From a Palestinian point of view, Hebron's sanctity to the Jewish people does not negate the Palestinians' right to promote their political rights and sovereignty over the world heritage site. By Yonathan Mizrachi In recent years, every time UNESCO convenes to discuss world heritage sites, Israel-Palestine is in the limelight.  Usually, tensions center around the Old City of Jerusalem, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Danger in 1982. Recently, however, the Israeli Foreign Ministry began a campaign against the Palestinian nomination of the city of Hebron as a World Heritage Site. Though Hebron is not Jerusalem, Israel's claims to…

There was a lot of spin in the coverage of Iran's missile strikes on ISIS in Syria last week. We can learn more from what Israel's leadership didn't say than what it did. By Shemuel Meir An extraordinary strategic event took place last week in the Middle East, when Iran launched surface-to-surface missiles against targets in Syria. This was the first-ever missile strike directed by Iran at a country bordering on Israel. Amazingly, all hell didn't break loose. What happened? How did Israel view the launch of the missiles? Did it grasp its full implications? How did it respond to…

Atalya Ben-Abba went to prison rather than be conscripted into the Israeli army because of her refusal to take part in the occupation. By +972 Magazine Staff The Israeli army released conscientious objector Atalya Ben-Abba from mandatory military service on Tuesday after she spent 110 days in military prison for refusing to be drafted. Ben-Abba was released on grounds of unsuitability, after her request to be recognized as a conscientious objector was rejected a day earlier. [tmwinpost] “The army can call the waiver [from mandatory conscription] whatever it wants, but the fact of the matter remains that it gave me…

With the help of hundreds of American Jews, Israeli and Palestinian activists, two Palestinian families returned to land the Israeli army expelled them from decades ago. By +972 Magazine Staff A little over a month ago, accompanied by over hundreds of Jewish-American, Palestinian, and Israeli activists, adel Aamer returned to the land from which the Israeli army expelled him some two decades ago. In the weeks since, some 500 people helped restore two cave homes and put their bodies on the line to ensure Aamer and his family could return to their land. Now most of the foreign activists have…

I grew up believing the Arabs wanted to throw us into the sea. Then I met a Palestinian from Gaza, and started to question everything I was ever taught. By Osnat Ita Skoblinski As a young girl I believed that Arabs were evil. My belief wasn’t based on personal experience — it was just common knowledge. As befits a coastal country, Israelis would often talk about “throwing people into the sea” — either the evil Arabs throwing us into the sea, or us throwing them in first as a preventive measure. [tmwinpost] I spent first grade studying in a bomb shelter because…

Liberal American Jewry is up in arms after the Israeli government nixed a deal to allow men and women to pray together at Judaism's holiest site. But if American Jews want their interests in Israel safeguarded, they must rid themselves of the fantasy of a nonexistent Jewish pluralism. The Netanyahu government created an uproar across the Jewish world on Sunday by rolling back an agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall where men and women could pray together. The compromise would also have brought representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements into a committee meant to manage that space. [tmwinpost] That arrangement…

Israel's justice minister demanded an investigation of an anti-occupation activist after he admitted to beating a Palestinian during his army service. Now other former soldiers are stepping up to show solidarity.  By Yael Marom Dozens of Israelis demonstrated outside Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's home in north Tel Aviv Sunday night, after she called to investigate the spokesperson of anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence. [tmwinpost] Breaking the Silence Spokesperson Dean Issacharof was summoned for interrogation last week by Israeli police at the behest of Shaked, over a testimony he gave to the organization in which he admitted to beating a Palestinian man during his…

During the month of Ramadan, Palestinians were more freely able to pass between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Now it's back to the old rules of military occupation. Text by Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org The final Friday of Ramadan was also the final day in which Israel temporarily "relaxed" its restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank. Throughout the past month, which Muslims mark as the holiest time of the year, Israel allowed women of all ages, men over 40, and children under 12 to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayers without special entry permits. Palestinians were also granted permission…