Temple Mount crisis revives Palestinian activism; Settlement plan to cut off Ramallah, E Jerusalem

What We’re Reading

Jerusalem

Palestinian Activism Reawakens in Jerusalem after Holy Esplanade Attack,

A deadly attack on 14 July 2017 at Jerusalem’s Holy Esplanade revealed the growing precariousness of the site’s Status Quo. In this Q&A Ofer Zalzberg, Senior Analyst for Israel/Palestine, says the mobilisation of Palestinians to reverse Israeli security measures around the site could signal a revival of activism in East Jerusalem after years of decline.

Opinion: Temple Mount Crisis Shows Who's Really Calling the Shots at the Site,

“As of this writing it’s hard to know how the crisis over the Temple Mount will end. But recent days have shown that the real sovereign on the Temple Mount is not Israel, Jordan or the Waqf, the site’s Muslim custodial trust. The real bosses are the Palestinians of Jerusalem,” writes Nir Hasson.

Compromise weighed to remove Temple Mount metal detectors,

An American-proposed solution would have security forces use hand-held detectors at entrances to compound, but only for those deemed suspicious.

Occupation/Human rights

New Israeli Construction Plan to Cut Off Ramallah From East Jerusalem,

The Construction and Housing Ministry is planning a major housing project that includes 1,100 units with far-reaching consequences for northeast Jerusalem. The plan extends the city’s built-up areas eastward, filling in the gap between the settlement of Adam (also known as Geva Binyamin) and the Neveh Yaakov neighborhood.

Israel cuts water supply to Salfit,

Palestinian municipal authorities in the occupied central West Bank city of Salfit declared a state of emergency after Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, completely cut off the water supply to the city.

A Palestinian view on the antisemitism row,

“If, instead of a country for Jews, a country for any other group had been created in our homeland without our consent, we would have objected and resisted as Palestinians with the same vigour,” writes Kamel Hawwash.

A Palestinian Lawmaker Is in Detention Without Trial, and Israel Doesn't Say Why,

Dozens of Israeli troops marched into Khalida Jarrar’s Ramallah home in the dark of night, beating up her daughter and seizing her husband’s work hard drives before making the arrest; her family fears she will stay in jail indefinitely.

Hebron: Segregation fence along a-Salaimeh Street extended, 2017,

Since the mid-1990s, the Israeli military has imposed a policy of segregation in the center of Hebron.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminally Outlaw Support for Boycott Campaign Against Israel,

A group of 43 Senators – 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats – want to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel.

U.S. State Department Faces Cuts, Israeli-Palestinian Peace Programming Untouched,

In the proposed budget, 40 percent of world ‘reconciliation programs,’ including water sanitation and efforts to combat child marriage, will be dedicated to peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

Gaza

Exits through Erez Crossing drop by 55% in the first half of 2017,

The monthly average was only 6,302 exits in the first half of 2017, compared to a monthly average of more than 14,000 exits in the first half of 2016.

Gaza on Verge of Collapse as Israel Sends 2.2M People "Back to Middle Ages" in Electricity Crisis,

Democracy Now interviews Gaza experts on conditions in the Strip after Israel cut electricity.