Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

A coalition including Palestinian refugees from Lifta are appealing to the Jerusalem municipality to stop plans to build Jewish-only condominiums atop the remains of the depopulated village.

Twenty-four-year-old Hussam Rwidy was killed in the early morning hours of Friday, 11 February, on Hillel Street in West Jerusalem as he and a friend, Murad Khader Joulani, were walking to their car to drive home from work.

In early February, Israeli military spokesperson Avi Benayahu announced that more than a hundred Israeli “media warriors” are to be trained to use social media tools to disseminate Israeli propaganda to audiences around the world.

For at least five months, Israeli military has been stationed on the roof of Abid Abu Ramuz’s building — which houses a total of 69 persons from seven separate families, as well as a mosque — in the heart of Silwan’s Baten al-Hawa neighborhood.

Demonstrations are continuing uninterrupted across the Middle East and North Africa, where protesters remain steadfast in their demands for democracy. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority’s leadership in Ramallah has announced that it will hold municipal, presidential and legislative elections within the year.

Criticism has mounted in recent months around the Israeli civic service program, a volunteering program aimed at individuals otherwise exempt from military service, which individuals say conditions their inalienable rights, such as equal access to education and the job market.

A huge Palestinian flag was carried up a steep hill in Issawiya on 3 December, passed hand-to-hand between the at least 200 Palestinians, Israelis and international activists taking part in the first-ever solidarity march and demonstration in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood.

Earlier this year, “Mahmoud” came home to see a letter with his name on it, instructing him to come to the Russian Compound prison facility in Jerusalem. The 15-year-old Palestinian resident of the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem went to the prison with his father, mother and aunt. He was interrogated for seven hours.

A bill recently proposed in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, requires organizations to pledge loyalty to Israel as “Jewish and democratic.” The legislation continues threatens the existence of civil society organizations working for Palestinian rights within Israel.

It was a bright, warm morning in the occupied West Bank’s Saffa Valley Thursday, 18 November when, without warning, the Israeli occupation forces were upon us. Within moments, five Israeli soldiers were shouting in Hebrew. “You have one minute to leave the area!” they said, before shooting stun grenades at our feet. Moments later, we were told to sit quietly and hand over our passports. A six-hour detention was to follow.