When Israeli politicians talk about land swaps, they rarely consider the rights of those affected – or at least the Palestinian ones. As personal as it is political, the entire situation shows the lack of civil discourse in so-called peace negotiations. By Muhammad Jabali I will never forget that night at a birthday party in Jaffa when a drunken friend began approaching guests with the question: “What’s your address as registered at the Interior Ministry?” He then joked that everyone should change their residency to Tel Aviv as soon as possible before they find themselves on the other side of the separation…

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.                            

J14 leader Daphni Leef has been charged with rioting, more than half a year after she was violently arrested during an attempt to reignite the protest movement of the summer of 2011. Her trial will begin on January 23. By Leehee Rothschild Look at this photo of Daphni Leef. Look at her, thrown at the floor, crushed under uniformed men - uniforms which define them as the guardians of law and order and give them the authority and power to use reasonable strength, allowing them to define what's reasonable. Look at them triding on her, pulling her, dragging her, beating…

About 100 residents of Jaffa -- Arabs and Jews -- came together on Friday afternoon to protest a city plan that threatens to change the character of their neighborhood. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality master plan for all Jaffa includes construction of a 15-meter multi-lane road on Kedem Street in Ajami, between the Jaffa Port and the city of Bat Yam. It's a tranquil street that cuts north-south through residential Jaffa, parallel to the bustling business of Yefet Street, and overlooking the beach. This happens to be my favorite beach. It is still untouched by all the hotels and tall buildings…

Growing up and living in Jewish towns in Israel (Haifa, Ra’anana, Tel Aviv, Givatayim and now Bat Yam), my Yom Kippurs were always of the quiet kind. Silent streets, clean air and kids riding bikes. But on this Kippur, I ventured into Jaffa and saw another world. Maybe the real world? It was noisy as hell (no pun intended). Cars were speeding, music was blasting, shops were open, families were picnicking on the street and smoking nargilas. At times, it almost seemed like there was a rebellious air to the scene. As I passed the locals on my bike, I…

Yesterday, I reported on Fatah's Christmas celebration in Bethlehem.  Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, a Fatah Central Committee member, spoke about his concern regarding the growth of settlements in the West Bank. He specifically referred to the Har Homa settlement, which is encroaching on the land of the town of Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem. Israeli Channel 2 reported the event, but distorted Dr. Shtayyeh's comments, in an article published in Hebrew, titled "Fatah leader: No difference between Ramallah and Jaffa," which claimed that Shtayyeh proclaimed, "There is no reason to distinguish between Ramallah and Jaffa," meaning - the two cities belong…

In the past, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the desecration and vandalism of mosques and Muslim cemeteries. But the destruction of Muslim religious properties in Israel is, in fact, institutionalized and has a long and sometimes shocking history Jewish settlers torched a mosque near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on December 15. Earlier that week, Jewish rightists set fire to a mosque in Jerusalem. They scrawled graffiti on the walls reading “Mohammed is a pig,” and “A good Arab is a dead Arab.” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the desecration of the religious site. Prime Minister Benjamin…

Yesterday, dozens of citizens of Israel, Palestinian and Jewish, staged a mock funeral for the death of Israel's public housing, in protest of the evictions that threaten to leave both Palestinian and Jewish families homeless   The group of Palestinian and Jewish Israeli protesters held the demonstration in front of Halamish offices in Jaffa. Halamish and Amidar are the two companies that manage public housing in Israel. Currently, more than 800 Palestinian and Jewish families face eviction from their homes in Jaffa and impoverished areas of South Tel Aviv. Many of these people are in dire financial straits and have nowhere…

In what is being seen as the next in a series of "price tag" assaults by Jews on Palestinian citizens of Israel, the well-known Abu el-Abed Restaurant in Jaffa was partially burned and vandalized Sunday night Israeli media reported this morning an arson and vandalism attack on a well-known restaurant in Jaffa, just a few blocks from where I live. The Abu el-Abed Restaurant, a family business on Jaffa's busy Yefet Street, has been around since 1949 and is packed on weekends by customers, many of them Jewish Israelis. The restaurant is well-known by residents of the neighborhood both Arab and Jewish, and…

“Price tag” pogromchiks desecrated cemeteries in Jaffa, as part of their attempts to cause a civil war Hoodlums whose pride is their Jewishness have desecrated last evening – according to testimonies, less than an hour before Yom Kippur – two cemeteries in Jaffa. One of the cemeteries was Muslim, the other Orthodox Christian. The hoodlums desecrated tombstones and wrote “price tag” and “death to Arabs” on them. This being Yom Kippur, the Israeli media did not report anything yet – at least not that I’ve seen. MK Ahmed Tibi confirmed the details in an email, and you can see pictures…

Staying on the move in Israel and the Palestinian territories through a month of trial. And today: reflections on a troubling billboard. Friday is Ruthie's birthday. We're having a picnic with friends at Jaffa's "crest" park. The view of Tel-Aviv and the sea from here is spectacular, and the guilt factor limited. While it's true that the park was planted where Palestinian houses stood before 1948, it's also true that most of them were demolished earlier by British authorities in order to enhance their control of the old city during the Arab revolt. For several decades after the war, the…

Coexistence in Jaffa is under attack, as the Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv municipality refuse to ensure parity in classrooms of the “Weizmann” mixed Jewish and Arab school By Issa Edward Bourseh The Weizmann school, a mixed Jewish and Arab elementary school in Jaffa, is facing another round in its survival struggle. The delicate fabric of coexistence between the pupils will be at risk if the only Jewish-Arab public school in Israel is not be granted “regional and unique” status by the Tel-Aviv municipality and the Ministry of Education. The regional status would allow registration from pupils outside…