January 10, 2013

In Focus: Wintry Weather: Middle East Edition

Following up on yesterday’s essay Wintry Weather, I was struck by photographs of the unusually heavy winter storm that just blanketed many Middle Eastern countries in snow. I discovered a wide range of unique images, from Saudis tossing snowballs to Israelis on sleds to the newly white roofs of Istanbul. Gathered here are a handful of those images, showing that, despite the harshness of the storm, some were able to find a moment of joy in the rare snowfall.

See more. [Images: AP, Reuters, Getty]

3:54pm
(Notes: 133)
  
Filed under: Winter Photography Syria Palestine Jordan Israel Turkey 
December 6, 2012
Crowdsourcing an Israeli-Palestinian Border A new interactive tool allows you to decide how many Israeli settlers to annex and what constitutes a viable Palestinian state. One day after the Palestinians successfully upgraded their state at the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli government announced “preliminary zoning and planning preparations” for a plot of land just outside of Jerusalem known as E1. Many were quick to condemn the move as a significant blow to the already-gridlocked peace process, perhaps even more so than other settlement construction announcements, since construction in E1 would separate the major Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decried the plan as “an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution,” while The New York Times declared that “If such a project were to go beyond blueprints, it could prevent the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.” [Image: S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace/SAYA/Is Peace Possible?]

Crowdsourcing an Israeli-Palestinian Border

A new interactive tool allows you to decide how many Israeli settlers to annex and what constitutes a viable Palestinian state.

One day after the Palestinians successfully upgraded their state at the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli government announced “preliminary zoning and planning preparations” for a plot of land just outside of Jerusalem known as E1. Many were quick to condemn the move as a significant blow to the already-gridlocked peace process, perhaps even more so than other settlement construction announcements, since construction in E1 would separate the major Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decried the plan as “an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution,” while The New York Times declared that “If such a project were to go beyond blueprints, it could prevent the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.”

[Image: S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace/SAYA/Is Peace Possible?]

2:52pm
(Notes: 109)
  
Filed under: Palestine Israel Middle East Borders Politics Map 
November 19, 2012

In Focus: Israel Steps Up Attacks, Gaza Returns Fire

Over the weekend, Israeli air strikes pounded dozens more targets in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas militants launched rockets into southern Israel and toward Tel Aviv. Israel’s recent air barrage has targeted individuals and buildings in more densely populated areas, and the civilian death toll is mounting. Local officials in Gaza have placed the death toll at more than 90 since Wednesday. International mediators are working hard to forge a deal that would lead to a truce. However, Israeli forces are still massing on Gaza’s border, and Hamas refuses to negotiate while Israel continues its air strikes. Gathered here are images from a weekend of violent exchanges between Israel and Gaza, with no clear indication whether the situation will worsen or reach a cease-fire any time soon.

1:38pm
(Notes: 297)
  
Filed under: Photography War Violence Palestine Israel Religion Gaza 
November 17, 2012

See More from In Focus: Rockets Over Israel and Gaza

[Images: Reuters, AP]

4:20pm
(Notes: 556)
  
Filed under: Israel Palestine Gaza Violence War Religion Middle East Politics 
November 16, 2012

In Focus: Rockets Over Israel and Gaza

Over the past few weeks, a slowly growing series of rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel, and retaliatory strikes by Israeli forces, has sharply escalated into a crisis. The skies over the Gaza Strip and southern Israel have filled with hundreds of rockets, missiles, and warplanes since Wednesday, bringing varying levels of destruction to the populations below. Tensions are growing as Israel’s military has called up thousands of reservists and deployed troops along the border. At the same time, Egypt’s new Prime Minister Hisham Kandil made an official visit to Gaza today. Meanwhile rocket attacks continued, setting off air raid sirens as far north as Tel Aviv.

Read more. [Images: AP, Reuters, Getty]

12:32pm
(Notes: 165)
  
Filed under: Photography Israel Gaza Palestine Violence War Religion 
May 22, 2012
Why Israeli Settlers Shot an Unarmed Palestinian When West Bank settlers shoot at unarmed Palestinians while Israeli soldiers look on without intervening, that’s a story—especially when one of the Palestinians suffers a head wound. So it’s natural that this weekend’s conflict near the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibliya has been covered widely—in 972, the Guardian, the Washington Post, Haaretz, the Daily Dish, and elsewhere. Still, it’s important to appreciate how unsurprising this story really is, and how unexceptional its fundamentals are. Read more.

Why Israeli Settlers Shot an Unarmed Palestinian

When West Bank settlers shoot at unarmed Palestinians while Israeli soldiers look on without intervening, that’s a story—especially when one of the Palestinians suffers a head wound. So it’s natural that this weekend’s conflict near the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibliya has been covered widely—in 972, the Guardian, the Washington Post, Haaretz, the Daily Dish, and elsewhere. Still, it’s important to appreciate how unsurprising this story really is, and how unexceptional its fundamentals are.

Read more.

9:07am
(Notes: 50)
  
Filed under: Palestine Israel World news Middle East West Bank 
April 23, 2012

60 Minutes on the Plight of Palestinian Christians

Last night’s 60 Minutes segment about the plight of Christians in the West Bank has gotten a lot of attention, in part because of the attempt by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren to intervene with CBS brass while the segment was being put together. (See the 11-minute point in the video above, where CBS correspondent Bob Simon confronts Oren with this fact.)

You can see why Oren might rather the piece hadn’t aired. Things that Palestinian Muslims routinely say about the Israeli occupation may get more traction in America when Palestinian Christians say them. Such as this, from a Christian clergyman: “The West Bank is becoming more and more like a piece of Swiss cheese, where Israel gets the cheese — that is, the land the water resources, the archaeological sites, and the Palestinians are pushed in the holes.”

Also, Oren clearly doesn’t want this document, mentioned by Simon, to get attention. In it an interdominational group of Middle Eastern Christian clergy — Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant — refer to the occupation as “clear apartheid.” (Oren hints that they’re anti-Semitic.)

Finally, the 60 Minutes piece complicates the post-9/11 Israeli narrative according to which Israel and Judeo-Christian America are involved in a common struggle against Islamic radicals, and the occupation should be viewed in that context. Hence the importance of the moment when Oren insists Christians are leaving the West Bank under duress from Islamic radicals, not because of the occupation, and Simon presents testimony to the contrary.

Read more.

12:35pm
(Notes: 80)
  
Filed under: Israel Palestine Middle East News World news Religion West Bank Christians Muslims 
August 8, 2011
The Loud Awakening of Israel’s Secular Middle Class TEL AVIV—The Israeli people delivered a resounding response to the government Saturday night after a week of attempts by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to contain the growing protest movement here. Between 300,000 and 400,000 people took to the streets under the banner of demanding “social justice,”doubling the numbers from the week before and rivaling the largest protests the country has ever seen.In Tel Aviv alone, around half the city’s population turned out in front of the Defense Ministry to listen to speeches from community leaders that span the political spectrum. Proportionally speaking, the numbers that turned out Saturday would be the equivalent of 14 million people protesting in the United States.What’s now clear is that the secular plurality of Israel is seeking to reclaim the political power it has lost in the last decade-plus. It is an “awakening”—a word now common in the protest parlance—of historic proportions that comes after a period of political apathy by secular Israelis. That apathy was attributed by many here to society-wide post-traumatic stress following the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the second Palestinian intifada, the 2006 Lebanon War, the 2008-09 Gaza War, and the resulting desire to escape the grind of daily conflict. Read more at The Atlantic

The Loud Awakening of Israel’s Secular Middle Class

TEL AVIV—The Israeli people delivered a resounding response to the government Saturday night after a week of attempts by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to contain the growing protest movement here. Between 300,000 and 400,000 people took to the streets under the banner of demanding “social justice,”doubling the numbers from the week before and rivaling the largest protests the country has ever seen.

In Tel Aviv alone, around half the city’s population turned out in front of the Defense Ministry to listen to speeches from community leaders that span the political spectrum. Proportionally speaking, the numbers that turned out Saturday would be the equivalent of 14 million people protesting in the United States.

What’s now clear is that the secular plurality of Israel is seeking to reclaim the political power it has lost in the last decade-plus. It is an “awakening”—a word now common in the protest parlance—of historic proportions that comes after a period of political apathy by secular Israelis. That apathy was attributed by many here to society-wide post-traumatic stress following the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the second Palestinian intifada, the 2006 Lebanon War, the 2008-09 Gaza War, and the resulting desire to escape the grind of daily conflict.

Read more at The Atlantic

10:43am
(Notes: 36)
  
Filed under: israel middle east palestine news international 
July 13, 2011
Scenes from Gaza’s Reconstruction In 2005, after Hamas won parliamentary elections in Gaza, Israel imposed an economic blockade by sealing its borders to all but a small amount of goods. Israel argues that it is punishing Hamas, a terrorist organization. Palestinians say it’s a form of collective punishment. The economic blockade has eased somewhat since May 2010 when Israel came under international pressure for its attack on a flotilla of Turkish boats bringing aid to Gaza. Today Gazans survive, but life is hardly normal. Above: Gazans recycle and reuse anything of value. Shoe repairmen in this open air market do a thriving business (Reese Erlich/Pulitzer Center). See more at The Atlantic This post was produced in part thanks to funds from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Follow them on Twitter@PulitzerCenter or on Tumblr.

Scenes from Gaza’s Reconstruction

In 2005, after Hamas won parliamentary elections in Gaza, Israel imposed an economic blockade by sealing its borders to all but a small amount of goods. Israel argues that it is punishing Hamas, a terrorist organization. Palestinians say it’s a form of collective punishment. 

The economic blockade has eased somewhat since May 2010 when Israel came under international pressure for its attack on a flotilla of Turkish boats bringing aid to Gaza. Today Gazans survive, but life is hardly normal.

Above: Gazans recycle and reuse anything of value. Shoe repairmen in this open air market do a thriving business (Reese Erlich/Pulitzer Center).

See more at The Atlantic

This post was produced in part thanks to funds from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Follow them on Twitter@PulitzerCenter or on Tumblr.

8:59am
(Notes: 25)
  
Filed under: middle east photography international palestine israel gaza 
May 17, 2011
Palestinian Protests on Israel’s Borders On Sunday, Palestinians and their supporters marked the 63rd anniversary of what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, that befell them as hundreds of thousands fled or were pushed out of their homes following Israel’s establishment in 1948. They observed the anniversary this year by staging coordinated demonstrations, in part inspired by recent protests around the Arab world. Thousands marched on Israeli borders and walls in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. Where they attempted to climb border fences and enter Israel, Israeli troops opened fire, reportedly killing a dozen and injuring over 100. At the Syrian border, over 100 protesters breached the border, at least one of them hitchhiking 130 miles into Tel Aviv.  See more incredible images at In Focus [Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images]

Palestinian Protests on Israel’s Borders

On Sunday, Palestinians and their supporters marked the 63rd anniversary of what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, that befell them as hundreds of thousands fled or were pushed out of their homes following Israel’s establishment in 1948. They observed the anniversary this year by staging coordinated demonstrations, in part inspired by recent protests around the Arab world. Thousands marched on Israeli borders and walls in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. Where they attempted to climb border fences and enter Israel, Israeli troops opened fire, reportedly killing a dozen and injuring over 100. At the Syrian border, over 100 protesters breached the border, at least one of them hitchhiking 130 miles into Tel Aviv. 

See more incredible images at In Focus

[Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images]

1:04pm
(Notes: 40)
  
Filed under: israel palestine middle east international photography in focus 
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