In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Kristin McCarthy talks to Shira Livne (ACRI/Association for Civil Rights in Israel) about all things annexation. Including, how is annexation related to the current judicial reforms? What has annexation looked like previous to the current government? How significant are the changes in governance that the current government have taken? Should we consider the West Bank, or just Area C, annexed?

1. Has Israel Annexed the West Bank?
2. Peace Now Data: Unprecedented Level of Settlement Growth in 2023
3. Israel Says It Will Freeze Part of Nof Zion Expansion Plan, Cites Environmental Concerns
4. Settler Violence Coerces Fourth Bedouin Community to Leave Area C Homelands, Handing More Territory to Settlers
5. Emboldened Settlers Attack Village of Burqa, Murder Palestinian Teen
6. Bonus Reads

See also the Settlement & Annexation Report: August 4, 2023:

1. High Court Dismisses Petition Against Homesh Outpost
2. Israel to Advance More East Jerusalem Settlement Construction
3. Israeli Government Funding “Red Heifer” Project that Will Obliterate Temple Mount Status Quo
4. Yesh Din Makes Legal Case That Israel’s Occupation Has Lost Any Veneer of Temporality
5. Bonus Reads

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2. Media & Reports
3. Members on the Record

“Five Palestinians and two Israeli settlers were arrested by Israeli security forces on suspicion of involvement in violent clashes between settlers and residents in the West Bank town of Burqa over the weekend, which left a 19-year-old Palestinian dead. Two Israeli settlers allegedly involved in the fighting were arrested at the scene on Saturday, and one went to hospital…The five Palestinians detained on Monday morning — a father and his four sons, two of whom are minors — were allegedly involved in clashes that followed the shooting on Friday evening.” See also Israel’s extremist settlers control government as Netanyahu dismisses warnings (Al Monitor)

“Ammar Asalia was wounded by live fire when settlers with a flock of sheep invaded Burqa on Saturday evening. Qosai Mi’tan was murdered during the invasion. Two of the settlers fired with a handgun and a rifle at the Palestinians. A few hours after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called to praise them and urged the authorities to arrest Palestinians, Israeli soldiers and police on Sunday night arrested Asalia and three of his sons on suspicion that they, along with other residents, went out to try to protect their land and property. On Wednesday, a Jerusalem judge ordered that one of the two jailed settlers be released to house arrest. Reality imitated the most cynical predictions: The Palestinians who sought to ward off an invasion will remain in custody and, under pressure from the settlers and their political parties, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a military court by Israeli Jewish military judges. The invaders, meanwhile, will be released and judged leniently in a civilian court, also by Jewish judges who know very well who the boss is…The double standard philosophy and practice, which distinguish between Jews and Palestinians (both Arab citizens of Israel and Arab subjects in the occupied territories), are not new. Their products – a dual system of laws, military and civilian, in the same place, discrimination in planning for Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line, and leniency for Jews’ violence – are the previous governments’ legacy. But Ben-Gvir is competing with Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance and minister of settlements and outposts, to see who can twist the apartheid knife in deeper.” See also In shift, US labels Israeli settler violence a ‘terror attack’ (Al Monitor);  Israeli minister dismisses US ‘terror’ label after deadly settler attack (Al Jazeera)

“Israel‘s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir praised settlers suspected of killing a 19-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank as “heroes”. The far-right minister said on Sunday that anyone defending themselves against “stone-throwing” should “receive a commendation”. His statement was referring to two Israeli settlers accused of being involved in the fatal shooting of Qusai Jamal Maatan in the Palestinian village of Burqa on Friday. One of the two suspects is a former spokesman of an MP with Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.” See also Ex-aide of Israel far-right MP held over Palestinian’s murder: media (France24); Senior Palestinian Official Calls to Declare Ben-Gvir’s Party a Terror Group After Settler Attack (Haaretz); Snubbed by Most World Politicians, Ben-Gvir Met With Minister From EU Country for First Time while on Cyprus Vacation (Haaretz); For Ben-Gvir, Getting Into Israel’s Knesset Was Only the Beginning (Haaretz)

“West Bank Palestinians are prohibited from defending themselves – their lives, their land or their property – from Jewish attackers. Self-defense against Jews in the West Bank is a criminal offense subject to arrest, trial, imprisonment and heavy fines – or death. This isn’t a matter of interpretation but a synopsis of the twisted reality behind last Friday’s murder of Palestinian Qosei Mi’tan in the West Bank village of Burqa and the farce over the very arrest of Amar Asliyyeh, who was wounded by gunfire, and of his three children as they rushed to stop the invaders from coming into their village. Palestinians are not allowed to use weapons to defend themselves, or stones or sticks, and they’re also not permitted to rush to the defense of others. All of this is considered a sort of “sabotage” or, in the best case, disturbing the peace, not only when it involves attackers who are officially dispatched – soldiers and police in uniform – but also simply Jews in civilian clothing. The sweeping ban is enshrined in military legislation, in praxis that is entrenched in the Israel Defense Forces and among prosecutors and the courts amid an atmosphere of Jewish supremacy, as well as in the Oslo Accords. It’s a complex matrix in which every component is linked to another and holds it in place.” See also from Amira Hass: Analysis | The Murder of a Palestinian Teen by Israeli Settlers Is Their Newest Escalation Attempt

“More than 150 Palestinians have been killed since January, most in Israeli military raids; at least 22 Israelis have died in shootings, stabbings, car rammings and other attacks by Palestinians. Last month, Israel sent hundreds of soldiers, backed by air cover, into Jenin’s refugee camp, a show of force not seen in the West Bank in 20 years…As the mayhem has spread, though, hundreds of Palestinians like Zoufi have jumped into the fight. Some are aligned with organized cells — al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad. Others act alone or with loosely organized groups such as the Lions’ Den in Nablus. Many say they were compelled to take up arms because the Palestinian Authority has stayed on the sidelines. Limited in power, sapped by corruption and largely absent from these lawless camps, Palestinian leaders and the security forces they command have mostly stood by as the Israel Defense Forces have made more than 1,340 arrests across the West Bank this year.” See also from Al Jazeera this week: Israeli forces kill Palestinian, wound eight, in occupied West Bank raid; Israeli forces kill Palestinian man during raid in occupied West Bank; Israel forces kill three Palestinians in occupied West Bank attack; Shooter kills Tel Aviv policeman in Israel; suspect gunned down (“A gunman opened fire in central Tel Aviv and killed an Israeli police inspector before he was shot dead by a responding officer…Police identified the gunman as Kamel Abu Bakr, 27, from a village near the flashpoint city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.”)

“A cluster of Palestinian Bedouins, including Nasr’s, had resided for 45 years in the Qaboun hamlets east of Ramallah, within the heart of the occupied West Bank. Some of these families hailed from the lands of the Naqab, which fell under Israeli control as the Negev in 1948…At the break of dawn on Monday, the 36 members of the Kaabneh family were forced to disassemble their tents, pack up their belongings, and relocate to an uninhabited area nestled between the villages of Al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah, east of Ramallah. They had no option, if they were to escape the unwelcome presence of the Shilo settlers. This coerced displacement is a recurring event. In May, 78 children from the Ein Samia community, near the town of Kafr Malik, were forced to depart due to ongoing Israeli transgressions, including the demolition of several of their homes and the only school in the community.” See also Entire Palestinian communities have disappeared due to Israeli settler violence, says NGO (WAFA: “The Norwegian Refugee Council said in a report today that Israeli settler violence and illegal takeover of Palestinian lands have forcibly transferred nearly 500 Palestinians from seven communities over the past 20 months.) See also Armed With an M16 and Jewish Privilege, This Settler Makes Palestinians’ Lives Hell (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz);

See also: Settler attacks and their impact on the Palestinians by Hamdan Huraini (Humans of Masafer Yatta): “One day, I was grazing my sheep near my house. Suddenly, I heard that three settlers were attacking my house and my children. I left my sheep and went to defend my house and my family. I know that I can’t confront them because they carry weapons, but you know the heart of a father. And it happened again, and again. They kept coming, to attack my house, my children, and my family. I became very anxious, I couldn’t sleep at night for fear of the settlers attacking my home. So, I decided I needed to leave. I demolished my house with my own two hands. I was dying inside every moment of it, I felt so sad and depressed. But I told myself for the sake of my children and my family’s safety, it is what had to be done.”

“Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has frozen funds for Arab towns and Palestinian education programmes in East Jerusalem, citing crime and safety fears and prompting accusations of racism.” See also How much damage will Israel’s Smotrich funding cut do to east Jerusalem, Arab towns? (Al Monitor); Palestinian Family Evicted From East Jerusalem Home Ordered to Pay for Own Eviction (Haaretz on the Sub Laban Family’s eviction)

“White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday that the two countries have not agreed on a shared framework for negotiations, playing down speculation over a possible deal that news outlets have reported could include a US security guarantee for Saudi Arabia…While Washington has not commented on the specifics of a potential Israeli-Saudi normalisation agreement, US officials have said they are seeking such a pact.” See also U.S. pushes for Saudi-Israel normalization, but major hurdles remain (WaPo); Scoop: Bibi wants security agreement from Biden as part of mega Saudi deal (Axios); 

“Far from resolving conflicts, Saudi-Israel normalization will serve as a pillar of a repressive architecture that brings no justice for Palestinians or Arab peoples.”

“Israel is no longer as strong or as stable as it was mere months ago, and its border with Lebanon has become the scene of growing tensions and Hezbollah provocations that many fear could escalate into open conflict. Indeed, Israeli military intelligence recently updated its assessment, putting the chances of an Israel-Hezbollah war at their highest since 2006, when the two foes fought a 34-day campaign.” See also Israel vows to ‘return Lebanon to Stone Age’ if Hezbollah starts war (Al Monitor); Four Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli missile attack: Report (Al Jazeera)

“Australia will resume referring to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza as the “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” an unofficial policy change after the term fell out of favor over the past decade. At the Labor Party’s caucus briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government was strengthening its opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank by “affirming they are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace.”…The decision also drew ire from the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which issued a joint statement calling the change in language “inaccurate, ahistorical and counterproductive.” “Describing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza as ‘occupied Palestinian territories’ effectively denies any Jewish claim to the West Bank and Jerusalem,” said the groups. However, Wong said the language is consistent with United Nations Security Council resolutions and used by Australia’s key partners, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the European Union.” See also I was Israel’s most senior diplomat. I urge Australia to recognise the state of Palestine (Alon Liel//Guardian)

“Germany’s antisemitism commissioner Dr. Felix Klein, said Saturday that applying the framework of apartheid to discuss Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “an antisemitic narrative” in an interview with one of the country’s most widely read newspapers. During the interview on Die Welt’s weekend edition, Welt Am Sonntag, Klein had responded to Middle East scholar, Muriel Assenburg, who said that Israel is “prima facie committing the crime of apartheid in the occupied territories.” Klein answered by saying that “To accuse Israel of apartheid delegitimizes the Jewish state and is therefore an anti-Semitic narrative.””

“The Biden administration’s antisemitism plan sidestepped the IHRA definition favored by the American-Jewish establishment. They claimed victory anyway…[Professor Lila Corwin] Berman referred to a colleague of hers who likened IHRA to a “totemic object,” an example of “these wedges that one uses to try to create political terrain and political divisions.” And it is still very possible that IHRA’s role as such will become further solidified, entrenching it “as a proxy” for what is allowable politics with respect to being Jewish, or analyzing antisemitism, or speaking about Israel.”

“Once a consensus position, US funding of Israel now has new detractors from the heart of the political establishment…These entrants to the aid debate fall into three different camps: conservatives like Siegel and Leibovitz, who argue that US aid harms Israel’s autonomy; foreign policy establishment figures like Kurtzer, who believe aid doesn’t make economic sense; and liberals like Rothkopf and Boot, who see cutting aid as a response to right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition. Unlike Palestine solidarity advocates, who have long called for restricting US funding on the basis of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, newer opponents of the aid package are focused not on human rights but on the health of the US-Israel relationship. But even if recent calls for restricting aid are not aligned with Palestine solidarity activism, Middle East scholar Yousef Munayyer said that the fact that US aid to Israel is being debated at all is a sign that the traditional consensus on US aid to Israel is beginning to break down.”

“A leading Democratic senator has called on Joe Biden to “get more personally engaged” in stopping “racists” in the Israeli government from a land grab in the occupied territories and committing “gross violations” of Palestinian rights or risk damage to the US’s credibility. After a visit to Israel and the West Bank last month, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told the Guardian in an interview that the US president should begin by reassessing the US’s huge military aid to Israel to prevent it from being used to facilitate annexation of the West Bank and oppression of the Palestinians, including the army’s complicity in escalating settler violence against the Arab civilian population…Van Hollen said that the presid“A Democratic congressional delegation is under fire for a visit to Israel funded by the hardline lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), which is working to defeat other members of the party in next year’s elections. Critics have accused the most senior Democrat on the tour, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, of giving political cover to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced months of huge demonstrations against his far-right government’s power grab. Hadar Susskind, president of Americans for Peace Now, said the Democratic delegation is “behind the times” in working with Aipac when it defends Israel’s ultranationalist government and the lobbying group’s political arm is increasingly funded by rightwing Republican billionaires seeking to defeat progressive members of Congress.”ent needs to take a stronger stand or risk damaging the US’s reputation.”” See also In Israel and the U.S., ‘apartheid’ is the elephant in the room (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo); Opinion | For Decades, I Defended Israel From Claims of Apartheid. I No Longer Can (Benjamin Pogrund//Haaretz)

“A Democratic congressional delegation is under fire for a visit to Israel funded by the hardline lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), which is working to defeat other members of the party in next year’s elections. Critics have accused the most senior Democrat on the tour, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, of giving political cover to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced months of huge demonstrations against his far-right government’s power grab. Hadar Susskind, president of Americans for Peace Now, said the Democratic delegation is “behind the times” in working with Aipac when it defends Israel’s ultranationalist government and the lobbying group’s political arm is increasingly funded by rightwing Republican billionaires seeking to defeat progressive members of Congress.” See also The Workers Circle, progressive Jewish group, leaves Conference of Presidents over disagreements on US and Israel advocacy (JTA)

“In recent months, AIPAC has stepped up its recruitment efforts to challenge Democratic incumbents who have clashed with the pro-Israel establishment, pushing the activist left into a defensive crouch as it prepares for a potentially bruising primary cycle. The bipartisan pro-Israel group has been actively courting a slate of House candidates to oppose marquee members of the “Squad,” including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), according to multiple sources familiar with AIPAC’s outreach who spoke with Jewish Insider on Tuesday.” The recruitment efforts have come amid a surprise shake-up at a leading progressive group, Justice Democrats, which laid off nearly half of its staff last month.” See also GOP Megadonor Gives $1m to AIPAC SuperPAC, Likely to Fuel Friction With Democrats

“A conversation with the New York State Assembly member who introduced the Not On Our Dime! Act, a landmark bill to prohibit charities from financing settler violence.”

“Last week, the southern governorate of Khan Younis and other areas in the center of the Gaza Strip witnessed tense scenes as several thousand Palestinians took to the streets to protest frequent power outages, food shortages, and overall harsh living conditions. Marching under the banner of “Bidna N’eesh” (“We Want to Live”), the mass protests mark a significant expression of public resentment that has accumulated among the blockaded population for years. In response, demonstrations in support of Hamas, the Islamist party ruling the strip, paraded down the streets cheering for the government and confronting those who were not voicing support for the movement. The police intervened shortly afterward, reportedly confiscating cell phones and making multiple arrests…Electricity has been at the center of the protesters’ demands. While Gaza’s energy crisis predates the current protests, the scorching heat waves enveloping the region this summer have driven temperatures to soar above 38 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in the strip…This collective frustration has been building over a considerable period of time, as Gaza’s population has to subsist on a daily ration of only four-to-six hours of electricity…While the public and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank predominantly attribute Gaza’s challenges to Israel’s occupation, many people believe that Hamas still has some capacity, and the obligation, to initiate helpful measures, including by increasing the power plant’s production and operating it at maximum capacity, especially during the summer.” See also Gaza Protests Struggle to Gain Traction as Police Crack Down (NYT); Despite Hamas’ crackdown, Gaza protests continue in rare defiance (Al Monitor)

“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday ordered the removal of 12 regional governors of a total of 16…In the West Bank, he ordered the removal of the governors of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Tubas and Jericho. No reason was given for the political upheaval, but the report said Abbas ordered the creation of a presidential committee to find suitable candidates to take over the positions. Observers have warned that the PA is close to financial collapse, and with the deeply unpopular government increasingly losing control of security in certain areas.”

“The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel (HFC), the non-governmental body regarded as the national representative of Israel’s two million Palestinian citizens, has long faced criticism from within the community. But in the face of new efforts by the Israeli right to outlaw it, there is a broad consensus among the Palestinian public that recent attacks on the committee reflect an aggressive attempt to eliminate the community’s ability to organize politically…“In a normal situation, we would say these attempts are a delusion, but the people in the coalition who are promoting them are very dangerous,” said the committee’s chairman Mohammad Barakeh. “This demand [to outlaw the HFC] cannot be separated from the judicial overhaul. Fascism in modern history depends on attacking a national minority, controlling the judicial system, abolishing the role of the parliament, and controlling the media and the economy. This is what the Netanyahu government is doing.””

“The Palestinian startup scene is hampered by occupation and poor investment, but there’s talent and belief in abundance.”

“Israel will ease travel restrictions for Palestinian-Americans from Gaza following outcry over their exclusion from the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP), a senior Israeli official said Monday.

Gil Bringer, who serves as deputy director of the Population Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA), told the Reuters news agency that Palestinian Americans living in Gaza who pass security examinations will be able to enter Israel on a B2 tourist visa and fly out of Ben Gurion Airport…Unlike all other US citizens, Americans based in Gaza will be ineligible for 90-day permits to enter Israel, according to the MOU obtained by The Times of Israel.” See also Israel to include Gaza Americans in US visa waiver trial (Al Monitor)

“While the majority of Israelis oppose the reform, the fear is most acute among women: Nearly 63 percent of women expressed concern over a potential retreat in gender equality as a result of the legislation…In a country where women have been historically underrepresented in government, the Supreme Court has been a critical buttress for women’s rights on wide-ranging issues. Court rulings have struck down gender-based wage discrimination, supported affirmative action for women’s access to state-owned company boards, prohibited gender segregation in public spaces, established women’s right to privacy in sexual harassment cases, eliminated discrepancies in retirement ages between men and women; and reinforced women’s representation in public bodies…If all the wider reform ambitions were realized, the court could cease to serve as a mechanism for protecting women from discrimination, rendering them increasingly defenseless against a government that lacks both female representation and essential constitutional guarantees of basic equality…In a government dominated by far-right factions, the potential harm to women is not merely hypothetical. Religious parties seek to deny the personal rights of women in almost every facet of life.” See also A War Among Brothers: Journalist Orly Noy on the ‘Abyss’ Dividing Jewish Israelis (DAWN//Michael Omer-Man interviews Orly Noy)

“The hearing in September, during which the court will essentially be deciding whether to accept a curbing of its powers, heralds a potential showdown between the top judicial authority and the ruling coalition, and could fundamentally reshape Israeli democracy…The case is particularly fraught because the Supreme Court, in making a decision on the law passed in July, will be ruling on an amendment to one of the Basic Laws that have quasi-constitutional status in Israel. The court has never intervened in a Basic Law before but says it has the right to do so. The government says it does not.”

“More than 700 academics and public figures from Israel, Palestine and other countries have signed an open letter equating Israel’s occupation of the West Bank with apartheid, signalling what supporters say is a “watershed moment” for how Israel’s occupation is viewed. The letter, which began circulating on Friday, has received around 200 signatures per day with “more coming in, quite literally, by the minute”, Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University and organiser of the letter, told Middle East Eye.” See also The Elephant in the Room for the text of the letter.