Issa Amro has been a human rights defender in Israeli-occupied Hebron since the early 2000s. On November 23, he’ll stand before a military court outside Ramallah, charged with “incitement,” organizing illegal activities, being in a “closed military zone” and insulting police.
Conflict
ArticlesStanding on the edge of little Battir, I feasted my eyes on an astonishing sight: an amphitheater of ancient stone terraces covered in a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, herbs and trees — including olive trees over a thousand years old.
Israel plays a host of key roles in today’s troubled world: Jewish homeland. Bastion of peace and democracy in the troubled Middle East. Clever “start-up nation” the world can turn to for smart solutions. Israeli-American activist Jeff Halper pinpoints a darker niche.
Physical abuse, assassination, bribery, the use of human shields, looting … These are among the acts former Israeli soldiers describe to Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence in the course of interviews about their service in the occupied Palestinian territories.
I took off for Hebron on a Sunday morning. Throngs of Israeli soldiers filled the bus station, soldiers on the move, barely more than teenagers, large backpacks and automatic weapons flung over their shoulders, smart phones in their hands.
Checkpoint 56, in Israeli-occupied Hebron, is a fearsome sight to behold. Flashed before your eyes in a Rorschach test, it could be taken for a high-voltage substation, or an industrial meat grinder.
A year-round program of bi-communal basketball games helps Greek and Turkish Cypriot teens shed stereotypes and make friends while modeling coexistence on a divided island.
Israel is referred to by Western governments and mainstream media as a beacon of democracy in a uniformly undemocratic region. A starkly different perspective is showcased in a recent UN report.
As the world holds its breath, waiting for Israel to demolish the little village of Susya, in the occupied West Bank, here’s a report to listen to from back in 2012. Today, Susya’s destruction could come at any moment.
The fortieth anniversary of America’s hasty retreat from Vietnam is upon us. A true memetic moment, that frantic, April 25, 1975 escape from the US Embassy rooftop is engraved in popular consciousness. The toxic legacy of the war is less known.
Palestine has filed action against Israel at the International Criminal Court — a move Washington and its ally have denounced. Do Israel’s occupation, its settlement enterprise and assault on Gaza violate international law?
The universal point of view from Washington and European capitals is that Israel has the right to defend itself against rockets fired from Gaza. Eric David, an eminent Belgian expert in international law, takes a different position.
This coming spring will mark the twenty-second anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. An estimated eight hundred thousand were killed by ethnic Hutu extremists armed with knives, hoes and machetes. Over the radio, venom flowed.
Israel’s “Separation Barrier” — some call it the “Apartheid Wall” — is one of those works of human ingenuity that has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
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Universities are engines of higher learning – also of national development and prosperity. No one knows this better than Israel – home to some of the world’s most prestigious universities. Palestinian schools struggle under Israeli occupation.
A few of the remarkable faces captured (along with audio) on last August/September’s trip to Palestine/Israel. Speaking with folks like these, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about the future of Israel as a nation of its citizens.
Weekly peaceful protests in villages across the West Bank are routinely greeted by Israeli teargas, sewage water, concussion grenades, and the occasional burst of live rounds. The village of Bi’lin is one of these.
Hanan Ashrawi is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee.
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Amira Hass is a columnist for the left-center Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. For over twenty years, her hard-hitting reports from the West Bank have shone a light on Israel’s occupation.
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Jeff Halper, a native of Hibbing, Minnesota, is the founder of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions.
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