Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: December 7, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

World Zionist Organization Settlement Division Finances Illegal West Bank Outposts,

The WZO Settlement Division transferred public funds as loans to at least two settlers from the West Bank settlement of Itamar, documents obtained by Haaretz show. In exchange for the loans the settlers mortgaged plots that had been allocated to them in Itamar.

Inside the Evangelical Money Flowing Into the West Bank,

A Haaretz investigation reveals that Christian groups have invested up to $65 million in projects in the ‘Biblical Heartland’ over the past decade.

Palestinians battle home evictions in East Jerusalem's Silwan,

The settlers’ takeover of Batan al-Hawa is ‘the most extensive expulsion process’ in recent years in East Jerusalem.

Israeli gov't is trying to defund +972 Magazine, report says,

Other organizations targeted by the letter, and supported by other German foundations, include Coalition of Women for Peace, Breaking the Silence, and B’Tselem.

BDS

Marc Lamont Hill and the legacy of punishing black internationalists,

The concerted attacks on Hill not only represent a liberal heterodoxy and double standard on the question of Palestine.

Israel boycott movement takes on US law enforcement,

Pro-boycott groups landed a significant win last week when two police departments announced they were pulling out of a program that sends US police officers to receive training in Israel.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Israeli-PA security coordination is at risk unless US law is changed,

Security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is in jeopardy if a US law that was passed two months ago and grants American courts jurisdiction over anti-PA lawsuits is not changed in the coming weeks, senior US officials warned on Friday.

Palestinians applaud defeat of US-backed resolution condemning Hamas,

While the draft resolution received a comfortable majority of votes, it fell short of the two-thirds super-majority needed to pass, with a final tally of 87 in favor, 57 opposed and 33 abstentions.

Palestinian politics

Palestine: Social justice activist tortured and punished for going on hunger strike,

The Palestinian authorities must urgently investigate the torture and other ill-treatment of Suha Jbara, an activist who has told Amnesty International that she was beaten, slammed against a wall and threatened with sexual violence by her interrogators, the organization said ahead of her court hearing tomorrow.

PA rejects offer to transfer Qatari funds to Gaza,

The Palestinian Authority has turned down an offer to transfer Qatari funds to the Gaza Strip through its Ramallah-based government, a senior Hamas official revealed on Wednesday.