Israel

The soft power objective of Israeli sport is for us to focus on a cycling team or a visit by Lionel Messi rather than PalestineIn the summer of 2020 a group of five cyclists from Ramallah were out on a ride when they were stopped by a group of Israeli settlers. According to Reuters, on discovering the cyclists were Palestinian, the settlers began hurling […]

Those who attack cultural boycotts in the name of ‘free speech’ are conveniently missing when Palestinians are routinely bullied for speaking their truthIn early December 2021, Palestinians and Arabs representing a diversity of creative, activist and academic practice approached the board of Sydney festival after it was revealed the board had accepted […]

Omer Barlev denied claims that protesters’ phones had been hackedIsrael’s minister of public security has expressed his firm support for the country’s police force after allegations it used NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus software to spy on Israeli citizens.In an interview with the Guardian on Wednesday, Omer Barlev, the cabinet minister with […]

Family of 15 evicted in East Jerusalem neighbourhood that was a flashpoint for 2021 fightingIsraeli police have forcibly removed a Palestinian family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah, the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood where evictions helped trigger a round of fighting between Israel and Hamas last year. About a dozen police officers arrived at the […]

Rising number of coronavirus cases prompts official US advice, which brings number of countries on ‘level four’ list to over 100The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday advised against travel to 22 nations and territories because of a rising number of Covid-19 cases including for Australia, Israel, Egypt, Albania, Argentina and […]

Investigation alleges Israeli police carried out phone intercepts without court supervision or monitoring of how data was usedThe Israeli police allegedly conducted warrantless phone intercepts of Israeli citizens, including politicians and activists, using the NSO group’s controversial Pegasus spyware, according to an investigation by the Israeli […]

Analysis: UK reportedly considering sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was involved in controversial scheme with IsraelRwanda – one of two African countries to which the UK government is reportedly considering sending asylum seekers for resettlement and processing – was previously embroiled in a highly controversial migrant deportation scheme […]

Man has reportedly threatened to set himself on fire if removal order in Jerusalem district is carried outIsraeli police are in a standoff with a Palestinian man who carried a gas canister on to the roof of his home in a Jerusalem flashpoint district as his family faced eviction.Israeli media reported that Mohammed Salhiya had threatened to set himself on […]

Former Israeli PM understood to be in advanced talks with state attorney’s office over admitting to two counts of breach of trustThe former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly close to reaching a plea bargain in his corruption trial, a development that could mean an unexpectedly swift end to his turbulent political career and once […]

Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo among signatories to letter supporting Harry Potter actor accused of antisemitism Major figures from the world of film, including Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Capaldi and Charles Dance have issued a statement in support of Emma Watson and Palestinian solidarity.Last week, Watson, best known for playing Hermione Granger […]

At a summer camp for kids from conflict zones, I met my brave, funny friend Aseel. He was Palestinian. I was Israeli. When he was killed by police, my hope for our future died with himOn 11 May 2021, I was sitting with a small group in a cafe in southern Tel Aviv, studying Arabic. Our teacher, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, had been telling us that he and […]

David Kirk admits he was unaware of deal until he noticed the Israeli government logo on the program in NovemberGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingSydney festival chair, David Kirk, has described the board’s failure to grasp the potential ramifications of accepting funding from the Australian Israeli embassy, which sparked a mass walk […]

US state department says it is seeking clarification over detention of Omar Abdalmajeed As’adAn 80-year-old Palestinian-American manhas been found dead after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on a village in the occupied West Bank.The US state department said that Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad was a US citizen and that it had sought […]

If the ethnicity or gender of the character drives the role then that ethnicity should be prioritised, writes Maureen LipmanThank our mutual god for the intelligence and eloquence of David Baddiel (‘Why don’t Jews play Jews?’ – David Baddiel on the row over Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, 12 January). But may I take issue with the Guardian on one point? […]

Correspondence suggests festival told groups opposed to sponsorship $20,000 would also pay for Q&A session hosted by Israeli embassyGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingThe government of Israel was asked to financially contribute to the 2022 Sydney festival by someone from the festival’s management, a representative from the Israeli […]

Over 132,000 patients currently on US wards with Covid; Swedish measures include work from home mandateEmail shows Boris Johnson aide invited No 10 staff to lockdown partyNovak Djokovic wins appeal against decision to cancel Australian visaProtesters on French island pelt MP with seaweed over Covid passChina battles Omicron outbreak weeks before Winter […]

She has played the Queen and a gangster’s moll but her latest casting has sparked controversyNobody is quite what they seem. And actors? Well, for actors that’s the job. Dame Helen Mirren, as well as being herself for 76 years, has by now notably been Lady Macbeth, a London gangster’s moll, a thief’s wife, an alcoholic cop, an action hero, Prospero […]

Tropical Fuck Storm among latest to withdraw over Israeli embassy sponsorship, saying organisers have put artists in a ‘shit sandwich’Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, Australian musician Deborah Conway, and film-maker Nancy Spielberg are among 120 entertainment industry figures to sign an open letter against the boycott of Sydney festival, after more than 30 […]

Actor says Meir’s Jewishness is ‘integral’ to role and that Ben Kingsley would ‘never be allowed’ to play Nelson MandelaMaureen Lipman has criticised the casting of Helen Mirren as Golda Meir in a forthcoming film about the former Israeli prime minister, saying that the character’s Jewishness is “integral”.In comments reported by the Jewish […]

Hisham Abu Hawash, who has been held without charge for more than a year, began refusing food in AugustA Palestinian man on a hunger strike in protest against detention without charge has agreed to end his fast after a deal was struck for his release owing to fears of unrest if he died.Hisham Abu Hawash, 40, a construction worker from Dura in the West Bank, […]