R.I.P. Yossi Gurvitz — Israeli pro-Palestinian supporter and activist

Part of an extended interview with journalist-activist Yossi Gurvitz transcribed & translated from Hebrew to English. Gurvitz was Israel’s first serious anti-occupation blogger who supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that worked to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians. It also served to pressure Israel to comply with International Law, which it has repeatedly violated for over half a century.

Gurvitz was outcast politically and accepted that. He said that feeling the pain of others makes us human, and all his political actions were supported by his witnessing Israeli abuses of Palestinians. He worked for human rights groups that documented those abuses and ostracized himself by supporting BDS.

One position that got Gurvitz in trouble was his insistence that Israeli settlers were responsible for much of the violence they encountered at the hands of Palestinians. He insisted on viewing Palestinian violence in its proper context (a taboo even for many who oppose the occupation), and rejected Israelis’ abuse of the word “terror,” which gradually came to encompass any form of Palestinian resistance, or even existence.

“The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) is a terrorist force, there are no two ways about it” stated Gurvitz who subscribed to principles of accuracy and candor. He left Meretz, a left-wing political party in Israel, because anyone supporting Israeli government supported apartheid. For several years, Gurvitz ran an anti-occupation blog documenting attacks by settlers and soldiers on Palestinians, and the lack of response by Israeli authorities.

He translated dozens of those posts to English, even though he was never required to, so that the world would open its eyes to the daily horrors on the ground and understand how cheap Palestinian life had become to Israelis. Little attention was ever given to these crimes by the media or by governments. Yossi was so blunt that a right-wing group managed to have him questioned by police.

Yossi Gurvitz passed away at the age of 53 on February 14, 2023. Journalist Eli Beitan wrote: "Gurvitz was a sharp and polished writer who dealt with history, conflict, technology and more. Many of us learned from him what journalistic and activist writing is out of a deep commitment to the struggle against occupation, until his last days."