'We will continue to come here until Gaza is free.' By Oren Ziv Dozens of Israeli and international activists protested on the Israeli side of the Gaza fence on Friday, in solidarity with the Great Return March protests in Gaza. The activists, some members of organizations like Jews for Return and Coalition of Women for Peace, waved big Palestinian flags, chanted slogans, and carried posters supporting Palestinians’ right of return. They also held photos of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces during the Great Return March protests. From the Israeli side of the fence, activists could see the smoke from burning…

Ahmed Abu Artema, one of the organizers of the Great Return March in Gaza, responds to Israeli conscientious objector Hillel Garmi, who said his decision to refuse the draft is partly inspired by Artema's acts of civil disobedience. By Ahmed Abu Artema Thank you, Hillel. You gave us hope. The morality of a position is not measured by how closely it reflects popular opinion, but by its unique advantage. Throughout history, those who did not compromise their morals were the ones who carried more weight and inspired others, even if they were alone to confront mainstream perspectives. When a person decides to take an…

As Israeli soldiers shot at Palestinian demonstrators, Gazan and Israeli activists join each other — on two sides of the fence — for tea, a symbolic act of longing for a day without barriers and aggression. By Dalit Baum Last Friday at dusk, I shared a picnic blanket with dear friends, on a country hill, near a beautiful orchard, sipping tea in porcelain cups, mixed with tears and tear gas. [tmwinpost] In front of us, we watched how thousands of Palestinian demonstrators marched, as they have done every Friday for over four months now, trying to reach the fence that separates…

Hilel Garmi is in prison for the third time, for refusing to serve in the Israeli military. His decision was partly inspired by one of the lead organizers of the Great Return March in Gaza. By +972 Magazine Staff Conscientious objector Hilel Garmi was sentenced to 10 days in prison on Monday, after he again refused to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, in protest of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories. This is Garmi’s third detention, at the end of which he would have served 37 days in military prison. [tmwinpost] Garmi, 18, from Kibbutz Yodfat in northern Israel,…

By Amjad Yaghi GAZA CITY – In the village of Abasan in the southern Gaza Strip, Hussein Shaheen’s family still lives in rubble. Their house was destroyed during Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza, and they haven’t rebuilt it since. Since Gazans started the Great Return March several months ago, Israel has been retaliating with force, and tensions are high once again. Israel and Hamas are reportedly in the advanced stages of negotiating a ceasefire, but the constant uncertainty of whether the situation will change for better or worse, of whether Gazans should prepare for easements or escalation, induces severe anxiety.…

We expected attacks on anti-occupation voices by Britain's Jewish communal leaders. Now our progressive Jewish institutions are turning their backs on us when we need them most. By Emily Hilton In May of this year, a group of U.K.-based Jewish anti-occupation activists held a demonstration in London’s Parliament Square, where we recited the kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s prayer, for the Palestinians who have been killed by the IDF during the Great Return March. The views on Israel and Zionism amongst the participants were diverse, but one thing unified all of us: we care about what being done in the name of Judaism, and…

Grenade-carrying drones that commit suicide, 'smart fences,' and other new tools to suppress demonstrations. A new report reveals how Israel is using the protests in Gaza to showcase its arms industry. By Meron Rapoport In an interview earlier this past April, Sa’ar Korush, who until recently served as the CEO of the company that built the wall surrounding parts of the Gaza Strip, told Bloomberg that “Gaza has become the showroom for the company’s ‘smart fences,’ as customers appreciate that the products are battle-tested.” For Israel’s arms industries, the Great Return March, which began two weeks before Koresh spoke to Bloomberg, likely gives them…

The world continues to ignore their plight so youth in Gaza are trying to find creative, new ways to fight Israel's siege. Now we can only hope that Israel doesn't declare dancing a form of terrorism. Since the above video was published online last Friday, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head: a young Palestinian girl and a handful of boys dancing the traditional dabke along the Gaza-Israel border against a backdrop of plumes of smoke. Perhaps it is because the video manages to encapsulate so much of the story of the occupation and the siege in two-and-a-half…

Israel's prime minister wants Iranian protesters to know they have his full support in their struggle against their government. The same can't be said about millions of people under his own government's rule.  Benjamin Netanyahu likes to present himself as a fervent supporter of democracy and pro-democracy protests. In fact he is a very selective advocate of democratic struggles, throwing his weight behind protests that align with his agenda even as he rejects those who protest ideas or institutions that undermine it. [tmwinpost] This week, for example, he expressed his admiration for anti-regime protestors in Iran who have been demonstrating…

Three months after the start of the Great Return March protests, a military confrontation between Israel and Hamas appears increasingly likely. +972 talks to two of the protests' organizers about the challenges facing the burgeoning yet beleaguered non-violent movement in Gaza. By Meron Rapoport It has been nearly three months since the Great Return March protests in Gaza began. In the days leading up to the first protest on March 30, one of the organizers, Hassan al-Kurd, stressed that the demonstrations would be non-violent. “We are against throwing rocks and even burning tires,” he said. “The message we want to…

Answering a call from Palestinian civil society, Israeli activists hang pictures of 119 slain Palestinian demonstrators on barbed wire fence near the Gaza-Israel fence. By Oren Ziv Nearly three months after the Great Return March protests in Gaza began, Israeli and international activists hung pictures of 119 slain Palestinian demonstrators on the barbed wire fence just meters from the Gaza-Israel separation barrier. [tmwinpost] The activists were responding to a call by the Great Return March steering committee and other Palestinian organizations, including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), to hang pictures of Palestinian demonstrators killed during the protests in cities…

In the middle of the night, left-wing activists hung 115 kites along Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv's central street — one for each Palestinian protester killed by Israeli forces during the Great Return March protests. Israeli activists hung 115 black kites along Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard overnight on Sunday, in remembrance of every Palestinian killed by the Israeli army in Gaza during the Great Return March. “We all witnessed what happened in Gaza over the past couple of weeks, says A., one of the organizers of the action. "There was a big escalation both in terms of what happened and the…

Palestinian medical experts have been reporting unusually large and destructive bullet wounds among protesters in Gaza, leading to claims that IDF snipers have been using prohibited, 'expanding' ammunition. There could be another explanation. By Avihai Stollar Palestinian and international medical experts and media outlets have been making an alarming claim over the past several months: that Israeli snipers may be targeting demonstrators in Gaza with expanding, or exploding bullets. [tmwinpost] Doctors Without Borders stated that many of the wounds the organization encountered were located in the lower limbs and characterized by large exit wounds, in some cases as big as…