PLO mission crisis
Mission impossible: How an old US law could scotch peace talks before they start, Times of Israel
Trump’s threat to shutter the PLO mission in Washington is rooted in a measure Reagan saw as Congressional overreach into the president’s diplomatic powers. Is there a way out?
Understanding the PLO Mission Crisis – Key Documents, Lara Friedman
Over the weekend new broke that the Trump Administration was closing the PLO mission in Washington, DC. To help people understand the laws that led up to this crisis, FMEP has compiled the relevant laws, below.
FMEP Resources
FMEP Legislative Round-Up: November 17, 2017, Lara Friedman
A comprehensive report on Mideast-related developments on Capitol Hill, 10/29-11/17. In this edition: Palestinian sanctions, Iran sanctions, and more.
Settlement Report: November 17, 2017, Kristin McCarthy
A weekly report on Israeli settlement activity by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. This week covering: 240 building permits issued for settlement units in East Jerusalem; the Supreme Court and Attorney General justify land theft for Israeli settlers because they are part of the “local population”; Israel moves to evict Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and West Bank to make way for settlement expansion; Ir Amim and Peace Now put out essential new reports on 2017 settlement activity.
Differentiation and BDS
How a BDS Panel Was Canceled - Then Reinstated - at Religion Scholars' Annual Meeting, Ha'aretz
The cancelation of a panel discussing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement at the American Academy of Religion’s annual meeting sparked protests, angry fall-outs and charges of online harassment – a sign of just how contentious discussion of the issue has become in academia.
Palestinian politics
Palestinians point finger at Israel for crisis with US, Al-Monitor
“The [Israeli] goal is to drive even more spokes into the wheel [of peace], to continue to sabotage progress in the negotiations,” claimed the Palestinian source. He added that the Israeli response is an attempt to show that the country was not involved [in the American threats], but “all the activities [against the Palestinian office] bear the fingerprints of the ambassador in Washington.”
Occupation/Human rights
Palestine: ICC Should Open Formal Probe, Human Rights Watch
As the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza entered its 50th year, Human Rights Watch called today on the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to open a formal investigation into serious international crimes committed in Palestine by Israelis and Palestinians.
Hundreds of Palestinians on the brink of expulsion: ‘We just want to live', +972 Magazine/ActiveStills
Three hundred Palestinians have been ordered to leave their homes and take with them all their belongings within the next eight days. Where are they supposed to go? The military order provides no answers. In the meantime, they wait for the rain that refuses to come.
Israel Authorizes Right-wing Settler Group to Run Western Wall Archaeology Site, Ha'aretz
The right-wing Elad organization will be permitted to run the Davidson Center archaeological park adjacent to the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, according to a court settlement.
Despite Initial Promise, Israel Moves to Seize Private Palestinian Land in West Bank, Ha'aretz
The state is seeking to retroactively legalize the expropriation of privately owned Palestinian land in a West Bank settlement, even though it admits the land was expropriated by mistake.
Photography exhibition in Jaffa shows portraits of Palestinians living a lifetime of occupation, Palestine Monitor
The exhibition ‘Fifty Years’ opened at Jaffa Salon of Art on Friday, showing fifty portraits of Palestinians born in 1967, emphasising half a century of occupation by Israel.
Israeli politics
No institution is safe from the corrupting power of occupation, +972 Magazine
“The persecution of Breaking the Silence’s spokesperson is further proof that the state’s investigative bodies are not only deeply politicized, they are simply uninterested in doing their job,” writes Noam Sheizaf.
Israel, Palestine, and the region
Are Israel, Saudi Arabia about to upgrade relations?, Al-Monitor
The surprising interview that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot gave to the Saudi news site Elaph was published on Nov. 16, just a few days before the 40th anniversary of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem. While it is hard to compare these two events, some people in Israel see a kind of connection between them.