Sarah Levy reports from the ISDEF 2015 weapons expo in Tel Aviv: “After sitting through presentations about the latest in robotic warfare, thermo-vision technology, and “rooster” drones–complete with drone demos–I make my way to the live demo of ‘urban warfare.’ This consists of three soldiers making their way through sand scattered on the convention floor and then bursting into a mock Palestinian house, while a man in a suit and tie narrates their escapades — ‘Now they’re making their way through the neighborhood…wearing gear from Regatta, Surefire, and TL5…They bust into the home! One is shooting out the window–with his Accelerator M16 from IMI Defense and weapons accessories from CAA–while his partner keeps an eye on the door, using his night-vision system from Ogara and laser from Steiner-Optik…Man down! It looks like he’s been shot! Badly! In the leg!…Now they’re carrying him away in a stretcher made by ACS.'”

Israel’s High Court ruled to freeze state plans to build a part of Israel’s “separation” barrier that would have gone through the middle of Battir, a victory for the farming village of 5,000 people located west of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. Mondoweiss speaks with Hassan Muamer about what the ruling means for the village and for Palestinians.

“Orders came to evacuate one village, to destroy another village. We were told that we had to expel them, the Palestinians. Expel them to Gaza. To leave no one… We didn’t let them come back. Those were the orders from our command. We did some really ugly things… War is ugly.”

Israeli activists came out last week to protest Mayor Nir Barkat’s ritual Chanukah candle lighting in Jerusalem and to bring a message that holiday cheer should not mask the fact that Palestinians in East Jerusalem are suffering due to his policies. While Barkat spoke to a crowd of about 80 Israelis across from the Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, protesters stood on the side holding signs that read “There’s no sanctity in an occupied city”, “Stop the ‘quiet transfer policy'” and two people stood behind Barkat’s platform and unfurled a large banner that said “STOP EAST JERUSALEM HOUSE DEMOLITIONS.”

Any Israeli institution with public funding that mentions, teaches, or mourns the the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”) can be fined, and individuals can be sentenced to prison for their involvement. Recently this law threatened to cause trouble for the Israeli non-profit organization Zochrot as they prepared for their second annual “48 mm—International Film Festival on Nakba and Return” in Tel Aviv.

About 80 Israelis rallied last Wednesday night outside of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat’s house, chanting and banging drums in protest against the intensified attack on East Jerusalem that has taken place over the last week and to demand an end to what they call the policy of collective punishment toward the residents of East Jerusalem. Protesters chanted “There’s no such thing as illegal houses, there is such thing as racist laws,” and “Arresting children does not bring security,” and held signs such as “Discrimination and marginalization in East Jerusalem = Apartheid.”