“Givat Hamatos, E1, Atarot and Pisgat Ze’ev – these are all areas in or around Jerusalem that lie beyond Israel’s 1967 borders, where the state is currently advancing extensive building plans for Jews. The Biden administration is so far refraining, at least publicly, from pressuring Israel so that it freezes these construction plans. Given the composition of Israel’s government, such pressure could turn into a political crisis. On Wednesday, Jerusalem’s local planning committee approved the expropriation of land in Givat Hamatos and approved the filing of plans for expanding Pisgat Ze’ev. Opposition to the establishment of a new neighborhood in E1 will be discussed next week, with further discussions next month about a large Jewish neighborhood in Atarot, also beyond the Green Line – the armistice demarcation line before the 1967 Six-Day War. The Construction and Housing Ministry is behind most of these initiatives.” 

See this report from Daniel Seidemann (Terrestrial Jerusalem): E-1, Sheikh Jarrah and the Status Quo on the Temple Mt./Haram al Sharif: Understanding the Ramifications of Recent Developments

See also: 

• Expropriation of Givat HaMatos neighborhood approved as Lapid visits US (JPost)
• Israel approves building plan in illegal Jerusalem settlement (Al Jazeera)
• Israel: First East Jerusalem settlement in 25 years met with US silence (Middle East Eye)
• Palestinians alarmed by Israel settlement plan on Jerusalem airport (Al Monitor)
• Local Planning Committee Advances Controversial “Silicon Wadi” Plan (Ir Amim) 
• Despite District Court Reversal, Lower Court Ruling is a Lethal Blow to Status Quo on Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif (Ir Amim)

“In what Palestinians are calling a dangerous Israeli precedent, the Israeli Supreme Court gave four families facing eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem until Nov. 2 to respond to a settlement agreement with the settlement association on the ownership of the land where their houses are built. The court’s offer, which it said is non-binding, came before deciding on the case regarding the eviction of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Under the proposed compromise, the Palestinian families in the neighborhood shall be protected tenants, not the owners of the land, which recognizes the ownership of the settlement association Nahalat Shimon to the land, without prejudice to the families’ demands for ownership of the land in the future final settlement. The settlement requires Palestinian families to pay annual rental fees to the settlement association from Jan. 1, 2020. Until a final settlement on the issue is reached, the association will be considered the owner of the lands on which the Palestinian families’ houses are built in Sheikh Jarrah, while Palestinian families are considered “protected tenants” and are subject to the Tenant Protection Law for a period of up to 15 years from the moment the settlement is signed or until the final settlement procedures are completed.” 

“A Jerusalem police officer beat up on Tuesday a Palestinian man who complained to him that another officer had assaulted him. In a video of the incident, near the Old City’s Damascus Gate, the officer can be seen asking the man in Arabic, “Who beat you up?” The man then points at another officer who was standing nearby. At this point, the Israeli officer tells the man: “Do you want me to hit your other leg?” Shortly after, the officer can be seen forcefully hitting him with a bat. The man then ran away.” See also “Israeli Cop Filmed Hitting Palestinian With Club Suspended for Five Days” (Haaretz)

“As olive harvest season sets in Palestine, a 10-day campaign to aid and protect farmers has been launched in areas considered to be at high risk of Israeli settler attacks…The campaign, organised by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), will cover 12 villages, mainly across southern Nablus, but also in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas. It will bring together more than 250 volunteers including university students, farming committees, local councils, and residents of the villages.” “Muayyad Bsharat, head of advocacy at the UAWC, told Al Jazeera the main aim of the campaign is to “strengthen control over our natural resources, by getting Palestinian farmers to their lands in Area C, and to other areas under threat by the Israeli occupation”.” See also: 

• “Israeli soldiers beat, arrest Palestinian activist during olive harvest” (+972 Magazine) 
• “9,300 olive trees destroyed by Israel in the West Bank in one year, says ICRC” (MEMO)
• “Israeli settlers uproot more than 80 olive trees in a village near Ramallah” (WAFA)

“Olive harvest season is under way across the occupied Palestinian territories. About 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinian families rely on the olive harvest, which takes place every year between October and November, for their income – including more than 15 percent of working women. According to the Palestine Trade Center, or PalTrade, the olive sector is worth between $160m and $191m in good years. Traditionally a festive season, this year’s harvest is once again overshadowed by tight Israeli restrictions, settler attacks and a weaker yield due to harsh climatic conditions.”

“A Palestinian young man was shot dead on Thursday night and another one arrested by the Israeli occupation forces during an Israeli raid of Beit Jala town, in the occupied West Bank province of Bethlehem, local sources said.” Also see “Troops kill Palestinian hurling firebombs near Bethlehem — IDF” (Times of Israel)

“Israel, which to this day controls the Palestinian registry and determines who makes it there, had refused to include the 442 people and issue them an ID card for the territories, even though they applied for “family unification” with their parents or spouses….On Monday they were informed that, for the first time in their lives, they would receive ID cards issued by the Palestinian Authority, subject to Israel’s approval. According to what they were told at the Palestinian Civil Affairs Ministry in Ramallah, 5,000 more men and women, mostly Palestinian in origin, who are married to residents of the West Bank and Gaza and have been living there for many years, are scheduled to receive residency status and Palestinian ID cards within the next month….Since 2000 Israel has been in breach of its commitment to the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords to grant residency to 4,000 people per year – people who are married to Palestinian residents – in a process known as “family unification” (not to be confused with the same process for residents of the occupied territories married to Israeli citizens, which is on hold).”

“For the first time since it was taken over by Israeli settlers, hundreds of Palestinians from this besieged village managed to reach their confiscated land. With the start of the olive harvest season in Palestine, residents and landowners of Beita headed to the peak of Jabal Sabih (Mount Sabih) on Sunday to pick their crops, expecting to be blocked by the Israeli army….Jabal Sabih in Beita, a Palestinian village on the southern outskirts of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, has been the site of intense confrontations this year after numerous attempts by Israeli settlers to take over Palestinian areas….The Israeli occupation army has killed seven Palestinians with live ammunition since the beginning of confrontations in Beita, with the latest shooting on September 24. Hundreds have also been wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.” For more on Beita, see Mohammed El-Kurd in The Nation, “A Night With Palestine’s Defenders of the Mountain” 

“I’m from the al-Tuwani village in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank. My parents are activists in the area fighting for justice for our community in Masafer Yatta. So I grew up going to peaceful demonstrations against settler violence, against home demolitions, against the wall that they established in front of my village in 2006. Being part of that process, and seeing some of the small successes we won through resistance, inspired me to continue to document the violations. I’ve been documenting the reality around me all my life; I learned English to tell the stories of Masafer Yatta. Today, I am a full-time activist here in my community and other places where it’s needed.” See also: FMEP’s recent podcast & video interview with Basil al-Adraa, “Pogrom in Mufagara and ‘Fighting for our justice.'”

“There’s no sign to indicate the entrance to the village. All of its buildings are considered illegally built and face demolition. They are huddled together, without utilities. In August, something unusual happened. The Civil Administration said it would advance state recognition for 50 buildings and the construction of infrastructure. This move evoked an immediate and furious response by adjacent settlements and the Jewish National Fund, which joined forces in an attempt to convince the Defense Ministry to revoke this decision. The villagers were deeply disappointed by the response. Over the years, they had developed friendly relations with nearby settlers. Media reports in the past described these relations, which included a visit by women from Kfar Etzion, thanking a Khirbet Zakariyyah man for helping to put out a fire. A different villager once reported his discovery of explosive charges laid in the area. “We always had ties with settlers and other Israelis,” says the head of the village council, Mohammed Ibrahim Atalah Saad. “Now they suddenly say we can’t have a plan for the village because we pose a danger? That hurts me, it’s simply not true.””

“Mohammed and Mustafa Amira were in the Israeli army’s custody for 29 hours. Their parents weren’t informed of their whereabouts. Their crime? Playing a game they saw on Youtube.”

“Malicious graffiti was scrawled and property was damaged Wednesday in the Palestinian village of Marda in the West Bank. Hateful writings reading “Price tag” and “Destroying for enemies and not for Jews” were spray-painted on eight vehicles and the walls of buildings in the village, which is located near the Jewish settlement of Ariel….”This is a continuation of the incidents of aggression and property damage, which also include damage to olive groves, toppling olive trees and incidents of vandalism or theft,” Dr. al-Hafash said.” See also “Israeli Police Go Easy on Violent Settlers ‘Because We Were in a Jewish Community‘” (Haaretz) and “Occupied West Bank: When a walk to school is fraught with fear” (Al Jazeera)

“We are writing as Google and Amazon employees of conscience from diverse backgrounds. We believe that the technology we build should work to serve and uplift people everywhere, including all of our users. As workers who keep these companies running, we are morally obligated to speak out against violations of these core values. For this reason, we are compelled to call on the leaders of Amazon and Google to pull out of Project Nimbus and cut all ties with the Israeli military. So far, more than 90 workers at Google and more than 300 at Amazon have signed this letter internally. We are anonymous because we fear retaliation….We condemn Amazon and Google’s decision to sign the Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli military and government, and ask them to reject this contract and future contracts that will harm our users. We call on global technology workers and the international community to join with us in building a world where technology promotes safety and dignity for all.” See also: “No Tech for Apartheid” (MPower Change & Jewish Voice for Peace)

“Facebook has wrongfully removed and suppressed content by Palestinians and their supporters, including about human rights abuses carried out in Israel and Palestine during the May 2021 hostilities. The company’s acknowledgment of errors and attempts to correct some of them are insufficient and do not address the scale and scope of reported content restrictions, or adequately explain why they occurred in the first place….Human Rights Watch documented that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, removed posts, including reposts of content from mainstream news organizations….Users and digital rights organizations also reported hundreds of deleted posts, suspended or restricted accounts, disabled groups, reduced visibility, lower engagement with content, and blocked hashtags….In addition to removing content based on its own policies, Facebook often does so at the behest of governments. The Israeli government has been aggressive in seeking to remove content from social media. The Israeli Cyber Unit, based within the State Attorney’s Office, flags and submits requests to social media companies to “voluntarily” remove content. Instead of going through the legal process of filing a court order based on Israeli criminal law to take down online content, the Cyber Unit makes appeals directly to platforms based on their own terms of service. A 2018 report by Israel’s State Attorney’s office notes an extremely high compliance rate with these voluntary requests, 90 percent across all platforms. Human Rights Watch is not aware that Facebook has ever disputed this claim.” 

“The University of Cambridge has broken off talks with the United Arab Emirates over a record £400m collaboration after claims about the Gulf state’s use of controversial Pegasus hacking software, the university’s vice-chancellor has said.”

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Swedish political scientist Dr. Anders Persson about this week’s International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, held in Malmö, Sweden. They discuss what happened in Malmö and what this event means in the context of ongoing efforts to achieve the worldwide adoption and enforcement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism — a definition that explicitly conflates criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism.

See also: 

• Times of Israel 10/5 (Anders Persson): IHRA reminds me of the Mohammed cartoons
• EU Observer 10/11: Call by scholars: Stop instrumentalising antisemitism
• Jerusalem Post 10/14: Australia endorses IHRA definition of antisemitism
• Times of Israel 10/12 (Avraham Burg):  Why the Malmo Forum against antisemitism risks
• Middle East Monitor 10/12: Activists, scholars call to end weaponising anti-Semitism ahead of Holocaust Remembrance event in Sweden

“This Report of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) discusses the attempts to stifle Palestinian rights advocacy in the Netherlands. It is the first of a series of ELSC Monitoring Reports that will complement the work of Palestine Legal on the suppression of Palestinian rights advocacy in the United States by analysing how this attack on civic space plays out in selected European countries.The findings of this Report are based on 76 incidents of censorship, smears, or other burdens on Palestinian rights advocacy that occurred in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2020, and about which sufficient documentation could be obtained. Since many of those targeted and affected did not keep a record of all incidents faced and/or did not report every incident to the ELSC, the actual scope of the problem is most likely much larger. We are confident, nevertheless, that based on the available data, the report provides valid insights into facts and trends concerning incidents of suppression of Palestinian rights advocacy in the Netherlands.” See also “UK government dismisses latest attempt by UK Lawyers for Israel to harm Palestinian civil society” (ELSC)

“In a statement released on Tuesday, Rooney explained her decision, writing that while she was “very proud” to have had her previous novels translated into Hebrew, she has for now “chosen not to sell these translation rights to an Israeli-based publishing house”. The statement expressed her desire to support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), a campaign that works to “end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law”….“The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so. In the meantime I would like to express once again my solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice and equality”, she said.” 

See also: 

• Sally Rooney Boycotts Israeli “Apartheid,” Refuses Work With Publishers (Teen Vogue) 
• Sally Rooney Explains Her Israel Boycott: ‘BDS Is Anti-racist’ (Haaretz)
•  Why Sally Rooney Was Right to Stand with Palestinians (Tribune)

“For many activists, organizers, and academics in the Palestine solidarity movement, this year’s uproar in the United States over critical race theory, and the accompanying efforts to ban it from being taught in schools, feels very familiar. Over the past decade, and particularly during Trump’s presidency, pro-Israel organizations and politicians have sought to redefine antisemitism to include certain criticism of Israel by using the working definition promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA), in an attempt to silence such views in classrooms and on college campuses across the country. While they do not necessarily share the same roots, the movements to ban these critical perspectives from U.S. education resemble each other in myriad ways, sharing an array of financial backers, legislative tactics, and political motives to quash legitimate criticism of the racist and colonial practices of increasingly embattled states. … According to Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Israel — whether its backers intend it or not — is often used as a wedge issue to make reactionary policy palatable to liberals and progressives. Once reactionary policies designed to help Israel are passed, they are often expanded upon to other fields. Friedman pointed to legislation in states like Texas that targets private businesses for discrimination against the gun, oil, and gas industries, which are based in part on anti-BDS legislation. These Israel-related bills, she said, are “the tip of the spear to destroying free speech.” Also see Lara Friedman’s research, “Israel-focused Anti-Boycott Legislation: A Template for Quashing Free Speech on Other Issues” 

“The media storm was based on a letter from Nike to shoe stores in Israel announcing that it would stop selling its products to these retail outlets in May…. But, while Nike did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, the company’s decision appears to be a purely commercial and very limited one. The Oregon-based corporation has centralized distribution in recent years, consolidating sales in its own retail outlets and on its website, along with a few major chains. CNN reported last March that Nike was cutting off wholesale supply to an array of retailers, including independent stores, regional department stores and online sellers like Amazon and Zappos.”

“The United States and Israel said Wednesday they are exploring a “Plan B” for dealing with Iran if the Islamic Republic does not return in good faith to negotiations to salvage the languishing landmark 2015 nuclear deal….They did not elaborate on what those options might be, but there are a wide range of non-diplomatic options that could be considered, ranging from stepped up sanctions to covert or military actions.” See also “Israel’s Lapid discusses Iran, Abraham Accords, US-Israel ties in Washington” (Al Monitor)

“[Lapid] looked on Wednesday as Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said “every” option was on the table if Iran does not engage in a good faith effort to negotiate the U.S. reentry into the nuclear deal.It was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments in diplomacy, but it had significant weight. According to insiders involved in the issue, “other options” can be seen as referring to enhanced sanctions, or other non-military forms of pressure. “Every option” means military action may be on the table as well.” See also “Blinken and Lapid discussed options for Iran that were not previously on table — official” (Times of Israel)

“High-level officials from Israel and the six Arab countries with which it has normalized relations met in the United Arab Emirates for the first-ever multilateral meeting between senior representatives of the seven countries, Jewish Insider has learned. Senior officials from the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Israel participated in the conference.” 

See also: 

• Despite official celebrations, Arab street still resents the Abraham Accords (Responsible Statecraft)
• David Friedman aims to boost Muslim tourism to Jerusalem (Jewish Insider)
• FIFA president floats Israel as possible World Cup 2030 co-hosts (CNN)
• Israel, Sudan discuss next steps for normalization (Al Monitor)

“Qatar‘s Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani made clear on Wednesday that last year’s normalisation deals between Israel and Arab countries were incompatible with Doha’s policies, as they did not offer any prospect for ending Israeli occupation. The official said that it was not possible to rely on ‘economic normalisation’ with Israel as long as its occupation of Palestinian lands exists.”

“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the Biden administration intends to press ahead with its plan to reopen the Jerusalem consulate that traditionally engaged with Palestinians, despite Israeli opposition to such a move.” See also “Israeli minister says ‘no way’ to U.S. reopening of consulate in Jerusalem” (Washington Post)

“For all of their many objections to Trump’s broader agenda, Biden officials appear somewhat keen on building upon the Abraham Accords….The Biden administration may not press hard to expand the Abraham Accords to new Arab states — including what Israel would consider the big prize, Saudi Arabia — but it is also tacitly supporting the “shrinking” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a concept touted by both Lapid and current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Rather than reckoning with Palestinian political demands, Israel and its allies could try to boost Palestinian economic life in the hope of softening tensions.”

“Underlying the favorable coverage Bennett currently receives is the belief that he has undergone an ideological metamorphosis so profound that this former hardliner now presides over a government far more committed to democratic principles and Palestinian dignity than its predecessor. But that’s completely false.”

“Israel is not an apartheid state and it does not “occupy” the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday during a special visit to the Psagot winery in the West Bank…The former top US diplomat stood on the hilltop winery outside of Jerusalem, where, just 11 months earlier, he announced a historic change in US policy that allowed for settler products produced in the West Bank to be labeled “Made in Israel.””

“…alongside those gifts to some of the most respected organizations in the American Jewish community, Jewish Currents found in a review of Leven’s foundation’s tax records, was a donation of a different nature: a $50,000 grant to Canary Mission, the controversial website that targets supporters of Palestinian rights, and which many Palestinian rights advocates describe as a shadowy blacklist that chills free speech and encourages social media harassment. Canary Mission is a deliberately opaque organization. It is anonymously run, with no staff or funding information listed on its website. Because it is not a registered nonprofit in the US, most of its funders retain their anonymity, shielding them from accountability for backing a student blacklist. But in recent years, reporting in The Forward has exposed some of the group’s funders by uncovering links between Canary Mission and an equally opaque Israeli nonprofit called Megamot Shalom. Adding an additional layer of obfuscation, the known donations to Canary Mission through Megamot Shalom, including Leven’s, were first sent to the Central Fund of Israel, a New York-based nonprofit that serves as a pass-through for donations to organizations serving Israeli settlements in the West Bank and other right-wing Israel advocacy organizations.”

“Around 250 Islamic Jihad prisoners were set to begin a hunger strike on Wednesday in protest of new Israeli policies toward Palestinian detainees, the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced. Since six Palestinian security prisoners fled Gilboa Prison in northern Israel in early September, the Israel Prisons Service has taken a number of measures in an attempt to reduce the chances of another escape. The policies have included breaking apart clusters of Islamic Jihad prisoners, moving some to other jails as well as solitary confinement for certain inmates. Family visits have also been postponed. The fugitives — since recaptured — were also dispersed to five prisons across the country. “There is only one demand: return the situation to the way it was before [the escape],” Prisoners Club director Qadura Fares told The Times of Israel in a phone call.” See also: 

• “Islamic Jihad ‘ready’ for Israeli escalation while Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike” (The New Arab)
• “4 Israel soldiers arrested for beating, sexually assaulting Palestine detainee” (MEMO)
• “Podcast: Resisting apartheid behind Israel’s prison walls” (+972 Magazine)

“In his new book, Palestine is Throwing a Party and the Whole World is Invited, Al-Shabaka policy analyst and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Kareem Rabie, examines how Palestinian governance shifted toward neoliberal globalization in the post-Fayyad years. Rabie traces how private companies and investors, international donors, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank promoted large-scale, private real estate development as a way to pursue policies of economic growth and state-scale stability. He uses the case of the West Bank Rawabi housing complex, founded by Bashar Masri, as a site to uncover these political and economic changes….Al-Shabaka recently sat down with Rabie to discuss his findings, and to inquire what can be inferred about Palestinian governance and state-building within this context.”

“Speaking from the Knesset plenum on Wednesday, far-right Religious Zionism MK Bezalel Smotrich said David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, should have “finished the job” and kicked all Arabs out of the country when it was founded….Smotrich was heckled by several Arab Knesset members and retorted: “I’m not speaking to you, anti-Zionists, terror supporters, enemies,” he said. “You’re here by mistake, it’s a mistake that Ben-Gurion didn’t finish the job and didn’t throw you out in 1948.” In response, Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman slammed Smotrich’s “fascist” remarks. “We are subject to this fascist filth almost every day in the Knesset,” said Touma-Sliman. “But don’t think about us. Think about how every Arab citizen feels when a statement like this is made casually in the parliament. Think about how every young [Arab] feels when the right-wing threatens a second Nakba,” she added, using the Arabic word for disaster, which Palestinians use to refer to the founding of the State of Israel.”

“Therefore, in practice the High Court of Justice in Israel provided a legal seal of approval for the existence of two separate legal systems in the same geographic area under a single government. One is privileged for the Jewish citizens of the ruling authority who live in the region (as opposed to international law), and whose human rights are protected, and the other – discriminatory, oppressive and Draconian – for those being ruled, residents of the region, who are identified based on a different national or ethnic affiliation….And with the granting of a specific seal of approval by the Israeli court, the time has come to call a spade a spade: An apartheid regime is the name given in international law by the international community to a regime of the type that Israel is maintaining in the occupied territories.”…’Yehudit Karp is a former deputy attorney general, and is a member of the public council of the New Israel Fund and of Yesh Din, and Friends of Breaking the Silence.’

“A white South African on her experience during the apartheid regime, and the moral failure of progressives to challenge the racist system…“Sometimes I would like to reinvent my biography, to say that I was one of those few who realized already then that apartheid is evil, who joined the struggle, who were imprisoned, who went into exile. But thinking about it now, perhaps there is also importance to this unheroic experience, of ‘knowing and not knowing.’ Because it can teach us something profound about the way in which such regimes shape the daily perceptions of all the good people, so that they can continue to exist – without understanding that we are in effect those who enable evil to flourish.””

“Netflix’s new Palestinian collection, titled “Palestinian Stories”, is made up of 32 award-winning films that are either directed by Palestinian filmmakers or tell Palestinian stories, the company said in a press release on Tuesday. “The diversification of our content sits close to my heart as Netflix works to become the home of Arabic cinema,” said Nuha El Tayeb, a spokesperson for Netflix.” See also “Netflix Launches ‘Palestinian Stories’ Collection With Award-Winning Films” (Netflix)

“Indigenous peoples ostensibly have a right to self-determination under international law, whereas members of a religious and cultural group do not. For Israel to hold onto discursive – if not legal – legitimacy, this shift to a claim of biological peoplehood must be ironclad. And so we see a Zionist turn to eugenics and racial fascism, bound up with Zionist claims to indigeneity in Israel.”