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…

Thirteen anti-occupation activists were awoken by police officers early Sunday morning to receive closed military zone orders, preventing them from joining Palestinians in weekly demonstrations in the West Bank. By Leehee Rothschild Israeli police officers distributed closed military zone orders for four West Bank villages early Sunday morning to 13 prominent activists in groups such as Anarchists Against the Wall, Ta'ayush, and the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement. In most cases, the military orders were delivered personally, but for some activists who happened not to be home, they were left under their doors. In some cases, the officers came to look…

Olive harvests in the West Bank, protests against settler violence, refugees from Israel to Germany demonstrate for the their rights, and more: Activestills images tell the stories of the week.                    

By Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Some 200 Palestinians and a handful of Israeli and international solidarity activists joined the protest in Kufr Qaddoum on Friday. The demonstration was dedicated to the commemoration of American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, who was run over by a bulldozer while attempting to prevent house demolitions in Rafah in 2003. The verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel in her case will be announced next week on August 28. The protest opened with speeches, following which the crowd started marching towards the main road of the village. Without any provocation on behalf of the protesters, the army…

Israeli activists have joined Palestinians in demonstrations throughout the West Bank for a decade, in what some have come to bill a 'joint struggle.' But the apparent disparity between the daily realities of Israelis and Palestinians beckons the question: What is the role of Israelis in the Palestinian struggle for liberation? By Noa Shaindlinger Since 2003, a growing number of Israeli activists, primarily affiliated with Anarchists Against the Wall, have been joining the Palestinian popular struggle against the separation wall and settlements. Israelis accompany Palestinians in weekly demonstrations throughout the West Bank in villages like Bi’lin, Nil'in, Nabi Saleh, Beit Ummar…

The Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh was raided last night (Sunday) by the IDF. Nabi Saleh, which has been conducting weekly nonviolent demonstrations since the end of 2009 against Israel's occupation and the encroaching settlement of Halamish, has been the target of repeated night raids over the last two years. In the video below, uploaded by Bilal Tamimi, you can hear the IDF shooting stun grenades into the village and see the flashes of light they give off. Towards the end of the video, you can clearly see the IDF jeeps parked in the village, some soldiers firing shots, and then they…

Two brothers from the village of Nil'in got tickets to see Madonna play live in Israel. They started walking to the show, but were stopped by the separation wall built on their lands. "I apologize for being not able to come to your concert for peace," said one of the brothers. [UPDATE: I've been told the video is inaccessible in the United States, so I'm attaching six screen shots from it at the end of the post for their benefit] The famous singer chose to perform in Ramat Gan despite being called upon by Palestinian, Israeli and other groups around…

The Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem received notification from the military prosecution recently, informing it that charges will not be filed against an officer who shot an Israeli activist during a 2008 demonstration in Bil'in. B'Tselem intends to appeal the decision. The incident took place during the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in on March15, 2008. At the time, demonstrations used to reach the old route of the fence - which has since been found illegal by the Israeli High Court of Justice but not yet dismantled - and the army would cross the gate in the fence and…

At first it was only Gaza. Now – it's the West Bank. Bit by bit, without our noticing, the Israeli media has stopped reporting on the occupation. It's been two weeks now that I've been wanting to write this post. I wanted to write two Fridays ago, when it became apparent that two more West Bank villages – A-Diq and Qadum – successfully joined the cycle of popular resistance. Villages like Bil'in, Ma'asara, Ni'lin, Beit Umar and Nabi Saleh have already become known for their persistence in weekly demonstrations against the Wall and the settlements, but these two villages are…

By Raghad Jaraisy (1) The day: December 10, 2009. The time: Somewhere between sunrise and the first pangs of lunchtime hunger. The place: Tel Aviv and A-Nabi Salah – so near and so far. The scene: For the first time, we marched together in a festival of democracy and human rights that occupied the streets of the big city, reverberating in every direction. On the same day, the residents of A-Nabi Salah also attempted to march for the first time to protest the seizure of their land by settlers. While we waved banners and shouted slogans for democracy; while we tried…

Facing mounting legal costs, Anarchists against the Wall have issued an urgent plea for donations. This is why I think we should support them Anarchists Against The Wall is, at least in my opinion, the most important progressive political group to operate in Israel in the last decade. It's hard to note in a short post the enormous effect the Anarchists have had on grassroots politics in Israel and Palestine, but I will try to make a few points on their actions. The name of the group might be misleading. AATW are not like similarly named groups in the West.…

Hundreds gathered in the West bank village to witness the removal of the Separation Wall after more than six years of protest, but the IDF was in vindictive mood Bil'in, West Bank – It was a hot Friday in Bil'in - one of those early summer days here that remind you what to expect come August. The crowd at the village's center was unusually large: The weekly march to the fence—a protest which made this village an international symbol of unarmed resistance—was to take the form of a celebration, after the Israeli army has began moving the infamous barrier that…