Israeli identity

Anti-government protesters march against the government's judicial overhaul, Tel Aviv, July 29, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The only answer to the Israeli right’s war: A state for all its citizens

Israel’s protest leaders are strengthening an ethnocratic identity that lacks all consistency with their ‘democratic’ mission. But an alternative exists.

By Ameer Fakhoury July 30, 2023

Young Jewish Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, May 21, 2020, marking 53 years since Israel occupied East Jerusalem. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

‘How can a Palestinian feel a sense of equality in a Judaizing state?’

In a wide-ranging interview, Prof. Amal Jamal talks about the exclusion of Palestinian citizens from Israel's COVID-19 response, Netanyahu's consolidation of power, and the possibility of a different Israeli identity.

By Tom Mehager July 12, 2020

Israelis look on at an Independence Day military parade at the Hebrew University Stadium, Jerusalem, April 24, 1958. (GPO)

What would Israeli identity look like without Zionism?

In post-Apartheid South Africa, white Afrikaners had to create a national identity that was not based on subjugation of another people. It is a question that Israeli Jews, too, will one day have to face.

By Yuli Novak June 11, 2020

Latest

Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during in the West Bank city of Hebron, February 9, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

The price Mizrahim pay for serving in the Israeli army

Mizrahim are forced to carry out the dirty work of the occupation, coming face to face with their Palestinian subjects in the West Bank. It doesn’t have to be this way. It is hard to know for sure what kind of considerations are at the heart of the growing crisis between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

By Orly Noy May 29, 2019

International activists confront an Israeli skunk canon during a protest in Bil'in, West Bank. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

Jewish-Arab alliances are our best shot against segregation

Israel is already a binational state based on ethnic segregation. The struggle to turn it into an inclusive one must be fought by Jews and Palestinians — together. A response to Rami Younis and Orly Noy. In their article, “Let’s stop talking about a false ‘Jewish-Arab partnership,’” +972 writers Orly Noy and Rami Younis criticize calls for…

By Noam Sheizaf April 17, 2019

Laila Abdel Meguid Tafesh, 78, from Rafah refugee camp, holds up a key from her house in Jaffa, May 15, 2009. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Yes, the right of return is feasible. Here’s how

Seventy years after the violent displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, it is time to undo the injustice and to enable whoever desires to return as equal citizens to do so, while respecting the rights and identities of all who live in Israel-Palestine. By Tom Pessah (translated by Yoni Molad) For millions of Palestinians worldwide, the right…

By Haokets November 7, 2017

An Israeli military police officer checks IDs at the checkpoint at the entrance to Shuafat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem, December 22, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

The cops at the checkpoint always remind me which side I’m on

Until I learned Hebrew, I saw Jews as frightening, scary, armed people who expelled us from our land in 1967, now working on finishing us off. Does that surprise you? By Suleiman Maswadeh My name is Suleiman, I am 22 years old and I was born in Jerusalem’s Old City. Despite the fact that it…

By +972 Magazine February 13, 2017

An Israeli woman breaks into tears as she covers herself in an Israeli flag during a rally marking two years since Israeli soldier Oron Shaul was taken captive by Hamas, at the protest tent outside the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence, Jerusalem, July 20, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Ending the occupation would undo Israeli identity as we know it

Bringing an end to 50 years of military rule over the Palestinians will undoubtedly change the face of Israeli society as we know it. Let’s welcome that change with open arms. By Inna Michaeli The argument that opposing the occupation does not contradict a love for Israel has been heard over and over in the Israeli Left for…

By +972 Magazine October 31, 2016

Palestinian citizens take part in a general strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, in the northern town of Sakhnin, on October 13, 2015. (photo: Omar Sameer)

Palestinian citizens must decide what kind of future they want

Despite the racism and violence, Palestinian citizens must not despair. Instead they should nonviolently challenge the majority as part of a discussion on rights, democratic values, and opposition to the occupation. By Marzuq Al-Halabi Although there exists a multitude of Palestinian political parties and movements in Israel, there are three main currents among them that cross boundaries,…

By +972 Magazine October 27, 2016

Iranian women protest in the streets of Tehran against the results of the 2009 Iranian presidential elections. (photo: Hamed Saber/CC BY 2.0)

Why the Iranian flag still makes me proud

I am a citizen of two countries whose politics I loathe, yet feel very connected to. Why, then, do Iranian national symbols fill me with pride, while Israeli ones make me feel uncomfortable? For the past three days I have been excitedly following reports of the celebrations in Iran following the signing of the nuclear…

By Orly Noy July 17, 2015

Image from the Israeli film Policeman (© 2014 Corinth Films)

Film Review: ‘Policeman,’ a study of the Israeli alpha male

By leaving the Palestinian conflict in the background, filmmaker Lapid manages to skip over the common ‘shooting-and-crying’ formula, in which Israeli protagonists are portrayed more as victims than perpetrators of the conflict. The timing of the release of Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s debut, “Policeman,” was very unique in Israel: October 2011, right after that summer’s…

By Noam Sheizaf June 21, 2014

A Palestinian photographer standing during a minute of silence commemorating the Nakba, as part of a ceremony that was held by Palestinian and Israeli students in the entrance to the Tel Aviv University, May 13, 2013. A right wing demonstration was held against the ceremony, as the protesters were shouting slogans against the participants, under police surveillance. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, or an ‘ethnocracy?’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently proposed enshrining the Jewish character of Israel into a basic law, the closest thing Israel has to a constitution. What would such a law mean for Israel’s Palestinian minority? Israeli academic Oren Yiftachel talks about ‘ethnocracy,’ a term he coined that describes the Israeli regime. By Lia Tarachansky / ‘The…

By +972 Magazine May 27, 2014

Holocaust survivors arrive in Israel (GPO/CC BY NC SA 2.0)

Being a Mizrahi Jew, an Israeli and touching the Holocaust

The Israeli Holocaust discourse illustrates the — still — conflicted position of Mizrahi Jews in Israeli society. Perhaps we could design a Mizrahi identity that draws from the roots of its own unique history and not from that which is imposed upon it externally. By Batya Shimony A year ago on Holocaust Memorial Day I…

By Haokets May 10, 2014