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,"…

Did Haggai Matar lose his job at 'Maariv' because of his political views, or was it his involvement in the paper's union that led management to order his dismissal? Israeli daily Maariv filed a statement to the Tel Aviv District Labor Court claiming that the paper chose not to rehire Tel Aviv municipal reporter Haggai Matar because his opinions are “different from the editorial line that a Zionist newspaper like Maariv wishes to present." Haggai Matar (who is also a contributor at +972), was the head of the Maariv journalist union's worker's committee when the paper was under threat of…

Photos and text by Oren Ziv and Yotam Ronen Istanbul: Police and protesters did not clash in Istanbul on Thursday night for the first time since the anti-government demonstrations began. Inside Gezi Park, protesters created different systems to serve the thousands of inhabitants, including: a medical clinic, library, a space where supporters can donate food and more. For the first time in days, the local municipality agreed to come to the park and remove the massive amounts of garbage that had accumulated. In Takism Square, people were dancing and singing until the late hours of the night. Ankara: Turkey's capital saw…

The amendment to Israel's Citizenship Law, enacted by the government in 2002 in the midst of the second intifada, prohibits Palestinians from the Occupied Territories and citizens of enemy states from entering into Israel for family reunification. Meanwhile the attacks of the Intifada have stopped and a decade had passed. Separated families, however, continue to pay the price. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPjbJD4REOc

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…

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…

It's time to take a look around and see what's happening off the square, way off the square. Photography by May Castelnuovo. Click here for the full series.  ISTANBUL/BURSA, Turkey -- On the day we arrived, the metro station at Taksim Square was closed. The following day was a Monday. We took the train into town expecting to alight at least one station north of the square. To our surprise, the train went all the way to Taksim. The station was open and we emerged from it with our first sense of normality. It wasn't the normal kind of normality. For one, there…

Photos by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org Protests continued in Istanbul's Gezi Park and Taskim Square amid intense use of tear gas and other forms of excessive force by Turkish police forces. Left-wing labor unions on Tuesday joined the protests, which began on May 28 over plans to redevelop Gezi Park but have spread to other cities and have expanded to address the Turkish government's increasingly authoritarian policies. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has apologized for police tactics, saying, "the use of excessive force shown against the people who initially started this protest with the motive of protecting the environment was wrong. And it was unfair.…

The Istanbul team heads into the clouds of gas. It starts off pretty well. Photography by May Castelnuovo Click here for the full series.  ISTANBUL -- On Sunday night, newly reunited after the lost kidney scare, May and I went to dine with two compatriots. One was Or Heller, Channel 10's man, whom we tried to reach earlier, and Anshel Pfeffer, who reports here for Haaretz. I bit into the delicious Adana köfte and thought of Ruthie, who loves Istanbul so much, and would have come here if not for her work. What should I bring her when I return? Adana…

Two Israelis out to explore Istanbul's awakening are joined by two locals, or rather by 200,000 locals, and for a dance, no less. Yet they find themselves lost in memories of home, then simply lost. Photography by May Castelnuovo. Click here for the full series.  ISTANBUL -- We are at "The Kebap" restaurant, near Taksim square, right where we left off and with a great view of the Bosphorus. Now noises rise from the street outside. Young people are climbing from the ferry port of Kabatas: suburban kids from the Asian side. While at noon the ravaged square played home to a…

Demonstrators in Turkey held their ground in Istanbul early Monday morning, after several days of protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a host of issues, ranging from the destruction of municipal parks to infringements on the country's secular character. In the early morning hours of Monday, June 3, protesters managed to barricade an area roughly 1.5 kilometers from Taksim Square in the east of the city. Police clashed with protesters on the edge of the barricaded area, near a soccer stadium, firing tear gas at them. Injured protesters were being taken to a makeshift field hospital set up…

When two Israelis pop over to experience a neighboring country's revolution, they get their first glimpse of graffiti, in the full sense of the word. Photographs by May Castelnuovo (click to magnify in a new tab). Click here for the full series.  ISTANBUL – Nothing seems strange at first, Istanbul does seem atypically sleepy and empty on arrival, but then, it is a Sunday morning. The sense of normality persists on the way up the hill that cradles the historical district of Beyoglu. Even at the top, a few blocks away from Taksim square, it is only disturbed by a chemical stench,…

IDF soldiers posted leaflets in the West Bank village of Qadum warning children to refrain from attending demonstrations. The leaflet, photographed yesterday at the weekly protest in the village by activist Lior Ben-Eliyahu (the children's eyes have been hidden by +972), show photographs of four children from the village, probably taken by soldiers at previous demonstrations. The message reads: "We are the army. Be careful if we see you, we're going to catch you or come to your house." This is most likely a private initiative by soldiers serving in the village. Just recently Ma'ariv published an extensive story (Hebrew)…