More than 15 years into Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, and after rounds of devastating Israeli bombing campaigns, life in Gaza continues to become more difficult and traumatic for the two million Palestinians who live there. What is it like to live under such conditions, with no end or reprieve in sight? Join FMEP for a conversation among experts about the current state of mental health in the Gaza Strip, and what it might mean for the future of Gaza’s residents. We will look at the findings from a recent study conducted over two years by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP). Featuring Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei (Gaza Community Mental Health Programme), Ghada Majadli (Physicians for Human Rights Israel), and Razzan Quran (George Washington University) in conversation with  Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP Non-resident Fellow).

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2. Members of Congress on Israel’s Judicial “Reform”
3. Thou Shalt Not Call Israel “Racist” – continued
4. Hearings, Markups & Events
5. Media & Reports
6. Members on the Record (Israel/Palestine)
7. Members on the Record (Iran & other Mideast countries)

“Israeli forces have killed a 14-year-old Palestinian teen in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry, marking the latest death amid a surge of violence in the region. The shooting, which was announced early on Thursday, occurred in the city of Qalqiliya, as Israeli forces reportedly stormed a local neighbourhood overnight, resulting in clashes. Residents told the Reuters news agency that neighbourhood youth threw rocks at the soldiers, who responded with gunfire. The bloodshed happened only hours after another Palestinian man was killed in a West Bank raid further south, in the Al-Ain refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus…Officials have warned that 2023 is on track to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began keeping track of fatalities in 2005…Previously, 2022 had been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank…” See also Israeli forces kill two Palestinian teens in occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera on 7/21/23)

“Last Wednesday, during a discussion in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he unveiled his annexing revolution in the occupied West Bank…This is precisely where his Settlements Administration, which was created under the current government as part of the Defense Ministry, comes in — to transfer responsibility over the occupied territory from the military to civilian hands, in complete contravention of international law. In his eyes, Smotrich declared a revolution that celebrates democracy. Practically, however, this is nothing more than a declaration of annexation…Thus, when the public’s attention was focused on Rothman’s judicial revolution just two meeting rooms away, Smotrich announced his plan to annex the entire West Bank without granting civil status to the Palestinian residents in the area, as well as the cancellation of key parts of the Oslo Accords. This revolution will not be anchored in law. It will be submitted to the cabinet in about a month, after which it will be approved by the defense minister and the prime minister, the latter of which, according to Smotrich, is very involved in and committed to it.”

“Israeli settlers broke into Palestinian homes in the West Bank villages of Tuba and El-Abid in the southern Hebron hills on Tuesday morning, escorted by Israeli soldiers. At least one of the settlers was armed. Others broke into storage closets and stole equipment, the Palestinian homeowners said. The home invasions were recorded. In one of the videos recorded in Tuba, settlers are seen ordering a Palestinian woman to open a storage closet in her home. Another shows the settlers searching the closet, and a soldier filming it. In El-Abid, a settler was recorded entering a home as a soldier stands by the door. Israeli activists attempted to call police at least three times throughout the raid, but they never arrived.” See also Israeli Court Orders Eviction of Bedouin Village for New Predominantly Jewish Neighborhood (Haaretz)

“On Sunday morning, Israeli settlers who seized the Sub Laban family’s home in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City a week ago tossed out their furniture, as the family and activists gathered outside to demonstrate against the forced displacement. During the protest, which culminated in one of the sons, Rafat Sub Laban, being detained for seven hours, settlers in the neighbourhood chanted and danced as the family’s belongings were left discarded on the street. Nora Ghayth, 68, and her husband, Mustafa Sub Laban, 72, were expelled from their home on 11 July when police broke in at around 6 am and forcibly removed Mustafa Sub Laban along with six Israeli activists. Ghayth, who lived with him, was hospitalised the night before.” See also this podcast, “Now it is Happening to My Family”: The Dispossession of Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem, Rafaat Sub Laban with FMEP 2023 Fellow Rabea Eghbariah.

“The Israeli parliament has been accused of passing a “racist” piece of legislation that would see Palestinian citizens of Israel screened from living in almost half of the country’s small villages and towns. The so-called “admissions committees” law passed on Tuesday would strengthen a controversial 2011 piece of legislation that allows those same panels – made up of members of the local community – to screen applicants for housing units and plots of land in hundreds of Jewish Israeli “community towns” built on state land. Human rights campaigners have stressed that this is aimed at giving small Jewish communities the power to prevent Palestinians from buying or renting homes. There are almost two million Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are estimated to make up 20 percent of the country’s population.” See also Under Guise of ‘Social Cohesion,’ Israel Allows More Towns to Reject ‘Unsuitable’ Residents (Haaretz)

“Israel’s anti-government protest movement faced a crushing blow on Monday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition succeeded in passing its first key piece of legislation to constrain the power of the judiciary. The bill, now enacted into law, abolishes what is known as the “reasonableness standard,” a loosely defined legal concept so-named because it enabled the High Court to use its discretion to block government decisions and appointments that it deemed unreasonable. The architects of the law, chief among them Justice Minister Yariv Levin, claim that abolishing the reasonableness standard is a democratic necessity, taking power out of the hands of a few unelected judges and returning it to those in whom the public placed their trust. However, Levin’s own speech ahead of the vote in the Knesset plenum on Monday told a rather different story — one that centers around entrenching Israel’s control over the Palestinians and eliminating resistance to it. Halfway through his speech explaining the reasoning behind the bill, Levin presented his fellow lawmakers with five examples in which the High Court invoked the reasonableness standard to intervene in government decisions…Yet rather than expanding the concept of democracy, every one of the examples he gave concerned Palestinians or Israeli anti-occupation activists, thus starkly revealing the real driving force behind the government’s agenda.”

“The US investment bank Morgan Stanley lowered Israel’s credit worthiness on Tuesday on the backdrop of the government’s controversial judicial reform plans, as the financial agency Moody’s warned of “significant risk” as judicial overhaul crisis continues. “There is a significant risk that political and social tensions over the issue will continue with negative consequences for Israel’s economy and security situation,” Moody’s said in a statement sent to Al-Monitor.”

“Following Israeli army reservists’ intentions to not show for duty in response to the ongoing judicial overhaul legislation, officials in the army believe that Israel’s readiness for war will be compromised within weeks.” See also IDF says battle-readiness weeks from being impacted as reservists decamp en masse (Times of Israel); Ex-Mossad Chief Compares Israeli Right to the KKK (Haaretz); See also Iran on Washington’s mind as concerns over Israel army fissures grow (Al Monitor)

“For the past seven months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest the far-right government’s effort to weaken the country’s Supreme Court and grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political allies more power. They’ve closed highways. They’ve shut down the country’s largest airport. And they’ve vowed to keep demonstrating for as long as it takes for the government to abandon its plans. It’s a mass movement that has brought together people from across Israeli society….July 24/25: Ahead of the vote, protesters linked themselves together to form a human chain in Jerusalem. Many from outside the city formed a huge tent encampment just a short distance from the Knesset. As the reforms passed, limiting the country’s Supreme Court power, demonstrations continued. Video on Twitter appeared to show authorities spraying demonstrators with a liquid known as “the skunk,” a foul-smelling substance used by Israeli authorities for crowd control. Protests are expected to continue, and the country’s largest labor federation may declare a general strike, shutting down business across Israel.” See also: PHOTOS: Anti-government protests escalate as Israel curbs judiciary (Oren Ziv//+972); and Israel’s protest movement takes judicial overhaul battle to media, courts (Al Monitor): ““Following the adoption on Monday by the Knesset of the “reasonableness clause” canceling the Supreme Court’s oversight of the government’s decisions, Israel’s main newspapers on Tuesday morning published blacked-out front pages in a coordinated campaign by the protest movement…The front black pages were sponsored by the Israeli high-tech protest movement comprised of CEOs of leading Israeli high-tech companies, venture capital investors, self-employed entrepreneurs and regular hi-tech employees. And while these black pages were paid for, they still constituted a first for Israeli newspapers, especially since all the leading papers went along with it. These included Yedioth Ahronot, Israel Hayom, Haaretz, The Marker and Calcalist.”

“Nearly 70% of Israeli startups have taken action to relocate parts of their business outside Israel, a survey released on Sunday by an Israeli non-profit organisation on the government’s planned judicial overhaul found…Business groups have also cited the proposed changes as the reason for a 70% drop in tech fundraising in the first half of the year…The survey, completed by professionals representing 521 companies, said 68% of Israeli startup companies “have begun taking active legal and financial steps, like withdrawing cash reserves, changing HQ location outside Israel, relocation of employees and conducting layoffs.” Additionally, 22% of companies said they have diversified cash reserves outside Israel and 37% of investors say companies in their portfolios have withdrawn some of their cash reserves and moved them abroad.” See also 28% of Israelis considering leaving the country amid judicial upheaval — poll (Times of Israel); Israeli Doctors Contemplate Relocation Following Knesset Vote to Weaken Judiciary (Haaretz)

“Just days after his coalition passed the first stage of a judicial overhaul plan that has divided the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel struck a defiant tone, saying he hoped to reinstate a key ally convicted of a felony and declining to say if he would respect a Supreme Court ruling on the plan if it did not go his way. In a flurry of interviews with U.S. broadcasters on Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu sought to play down concerns about the law passed Monday, which reduces the influence of the Supreme Court, calling it “a minor correction” of the judiciary.” See also Analysis | Worried About Growing U.S. Criticism, Netanyahu Goes on American Media Blitz (Haaretz); Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks out on divisive judicial overhaul: ‘It’s a minor correction’ (ABC News); Netanyahu won’t commit to abiding by ruling if Supreme Court blocks controversial law (CNN); After new law, Netanyahu vows to keep attorney general and return felon to office (NPR); Bid to Reassign Netanyahu Prosecution Hints at Next Steps in Israel (NYT)

“The US State Department on Tuesday stressed that the Biden administration will not cut aid to Israel in response to the Netanyahu coalition passing the first piece of its divisive judicial overhaul package into law…“There is not going to be any cut or stoppage of military aid, and that is because our commitment to Israel and our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. Our decades-long partnership with Israel is ironclad,” said US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.” See also White House calls Israeli Knesset’s passage of judicial overhaul bill “unfortunate” (Axios); Thomas Friedman in the NYT: Only Biden Can Save Israel Now

“Is it time to think about phasing out American aid for Israel down the road?…the reason to have this conversation is that American aid to another rich country squanders scarce resources and creates an unhealthy relationship damaging to both sides…Daniel Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel, agreed. “Israel’s economy is strong enough that it does not need aid; security assistance distorts Israel’s economy and creates a false sense of dependency,” Kurtzer said in an email. “Aid provides the U.S. with no leverage or influence over Israeli decisions to use force; because we sit by quietly while Israel pursues policies we oppose, we are seen as ‘enablers’ of Israel’s occupation.”…Martin Indyk, who twice served as America’s ambassador to Israel, also favored new security agreements and said that it’s time to have this discussion about ending aid.”

“Reactions poured in immediately, many of them deeply critical of what Israel’s right-wing government had just done in signing off on a law that diminishes the power of the Supreme Court to review government decisions…The ADL, the AJC and the JFNA, like President Joe Biden did in a statement, urged the Israeli government and its opposition to continue to seek a compromise even in the wake of the passage of the momentous law. Groups to their left, including the Reform movement, urged American Jews to step up the pressure on Israel to make changes, and J Street said the Biden administration had a role in leveraging that pressure…The American Israel Public Affairs Committee declined to comment on the legislation.”

“White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, two U.S. sources told Axios and the White House confirmed. Sullivan’s trip is aimed at continuing the talks over a possible deal on upgrading U.S.-Saudi relations that would also include a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, the two sources said. U.S. officials have previously said the administration wants to try to complete this diplomatic initiative before the presidential election campaign consumes President Biden’s agenda, as Axios reported earlier this year.”

“For the Biden Administration to sign this MOU is an insult to Arab Americans, especially Palestinian Americans, given Israel’s decades of discriminatory entry/exit treatment of our community attempting to visit Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)…For months, Biden Administration officials held, like all other 40 countries in the program, Israel must meet the statutory requirements including reciprocity before being admitted. Yet the US has signed this MOU when there has been no demonstrable change in Israeli behavior since the latest push to admit it into the VWP began two years ago. The requirement of reciprocity continues to be ignored with the blatant discrimination Israel exhibits in its treatment of Arab Americans seeking to enter the country or the OPT. In fact, since then, Israel has issued even more onerous restrictions on visiting Palestinian Americans as part of Israeli’s “Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories” (COGAT) rules…By admitting Israel into the VWP in violation of statutory requirements, the Administration will choose to abandon the rights of Arab American citizens to give Israel a political perk.” See also Israel’s US visa waiver push draws anger among Palestinian Americans (Al Jazeera)

“On 21 June…a mob from nearby Israeli settlements, all of which are illegal under international law, rampaged through Turmus Ayya, torching cars, smashing windows, and fire-bombing homes…Located on a hill off Highway 60 between Ramallah and Nablus, Turmus Ayya looks handsome and prosperous. Town officials report that 70 to 80 percent of its population has either US citizenship or permanent residency. Its winter population of 3,000 swells to more than 8,000 when diaspora Palestinians return each summer. They include businesspeople, lawyers, doctors, and at least one US state senator, Abdelnasser Rashid of Illinois. Late-model SUVs sit outside their spacious houses. Palestinian-Americans are not spared the abuses that Israeli occupation authorities commit against other Palestinians…The human rights of Palestinian-Americans are worth no more and no less than anyone else’s. But it is clear that Israel, a recipient of substantial US aid, has been severely abusing the rights of these US citizens, and doing so on the basis of their ethnic, national, or racial identity.”

“The meeting was convened in an attempt by Turkey to resolve a rift spanning more than a decade. Palestinian sources say differences between the two are significant and expressed no optimism regarding the outcome of meetings…Hamas released a statement saying the meeting is in preparation for next week’s summit of the main Palestinian factions in Cairo.” See also Portugal’s parliament recognises Nakba and condemns Israeli ‘expansionism’ (Middle East Eye)

“Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited on Thursday morning the Temple Mount compound, known to Palestinians as Haram al-Sharif, on the occasion of the Jewish holiday Tisha B’Av fasting day, while further inflaming tensions and eliciting condemnation from regional countries…Thursday’s visit was Ben-Gvir’s third to the site this year.” See also Bahrain postpones plans to host Israeli FM, hours after Ben Gvir tours Temple Mount (Times of Israel)

“The United Nations General Assembly created the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict following a 1996 report that comprehensively documented how children are disproportionately affected by armed conflict. Since 2001, the mandate of this office includes what has colloquially been called a “List of Shame,” naming perpetrators that kill, harass, and otherwise threaten the lives and well-being of children…However, what was both surprising, and yet utterly predictable, was the exclusion of the state of Israel from the list—a list compiled by Guterres—considering the same report outlined the multiple attacks on children committed by both the Israeli military and by Israeli settlers. In fact, even with decades of documentation of Israeli violations of Palestinian children’s rights, including countless reports issued by the United Nations itself, Israel has never been included on the list, despite the inclusion of other parties whose violations do not reach the scope of Israel’s. Interestingly, the report does not even attempt to argue that Israel committed no “grave violations,” as such actions are referenced. To the contrary, more than 3,000 such violations were documented…”

“This past May, I was honored to be one of two students to give a commencement speech at the City University of New York’s law school…And I spoke about Israel’s oppression of Palestinians…Seemingly overnight, I went from a mostly anonymous prospective lawyer to Public Enemy Number One. I became the target of vicious attacks, predominantly focused on my remarks about Israel. My picture was on the front page of the New York Post. Members of Congress from across the political spectrum smeared me on social media. New York City Mayor Eric Adams quickly joined in. The CUNY Board of Trustees issued its own statement defaming me and twisting my words out of context. Some critics claimed that my remarks made me unfit to join the bar and called for me not to be admitted…Coping with all of this has been one of the most difficult and painful things I have ever had to do. The pressure on me to recant and plead for forgiveness has been intense. But I stand by every word I uttered from that stage because my speech was grounded in the anti-racist, anti-oppression values that have guided me my entire life.”

“Thirty-seven percent of eligible members voted. Of them, 2,016 voted for the resolution (71 percent) and 835 people voted against it (29 percent)…The Executive Board also said that the boycott does not prevent: Individuals affiliated with Israeli academic institutions from registering for and attending AAA conferences, even if their institutions have paid for their expenses[;] Individuals affiliated with Israeli academic institutions from publishing in AAA journals, even if their institutions have paid for their expenses…The resolution also offers a view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It says, “The Israeli state operates an apartheid regime from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including the internationally recognized state of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank,” and that “Israeli academic institutions are complicit in the Israeli state’s regime of oppression against Palestinians … including by providing research and development of military and surveillance technologies used against Palestinians.””