There are many injustices under the occupation: small ones and big ones. There is theft and murder and never ending oppression. There is Shuhada Street, and they all exist there. By Leehee Rotschild On the Friday before last, Palestinian protestors accompanied by Israeli and international solidarity activists wanted to mark "Open Shuhada Street Day" in Hebron. Shuhada Street has been closed to Palestinians since the Baruch Goldstein massacre in 1994, including residents who live on the street and have to climb onto their rooftops to adjacent streets in order to leave their houses. Meanwhile, settlers living in the area come…

Had the Israeli media paid attention to a protest by Eritrean refugees outside their embassy last week, the public would have learned something valuable about the Eritrean community in Israel: they desperately want a better future for their country so that one day soon, they can go home. By Sigal Rozen Over 200 Eritrean refugees gathered last Friday, despite the rain and a storm, in front of the Eritrean embassy in Ramat Gan to express their support for Eritrean soldiers who rebelled last week and took over the Eritrean Ministry of Information's building in the capital Asmara. For a moment, it…

Until we find a way of measuring the efficacy of one form of protest or another, surely we must encourage all forms and enable all those who desire change to express their desire in the way they think will be most effective. By Yonatan Preminger Roee Ruttenberg’s recent post criticized the way a group of “pro-Palestinian” activists in Berlin disrupted a concert by the Israeli choral group Gevatron. The gist of his article is that the protesters were childish attention-seekers, and that this form of protest is ineffective. This piece raises a thorny question: how are we to gauge the…

A new regular feature from the Activestills photography collective. Each week, we will bring you a selection of our most compelling images from movements for political and social change throughout Palestine and Israel.           Activestills is a collective of Israeli, international and Palestinian photographers, united by a conviction that photography is a vehicle for political and social change. To stay updated on our latest images, like Activestills on Facebook  or follow @activestills on Twitter. You can also visit our flickr photostream.

Two separate protests were held Saturday night in Tel Aviv, in a bizarre drama that split the ritual Saturday evening demonstrations into two ragged parts, with each group claiming to represent the true social justice movement. Both struggled to generate their own energy as if the other didn't exist, though one city block alone separated the two events. At one point members of one demonstration burst into the other, staging a counter-protest. The attendees' attention was clearly divided between addressing the range of policy injustices, and each other. One demonstration had no clear leader; it began at Habima Square, and…

On June 23, two protests took place in Tel Aviv. The first was a protest in response to incitement against the LGBT community by MK Anastasia Michaeli. The second was a spontaneous demonstration protesting the violence police employed against social justice activists the day before. Israel Social TV brings you coverage. This video was produced by Israel Social TV, an independent media NGO working to promote social change, human rights, social justice and equality, and to mobilize its viewers towards activism. Related: WATCH: Thousands block highway, attack banks in J14 protest Amidst hostile media and police violence, J14 finds new voice MK…

Close to 1,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv Tuesday night to protest the coalition deal between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Kadima head Shaul Mofaz, under the slogan: "The entire nation is the opposition." The protest was reportedly put together by organizers of last summer's J14 "social justice" protests and there were smaller demonstrations also held in Jerusalem and Beer Sheva. Protestors expressed shock and anger over the fact that Mofaz led the opposition party into the government just days after announcing he would never join Netanyahu's government, and accused both the prime minister and Kadima chairman of being liars and "shady dealers," more interested in their…

When we allow non-violence to be distorted as illegitimate, we fail to uphold our most cherished principles. It is not a strange phenomenon for morality to be the object of contestation. Competing groups often battle for the moral high ground when presenting their case to the outside world in a customary appeal for support. Far from being an exception to this rule, Israelis and Palestinians are its standard bearers, constantly providing their accounts for the entire world to see, hear, and sympathize. The tragedy is that this game has been played for so long, with arguments crafted in such minute…

A recent protest from within the IDF against the sound of women singing made it all the way to the High Court. But the event is only one in a string of state-sanctioned assaults against women's rights, led by Israel's religious establishment, which likens women to their genitalia By Hila Benyovits-Hoffman | Translation: Dena Shunra Some six weeks ago, during a formal IDF officers’ training course event celebrating military heritage, nine cadets stood up and left the performance hall. The reason for their pointed exit was the participation of women among the military singers. The cadets felt they were prohibited from listening to them…

Every year in September, New York turns into utter chaos. On the Upper West Side, one can blame the pre-Chagim (High Holy Days) rush to get everything done, with Jewish Americans raiding kosher markets and stocking-up for their big meals and for their expected guests. But across Central Park and slightly more downtown, the madness – arguably of a more intense frenzy – can be rightfully blamed on an entirely different group of people. Thanks to a gathering of the world’s 180+ leaders and their massive entourages, security is tightened, roads are closed and traffic is diverted. This, in a…

Do Sarah Netanyahu’s scandals serve as a lightning rod for her husband? They are, after all, business partners Mrs. Sarah Netanyahu, as she demands others refer to her, was once again in the midst of another scandal this week. This time, the claims were she was treating her old father’s caregiver, Nepalese Tara Kumeri, like a particularly nasty brute (Hebrew). The Missus has not only refrained from paying Kumeri her due – the Missus was charged with doing precisely this several times in the past – she has also called her, according to Kumeri’s complaint, a “Nepalese piece of garbage”.…

Why the ad hoc alliance with international left activists is unhelpful to the Israeli left, and should end One of the phenomena characterizing the coverage of the J14 protests from the beginning was the long faces of a significant number of notable international peace activists. But…but… but you’re not talking about the occupation, they demanded of the marching Israelis. They were soundly ignored, the protest became a mass success, and they became much more bitter. At one point – it was during the third or fourth week of the protests – one of them wrote it was a struggle “about…

The interior ministry here has finally allowed Google to deploy it infamous periscoped buggy, so that even people far, far away can experience driving through Tel Aviv's streets one. inch. at. a. time - just like in real life. Bemused residents elsewhere in the world have already come up with various ways to protests this strange incursion: But Israeli activists have decided instead to use it to protest a considerably greater inconvenience - the occupation. A Facebook page was set up today calling on Israelis to track the progress of the street car with signs against Israel's control of the…