This week: Palestinians arrested as Israelis march (and bicycle) to Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and Palestinians throw stones, African immigrant women and children are released from prison, a graphic novel portray the popular struggle, shrink-wrapped animal rights activists ride through Tel Aviv, activists demand more Mizrahi Jews on their bills, and the Separation Wall continues to surround Al Walaja.                          

Israeli forces arrest dozens at Damascus Gate during right-wing marches celebrating Jerusalem Day. Photos by: Anne Paq, Yotam Ronen, and Oren Ziv Dozens of Palestinians were arrested during clashes that erupted at the Old City's Damascus Gate during a Jerusalem Day march staged by right-wing Israeli activists. Among the detainees were three photojournalists--including Activestills photographer Oren Ziv (lower left)--and an unknown number of minors, all arrested by border police, mounted policemen, and undercover forces. Jerusalem Day is an Israeli holiday celebrating the capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967. In past years, right-wing activists…

This week: May Day marches from Tel Aviv to Boston, reprisals for the stabbing death of a settler by a Palestinian, protests against domestic violence, demonstrations against settlement expansion, celebrations for hunger striker Samer Issawi, and demolitions of Palestinian properties continue.                            

Demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem are part and parcel of Israel's publicly stated plans to reduce and control the demography of Palestinians and non-Jews in Jerusalem. With little chance of receiving building permits, Palestinian families often decide to build anyway, hoping that maybe their home will be spared. On Wednesday April 24, Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian houses in the At Tur neighborhood on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. The pretext, as usual, was that the owner had built illegally, though he had spent months applying for permits from the Jerusalem Municipality and provided all requested…

This week: Samer Issawi ends his hunger strike, Israeli authorities demolish Palestinian homes and businesses, action for animal rights, West Bank demonstrations, the Boston manhunt, settlement expansion, a new marathon in Bethlehem, and protests by young and old.                      

Photos by Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org; Text by Haggai Matar and Michael Omer-Man Runners in the first ever Bethlehem Marathon were forced to run two laps of the same course on Sunday, as Palestinians were unable to find a single stretch of free land that is 42 kilometers (26 miles) long (in Area A, where the PA has both security and civil authority). The marathon took place in spite of harsh and untypical weather conditions and the winner was Abdel Nasser Awajneh, a Palestinian man from Jericho. Palestinians “do not have a state, and their lands are controlled by a foreign…

Members of Activestills posted a public street exhibition on the streets of West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv of photos that bring attention to Palestinian Prisoners Day. Photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz, Shiraz Grinbaum, Keren Manor, Anne Paq, Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Yotam Ronen, and Oren Ziv The following text, in Hebrew, accompanied street exhibitions of the photos from this essay which were posted in public places in West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv the night before Palestinian Prisoners Day, April 17, 2013. Images of the street exhibitions, some of them later defaced, follow below: April 17 commemorates Palestinian Prisoners' Day. As of February 2013,…

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Israeli soldiers target a Palestinian photographer who was taking pictures of them invading Aida Refugee Camp, shooting him in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet.  At about 5:30 p.m. Monday, Israeli soldiers entered Aida Refugee Camp through a gate in the separation wall dividing Rachel’s Tomb from Bethlehem. There were no clashes at the time, and their presence in the camp was not provoked, but was itself a provocation. Mohammad Al-Azza began photographing the advancing soldiers from the second-floor balcony of the Lajee Center, a children’s center near the camp entrance where he has long volunteered in…

This week: commemorations of Land Day across Israel and the West Bank, solidarity marches in the South Hebron Hills, clashes ensue after a prisoner's death, an Israeli draft refuser, and South Africans march for justice.                    

During the annual Palm Sunday procession, Palestinian Christians protest permits delayed and denied during the Easter season. Photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org Whether during Ramadan or Easter, every year, Palestinians with West Bank IDs face challenges entering Jerusalem for religious worship. Despite claims by Israeli authorities of granting more permits and relaxing restrictions, each year thousands of worshipers are denied entry. This Easter season, early reports indicate that Palestinian Christian communities from the northern West Bank had to cancel their Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem due to a lack of permits. Parishes from the Bethlehem and Ramallah areas received between…