The destroyed house of the Eshtawi family in Az-Zeitiun area, Gaza City, July 14, 2014. The attack left 27 people homeless (Photo: Activestills)

Israeli movie directors call for ceasefire

As the annual Jerusalem Film Festival continued this week, a group of Israeli directors called for a ceasefire and a return to dialogue. “We, the undersigned, Israeli directors whose films participate in the Jerusalem Film Festival, believe that in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around…

The funeral of 26 years-old Ahmed Fahmawi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers at Al Ein Refugee Camp during night raid, near Nablus, West Bank, June 22, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Israeli Human Rights organizations: “Refrain collectively punishing Palestinians”

Israeli human rights organizations active in the Palestinian Occupied Territories sent on Sunday an urgent letter to the heads of the Israeli security establishment and military commanders in the West Bank, demanding that they refrain from collectively punishing the civilian Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of “Operation Brother’s Keeper”.…

Arab-Palestinian students protest in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike inside Israeli jails, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, June 10, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Force-feeding bill meeting stiff opposition

The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee launched on Monday two days of marathon debates over the controversial bill allowing the force-feeding of Palestinian hunger-striking prisoners, as the bill advances toward its second and third readings. The bill, which is officially an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance, passed its first reading last week, with 29…

MK Barakeh during a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Bil'in in the occupied West Bank (Photo: Al Ittihad)

MK Mohammed Barakeh appeals assault conviction

On 8 June 2014, Adalah filed an appeal on behalf of Communist MK Mohammed Barakeh, chairman of Hadash to the Tel Aviv District Court against the Magistrate Court’s decision to convict him of assaulting a right-wing activist during a demonstration against the second war on Lebanon in 2006. MK Barakeh was convicted of this charge…

A demonstration in Nablus in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, May 25 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Knesset approves bill to force-feed hunger strikers

The Knesset approved for the first reading a landmark bill Monday which would allow prison authorities to force-feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, sparking fury from several MKs.  The government bill seeks to authorize the Commissioner of Prisons to petition the District Court to obtain a permit for medical treatment of hunger-striking prisoners. After the vote on…

A demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, Nablus, May 14 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Communist Party of Israel: No to administrative detention

By the end of April 2014, more than 5,000 Palestinian prisoners (in fact POWs who are denied such status) were held in Israeli prisons. According to Addameer (Prisoner’s Support and Human Rights Association), approximately 190 of those POWs are under continued administrative detention, which is detention with no charge or trial. Some of them have…

Palestinians demonstrate in front of Baha Yaish's house, a Palestinian administrative prisoner who spent 11 months in Israel prisons, in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian administrative prisoners, Nablus, West Bank, May 24, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

1,500 Palestinian prisoners to join hunger strike

The Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs said on Saturday that 1,500 Palestinian prisoners would join a mass hunger strike on Sunday, as he warned of the deteriorating health conditions of more than 100 who have been on strike for over a month. Issa Qaraqe feared that “there might be martyrs” if the strike continues, as…

A Palestinian held water and salt, the symbol of the hunger-strike during a demonstration in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian administrative prisoners, Nablus, West Bank, May 26, 2014 (Photo Activestills)

Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations deliver a letter supporting hunger strikers

Dear United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, We, the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the undersigned human rights organizations, request your immediate intervention on behalf of the approximately 125 Palestinian detainees and prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. The hunger strike commenced on 24 April 2014 when approximately 90 detainees…

May Day 2014 in Tel-Aviv: Raise the minimum wage to 30 shekels an hour (Photo: Galit)

Worker exploitation: How the state supports businesses

More than 120 years have passed since May Day was first celebrated as the workers’ struggle day. Despite significant progress that has been made in the past century, such as the inclusion of workers’ rights into the public discourse and protests, and progressive labor law legislation, many employers continue to overwork and underpay their workers,…