The Foundation for Middle East Peace is proud to announce the launch of a new FMEP microsite tracking Palestine-related lawfare: https://lawfare.fmep.org/. Lawfare refers to efforts that seek to exploit U.S. laws and courts in order to quash criticism and activism challenging Israeli policies, to delegitimize Palestinian organizations and the Palestinian cause, and to undermine and even criminalize support for and/or solidarity with the Palestinian people. Lawfare includes legislation and policies targeting Americans’ rights to boycott Israel and/or settlements. It also includes legislation and policies defining criticism of Israel/Zionism and advocacy for Palestinian rights as antisemitism/hate speech (the IHRA definition of antisemitism), including in academia. FMEP President Lara Friedman has been researching and documenting these lawfare efforts for nearly a decade. FMEP’s new microsite includes her comprehensive & regularly updated research databases–newly streamlined, updated, and expanded, and re-formatted to permit easy filtering/searching of data. It also includes her reports and analyses, along with links to all of FMEP’s other lawfare-related products and programming (webinars, podcasts, etc).

1. Attention World Leaders: Israel is Violating International Law
2. State-Backed Settler Terrorism Is Working
3. Bonus Reads

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2. Israel & AIPAC in the 2024 Election Cycle
3. Hearings & Markups
4. Media & Reports
5. Members on the Record

“Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a rare interview with Fox News on Wednesday that negotiations over Israel means the prospects of normalized relations between both countries “get closer” every day, but that treatment of Palestinians remains a “very important” issue to be resolved…“For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part,” Saudi Arabi’s de facto leader, widely known as MbS, said on “Special Report with Bret Baier” in an interview conducted in English, adding that there had been “good negotiations” so far.“We got to see where we go,” the prince said. “We hope that will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, get Israel as a player in the Middle East.” He also denied reports that the talks had been suspended, saying “every day, we get closer.”” See also Crown prince confirms Saudi Arabia will seek nuclear arsenal if Iran develops one (Guardian); The U.S. wants Saudi-Israel normalization. Others aren’t so sure. (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo)

“Taking the stage Friday at the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is “at the cusp” of a historic peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, a deal he predicted will transform the Middle East. “Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict,” said Netanyahu, addressing the gathering for the 12th time. “It will encourage other Arab states to normalize their relations with Israel. It will enhance the prospects of peace with the Palestinians. It will encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam, between Jerusalem and Mecca, between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael.”… Netanyahu framed his address in biblical terms, presenting the future as a choice between a blessing and a curse. He used a similar approach while discussing artificial intelligence with Elon Musk earlier this week…The hall was largely empty on the last morning of the confab, but in another encouraging sign for Netanyahu, a lone Saudi official wearing a black head covering sat listening to the entire speech.” See also At UN, Netanyahu says Palestinians should have ‘no veto’ over Saudi deal (Al Monitor); Full text of Netanyahu’s UN address: ‘On the cusp of historic Saudi-Israel peace’ (ToI); Analysis | Facing Empty Seats and Massive Protests, Netanyahu Promises Imminent Saudi Peace (Haaretz)

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a new map erasing Palestine during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) 78th session on Friday. The illustration showed a “new Middle East” wherein the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip appeared to be part of Israel…The inclusion of Palestinian lands (and sometimes land belonging to Syria and Lebanon) in Israeli maps is common among believers of the concept of Eretz Yisrael – Greater Israel – a key part of ultra-nationalist Zionism that claims all of these lands belong to a Zionist state.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left his long-awaited meeting with President Biden Wednesday with exactly the result he wanted: an invitation to the White House before the end of the year…Although policy differences remain, Biden recognized that continuing to give Netanyahu the cold shoulder could harm his political standing with U.S. supporters of Israel and complicate efforts to reach a mega-deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel…At least publicly, the meeting appeared to succeed in lowering the temperature and countering the perception that the two allies are drifting apart.” See also Biden invites Netanyahu to White House despite frosty relations (WaPo

“Palestinian officials are working to promote the inclusion of concessions from Israel as part of a prospective Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, as Washington and Riyadh continue negotiations. Among the goals are an Israeli agreement to stop building new settlements and expanding Palestinian control over security and construction in the West Bank’s Area B (under Palestinian civil control and joint Palestinian and Israeli security control) and Area C (under full Israeli control). Negotiators are also pushing for full membership in the United Nations, establishing a Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, and opening a U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem…Israel and the U.S. are divided on the Palestinian aspect of the deal currently being worked out. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview published last week that Saudi Arabia had made it clear the Palestinian issue would play a central role in any agreement with Israel.” See also Palestinian leader tells UN there can be no Mideast peace without his people enjoying full rights (AP); See also Mahmoud Abbas Holocaust Controversy Spotlights Deep Disillusion with Palestinian Authority  (The Intercept)

“If Israel is hurtling into the democratic abyss under Netanyahu’s leadership now, his foreign policy – on display this week as well – has helped push the country over the democratic cliff…This is Netanyahu’s week to shine as an international statesman. Like most of his years in power, he will use it to convey to Israelis how much the undemocratic, warmongering autocrats of the world are to be admired, while he alone can salvage the relations he is wrecking with democratic allies. Beneath it all, he hopes to prove that Israel can flourish in international affairs forever while occupation thrives and democracy in Israel deteriorates, perhaps for good.” See also from Al Monitor: Israel, Turkey leaders discuss Saudi normalization in first New York meeting; Mossad chief attends Netanyahu meeting with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy; See also Seeking partnership with Musk, Netanyahu treads lightly on antisemitism (Jewish Insider); Hundreds protest as Netanyahu meets Elon Musk in San Francisco (Al Monitor); Editorial | A New Low: Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu Is the Antisemites’ Cheerleader (Haaretz)

“A U.N. committee voted Sunday to recognize ruins near the West Bank city of Jericho as a World Heritage site, a move that drew backlash from Israel, which has clashed with the United Nations in the past over designations in the Palestinian territories…It added the prehistoric site of “Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan (State of Palestine),” including a nearby spring, to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, raising the number of inscribed Palestinian sites to four…The city is one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited places, having attracted a permanent settlement as early as the 9th millennium B.C. Excavations there have unearthed traces of Neolithic populations and materials from the Early and Middle Bronze Ages…In a statement carried by Israeli media, the Foreign Ministry said the decision was “another sign of the Palestinians’ cynical use of UNESCO” and their “politicization of the organization.” See also Jericho’s Tell es-Sultan added to UNESCO World Heritage list (Al Jazeera//Photos)

“Thousands of Israelis and U.S. Jews are rallying in New York on Friday while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly, in what fast became one of the biggest pro-Israeli democracy demonstration held outside Israel since the pro-democracy global protests began over nine months ago…The number of U.S. Jews taking part in the protest is significantly larger than in other events held throughout the week. Many have come on organized buses from places like Boston and Toronto. A group of several dozens of Netanyahu supporters are holding a counter-protest. The two groups are separated by a barrier..Many of those present say this is the first time they are taking part in a protest against the Israeli government on U.S. soil, including some of the rabbis.” See also 2,000 protest against Netanyahu outside UN as he addresses General Assembly (ToI); Israel’s Tensions Spill Onto NY Streets as Pro-democracy and pro-Netanyahu Protesters Face-off (Haaretz); ‘We Cannot Walk Away’ | NYC Rabbi’s Speech Urging U.S. Jews to Support Israeli Protests Hailed as Turning Point (Haaretz)

“Israeli forces have killed six Palestinians in less than 24 hour in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip, east of Khan Younis, 25-year-old Yousef Radwan was shot in the head from across the Israeli fence while taking part in ongoing protests against Israeli stormings of Al-Aqsa mosque. Early on Wednesday, Israeli forces killed 19-year-old Dargham Al-Akhras, during a military raid into the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho. Al-Akhras who was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, was the second Palestinian killed in Aqbat Jabr since last week…In Jenin, Israeli forces raided the refugee camp on Tuesday night, and were soon confronted by Palestinian fighters. The attacking Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during the raid, and a fourth died of his wounds early on Wednesday. During the raid, 30 Palestinians were reported injured or wounded by Israeli fire.” See also Palestinian resistance responds to deadly Jenin raid (Mondoweiss); Israel kills six Palestinians in occupied West Bank, Gaza (Al Jazeera); More than 200 Palestinians killed in 2023 as Israel detains Lion’s Den leader (Al Monitor)

“The army’s use of UAVs has led to soaring exports and a mounting Palestinian death toll, yet there is no public debate over their legality or morality…The Israeli army has been using armed drones for decades to carry out, among other things, extrajudicial executions. But until last year, it was officially forbidden to publish this basic fact in the Israeli media; only on July 20, 2022, did the Israeli military censor change its policy. The longstanding media ban helped to stifle an informed public debate in Israel on the morality of these drones, even as such lively discussions were happening elsewhere in the world, especially around their use by the U.S. military…In 2022, Israel’s sales of these weapons comprised a quarter of all its defense exports, which peaked at $12.5 billion last year. Recently, in the wake of concerns about the impact of the judicial overhaul on Israel’s economy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that the defense industry is “bursting with orders” for weapons, and that these exports would enable the government to keep its head above water economically. The ties between the Israeli military and the private defense industry are so warm that the air force has shared videos hailing the wonders of Elbit’s drones. During the 2014 assault on Gaza, Israel rushed to “battle-test” Elbit’s Hermes 900 model, greatly facilitating sales of the aircraft. For Palestinians in Gaza, the use of these drones is certainly no secret. Indeed, it is hard to find one resident of the strip who does not recognize the unique hum of these machines.” See also Elbit announces $95 million deal to supply suicide drones to unnamed European nation (Times of Israel)

“For decades, Israel has employed a slew of measures designed to make life in dozens of Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank miserable. This is part of an attempt to force residents of these communities to uproot themselves, seemingly of their own accord. Once that is achieved, the state can realize its goal of taking over the land. To advance this objective, Israel forbids members of these communities from building homes, agricultural structures or public buildings. It does not allow them to connect to the water and power grids or build roads, and when they do, as they have no other choice, Israel threatens demolition, often delivering on these threats. Settler violence is another tool Israel employs to further torment Palestinians living in these communities. Such attacks have grown significantly worse under the current government, turning life in some places into an unending nightmare and denying residents any possibility of living with even minimal dignity. The violence has robbed Palestinian residents of their ability to continue earning a living. It has terrorized them to the point of fearing for their lives and made them internalize the understanding that there is no one to protect them. This reality has left these communities with no other choice, and several of them have uprooted themselves, leaving hearth and home for safer places.” See also Displacement of Palestinian herders amid increasing settler violence (OCHA: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs); See also Israeli Far-right Activists Disrupt EU Delegation’s Visit to West Bank (Haaretz); See also the recent FMEP & B’Tselem podcast Forcible Transfer is a War Crime: West Bank Pogroms are Working

“This is episode 1 of “The International,” a world-spanning video series brought to you by Jacobin and the Progressive International. 75 years ago, the Palestinian people were violently dispossessed from their land in what they call the Nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe.” But the Nakba isn’t over. For episode 1, we travel to Ramallah to hear from Dr. Yara Hawari on the past, present, and future of Zionist settler colonialism — and the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and justice.”

“Israeli special forces have chased and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy who saw them sneaking into Jenin refugee camp during a military raid in the northern occupied West Bank, documentation by a leading human rights group shows. The Palestine chapter of Geneva-based Defense for Children International (DCIP) said in a report on Wednesday that Rafat Omar Ahmad Khamayseh was killed on Tuesday as he was leaving his grandfather’s house in the Jenin refugee camp. “As he left the house, Rafat saw Israeli special forces exiting three Palestinian licensed cars and surround the home of the father of a Palestinian man wanted for arrest. Rafat fled, yelling, ‘Special forces! Special forces!’ One Israeli soldier chased Rafat and shot him in the abdomen from a distance of 10 meters [33 feet],” DCIP said. The Israeli forces shot at Rafat again when a Palestinian man came to his aid, said the group, the only rights organisation specifically focused on children in Palestine…“Investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or willful killings,” DCIP said.” See also ‘A hidden universe of suffering’: the Palestinian children sent to jail (Nathan Thrall//The Guardian)

“The separation logic enshrined by the Oslo Accords birthed a cruel system of Israeli control, whose security justifications collapsed into openly racist ones.”

“Little remains of the village from which +972 editor Vera Sajrawi’s grandparents were uprooted in 1948. Living out the rest of their lives close by as internal refugees, they yearned for what was taken from them. This is the second in a two-part series by +972 editor Vera Sajrawi retracing her family’s Nakba stories. Read the first part here.”

“Khirbet Susiya, like the other Palestinian Bedouin villages located south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, is home to small groups of families organised into kinship networks that make a living tending their olive trees and their herds of sheep…Every level of life in Khirbet Susiya is defined by the occupation. The village is not allowed to drill a well for water, so residents are forced to rely on the services of the Israeli government, which are not only expensive but unreliable. And while Khirbet Susiya’s school is equipped to teach students until the 10th grade, older children are forced to walk to a neighbouring village for their studies. However, in doing so, they pass directly by an illegal Israeli settlement, Susya, and have frequently been attacked with stones.”

“In interviews for this piece, more than 30 policy experts, scholars, former US officials, and human rights advocates painted a portrait of a Biden administration intent on sidelining the Israeli–Palestinian issue and defaulting to maintenance of a bygone US–Israel alliance—even as Netanyahu’s current government has exploded the terms of the relationship, attacking dem­ocratic institutions and stepping up violence against Palestinians…Zaha Hassan, a human rights lawyer and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned that refusing to confront Israel about its human rights abuses will tarnish Biden’s legacy. “He’s going to be the president that ended Israel as he would like to believe it exists—Israel as a democracy, Israel as a country of shared values with the US,” she said…But if Biden indeed stays the course regardless of the Israeli government’s radical agenda, experts say that history will remember it as a failure. “In the absence of a major shift in policy, Biden’s legacy in Israel/Palestine will be apartheid,” said Matthew Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Sanders.” See also Biden and Netanyahu meet for the first time this year, signaling friendship amid disagreements (JTA)

“Palestine Writes, a multidisciplinary cultural festival, is taking place at the University of Pennsylvania this week, featuring a range of arts, from literature to cooking to photography.

The nearly week-long festival, which started on Tuesday with preview events and will be having its official opening ceremony on Friday, will run through the weekend at different locations on the university campus. Organisers and participants say they are aiming to celebrate Palestinian culture, connect with friends and have empowering conversations through music, poetry and art…This year will be the second Palestine Writes festival, which organisers hope will be held every two years moving forward. This week’s programme has attracted 3,000 unique registrations, leading to the closure of ticket sales around a week before the festival.” See also Palestine Writes responds to racist attacks; See the full text of Palestine Writes’ Response Letter here; See also The charge that ‘Palestine Writes Festival’ is antisemitic is baseless (Alice Rothchild//Mondoweiss); Palestine Legal to UPenn: Palestine Writes Literature Festival must be allowed to proceed without racist censorship (Palestine Legal)

“As Palestinians in the nearby West Bank have endured their deadliest year in decades, it has been a rare summer of quiet ­­in the Gaza Strip…But in late August, Israel put a halt to new work permits — accusing Hamas, the Islamist militant group that governs this blockaded territory, of being behind terrorist attacks in the West Bank. Hamas and Israel traded familiar threats…Fears of another military escalation have continued to build this month. On Sept. 4, after Israeli border agents found what they said was a cache of explosive materials being smuggled into the country in a shipment of blue jeans, officials shut down all exports from Gaza. Neither side wants to return to a full military confrontation, security experts said, but both need to demonstrate resolve to appease hard-liners. In Gaza, the next war never feels far off.”

“As the Court hears petitions against the first judicial overhaul bill, Palestinian human rights lawyer Hassan Jabareen assesses the state of play.” See also My first letter as editor-in-chief,  Ghousoon Bisharat, new EIC of +972 Magazine

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to the United States – with plans to meet President Biden at the UN General Assembly this week, as his country faces perhaps its worst domestic crisis ever. And it’s not about the Palestinian conflict: it’s about Israelis fighting Israelis.

Massive numbers have poured into the streets to protest the Netanyahu Coalition, Israel’s most far-right government ever, and its move to weaken the court system…People who had never demonstrated in their lives, have poured into the streets – like Eyal Naveh. He leads a group of tens of thousands of military reservists, who are at the forefront of this democracy movement. They call themselves “Brothers and Sisters in Arms” – as it says on their t-shirts. They’re pilots, fighters, intelligence officers, some are war heroes, many still go on dangerous missions…We spoke to three of them…Shira Eting: I was a combat helicopter pilot…If you want pilots to be able to fly and shoot bombs and missiles into houses knowing they might be killing children, they must have the strongest confidence in the people making those decisions.” See also Leaving for US, PM says protesters joining forces with PLO and Iran, defaming Israel (Times of Israel); ’60 Minutes’ says Israeli pilots who kill Palestinian children are ‘moral’ defenders of ‘democracy’ (Mondoweiss)

“Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech described an Israeli convicted of murdering three Palestinians as a “holy righteous man” on Tuesday. Har-Melech claimed that convicted terrorist Amiram Ben Uliel was “innocent” in the 2015 arson attack on the Dawabsheh family’s home…Ben Uliel was convicted in May 2020 of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in a 2015 arson attack in the West Bank town of Duma, south of Nablus. He threw a firebomb into the Dawabsheh family’s home while they were sleeping, immediately killing 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and critically wounding his parents, Sa’ad and Raham, who died several weeks later in the hospital. Their son Ahmed, then 4 years old, survived with severe burns. Ben Uliel was sentenced to three life sentences plus 17 years in prison for attempted murder and an additional 10 years for arson…Former Jewish American spy Jonathan Pollard also addressed the fundraiser…calling Ben Uliel “an innocent man” and accusing the government of choosing him to be a “scapegoat” in order to create a moral equivalence between Israelis and Palestinians.” See also Israelis launch campaign to free killer responsible for deadly arson attack (Middle East Eye); Campaign to free Israeli killer of Palestinian family raises over NIS 1.2 million (Times of Israel)

“Last year, the Israeli military censor blocked the publication of 159 articles across various Israeli media outlets, and censored parts of a further 990. In all, the military prevented information from being made public an average of three times a day — on top of the chilling effect that the very existence of censorship imposes on independent journalism that seeks to uncover government failings. The censorship data was provided by the military censor in response to a freedom of information inquiry submitted by +972 Magazine and the Movement for Freedom of Information in Israel. The rate of interventions by Israel’s military censor declined in 2022 for the fourth year in a row, and was at the lowest level since +972 began collecting data on the censor’s activities in 2011…Israeli law compels journalists to submit any article to the military censor if it discusses security issues — which, comprising six densely-filled pages of sub-topics, is very broadly defined. Media outlets grapple daily over what to send to the military censor, a decision ultimately made by the editors. For more background on the censor and +972’s stance toward it, you can read the letter we published to our readers in 2016…Despite the reported decrease in the statistics the censor did share, the very existence of the military censor remains an extreme deviation from basic democratic norms. Israel is the only country that purports to belong to the circle of Western democracies that exercises such aggressive censorship against journalists, effectively deterring writers from addressing issues that are vital to the lives of citizens.”