“Jordan also said Safadi told Ashkenazi that “Israel must stop all of the moves that endanger the chance of peace with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution,” and called upon Israel to halt what he called provocative actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and to respect the historical status quo. Safadi’s office also said he emphasized the need to restart bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in light of the PA’s recent decision to resume security coordination with Israel.” See also: Jordan, Israel in rare meeting on Palestinian issue (Al Jazeera)

“Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has held a rare meeting on Thursday with his Israeli counterpart to press for the restart of stalled negotiations between the Palestinians and the Jewish state. The meeting came days after Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmud Abbas visited Jordan as part of an Arab tour to raise support for the Palestinian cause after Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in last month’s US presidential election. During the meeting at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, Safadi said the creation of an independent Palestinian state was key to ending the conflict with Israel. “There is no alternative to a two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians, he told Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, quoted by the official Petra news agency.”

“CORRECTION: Contrary to what was previously reported in the alert issued November 30, the eight families in Batan al-Hawa who received eviction notices are at risk of being forcibly removed as early as December 18. On November 29, the Execution Office delivered notices of eviction to both the Duweik and Shweiki families (total of eight nuclear families), according to which they must vacate their homes in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan within 20 days of the notice’s receipt (by 18 December 2020). rame, they can be subject to forcible removal any time between December 18, 2020-January 1, 2021. Immediate intervention is needed to block the displacement of a total of 45 people, at imminent risk of being forcibly evicted from their homes in Batan al-Hawa in as early as two weeks.”

“Police arrested on Friday a religious Jewish man after he set fire to the inside of a Roman-Catholic church called The Church of All Nations located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.  The man is suspected to be a right-wing man who set fire to the holy site on the basis of a hate crime, but no details have been confirmed.”

“Israeli occupation forces today cracked down on a seed-planting event in Beit Dajan village, east of Nablus city, causing dozens to suffocate, according to an activist. Tawfeeq Haj-Mohammad, a member of the Land Defense Popular Committee, confirmed that a large Israeli military force violently dispersed the participants of the event called for to plant seeds in the villagers’ lands threatened with confiscation, northeast of the village. The villagers managed to plant seeds in large tracts of their land that the Israeli occupation authorities plan to seize to make room for the construction of new colonial settlements before they were dispersed. Soldiers fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets towards the participants, causing dozens to suffocate.”

“Israeli forces Friday afternoon cracked down on an anti-settlement protest in al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, according to local source. Mayor of al-Mughayyir Amin Abu-Alya said that an Israeli military force violently dispersed the participants of the rally called for to defend Ras al-Tin area against being seized to make room for the construction of a new Israeli colonial settlement outpost, triggering confrontations.”

“New testimony by Palestinian minors arrested by the IDF on suspicion of various crimes paint a grim picture of Israeli forces demeaning and acting violently towards suspects, despite their young age.Between 2017-2019, Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem arrested 5,000 Palestinian minors between the ages of 12 and 18, following similar detention methods to those used in the arrest of adult suspects….Many of the testimonies present a picture of a uniform arrest method. The boys are taken from their homes in the dead of night by Israeli security forces, alone and without their parents. The boys arrive at the interrogation tired and afraid. Many are left without food or drink, and some are not even given the opportunity to use the bathroom. Israel’s Youth (Care and Supervision) Law stipulates that a minor’s dignity must be protected during arrest and any legal proceedings. The law recognizes that experiences such as detention and interrogation during the sensitive time when a minor is forming a personality and identity may impair future development, including mental faculties. However, unlike Israeli children, Palestinian children in the West Bank are arrested and tried by the military, which is not subject to an order to protect their dignity and development.” See also: “‘I can’t fall asleep’: The Trauma of Israeli Raids on Palestinian Homes” (+972) 

“Israeli soldiers burst into a refugee camp in the dead of night and abduct a teenager. They then hold him for a full day, with no food. Nearly 300 invasions like this take place every month in the West Bank…According to data of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, 157 Palestinian children and youths were still incarcerated in Israel at the end of September – 18 of them under the age of 16. A report published jointly this week by the organizations Yesh Din-Volunteers for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence, about the night raids on Palestinian homes and the psychological damage they wreak, states that 64 percent of the families who gave testimony said soldiers invaded their home more than once, and that in 88 percent of the cases the raids took place at night. According to United Nations data for 2017-2018, soldiers broke into Palestinian homes throughout the West Bank, 6,402 times, an average of 267 incursions a month, about 10 a night.”

“This report, A Life Exposed, is the product of a joint project launched by Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and Breaking the Silence in 2018. It presents the practice of raiding Palestinian homes in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) and its impacts and offers an outline of the provisions within military legislation that regulate and enable it. This legal outline provides the basis for an analysis of home invasions in light of international law, which defines Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the West Bank, and helps expose how this practice brazenly violate these legal provisions.”

“On Wednesday, Hagar Shezaf reported in Haaretz that the Israel Defense Forces has failed almost completely to carry out a pilot program to summon Palestinian teens for questioning without terrifying their families and neighbors. Six years after the pilot began, the IDF continues to drag hundreds of children and teens out of their beds and arrest them, almost every night. … The Shin Bet security service and the IDF must therefore revise their policy on arrests and searches from top to bottom and reduce the number of raids to the minimum necessary. Nighttime raids on homes ought to be an extreme measure, not a routine modus operandi. And that is doubly true when we’re talking about the arrests of children and teens. To date, the occupation authorities don’t seem to have given any consideration to the damage caused by their actions, which are legally dubious and morally flawed.”

“A Palestinian child detainee underwent surgery yesterday after he was brutally beaten by Israel soldiers, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS). The 16-year-old from the Al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, was hospitalised at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after suffering abuse at the hands of Israeli occupation forces while in detention two days ago….He was detained by Israeli forces last week while he was heading to school, reported Wafa news agency. It is unclear why he was detained….He has been denied contact with his family.”

“According to recent reports in the Israeli media, Germany has promised to include the country in the EU’s coronavirus vaccination deal that is being made with large pharmaceutical companies. The pledge was made by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Health Minister Jens Spahn to Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi as a continuation of the country’s “special relationship” because of the Holocaust.”

“But senior health officials erred in their calculations: They counted only the number of vaccine doses needed to immunize nine million Israeli citizens, and failed to include the number of doses needed to vaccinate five million Palestinians, residents of the West Bank and Gaza, living under Israeli control and responsibility….At a time when the Palestinian authorities are unable to purchase the vaccines on their own, the state of Israel must do so – as part of its obligation to ensure equal rights to everyone living under its control, Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

“A team of ten Palestinian doctors who hold Israeli citizenship arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday to carry out essential surgery and assist medical teams dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, Anadolu has reported. The Director General of Pharmacies in the Ministry of Health, Munir Al-Borsh, told the news agency that the doctors include orthopaedic specialists, neurologists, heart surgeons and mental health experts. He pointed out that the team has been visiting Gaza for years to provide medical services, but this is the first visit since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the besieged enclave. Al-Borsh explained that the medical team carried medical and surgical equipment with them as well as essential drugs. They will perform surgical procedures on a number of patients.”

FMEP Legislative Round-Up
December 4, 2020

“Biden’s ambassador will not, like their predecessor, be an ideological and financial patron of the settlement movement. Biden will keep the embassy in Jerusalem, but has also pledged to reopen consular services for Palestinians there – an important gesture, which will require Israeli approval, that sets a clear American expectation of an eventual Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. And the Trump peace plan will not carry over into an administration staffed by veterans of the Washington foreign policy establishment. One consequence of this “shift” will be that Biden’s own position, considered strongly favorable to Israel in the before times, will now be painted by the right as “anti-Israel” when contrasted with the Trump precedent….What was once primarily a policy debate, a setting where passionate but constructive argument was possible, has now turned into something much more intractable: a with-us-or-against-us demand that, due to the expectations set by the Trump administrations, no Democratic president can possibly meet.”

“Representative Gregory Meeks was voted by his Democratic colleagues on Thursday to serve as the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, beating out the more progressive Joaquin Castro. Meeks has long described himself as a major supporter of the US-Israel relationship, voting in favor of military aid for the Jewish state and against the BDS movement. He has ties to AIPAC and J Street, with both the establishment group and the dovish lobby calling the New York congressman a friend… All three lawmakers auditioned for the job in meetings with the centrist Democratic Majority for Israel and J Street. They all said that US money should not be used to annex West Bank territory, a move that Israel’s government considered earlier this year. Meeks suggested that aid to Israel could be used as leverage to influence its policy. “Annexation is anathema to a two-state solution, and America cannot be used by its proponents to justify a pro-annexation position or policy,” he said. “On the contrary, the United States must be explicit in our opposition by applying pressure against Netanyahu should he annex territory, including leveraging US aid.””

“The Yesha Council of settlements realized in July that the settlers’ dream of annexing parts of the West Bank was slipping away. To achieve something before the U.S. presidential election and the fall of Israel’s unity government, the council began a campaign with a more modest goal: legalizing unauthorized outposts. To change the outposts’ image, the campaign sought to replace the word “outpost” with the term “young settlement” and depict the outposts as a social and humanitarian problem of young pioneers being treated as second-class citizens. Attesting to the success of the campaign, these messages were echoed not only by right-wing parties but also by ministers from Kahol Lavan, including in the name of the party chairman, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who in May formed the unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu.”

“During the first half of 2021, sometime between March and June, Israel will become the first democracy in history forced to hold a fourth national election within two years….The frequency of elections testifies to the profound political crisis in which Israel finds itself. In all three of these recent elections – April 2019, September 2019 and March 2020 – Netanyahu and his allies were unable to attain the 61 seats in parliament necessary to form a government (60 in the first, 55 in the second, 58 in the third). On the other hand, the parties opposing him were unable to form an alternative coalition – firstly because some and probably most of them failed to accept the utterly basic concept that a Palestinian citizen’s vote is equal to that of a Jewish citizen….

The organising underway on the centre-left now (apparently headed by Mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai and others) is committed to a government with the Palestinian public. Centrist parties formerly opposed, like Yesh Atid under Yair Lapid and even Yisrael Beiteinu under Avigdor Lieberman, who created his political persona with racist declarations about Palestinians, are expressing explicit support for a government that would rely on Joint List votes. It would seem fairly safe at this point to assume that if the anti-Netanyahu parties win 61 seats in the upcoming elections, nothing will prevent the establishment of a government with the participation of the Joint List, whether via its support from within an administration or from the outside. Since Netanyahu himself is now exploring cooperation with the Islamic Party, he will have a hard time accusing those who plan to sit with the Joint List as traitors. In brief, for the first time since 1992, and possibly the first time ever in the history of Israel, the parties representing the Palestinian public have attained almost complete legitimacy.”

“Americans for Peace Now, a nonprofit whose stated aim is to help find a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is refusing a request from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. In a letter, which Haaretz obtained a copy of, the nonprofit’s leaders told the umbrella organization representing 51 national Jewish groups that while they support “joint action to confront antisemitism,” they “strongly believe that the IHRA Working Definition is the wrong vehicle for such action.”  When it comes to “labeling people and entities as antisemitic,” wrote APN president and CEO Hadar Susskind, and the group’s board chair, Jim Klutznick, to COP leaders, the Conference would be better served “using a scalpel rather than a bulldozer. The broad-brush approach that the IHRA Working Definition suggests does not serve well the cause of fighting antisemitism or the interest of the Conference of Presidents.” In their letter, Susskind and Klutznick noted that their objections relate specifically to the “examples” within the IHRA document organization used to “illustrate” antisemitism, which led to their decision not to adopt the full version of the IHRA definition….

Right now, they added, “We are witnessing our federal government, in the waning days of the Trump administration, waging a campaign that targets distinguished human rights organizations, falsely alleging that they advocate BDS [boycotts, divestment and sanctions] against Israel, and labeling them – or should we say libeling them – as antisemitic. We shall not lend our support to a document that serves as the anchor for such McCarthyite witch hunts.””

“The English Premier League, the highest level of soccer in England, has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, the organization said on Thursday. In a press release, the league said it had adopted the definition as a part of its “ongoing commitment to promote equality and diversity, and to combat discrimination of any form in football.”… The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement welcomed the announcement, with director Sacha Roytman-Dratwa saying: “As the most popular competition in world football, the Premier League is sending a hugely important message to countless fans across the world: that there is absolutely no place for antisemitism in today’s world. We hope that it will inspire people to join the fight against antisemitism, racism and hatred.” The announcement comes as part of a large drive to combat discrimination and racism in English soccer, and follows in the footsteps of London-based Chelsea FC, which have worked with its Israeli-Russian owner Roman Abramovich, who is Jewish, on a wide range of projects and initiatives to combat antisemitism.”

“The Council of the European Union, which is a key driver of EU policy, “invited” all the bloc’s 27 members to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that includes anti-Israel vitriol. The invitation to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition came in a declaration published Wednesday by the Council, which is made up of cabinet ministers from all the bloc’s member states…. Palestinians and their supporters worry that the definition, by condemning certain forms of anti-Israel rhetoric, will have a chilling effect on criticism of Israel more broadly. The European Parliament, the EU’s legislative branch, adopted the IHRA definition in 2017, as have dozens of countries.”

“The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States responded on Thursday to growing criticism in Congress against the Trump administration’s planned $23 billion arms deal to Abu Dhabi, warning that if Washington refuses to supply his country with the weapons it needs to secure the region, it will be forced to turn elsewhere. “We would rather have the best US-equipment or we will reluctantly find it from other sources, even if less capable,” Yousef al-Otaiba said in a statement amid increased opposition to the deal that would include the advance F-35 stealth fighters. More broadly though, the UAE envoy sought to sell the arms deal as an “investment in the US,” pointing out that the agreement would “support tens of thousands of US jobs, sustain the US defense industrial base, and lower future US research and development costs.” “It is about advancing a more stable and secure Middle East. It enables the UAE to take on more of the regional burden for collective security, freeing US assets for other global challenges –- a bipartisan US priority,” al-Otaiba added.”

“The top Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he expected lawmakers to vote as early as next week on resolutions seeking to block Republican President Donald Trump’s $23bn weapons sale to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)….Menendez and two other senators – Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Rand Paul – announced on November 18 that they would introduce measures seeking to halt the effort to sell drones, F-35 aircraft and other weapons systems to the UAE.”

“Top women diplomats from Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain joined together on Thursday in a first-of-a-kind session to discuss the role of women in diplomacy, as well as the need for the active involvement of women in promoting peace and security in the Middle East and beyond….The virtual event was attended by diplomats from around the globe—spanning from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain to Israel to Geneva and New York. Eilon Shahar, Nonoo and Nusseibeh highlighted a number of challenging issues facing women diplomats in the Mideast. The panelists emphasized the importance of women at the highest levels of decision-making in their respective countries and discussed their visions for how gender must play a role in the newfound ties between them. “The UAE and Israel are champions of gender equality in our region, and we believe that the agreement between our two countries is already beginning to foster partnerships that will unlock enormous opportunities for women in the region,” said Nusseibeh.”

“Israeli Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen and her Bahraini counterpart Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Wednesday. According to Farkash-Hacohen, the MoU, which deals with tourism, provides the framework to turn ideas into plans into packages. “Together, we can create packages for regional tourism, offering tourists from Brazil, China or Australia or the Philippines to visit both our countries,” she said. The MOU, the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab Gulf state, includes a number of sections on bilateral cooperation between the governments and the private sector in the field of tourism, and calls to develop various types of travel: for families, wellness, business and others. Additionally, it establishes a joint committee headed by the ministers, which will meet regularly to promote joint ventures of travel agents, airlines, tour operators and all relevant industry representatives.”

“Israelis visiting countries neighboring Iran could be targets for terrorist attacks, the National Security Council warned in a rare public statement on Thursday. “In light of the threats heard recently from Iranian factors, and in light of past involvement in Iranians in terrorist attacks on various countries, there is a concern Iran will try to act in this way against Israeli destinations,” the NSC cautioned.” See also “Israel Urges Citizens to Avoid Gulf, Cites Iran Threat” (YNet)

“Qatar does not plan to follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in signing a normalization pact with Israel unless the deal has the interests of the Palestinian people at its heart, the country’s foreign minister said on Friday. “Right now, I don’t see that normalization of Qatar and Israel is going to add value to the Palestinian people,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in an interview as part of the Mediterranean Dialogues conference.”

“Saudi Arabia is reported to have cancelled a planned visit by Israel’s head of intelligence last week, after Israeli media leaked news about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo….Alex Fishman, a military analyst for the newspaper, wrote on Friday that Riyadh had cancelled the visit because Netanyahu had disclosed his meeting with bin Salman less than 24 hours after they had met. Fishman said the kingdom was angry that Netanyahu had “showed off” about the meeting.”

“What is a historical fact in Arabic is somehow debatable in English. Well-documented events, such as Israel’s depopulation and destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages, are considered “controversial.” Advocacy to save Sheikh Jarrah from the imminent threat of dispossession became buried under paragraphs of contextualization. To an American audience, the idea of Israel taking over my home is so unbelievable because they refuse to recognize Israel as a settler colonial state. But land grabbing is exactly what colonizers do. That isn’t something I should have to negotiate — if anything, it should be implied….Growing up, I was bewildered that Palestinian children throwing stones at Israeli military tanks generated more outrage than the tanks themselves. I clung to my nonviolent beliefs even harder because I thought my resistance would be deemed “acceptable.” There were always prerequisites to solidarity with my cause. But frameworks of respectability and legality have offered me nothing except the illusion that I can partake in a game that was designed to make me lose. In reality, there isn’t a bug in the system that one can challenge. The scourge of dispossession in Jerusalem relies on the very vision of the Israeli settler colonial project in Palestine….So, from now on, I want to call a spade a spade. What is happening in Sheikh Jarrah, like the rest of Palestine, is calculated ethnic cleansing.”

See also: FMEP’s upcoming webinar with Mohammed El-Kurd and Fayrouz Sharqawi, “Impending Evictions and the Struggle to Live in East Jerusalem: Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah,” December 8th.