rule of law

Queen's funeral cortege borne on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy carrying Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Abbey, London, United Kingdom, September 19, 2022. (UK Government/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The Queen is dead, but her colonial legacy lives on in Israel-Palestine

While the British Mandate ended 74 years ago, its legacy of racial hierarchy, divide and rule, and emergency regulations is still visible in Israeli policy.

By Yael Berda September 20, 2022

Israeli policemen scuffle with Palestinian demonstrators in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, on July 4, 2018. (Flash90)

The audacity of unchecked power in Khan al-Ahmar

An entire Palestinian village is facing destruction. What follows will dictate the fate of Palestinian communities all over the West Bank. By Hagai El-Ad Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s recent op-ed in the Jerusalem Post – designed to whitewash the war crime of the destruction of an entire Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank –…

By +972 Magazine October 9, 2018

A screenshot from a video of soldiers beating a Palestinian detainee in Hebron.

Will Israel investigate the beatings of Palestinian detainees?

A new video in which soldiers beat a handcuffed Palestinian detainee poses a challenge to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: will she call to investigate this incident, or are investigations reserved solely for persecuting political rivals? By Yariv Mohar A video of IDF soldiers beating a young Palestinian man in handcuffs, filmed earlier this week, puts…

By +972 Magazine December 20, 2017

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Candles with a picture of late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, at a memorial ceremony to commemorate the18th anniversary of Rabin's assassination, at the president's house in Jerusalem on October 15, 2013. Photo by Miriam Alster/FLASH90

The question Israel still hasn’t answered about Rabin’s murder

There is nothing wrong with inviting those who resisted Rabin’s policies to speak at the rally in his memory. But they need to answer one fundamental question first. By Tomer Persico Every murder is terrible in its own way, but political murder is uniquely terrible. Political murder—for example, the assassination of an elected leader—erodes the…

By +972 Magazine November 1, 2017

Illustrative photo of construction workers preparing new caravan homes in the Israeli settlement of Ofra. (Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)

For settlers, there’s no reason not to break the law

How Israeli authorities avoid their duty to indict settlers who build illegally on other people’s land. By Yossi Gurvitz/Yesh Din In August 2009, the residents of Kfar Aqeb, a Palestinian village near Ramallah, noticed 12 illegal structures being built on their land near the settlement of Kochav Ya’akov. The residents urgently petitioned the High Court…

By +972 Magazine April 22, 2017

Illustrative photo of Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian man in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Will Israel be in a ‘state of emergency’ forever?

The anti-terror law passed through Israel’s Knesset last week without one of its scariest pieces, the normalization of administrative detention, which remains dependent on the country’s 67-year-old self-declared state of emergency. That could have a bizarre consequence. A new anti-terrorism bill passed by Israel’s Knesset last week may have actually perpetuated the single, looming problem its writers…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man June 20, 2016

Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, who has been charged with manslaughter for shooting an incapacitated Palestinian stabbing suspect in Hebron, is seen in a military court, March 29, 2016. (Pool photo/AFP)

Indictment of Hebron shooter divides Israelis – but where are the Palestinians?

A mass rally in support of Sgt. Elor Azaria, who was filmed shooting a wounded Palestinian, has stirred a heated debate on social media about the future of the rule of law and the status of the IDF. But nobody wondered how the Palestinians should be factored in. By Orly Noy The Israeli soldier who…

By Orly Noy April 18, 2016

Ayalon prison facility, near the city of Ramla (photo: Activestills)

More and more Israelis are being imprisoned without trial

Out of 402 people Israel was holding in administrative detention at the start of November, at least 31 were citizens or residents of Israel. Over the past decade, Israel has held 3,761 people without trial. By Noam Rotem Israel held at least 31 of its own residents and citizens in administrative detention during the month…

By +972 Magazine December 23, 2015

Settlers throw stones at Palestinians as IDF soldiers stand by in the West Bank village of Asira al Qibliya. April 30, 2013 (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

A vicious cycle of lawlessness in the West Bank

The IDF has all but refused to fulfill its obligation to hold Israeli settlers accountable under the law and to protect Palestinians from them. By Eyal Hareuveni For nearly 50 years the Israeli army has been treating settler violence against Palestinians as a decree of fate, some sort of force majeure that trumps it in…

By +972 Magazine June 30, 2015

High Court Justice Noam Sohlberg (Photo: Justice Ministry)

For one Palestinian village: A judge, settler and demolisher

The High Court justice who gave the army a green light to expel an entire Palestinian village just happens to live in a nearby settlement, one of many that thrives on their dispossession. By Dror Etkes The Israeli army’s Civil Administration has issued 70 demolition orders in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut,…

By +972 Magazine May 18, 2015

An Israeli soldier escorts a group of settlers during a tour of Hebron’s old city, February 20, 2010. (Photo by Activestills.org)

How does the army please settlers? By upping its violence

When the settlers of Halamish complained that the IDF isn’t being violent enough, a brigadier-general assured them that he orders his troops to use unnecessary force against Palestinians. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz Near the Palestinian villages of Dir Nizam and Nabi Salah lies a settlement named Halamish, also known as Neve Tsuf.…

By +972 Magazine February 20, 2015

A Israeli border policeman check the bag of a Palestinian woman as she waits to cross Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem to attend the second Friday Ramadan prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 26, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Palestinians ruled by secret regulations even the army can’t explain

Whether they want to attend family gatherings, open a business or visit sick relatives, Palestinians under occupation must adhere to military regulations, the vast majority of which are hidden from public scrutiny. By Maayan Niezna “There are no secret laws in Israel. […] Legislation that is passed secretly and kept away from the eye of the…

By +972 Magazine December 7, 2014

Palestinian youth protest in solidarity with soccer player Mahmoud Sarsak, who was held in administrative detention for three years. Nablus, 2012. (Photo by Ahmad al-Baz/Activestills.org)

‘Administrative detainees must have done something wrong’

When discussing administrative detention with Israelis, there comes a point when the discussion becomes an argument like one about religion — based on blind faith in the security establishment. By definition, administrative detainees have not committed a crime. An administrative detention order is issued against people (almost all of whom are Palestinians) against whom there…

By Haggai Matar June 2, 2014