To observe the humiliations of Palestinians at the largest Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, Jaclynn Ashly took her camera to Qalandia on a recent Friday, and met dozens of Palestinians waiting at the turnstiles as soldiers spoke Hebrew orders over microphones.
Israel’s Haifa municipality is unveiling major plans to transform the city in northern Israel into a Barcelona of the Middle East – a city with captivating ancient architecture redolent of a storied past. However, there is one problem: these homes belonged to Palestinians.
The Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh does not support a two-state or one-state solution. “We should focus on calling for the end of the occupation, and then we can find ways that we can live together,” he tells Jaclynn Ashly.
After announcing his daring campaign to become the first Palestinian to contend for the seat of mayor in Israel’s municipal elections in Jerusalem, Aziz Abu Sarah, 38, announced on Tuesday that he has been forced into withdrawing due to mounting pressures put on his campaign from Israel and Palestinian political factions. Jaclynn Ashly talks to Abu Sarah about his decision to end his campaign.
After the illegal Jewish outpost of Havat Gilad was established on a West Bank hilltop in 2002, “our entire world collapsed,” says Palestinian farmer Ibrahim Salah, 65. He has been denied access to his livelihood, his olive trees, and the Israeli government has officially recognized the settlement as it colonizes the West Bank.
On June 8, when some 250,000 people attended the pride march in Tel Aviv, just some 44 miles away Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip faced Israeli snipers. For LGBTQ Palestinians, Tel Aviv’s pride week is a source of pain and anger each year. Pride is “used as a tool to normalize and justify occupation,” 20-year-old Omar told Mondoweiss. “Israelis oppress Palestinians, Palestinian women, Palestinian children, LGBT Palestinians. Anyone who is not Israeli Jewish, they oppress.”
Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah city Sunday night, demanding that the Palestinian Authority end its sanctions on the besieged Gaza Strip that have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in the small Palestinian enclave. The crowd chanted “With our souls and blood, we will save you Gaza” and “Shame on you, you sold Gaza in dollars.”
The Israeli Supreme Court OK’d a plan to remove Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin community of 183 people in the West Bank whose lands are targeted by adjoining Jewish settlements. The human rights group B’Tselem calls the plan a “war crime.” While 74 Congresspeople have urged the Israeli prime minister to respect human rights and not evict the Palestinians.
Protests have taken ahold of Haifa over the last few days as Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza. They were met by police who rights groups say used excessive force, including breaking the knee of one protester. “The first reaction of the police to stop the demonstration was to use violence,” Bashar Ali, 22, told Mondoweiss. “We can’t be surprised by this when at the same time Israeli soldiers are using deadly weapons on nonviolent demonstrations near Israel’s separation fence in Gaza.”
On Sunday, Mohammad Tamimi, 15, was thrown into the back of an unmarked car by undercover Israeli agents dressed as Arabs in the occupied village of Nabi Saleh and detained until the end of the night. Mohammad is recovering from a life-threatening injury after being shot in the head by Israeli forces five months ago.