Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton at the Trump settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights

Final: Communist Professor Denied Israel Prize over Political Positions

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton announced on Thursday, November 18, affirmation of her far-right predecessor’s decision to withhold the prestigious Israel Prize from communist Professor Oded Goldreich following the latter’s support for the Palestinian struggle, and specifically his call to boycott Ariel University in the occupied West Bank. Goldreich’s lawyer, Atty. Michael Sfard, called the decision “a…

Under the banner “Human Rights are Not Terror,” Hadash and Communist activists protested outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening, October 26, against Israel’s decision to designate six Palestinian human rights and civil organizations as terrorist groups.

MESA Endorses AFE Statement in Support of Palestinian Civil Society

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) endorsed last week a statement issued earlier by the Israeli Academy for Equality (AFE) on Palestinian civil society organizations.  In its statement, Academy for Equality had condemned Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s designation of Palestinian civil society groups late last month as “terrorist organizations.” Under the…

Al Jazeera report on Pegasus spyware

Germany’s Federal Police Using Spyware from Israeli NSO Group

The German government admitted on Tuesday, September 7, that its federal police service have used the controversial Israeli spyware known as Pegasus, drawing immediate criticism from rights groups. Germany’s BKA federal police bought the software from Israel’s NSO Group in late 2019, a closed-door parliamentary committee learned from government officials. Germany’s federal investigative police force held…

Racist MK Itamar Ben-Gvir is forcefully removed from the Knesset podium and then ejected from the plenum after calling Joint List MK Ahmed Tibi (right) a "terrorist", July 26, 2021.

Ben-Gvir Dragged from the Knesset Dais for Calling MK Tibi “Terrorist”

A marathon debate in the Knesset on coronavirus restrictions began rancorously on Monday night, July 26, as Kahanist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir (Religious Zionism) called Deputy Knesset Speaker Ahmed Tibi (Joint List) a “terrorist.” The racist Ben-Gvir was forcefully removed from the Knesset podium and ejected from the plenum. Ben-Gvir, who took to the podium during a…

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit

AG: Withholding of Israel Prize to Communist Academic Was Wrong

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit told the High Court of Justice on Thursday, July 23, that far-right former Education Minister Yoav Gallant’s decision to block a Communist professor from receiving the prestigious Israel Prize for his supposed backing of boycotts against Israel was wrong. In his response to a petition against Gallant’s decision, Mandelblit said the selection…

Demonstrators protest outside the Knesset against the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, July 6, 2021. The Hebrew sign to the right reads: "The Citizenship Law constitutes collective punishment."

Gov’t Stonewalls Family Unification despite End of “Temporary” Order

Israel’s Interior Ministry is refusing to discuss requests for family unification of Palestinians married to Israeli citizens, even though the 2003 “temporary” ban on such unification expired over two weeks ago. According to Haaretz, far-right Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked ordered the ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority, which handles requests of this type, not to discuss…