After a shooting at the BarNoar youth center left two dead and 11 injured four years ago, the Jerusalem Open House and other LGBTQ community centers were forced to lock their previously open doors. Now that police have arrested suspects in the case, one community leader hopes the Open House's doors can once again opened for all. By Elinor Sidi The 2009 murders at the BarNoar youth center altered the reality of life for many LGBTQ people in Israel, but it also changed reality for civil society organizations. Last week we were informed that police apprehended three suspects and the…

Two academics get into a public intellectual debate over secular national identity and the characteristics of binationalism in the future of Israel or binational state. Despite their bitter assaults against one another's ideas, they are far closer than they realize. By Jeremiah Haber It’s open season on Prof. Shlomo Sand of Tel Aviv University in the pages of Haaretz, following the publication of his latest book, How and Why I Stopped Being a Jew. The thesis of the book is that there is no such thing as secular Jewish experience (although he grants that there are people who have fashioned for themselves a…

Testimonies from former Israeli soldiers have failed to touch the Israeli public or change the state's policies.  The IDF gives an 'explanation' for why it ignores these and all  other occupation stories told by the men and women of Breaking the Silence. I used to think that Breaking the Silence, which publishes testimonies of IDF soldiers about what they see and do on occupation duty, would really strike a blow against the empire. Who could doubt the word of soldiers – by now over 900 – coming forward to, essentially, confess; who wouldn’t at least show them respect and give them…

While the running debate at the Western Wall has been over women’s prayer, Jewish men have been playing a supporting role in shifting 'local custom.' By Matt Surrusco Women of the Wall may be exactly what their name implies: women. But standing and praying in solidarity with them this month were several dozen Jewish men. In between police barricades and the familiar fence enclosing the women's prayer area at the Western Wall Plaza, were about 30 Jewish men – Israel-born, immigrants, secular, Reform and Conservative, young and old. They came out to support approximately 300 Jewish women – many in…

By comparing the deteriorating security situation along Israel's northern border with security arrangements in any future Palestinian peace deal, was Netanyahu making declarations to thwart the success of Kerry's planned peace talks? Prime Minister Netanyahu said a few interesting (and politically genius) things at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday. Various media outlets construed his statement in different ways, which was apparent in the different headlines with which they led. Many English-language news sites chose some variation of the headline: "Israel won't intervene in Syria unless fired upon." The Times of Israel, however, led with, "Netanyahu alludes to military action at Syrian border,"…

"I know that a Jewish state can only be a dream," Yoram Kaniuk once told me, "but I want to have my dream." This literary giant and eternal dreamer passed away last night (Saturday) at the age of 83, and an important critical and humanist voice fell silent in this land. The dream of Israel is one for which Tel Aviv-born Kaniuk nearly gave his life at the age of 17. He lied about his age in order to join the Palmach Brigades and was shot in the leg on the slopes of Jerusalem's Mount Zion. Six decades later, having…

A new documentary tells about the lives the Israeli community living in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s. But will the film be enough to challenge the dominant Israeli narrative regarding the root of animosity between the two countries?  By Lior Sternfeld / Haokets It seems that the mechanisms of remembrance and forgetfulness worked perfectly in shaping the collective memory of the relations between Israel and Iran. The Israeli narrative goes as such: during his reign, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi tried to create a modern, progressive, and western Iran (Iran’s relations with Israel were at the core and foundations of the shah's geostrategic…

How did a modest student protest against the destruction of a park in Istanbul turn into one of the biggest protests in Turkey's recent history? A personal story from Taksim Square. By Gulfem Saydan Sanver Gezi Park, in the heart of Taksim Square, was one of the last remaining green areas in Istanbul. The decision to demolish it in order to build a mall created anger among a people already provoked by increasingly oppressive government policies. Only two days earlier, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan named Istanbul’s third bridge after a sultan known for massacring tens of thousands of Alawites. A week…

The paper’s correspondent in Berlin, known for his ties with radical right-wing groups, has done it again. In a couple of articles published last month, the widely-read Jerusalem Post compared the European Union's decision to label Israeli settlement products to nothing less than Nazism. A year ago, the European Union passed a decision to label Israeli goods produced in the occupied territories, differentiating them from products of Israel proper. The Union is objecting to Israel’s settlement policy, but nevertheless has many trade agreements and joint projects with Israel. (The EU is Israel's largest trade partner.) The decision to label products…

Accompanied by a settlement security officer, IDF soldiers abuse a Palestinian boy and avoid giving him proper medical attention. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz One day in May M., a 13-year-old child from the village of Qariut left his school and headed to his father's lands to find out what his chores were for the day. Unfortunately for M., the village’s land borders a plit seized for protecting the settlement of Eli. M. was already used to settlers disrupting his family members while tilling their lands, and he learned to identify the settlement's security personnel. Soon after M.…

A night that is almost too calm turns violent, then calm again, and then comes the day to make conclusions. Photography by May Castelnuovo. Click here for the full series.  It's 2 a.m. when we arrive back to Istanbul from Bursa. Istiklal Avenue is busier than at noon. Street musicians are everywhere, many playing "Bella Ciao," the struggle's adopted anthem. On our first day here, hearing it played in the square was a thrill. It took three days for it to become a chewed-up hit. Even here, with all these people about, the spirit of the struggle seems less than invincible. Young folk…

A new report published by B'Tselem to mark 46 years since Israel occupied the West Bank reveals how the Civil Administration has violated its obligation to administer the area for the benefit of the Palestinian population. Contrary to its legal obligations, the Civil Administration, the body responsible for implementing Israeli government policy in Area C (60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control), implements exactly the opposite policy. The Civil Administration consistently prefers Israeli and settlements' interests while displacing Palestinians, exploiting the area’s resources to benefit Israelis, and bringing about a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence…

Since Israel occupied the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, it has continued to engage in legal acrobatics to confiscate Palestinian homes and land. In doing so, the state is actively erasing its internationally recognized border - the Green Line. One thing has become abundantly clear about Israeli policy when it comes to land: first it acts, only later giving its legal stamp of approval. This is essentially how the state was first established and built itself up, and is the story of how all settlements are born to this day in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Make your…