The residents of Bages have organized this weekend to demand that the company ICL –Israel Chemicals Limited– leave the territory. A thousand people spent the night in a camp in Callús as part of a mobilization driven by Revoltes de la Terra to denounce the environmental and social impact of this company that has been exploiting the region's salt mines since 1998. The intention is to stay for the entire weekend.

Different civil society organizations have filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office against the board of directors of the company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), as well as against directors of six of its subsidiaries, for the company's involvement in the construction, operation and maintenance of the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR), which according to the complainants has allegedly contributed "to the consolidation of the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel; to the maintenance and expansion of Israel's illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, and to the maintenance of discriminatory and inhumane practices by Israel against the Palestinian population".

Until the 26th of this month, you have time to go to the Heartbreak Hotel theatre, in the heart of Sants, to see Return to Haifa, the magnificent adaptation of the story of the same name by the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, which Àlex Rigola has adapted and directed, with a cast of four actors and actresses who offer literally impressive performances: Chantal Aimée, Jordi Figueras, Ariadna Gil and Carles Roig. Return to Haifa, the original story, is a testimonial novel that recounts the reunion of a mother and father with their son twenty years after they had to abandon him, when he was just a baby, due to the Nakba, that is, the expulsion of the Palestinians from their country, leaving behind all their belongings and also, often, their loved ones. This happened in 1948, just as the State of Israel was founded. The protagonist couple returns there twenty years later (Kanafani wrote the story in 1969; you can read it in Catalan in the translation by Anna Gil Bardají, published by Club Editor) to find their city again, their streets, their home, apparently as they left them, but now in the hands of the occupiers. And to meet their son. The break, the wound, is impossible to repair or heal.Return to Haifa, the play, brings all this to the stage with undeniable austerity and authority. As soon as the spectator enters the small room of the Heartbreak Hotel, they are greeted by Rigola and the four performers, and the director briefly presents the performance: he calls it theatre of urgency, conceived to provide an artistic response to one of the great political and human crises of our time: the genocide of Gaza perpetrated by the government and army of Israel in the face of the passivity, or acquiescence, or complicity, of the international community. It is literary theatre, text-based theatre: the actors and actresses serve the text scrupulously, while dramatizing it with a depth free of any affectation, at the antipodes of any temptation towards emphasis. To say that the result is breathtaking at several moments is accurate. The length of the play is just under an hour, but it reaches far and deep.The infamy of Gaza, of the West Bank, continues its course while the wars in Iran, in Lebanon, in a Middle East set ablaze by Netanyahu and Trump, two war criminals who have led the planet into a black hole full of destruction and corpses, partly for their own profit, partly for the profit of the elites who support them, partly for the delirium of the exercise of absolute and unpunished power, also continue. A little further on is Putin in Ukraine and, below, bleeding as always, Yemen, Somalia, the Congo. Faced with all this, closing oneself in one afternoon to see Return to Haifa in a theater like the Heartbreak, where everything is in close-up and where the actors cannot and do not want to hide (but neither can the spectators), may seem like a simply symbolic response. But it is not so: it is an active response, it means affirming ourselves in humanity and civilization in the face of atrocity and barbarism. And it is excellent theater, among the best that can be seen now.

The Brazilian Thiago Ávila (1986) is one of the coordinators of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the new international flotilla that seeks to break the blockade of Gaza and the largest yet. Ávila, an activist and political analyst, was part of a previous flotilla, which was intercepted last year. The mission plans to mobilize more than eighty vessels and more than 1,000 participants from about a hundred countries. It sets sail from Barcelona in an even more dangerous context of regional war and will be accompanied, up to the exclusion zone imposed by Israel, by the ships of Open Arms and Greenpeace. Its objective: to reactivate international mobilization in support of the Palestinian people. After the farewell events this weekend at Moll de la Fusta, 41 vessels will set sail from Barcelona in the coming days bound for Gaza, when weather conditions permit. In Sicily, more boats from France and Italy will join, and more vessels will be added along the rest of the route through the Mediterranean.

The Israeli Parliament approved this Monday one of the most controversial laws in recent years: it allows the death penalty by hanging for Palestinians convicted of terrorism offenses that have resulted in fatalities. The measure has been harshly criticized as discriminatory by European countries and human rights organizations. The new legislative text, called “death penalty for terrorists”, introduces profound changes to the Penal Code: it allows courts to impose capital punishment without the need for a prior request from the Public Prosecutor's Office and without unanimity among judges; a simple majority is sufficient. Judges will also no longer need to have a superior military rank. In Israel, capital punishment already existed for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or crimes against the Jewish people. In practice, however, the few death sentences that have been handed down have ended up being commuted to life imprisonment. The legal text, driven by the far-right party Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was approved with 62 votes in favor –including that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu– and 48 against. The objective is clear: “To establish the death penalty for terrorists who have perpetrated deadly attacks”, as the text literally states. Thus, any person who “intentionally causes the death of another with the aim of harming a citizen or resident of Israel, and with the intention of denying the existence of the State of Israel, may be sentenced to death or life imprisonment”, it adds.The law will be applicable to any territory under Israel's effective control and establishes a dual judicial circuit: one for civil courts within Israel and another for military courts in the West Bank, which judge Palestinians exclusively under military law. In the Israeli military courts in the West Bank, Palestinian prisoners convicted of armed operations that cause the death of an Israeli will face the mandatory death penalty, unless exceptional circumstances are detected that allow for a life sentence. In practice, the legislation will turn the death penalty into the default punishment, according to analysts. In Israeli civil courts, however, the penalty can be death or life imprisonment. In any case, those convicted will be held in separate facilities, with no right to visits except from authorized personnel, and legal consultations will be conducted solely by videoconference. As for executions, they will be carried out within a maximum of ninety days from the sentence.No avenues for appeal

Various organizations, including the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, the Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, denounce that this legal framework consolidates a system that specifically applies the death penalty to Palestinians and eliminates key avenues for appeal or pardon.“The law subjects Palestinian prisoners to a draconian and racist killing machine,” Sari Bachi, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), explains to ARA. “The death penalty is explicitly applied to Palestinians, but not to Jews. It is applied to those who kill with the motivation of denying the existence of the State of Israel, that is, to Palestinians. If a Jewish settler kills a Palestinian for nationalist reasons, they cannot be sentenced to death and will be tried in civilian courts with guarantees because they do not deny the Israeli state. In the case of a Palestinian, the death penalty is the default punishment within a military system with a conviction rate of 99%. This institutionalizes a regime of Jewish supremacy over Palestinians,” she adds.Along the same lines, other Israeli and Palestinian organizations – such as Adalah, the HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, B’Tselem, Parents Against Child Detention, and Zazim – also warn that the law violates international law, especially the right to life, as well as the regulations governing occupation. They recall that, according to the Hague Regulations, Israel has no sovereign authority to legislate over the population of the West Bank and must treat people living under occupation with dignity, even if they have been accused of committing crimes.“From a human rights perspective, the law largely contradicts Israeli law on dignity and liberty. Furthermore, the ninety-day period from the final verdict to execution, with virtually no room for requesting a review or other avenues, directly goes against international legal principles,” details Karen Saar, from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), to l’ARA.Following Hamas's attacks on October 7, 2023, several far-right Israeli lawmakers began pushing for the approval of this law. Minister of Security Ben-Gvir has justified that the death penalty can act as a deterrent. However, Amnesty International states that there is no evidence that capital punishment is more effective than life imprisonment in reducing crime.In recent years, human rights organizations have reported a significant increase in cases of abuse and torture in prisons and military detention centers. In December, the Israeli agency Walla! reported that 110 Palestinian prisoners had died in Israeli custody between January 23, 2023, and June 25 of last year. Before the final vote on the legislative text, the law had already generated strong opposition both internally and internationally. Experts from the UN Human Rights Council warned that the norm violated the right to life and could constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. The European Union also expressed concern, and the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom warned that the law could “undermine Israel’s democratic commitments.”

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Violent Israeli settlers attacked several West Bank villages early Sunday morning, burning cars and houses, and beating or throwing stones at Palestinian civilians. At least twelve people were injured. The incidents occurred near the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, and Jenin, after an 18-year-old settler was killed on Saturday when his car collided with a Palestinian vehicle. Authorities are investigating whether it was a simple accident or a terrorist act. However, the settlers took justice into their own hands.

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Less than 100 meters from the British Museum, in the iconic London Review Bookshop, one of the first titles a customer encounters upon entering is the new edition of a 1979 classic. The PalestiniansThe book, written by journalist Jonathan Dimbleby and illustrated by photographer Don McCullin, began with a prologue explaining why the book was necessary at that time. Words that, almost half a century later, still resonate powerfully.

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Nothing new is happening in the West Bank. What's new is that it's hardly being disguised anymore.

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The Israeli government approved on Sunday the reopening of the land registration process in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967. This measure will allow the state to register Palestinian territories as "property of the State of Israel," according to the Justice Ministry and the state broadcaster Kan. This will expand Israel's control in the West Bank at the expense of the Palestinian Authority. advance towards the annexation of the territory

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When Donald Trump sealed the ceasefire in Gaza, he proclaimed the advent of a "golden age" for the Middle East, a promise of prosperity and peace that was supposed to transform the regionBut the reality on the ground is quite different: four months after the agreement, there have been only 17 days without Israeli attacks against the civilian population. The army has not only failed to withdraw, but is actually advancing along the "yellow line" that demarcates the territory of the Gaza Strip under Israeli control. Meanwhile, leaders and investors are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of turning Gaza, under Donald Trump's lifetime presidency, into a real estate development hub.

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Donald Trump's plan for the future of the Gaza Strip, agreed between the United States and Israel and approved by the UN Security Council, It establishes the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) in the Palestinian territory until 2027The objective, according to the agreement, is for this military force to provide "support to the verified Palestinian police in Gaza" and contribute to "securing the border areas." Until now, no party had specified which countries would form the FIE, nor how many soldiers each state would contribute. But this Tuesday, Indonesia began to shed some light on the matter: the Asian country estimates it could contribute up to 8,000 soldiers, and asserts that a total of approximately 20,000 troops will be deployed along the Gaza Strip. However, there is still no signed public document. Indonesian presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi explained that the exact number of troops has not yet been discussed, and that the figures presented by the government on Tuesday are approximations. "We are preparing in case an agreement is reached and we need to send peacekeeping forces," Hadi stated. These preparations, according to Chief of Staff Maruli Simanjuntak, would be military training exercises for the troops the country is prepared to send to Gaza.

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On its second day of partial reopening, the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has confirmed that the reopening, for now, does not imply a substantial change in mobility from the Strip. After a first day focused almost entirely on technical tests and list verificationThis Monday, the crossing began operating effectively, albeit at a very slow pace and with extremely limited reach.

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Unimaginable, both in terms of the number of people involved and the magnitude of the emotions displayed: solidarity, generosity, and dignity, as well as indignation and anger. This was the Manifesto Concert for Palestine, which brought together 12,000 people (all seated) at the Palau Sant Jordi this Thursday, and featured musicians such as Amaia, Bad Gyal, Luis Llach, Lina Mankoul, Alguer Miquel, Morad, Fermín Muguruza, Muskaa, Oques Tijoux, and Tinariwen, among others. "Thank you so much, Barcelona, ​​Catalonia," said the lead singer of the Palestinian group Sol Band, which opened the event at 7:30. It was a gesture of gratitude for the mobilization achieved by the Act x Palestine campaign, "a collective appeal that, through music, words, art, and image, reclaims culture as a space of resistance and awareness, linking the reality of Palestine with the great struggles of our time," as stated in its founding manifesto. Therefore, all proceeds from the concert will go to support various Palestinian cultural spaces. The concert, incidentally, took place the same week that the Israeli army acknowledged killing [number of Palestinians]. More than 71,000 people in Gaza since October 2023Gazan activist Kayed Hammad, in conversation with actor Eduard Fernández, explained what life is like in Gaza, the land he had to leave a few months ago. "There are no houses, there are tents that offer no protection from the cold or the heat, or from drones. There isn't a single square meter of safety in Gaza, and when the sun sets, people are left among the rubble with their families," said Hammad, sitting with Fernández on a stage designed like a Mediterranean square, with musicians.

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Perplexity. Unease. Indignation. These are some of the moods that frequently appear in our daily lives amidst an international landscape filled with uncertainty. Is the world falling apart? Answering this question may seem like a daunting task. However, there are many committed voices that give us a push to digest these and other doubts, and extend a hand to help us move forward.

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“Fighting for Palestine is fighting for all of humanity,” says Ruben Wagensberg, one of those involved in organizing the Act x Palestine manifesto concert, which will take place on Thursday, January 29th at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Wagensberg believes that the impunity with which the Israeli government has acted leads to a demobilization that must be countered. It is within this moral context that the Act x Palestine campaign is situated, “a collective appeal that, through music, words, art, and images, reclaims culture as a space for resistance and awareness-raising, linking the reality of Palestine with the great struggles of our time,” as stated in its founding manifesto. And since culture is, as Wagensberg reminds us, “an essential pillar for the Palestinian resistance, on par with humanitarian aid and the defense of human rights,” all proceeds from the concert will go to support various Palestinian cultural spaces. The aid "will be channeled through the Palestinian Performing Arts Network (PPAN) and several independent cultural centers, such as AJEE/Lajee Center (Aida refugee camp) and Dar Qandeel (Tulkarem), ensuring that resources reach projects and collectives directly and minimizing intermediation."

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The word Palestine It's not a new topic in this classroom. In fact, the students don't ask what's happening in Gaza, but how it's possible that this continues. They know the context of the conflict, and even engage in parallel discussions where they share information and help each other better understand the situation Gazans are going through. "This isn't a political issue, they're killing children and the elderly," they exclaim. In this high school in Sant Boi de Llobregat, the genocide has become a part of the students' conversations, filtered through TikTok, Instagram, and discussions at home and at school. "I found out about it from my family, who are Muslim," explains Chada. "When I learned that they'd been going on like this for over 70 years... I even went to demonstrations with my mother, because it's incomprehensible," she adds.

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"We must play, we must sing, we must express ourselves because, if we don't, we could die at any moment without having said what we wanted to say. Music is the best tool to bring out everything you feel inside and shout it loud so that everyone can hear it," explains Raji al-Jaru, vocalist and guitarist. from the Palestinian group Osprey VOriginally from the Gaza Strip, the musician has been living as a refugee in Jordan with his wife and three-year-old daughter since May 2025. The Israeli genocide led to the dispersal and exile of all the band members who, at the time of the interview, were trying to obtain visas to come to Barcelona and play at the concert on January 2nd.

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After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize medal last week, during the visit to the White House of Venezuelan María Corina MachadoDonald Trump has once again made it clear that he remains furious about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. This Monday, the US president sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, in which he asserts that, having not received the award, he no longer feels "obligated" to think about peace. In the letter, the Republican leader specifically links the US expansionist threat to Greenland to not having won the prize.

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German national identity (assuming such a thing exists) changed after Nazism. The same happened with the Jews, recipients of a wave of international sympathy after the horror of the Holocaust. Now, with the atrocities Israel is committing in Gaza and the West Bank, the perception of Jewish identity (not just Israeli) is shifting worldwide. What hardly changes is how we see the Palestinians: either terrorists or victims, almost never human beings in all their dimensions.

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Palestinian Reem Alhajajra and Israeli Yael Admi received awards this Thursday the Catalonia International Prize awarded by the GeneralitatBoth are driving forces behind Mother's Call, an initiative comprised of Palestinian and Israeli women that seeks to "restore hope" to both communities by fighting for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the decades-long conflict. We spoke with them a few hours before they received the award.

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