One of the biggest remaining gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian positions has always been the fate of Palestinian refugees, millions of whom live in refugee camps across the region. So what happens when regular Palestinians and Israelis get together to talk about the fate of the refugees — in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square?

As opposed to the hundreds of Palestinian villages whose residents were expelled in 1948 and were not permitted to return, the residents of Wadi Fukin managed to come back — under the nose of the Israeli radar. And yet, despite the joy over being able to return, the villagers are still living under a regime of occupation and discrimination, surrounded on all four sides by settlements. 

At the beginning of June, hundreds of Israelis gathered in Petah Tikva to protest against the slow progress on investigations into government corruption, particularly the scandals surrounding Netanyahu, as well as against threats to freedom of expression.

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Civil society groups join forces to protect freedom of speech
Netanyahu scandal exposes corruption in the Israeli press

Two years have passed since Ethiopian-Israelis took the streets to protest police brutality and widespread inequality. Now they are bringing their struggle to the Knesset, which recently marked a ‘Day for Equality for Ethiopian Immigrants.’ Members of Knesset, government officials, and social activists joined together to discuss discrimination in housing, budget allocation, higher education, and more. But will be enough to bring about the necessary change?

From suffering home demolitions to persistent demonization in the media, Israel’s Bedouin citizens are frequently the targets of the very attitudes they’re accused of.

Read more: 
Israel Supreme Court: Bedouin have no indigenous rights
Bedouin town slated for destruction is true test for Israelis

For the second time, a group of African asylum seekers and Israelis put on the ‘Holot Theater’ — a staged performance at the Holot detention center in southern Israel, where thousands of asylum seekers are being held without trial.

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PHOTOS: Asylum seeker theater troupe re-imagines life in Israel
Photo diary: Inside ‘Holot’ detention center for asylum seekers

The Solidarity Human Rights Festival, which screens films focused on human rights and activism, recently took place in Tel Aviv. It was held amid increasing concerns around censorship of culture and the arts.

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The cultural terrorism of Miri Regev
For Palestinian artists, freedom of speech is anything but guaranteed

Both the March of Return in al-Kabri and a Nakba Day demonstration in Ramallah were held to mark 69 years since the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes.

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Mapping the Palestinian villages erased and replaced with Jewish towns
How we learned to forget the villages we destroyed
Fighting occupation must not blind us from remembering the Nakba

Descendants of Palestinians who were expelled from the village of Ma’alul during the Nakba visit the site of their former home to celebrate Easter in the church there — one of the few buildings left standing after the Israeli army destroyed the locality.

Read more:
Mapping the Palestinian villages erased and replaced with Jewish towns
Israel is still unable to deal with the catastrophe of 1948
Israel aims new Nakba-style weapon at Arab citizens

For the past four weeks, over 1,600 Palestinian prisoners have refused to eat in protest of their conditions inside Israeli jails. But what are they actually demanding?  Mohammed Matry, a former political prisoner, talks about the prisoners’ strike in which he participated in the 1980s, Israel policy of forced feeding, and the basic demands of Palestinian prisoners today.

Related:
How hunger strike could bring Palestinian prisoners back to the fore
PHOTOS: Palestinians protest in support of hunger-striking prisoners

While some anti-occupation and human rights groups choose dialogue as their means of pursuing peace, others say that joint action is the only way to avoid perpetuating the existing power structure.

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Co-existence vs. Co-resistance: A case against normalization
Alternative peace initiative comes under fire for ‘normalization’
Jews, Arabs march on Israeli checkpoint to demand an end to occupation

A tour of Hebron covers the history of the city, from its former incarnation as a space shared by Jews and Arabs to the massacres in 1929 and 1994, and from the Oslo Accords to segregation.

Read more:
How the 1929 Hebron massacre invigorated the Zionist movement
Special Coverage: The Goldstein massacre – 20 years of segregation in Hebron 
Richard Gere on segregation in Hebron: It’s exactly like the Old South

Israel Social TV hits the streets for an informal survey: How does the conflict affect your life? And what can be done about it?