Last week a controversy broke out in Israel over the segregation of Palestinian and Jewish mothers in Israeli hospitals. ‘Israel Radio… reported on Tuesday that various hospitals around the country have been separating Jewish and Arab women in the maternity ward.’
He punches hard, he’s opinionated, his commentary is biting, his cartoons are thought provoking, and he doesn’t regret being a magnet for nasty criticism. He is Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff who doesn’t mince words or hold back on stirring up people, in his country and across continents.
Israel still portrays itself as a Jewish and democratic state. Yet in practice, as its Palestinian citizens can attest, it functions as a Jewish ethnocracy, leaving small margins of freedom for its Palestinian citizens that have been steadily shrinking in the past few years. Now the Israeli state has come under the complete control of the far right wing, which sees no need even for such limited margins of freedom. This is evident in the wave of discriminatory legislation and the use of the Emergency Regulations against established non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and movements such as the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
The symbol known as the Hamsa, or Hand of Fatima, in Arab and Middle Eastern culture, is also a potent symbol in cultures around the world, from Asia, Africa, Latin America and even to the tribal cultures of Native Americans. This exhibition will explore the origins, symbolism and interpretations of this potent design with objects from all these cultures, with examples and an audience-interactive lecture.
In a months-long investigation, Haaretz correspondent Uri Blau analyzed thousands of documents from the tax reports of U.S. charities that support Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These charities, known as 501(c)(3) organizations under the Internal Revenue Code, are granted tax-exempt status by U.S. authorities and donors to them can claim a tax deduction on their gift.
Israeli security forces on Monday evicted members of an extended Palestinian family from their homes in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem and handed the building over to Ateret Cohanim, a Jewish religious organization that buys properties for settlement in the Old City. Members of the family, the Abu Nabs, have been fighting to keep their homes since 2002, when Ateret Cohanim filed a lawsuit claiming that the building sits on a land that was once a Jewish synagogue.
John Reed: Israel is not at war, but its political leaders are showing rare unity over what they see as a potent new threat to the survival of the Jewish state.
Through educational events, humanitarian support, and cultural preservation, the Jerusalem Fund is helping build the movement for Palestinian liberation.
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