleep, a 16-year-old Israeli is stabbed to death during the Jerusalem pride march, a hunger-striker calls the shots, and more. These are the best Activestills photos of the month. Photos by: Keren Manor, Ahmad Al-Bazz, Yotam Ronen, Faiz Abu-Rmeleh, Omer Sameer, Oren Ziv / Activestills, Edited by: Anka Mirkin

By Activestills September 1, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress, May 24, 2011. (Photo by Avi Ohayun/GPO)

Netanyahu tells a little lie that says a lot about him

On August 2 Raviv Drucker, a prominent and widely respected Israeli journalist, published the following status on his Facebook wall: Yesterday the prime minister made the following pre-recorded statement: “At this very moment a 16-year-old girl is fighting for her life at a Jerusalem hospital. She is a student at the high school near the…

By Lisa Goldman August 5, 2015