“Follow MEE’s updates from Jerusalem and beyond as tensions soar over the threatened eviction of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah”

Al Jazeera is also frequently updating a Live Blog following today’s events. See: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-compound-live

“Israel’s Channel 12 is reporting that at least six rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem. Israeli police told MEE rockets have been fired towards Beit Shemesh and Neve Ilan. Sirens are being heard across southern Israel. There are no known causualties or damage. Israel’s military has made no statement. The military is investigating if a rocket fell in an inhabited area near city, according to Channel 12.”

More on Gaza

• “Israel closes Gaza Strip crossing over continuing rocket fire”  (Al-Monitor)
• “Hamas Fires Rockets at Jerusalem Area ‘In Response to the Enemy’s Aggression in the Holy City'” (Haaretz)
• “IDF sends reinforcements to Gaza border as Hamas issues ultimatum on Jerusalem” (The Times of Israel)

“Israeli police decided to break up a contentious Jewish march in Jerusalem on Monday after rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, as tensions in the city are running high after days of violent clashes involving Israeli police, Muslim worshippers and both Jewish and Palestinian protesters.”

“Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured by rubber bullets and tear gas as Israeli security services continued to crack down on demonstrations in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 215 Palestinians have been injured and 153 others hospitalised, including four in a critical condition, as Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa mosque complex, firing multiple projectiles into the ancient building. A spokesperson for the Jerusalem emergency medical services said Israel was denying medics access to the mosque and had even confiscated some carts used to evacuate the wounded.”

More Coverage of Israel’s Raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque:

• “In pictures: Israel’s forces raid al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem Day” (Middle East Eye)
• “In Pictures: Israeli forces storm Al-Aqsa compound” (Al Jazeera)
• “Presidency: Attacking worshipers at Al-Aqsa is a new challenge for the international community, US efforts” (WAFA)
• “After violent weekend in Jerusalem, clashes erupt on Temple Mount” (Al-Monitor)
• “Israeli forces withdraw from Al-Aqsa Mosque after 4-hour raid” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque appeals for help amid attacks” (Anadolu Agency)

“Israel appears to have bowed to international pressure and delayed the forced eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem. The court hearing for the evictions was due to take place today but has been postponed following this weekend’s assault by Israeli police against unarmed Palestinians and the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the last few days of the holy month of Ramadan.”

More Coverage of the Sheikh Jarrah Dispossessions

• “Supreme Court Postpones Hearing on the Pending Evictions of Four Sheikh Jarrah Families” (Ir Amim)
• “Israeli court to reconvene next week on eviction of Palestinian families” (Al-Monitor)
• “Supreme Court postpones hearing on flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah evictions at AG’s request” (i24 News)
• “PA: Israel pushing for religious conflict in Jerusalem” (MEMO)
• “Israeli Supreme Court delays hearing on Palestinian evictions from East Jerusalem neighborhood” (CNN)

“A car ran into Palestinian pedestrians near the Lion’s Gate of Al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday morning. Palestinian media reports described the driver as an “Israeli settler” who injured civilians after his vehicle hit pedestrians walking on a pavement.”…Israeli security forces claimed the driver’s car was hit by rocks causing the driver to “lose control” of his vehicle and hit the pedestrians. CCTV footage showed the car reversing as Palestinians confronted the driver, before careering onto the pavement and hitting civilians. It is not yet known how many people were injured.”

“Israeli settlers led by supremacist lawmakers and backed and protected by a large Israeli occupation police force today broke into Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, provoked the Palestinian civilian residents and attacked them, according to witnesses. Two radical Israeli lawmakers arrived at the neighborhood in a provocative move, only a day after the Israeli High Court postponed a decision on the eviction of four Palestinian families from their homes for the benefit of the settlers, and provoked the local residents.” Also See – “Far-right Israeli Lawmakers Visit Jerusalem Flash Points Ahead of Contentious Jewish Flag Parade” (Haaretz)

“Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, along with the leader of the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, which has stood at the center of recent Arab-Jewish tensions, on Monday afternoon…After speaking, Smotrich and his companions attempted to enter the neighborhood, but were blocked by local activists. They then entered a home where a Jewish lives. A group of Palestinians is gathered outside, chanting: “Settlers, leave.”” Also See – “Jerusalem Day: Smotrich visits Sheikh Jarrah amid tensions” (Jerusalem Post)

“Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Monday called on Palestinians to take to the streets and clash with Israeli occupation forces to avert a “real massacre”. “What is happening at Al-Aqsa Mosque is a real massacre and war crimes,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri posted on his Twitter account. “We call on all of our people to go to the streets and clash with the occupation.””

“On Monday 10/5/2021, “Jerusalem day”, at 13:00, a special debate on expulsion by settlers of Palestinian families from their homes in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah will take place in the Knesset, Negev Hall. The conference was initiated by MKs Gilad Kariv and Emilie Moati (Labour) and Mossi Raz (Meretz) & other members of the Knesset.  The conference has been organized in collaboration with Peace Now….Peace now says: “we thank MKs Kariv, Moati and Raz for raising this important issue. The settlements at the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is a provocation that harms the gentle balance on the city and increase friction. This is a hard blow against peace and division of the city based on a two state solution. We will not be silent when the government helps settlers dispossess Palestinians and Jewify East Jerusalem. This is a struggle for justice, equality and morality;  when our neighbors are in danger of expulsion, it is our duty to stop and prevent this situation alongside members of Knesset”. “

“The language used in the White House summary was quite mild and moderate, but the Israelis responded with their own version of the call that gave an impression the conversation was much more difficult. Israeli officials said Ben Shabbat told Sullivan during the phone call that Israel believes the Biden administration and the rest of the international community should stay out of the crisis in Jerusalem and avoid pressing Israel. Ben Shabbat told Sullivan that “international intervention is a reward to the Palestinian rioters and those who back them who were seeking international pressure on Israel,” according to an Israeli official briefed on the call. The Israeli official said Ben Shabbat told Sullivan that Israel is handling events in Jerusalem “from a position of sovereignty and responsibility regardless of Palestinian provocations.””

• “Clashes and arrests as Jerusalem protests spread to Haifa, Nazareth” (Ynet)
• “Palestinian territories see increased violence over Jerusalem” (Al Monitor)

“Israel braced for more protests on Saturday after violence at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound wounded more than 200 people as the international community called for calm after days of escalating tensions. Israeli police fired rubber-coated metal bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinians at Al-Aqsa as anger grows over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. At least 205 Palestinians and 17 officers were injured in the night-time clashes at Islam’s third-holiest site and around East Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and Israeli police said, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in riot gear. Violence erupted on Friday when Israeli police deployed heavily as Muslims were performing evening prayers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan.”

“An estimated 90,000 Muslim worshippers prayed at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr – or the “Night of Destiny”, the most sacred of prayers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan – on Saturday….Israeli officers on horseback and in riot gear fired stun grenades and water cannon against Palestinians who in turn threw stones, lit fires, and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City’s gates.”

“Palestinians in al-Aqsa Mosque are standing firm, protecting their right to the place, after days of violence that peaked on Friday when Israeli forces stormed the complex.”

“Israel vowed Sunday to restore order in Jerusalem after hundreds of Palestinian protesters were wounded, as a key court hearing on a flashpoint property dispute was postponed…Ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel “would decisively and responsibly impose law and order in Jerusalem”.”

“A group of Palestinian families who are facing expulsion from their homes in occupied east Jerusalem refused to meet this week with the leader of a prominent Palestinian-Israeli party, saying that he was “allied” with the Israeli right-wing…The affected families have rejected a meeting with Mansour Abbas, whose Islamist-leaning United Arab List party, known by its Hebrew acronym Ra’am, won four seats in Israeli Knesset elections last March.” 

“The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC), which represents 14 non-governmental organizations, today called on the international community to assure an immediate halt to Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, warning the use of force could lead to further escalation on the ground.”

More Calls from Palestinians

• “International Community Must Take Immediate and Concrete Measures to Halt Israel’s Aggression against Palestinian Jerusalemites” (Al Haq)

“The neighbourhood’s name refers to the physician of Islamic general Saladin, believed to have settled there when Muslim armies captured the city”

“Suddenly, Sheikh Jarrah’s Uthman ibn Affan Street began to resemble Hebron’s segregated Shuhada Street, with a large number of roadblocks, hundreds of armed policemen, cavalry, commanders walking around with maps, and settlers entering and exiting relatively freely. Meanwhile, Palestinians and left-wing activists were blocked from entering Sheikh Jarrah without being given any legal justification…The police’s decision to ramp up the violence shows it is interested in escalation, particularly in the run-up to Saturday night’s Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night in Islam, as well as the yearly nationalistic march through the Old City that takes place on Jerusalem Day, and the Supreme Court’s hearing on the eviction of families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah — both of which are to take place on Monday.”

“If there is a leader who knows how sensitive a place Jerusalem is, especially the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and its surroundings, it is Binyamin Netanyahu. Perhaps, it is merely a coincidence that the events of recent days on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, Damascus Gate and the surroundings, are concurrent with (as it appears at present) the final days of Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister, but it may be that it is not coincidental that the person who began his first term as prime minister, 25 years ago, with a conflagration on the holy esplanade, is ending his final term in the same manner.”

“There are two issues which cut to the core of the identity of both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people: displacement and Jerusalem,” said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli attorney specializing in Jerusalem politics. “It’s all there in this limited space of Sheikh Jarrah, and once you put them together, it’s nuclear fusion.”

“I don’t feel sad or scared, I feel angry,” she said. “God willing, these will not be our last days here.”

“The effort to evict six Arab families from a contested neighborhood has drawn attention to the Israeli effort to remove Palestinians from parts of East Jerusalem and led to protests.”

“The irony is that while the early Zionist establishment was ready to relinquish Jerusalem to build the Jewish state, the current Israeli leadership seems to be relinquishing the Jewish state for Greater Jerusalem, where Palestinians constitute nearly 40 percent of the city’s population, with thousands living beyond the separation barrier in East Jerusalem. By annexing East Jerusalem, Israel is rapidly headed toward a one-state reality which, sooner or later, would culminate in a Jewish minority ruling over a Palestinian majority in an apartheid-style regime. The history of the early Zionist movement in Palestine is nearly forgotten today, but its lesson is still alive: Jerusalem “belonged to all of its nations and creeds.” “

NOTE – This article includes reactions from Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Kuwait, Jordan, EU.

From Countries Israel has “Normalized” with

• “Morocco concerned over violence in Jerusalem” (Arutz Sheva)
• “Jerusalem Clashes: Arab World Stays Mum, Except for Harrods Owner” (Haaretz)

Also See

• “Turkey reiterates call on Israel to end attacks on Palestinians” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Russia condemns Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Israel’s violence may be part of plan to occupy East Jerusalem: Luxembourg” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Singapore ‘deeply concerned’ by violence in Jerusalem” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Mauritania: Attack on Al-Aqsa is a flagrant defiance to Muslims’ feelings” (MEMO)
• “Indonesia condemns Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa mosque” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Bangladesh condemns attack on Muslims at Al-Aqsa Mosque” (Anadolu Agency)
• “Switzerland: Expulsions of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah violate international law” (WAFA)
• “Arab foreign ministers to convene on Israeli assaults in Jerusalem” (WAFA)

From International Organizations

• “Israel can’t impose its own laws to evict Palestinians, UN rights group says” (MEMO)
• “UN Secretary-General expresses deep concern over developments in Jerusalem – spokesperson” (WAFA)
• “…Quartet slam Jerusalem violence, int’l pressure grows on Israel” (Jerusalem Post)
• “UN expert calls for reversal of Israel’s eviction order against 16 Palestinian families” (Al Mezan)

“Jordan on Sunday summoned the charge d’affaires of Israel’s Embassy in Amman to protest Tel Aviv’s continued escalation and attacks against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. According to the Jordanian official Petra news agency, the Foreign Ministry informed the envoy that the Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque violate “the international law and the historical and legal status” in Jerusalem.”

[THREAD] Members of Congress are speaking out on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah…

More Reaction from the U.S.

• “Leading Democrats demand Washington stops Israel’s East Jerusalem violence and evictions” (Al Araby)
• “‘Not $1’: US lawmaker urges end to complicity in Israeli abuses” (Al Jazeera)

“The IDF has sent an additional three battalions to the West Bank to reinforce four already in the area, following violence in Jerusalem and overall heightened tension in the area. The decision by Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi was made following a situational assessment held at the Salem base in the Menashe Regional Brigade. It was attended by OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Rassan Aliyan, OC Judea and Samaria Division Brig.-Gen. Yaniv Alaluf and OC Civil Administration Brig.-Gen. Fares Atila”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu weighed in on the recent tensions in Jerusalem at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, emphasizing that Israel retains the right to “build in Jerusalem,” after the Biden administration criticized the impeding evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem and Israeli construction in the West Bank. “We emphatically reject the pressures not to build in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, these pressures have been increasing of late. I say even to our best friends: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Just as every people builds its capital and in its capital, so too do we reserve the right to build Jerusalem and in Jerusalem. This is what we have done and what we will continue to do,” he said, according to a statement from his office.”

“Citing the precarious security situation, Defense Minister Benny Gantz asks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull bills legalizing outposts and enabling renewed access to West Bank areas evacuated in 2005 from the Knesset agenda. Gantz calls for “responsible leadership” and avoiding steps that will exacerbate the tense situation. If any of the bills pass today’s vote, they still need to pass three more readings to become law. The pro-Netanyahu bloc hopes forcing the votes right now will drive a wedge between potential coalition partners in the so-called change bloc of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties.”

“A new website launched earlier this week by NPA and Norwegian union NUMGE, reveals that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), has substantial investments in companies engaged in activities on occupied Palestinian territory.”

“Products of Israeli companies in Judea and Samaria can be labeled “Made in Israel” for sale in Canada, after Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling that would have required labeling of settlement products. Last week, the court determined that a lower court’s decision was made improperly and was not binding. Rather, the decision should go back to Canada’s Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which had previously allowed wines made by Jews in Judea and Samaria to be labeled products of Israel. Such labels are “false, misleading and deceptive,” Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish ruled in 2019 following a petition against the CFIA by David Kattenburg, a freelance writer and science teacher who has called Israel an apartheid state.”

“Facebook and Twitter have not provided any explanation to their users for these actions. Instagram, for instance, has removed hundreds of stories related to Sheikh Jarrah including archived posts. The platforms’ arbitrary and non-transparent decisions constitute a serious violation of Palestinians’ fundamental rights including their right to freedom of expression, and their right to freedom of association and assembly online, which both Facebook and Twitter have pledged to honor in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Though work is being done to escalate these cases with Facebook and Twitter, timing is critical- users from Sheikh Jarrah have made it clear that without the world’s attention they would be in even more danger. We demand Facebook and Twitter to immediately stop censoring and reinstate the accounts and content of Palestinian voices. These companies must open an investigation into these takedowns, and transparently and publicly share the investigations. The removed content and suspended accounts on both Instagram and Twitter are involved in documenting and reporting what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah, as well as denouncing Israel’s policies of ethnic cleansing, apartheid and persecution. These violations are not limited to Palestinian users, but also affect activists around the world who are using social media to raise awareness about the grave situation in Sheikh Jarrah. ”

Also See

• “Twitter and Facebook accused of censoring Palestinian content” (MEMO)
• “Palestinians criticise social media censorship over Sheikh Jarrah” (Al Jazeera)
• “Sheikh Jarrah content takedowns reveal pattern of online restrictions in Palestine” (The Guardian)

“Valentina Azarova was offered the job of director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto. Then a major donor to the law school expressed concerns about her work on the Israeli occupation, and her offer was rescinded”

“A group of Democratic senators is urging President Joe Biden to follow through on commitments to reopen the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem and the Palestine Liberation Organization mission in Washington, D.C. — both of which were closed under the Trump administration. The senators lay out their request in a letter to Biden obtained by Jewish Insider, which has been circulating since mid-April and will close for signatures on Friday.  Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) organized the letter, which has also been signed by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL). “

“President Joe Biden faces a serious human rights problem in this part of the Middle East.  He cannot overlook it, not least of all because of that extraordinary relationship and the damage-by-association it does to U.S. interests. He does not need to make human rights as central a theme in his presidency as did Jimmy Carter, who was attacked for later calling out the Israeli version of apartheid for what it is, but he cannot brush it aside, no matter the identity of the offending state. Explicit use of the A-word  — and Biden’s spokesperson has declined to apply the word to the Israeli-Palestinian situation — is less important than addressing the substance behind the word and the implications for the U.S.-Israeli relationship.”

“Israel should spend more of its energy reaching out to “passionate” American evangelicals than Jews, who are “disproportionately among our critics,” former Israeli ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said on Sunday. Speaking to Israeli journalist Amit Segal onstage at a conference sponsored by the right-wing Makor Rishon newspaper, Dermer, who is a longtime confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called evangelicals “the backbone of Israel’s support in the United States,” and said that deciding to focus on strengthening that relationship at the expense of the Jewish community was a numbers game.”

“Conspicuously absent from all these statements are words that objectively assess the situation in Palestine, such as “occupation”, “apartheid”, “settler-colonialism”, and “ethnic cleansing”. It is disappointing, although not surprising at all, that American politicians choose to use such language that obfuscates the reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Yet, the problem here is not just what they say but also why they feel compelled to say it.”

“Negotiating teams of Yamina and Yesh Atid met with representatives of their potential coalition partners on Sunday in an effort to swear in a new government by the end of the week. Yamina Party chairman Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid want the deal done this week because the Shavuot holiday is next Monday, and Bennett is under intense pressure from the Right to not give into Lapid.”

“Knesset speaker Yariv Levin and his deputies set a June 2 date on Monday for the race to succeed Reuven Rivlin as president. The race has to be held at least a month before President Reuven Rivlin’s term ends on July 9. “

“Defense analysts predict that Russia’s extensive experience with the Forpost in Syria will lead to the development of a second generation of reconnaissance UAVs which will also have strike capacities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has himself referred to the need for “next-generation reconnaissance weapons systems” in the wake of the army’s experience in Syria. In this way, Israel’s export license facilitated and accelerated Russia’s capacity to develop its own lethal attack drones. Sarah Kay is adamant that surveillance technology cannot be seen as benign when its purpose is clearly military. “When you sell that kind of tech to a defense ministry, it will be used by all elements of their military,” she says. Kay hopes international law will evolve for a new reality where surveillance-hungry militaries threaten civilians, and that multilateral organizations like the European Court of Human Rights can be leveraged to confront the threat to civilians. She warns: “The law doesn’t enforce itself.” At this very moment Israeli-designed drones continue to scour Syria’s ruined landscape for military and civilian opponents of Bashar Assad’s regime, without distinction. The contention that Israeli firms aren’t directly selling finished drones to Russia, that it can “license and leave,” and thus not concern itself with the illegal end-use of its products, doesn’t hold water from a human rights viewpoint. Israeli military and dual use technology has consequences all over the world, boosting authoritarian regimes and endangering civilians beyond just the borders of Gaza or even Syria. The evidence is out there for anyone willing to look.”