In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to Maria Zreik, a street photographer and political organizer from Nazareth who is coordinating the Baladna Youth Center, a Palestinian cooperative in Nazareth’s Old City. The conversation delves into the challenges that Palestinians in Nazareth are facing today, how the city’s landscape has shifted, and what a youth center in the city can offer to help.

“Police officers came to Nora Ghaith-Sub Laban’s apartment in Jerusalem’s Old City early Tuesday morning, forced open the door and removed the family. Her son, Ahmad Sub-Laban, said the family was barred from reentering the premises. “When we got back in front of the house, we faced the new reality that our main entrance had been closed and we don’t have the right to use it anymore,” he said. “They took the key and changed the lock.”” Several dozen protesters gathered and chanted “Occupation no more” at passersby outside the block of apartments as police stood by. Jewish settlers also gathered outside, dancing and smiling as they stared at the distraught family. Other settlers poured water down on family members from windows above. Nora Ghaith-Sub Laban, the family matriarch, said she was in the hospital when police arrived. She accused Israel of trying to “ethnically cleanse” the area of Palestinians and vowed to continue fighting the eviction.”

For more on this case, check out last week’s “Occupied Thoughts” podcast featuring a member of the Sub Laban family in conversation with Rabea Eghbariah (a 2023 FMEP Non-Resident Fellow) – “Now it is Happening to My Family”: The Dispossession of Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem.“

“Yesterday (Monday, 10 July 2023), the Bedouin shepherding community of al-Baq’ah was forcibly transferred from its seat east of Ramallah. In recent weeks, the community has suffered daily settler attacks originating from a nearby settler outpost, one of the seven new ones established after the Turmusaya pogrom on 21 June 2023. Last Friday, a home in the community was torched. The family was out at the time for fear of exactly such violence. The community has a total population of 33, including 21 minors. The residents who dismantled the community’s homes and animal enclosures yesterday told B’Tselem field researchers they had no choice but to leave as they were afraid for their lives and had no one to protect them.”

“The mass expulsion of Masafer Yatta’s residents has not yet been carried out, but the lives of all the people of these villages have changed beyond recognition in the months since the ruling. Soldiers have begun detaining children at impromptu checkpoints they’ve erected in the middle of the desert under the cover of night; families watch as bulldozers raze their homes with increasing frequency; and, right next to the villages designated for expulsion and demolition, soldiers are already training with live fire, racing tanks, and detonating mines. Army officials have stated that plans to carry out the expulsion order have already been presented to politicians. This year, with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history in power––and with its ministers openly calling for mass population transfers and the erasure of Palestinian villages––it’s very likely that the mass expulsion will actually take place. If it does, it will be the largest single act of population transfer carried out in the West Bank since Israel expelled thousands of Palestinians in 1967, in the early days of the occupation.”

“The Israeli military said troops stopped a motorist in Deir Nidham, a town west of Ramallah, to question him. It said the man got out of his car, threw a grenade and fired shots toward soldiers, who then opened fire. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that a 33-year-old man had been killed, but gave no further details.”

“Since the current government came to power, the Palestinian education system in East Jerusalem has been under attack. This has come in the form of legislative bills which have arisen in the government’s Ministerial Committee, discussions held in the Knesset Education Committee, or by orders from the Minister of National Security to disband parents’ meetings and the East Jerusalem Parents’ committee. As a prime example of these efforts, tomorrow, July 12, a bill (Bill No. 3147/25) which seeks to deny funding to East Jerusalem schools teaching the Palestinian curriculum is scheduled for its first plenum reading. Sponsored by 12 Knesset members headed by Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism), the bill has been described as ostensibly combating alleged incitement found in Palestinian Authority textbooks although they are already censored by the Israeli authorities. However, the real goal of the bill’s initiators, as well as those leading the Knesset’s Education Committee’s discussions, is to deny the right of East Jerusalem residents to study according to their own culture, heritage, and historical narrative and to impose the Israeli curriculum on them. These measures are not driven by educational considerations, but rather by aggressive, nationalist motives that seek to eliminate any trace of Palestinian identity in Jerusalem.”

• Jenin Refugee Camp, home to about 23,600 people, including 7,150 children, still lacks access to water, a week after the destruction of the local water network in a two-day operation carried out by Israeli forces.
• At least 40 families, comprising 173 people, including 64 children, remain internally displaced. Due to a lack of alternatives, some of the originally 3,500 displaced during the operation have returned and are staying in their uninhabitable homes. Most of the 40 displaced families are living with host families or in rented accommodation.
• An estimated US$5.2 million is required to respond to immediate humanitarian needs in Jenin. However, this figure does not include UNRWA’s funding requirements or the amount that could be needed for mine action and is likely to change following further assessments. As an immediate response, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund is considering cost extensions of existing projects in order to cover some of these immediate needs.
• Humanitarian partners have been on the ground during and after the operation, in coordination with local actors, to: assess people’s needs; deliver medical supplies; treat the injured; advocate for access of ambulances to the wounded deliver emergency assistance to the worst affected, with cash, provide mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS); support the local water authorities; provide education supplies; and complete an in-depth household assessment to further inform the ongoing response.

“The two invasions unfolded in vastly different contexts. Between 2002 and 2023, the illusion of partitioning the land into two states disintegrated. It exists now only in diplomatic talking points, hollowed out of all meaning, and replaced by a consensus among international and Israeli human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, that Israel is practicing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians, vindicating what Palestinians have long believed. For most Jewish Israelis, this shift is barely perceptible, as they continue to be effectively sheltered from the cost of their government’s policies toward Palestinians. The Palestinians, meanwhile, are experiencing growing despair and fatigue, ground down by the daily structural violence. With the absence of any hope for statehood, and with no viable political leadership to lead the struggle, some take matters into their own hands through armed and unarmed forms of resistance, others are apathetic or preoccupied with the crippling effort to support their families, and many live in fear.”

“Psychological impact on children is greater than we expected, and it doesn’t only come from the killing of fellow age-peers or family members, but from the constant violent atmosphere that imposes itself on life in the camp, including in between raids,” Najat Abu Butmeh, director of the children’s centre in the camp, told TNA. Many of the families who left the camp on the second night of the latest attack, fleeing drone strikes, came back to find their homes destroyed, which immensely impacts children,” said Butmeh.”

“Since the start of the year 115 Israeli Arabs have been murdered, four more than the number murdered during all of last year.”

“An Israeli court on Tuesday ordered a Palestinian journalist from East Jerusalem to perform community service and handed down a three-year suspended sentence, her lawyer said, after she was charged with incitement to violence. Lama Ghosheh, 30, a freelance reporter for various Palestinian media outlets, was detained in September and placed under house arrest. In addition to incitement, she was accused of “identification with a terrorist group,” according to the indictment which cited Facebook posts and messages as evidence. Ghosheh allegedly praised terror activities in the West Bank and Gaza. The charge sheet described her work as a journalist and her thousands of online followers as giving her posts greater weight. Ghosheh’s lawyer, Mohammed Mahmoud, said she was ordered to perform nine months of community service. The three-year suspended sentence means she could be arrested again “in case of any violation committed” over that period. The court also fined her 4,500 shekels ($1,220), said Mahmoud, vowing to appeal the verdict. The journalists’ union said the verdict “aggravates the violations committed by the occupation authorities against journalists in the framework of their professional work and their freedom of opinion and expression.”

“Abbas will travel from Ramallah to Jenin using a Jordanian helicopter, according to one Palestinian source.  The visit holds significance as it marks his first appearance in the camp in over a decade. The decision comes shortly after a fierce two-day Israeli military raid in which at least 12 Palestinian were killed, including at least one unarmed child. According to the Israeli military, one Israeli soldier was killed in the operation. Abbas will “look at the reconstruction efforts in the city of Jenin and the camp after the latest Israeli aggression and meet officials and popular representatives”, Abu Rudeineh added. High-ranking PLO officials, including Hussein al-Sheikh and Majed Faraj, will accompany Abbas, Al-Araby al-Jadeed has reported. Palestinian Authority prime minister Muhammad Shtayeh will also be in Jenin on Wednesday. After years of failed governance and repeated Israeli military incursions, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority hopes to re-establish control over Jenin.”

“According to a seasoned activist in Jenin who talked with Haaretz, last week’s campaign in Jenin stepped up the pressure on the PA and its mechanisms, as well as on the Palestinian resistance movements. The pressure is especially on Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, but also the Popular Front. According to him, the residents of the West Bank are frustrated by the PA’s inability to provide solutions to Israeli aggression and criticize it for its contentment with just condemning Israel’s actions. This public mood may be behind the interviews that Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chief Salah al-Arouri gave last week, calling for action in the West Bank and to fight the occupier by any means. Some in the West Bank connect al-Arouri’s comments to Ubaidah’s announcement from Hamas claiming responsibility for the attacks, wanting to see this as proof that the organization doesn’t settle for warm words and condemnation, but also takes initiative and action on the ground. It isn’t clear, however, that Hamas and the other resistance movements have the organizational and logistical ability to operate terror units throughout the West Bank.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed to help prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, although without specifying concrete steps to do so. Netanyahu said the decision had been made at a meeting of his security cabinet on Sunday, with eight members of the top-level forum supporting the move…The PA’s collapse would see governance of the West Bank fully returned to the Israeli state, as was the case between 1967 – when Israeli conquered the territory – and 1993…The draft declaration agreed on Sunday presents a series of demands for the PA to “cease its anti-Israel activity in the international legal-diplomatic arena”.”

““On behalf of the Palestinian government, we say that what is required of Israel is to halt its aggression against our people, killings, settlements, and the piracy of our money,” Shtayyeh said at a weekly meeting of the PA cabinet in Ramallah.”

“The threat was included in a letter sent to Al Jazeera headquarters in Doha by Nabil Abu Rudaineh, the Palestinian Minister of Information who also serves as spokesperson for PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The letter, dated June 6, 2023, appeared in several Arab media outlets, but was neither confirmed nor denied by the PA. Some Palestinians said the date was a mistake and should have been July 6, 2023.  The alleged threat came after Al Jazeera interviewed several Palestinians who strongly criticized the PA and its security forces. “

“Millions of dollars have already been pledged by Arab countries to rebuild roads and buildings damaged in the operation. The UAE pledged $15 million, Algeria $30 million, and more donations are expected to come from Qatar and other countries, while funds have also been collected from Palestinian individuals…The large volume of donations prompted some local residents to wonder about how the Palestinian Authority will spend it. Some have expressed concerns that the money will meet the fate of “many projects that the Palestinian Authority has promoted over the decades and have remained a dead letter,” according to the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency, whose website is banned in the PA-controlled West Bank…The activist called for the establishment of a “transparency committee”  including residents from the refugee camp to oversee the aid spending and avoid corruption. He told the news outlet: “The people of Jenin have the right to be part of a committee that supervises the disbursement of aid, because they are the ones who have been subjected to destruction.”

“Israel’s Knesset voted on Monday to advance a key bill in the governing coalition’s judicial overhaul which would abolish Israel’s “reasonableness standard,” eliminating the Supreme Court’s ability to block government decisions it deems unreasonable. Following the initial vote, the bill awaits discussion in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which will be held on Tuesday. The bill must clear two additional Knesset votes to pass into law.”

“Thousands of protesters poured into the street beside the main terminal at Ben-Gurion International Airport, honking horns, chanting slogans and holding aloft scores of Israeli flags, in a scene more reminiscent of a packed sports stadium than an airport taxi rank. Others rallied in at least 20 towns and cities, often blocking traffic until being dispersed by police officers, in what protest leaders called a “day of disruption.” One group of demonstrators erected tents on a major intersection in central Israel. Another crowd gathered outside a United States consular building in Tel Aviv, calling on the Biden administration to do more to help their cause. The United States provides Israel with more than $3 billion in military aid each year.”

“Opposition leaders vow to continue fighting the government’s efforts to overhaul the judiciary, after the coalition muscles through a bill that will curtain judges’ oversight of politicians. “Like thieves in the night, the government passed a bill canceling reasonableness, and proving that nothing interests them except corrupt, anti-democratic laws,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says on Twitter. “The fight is not over. We will never give up on the values of the state of Israel. Tomorrow millions of Israelis will take to the streets with the Israeli flag to say: we will not give up.””

“A far-right lawmaker was selected on Wednesday to sit on the Judicial Selection Committee, joining an opposition MK and becoming the second Knesset representative on a panel that is key to the coalition’s plan to shackle the judiciary. Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer was selected in the closed-door vote to sit alongside lawmaker Karine Elharrar from the opposition’s Yesh Atid party, garnering cross-Knesset support with 86 votes out of 120.”

“Along with the fear of the entry of hostile elements into Israel that will evade U.S. authorities, there is also the possibility that foreign citizens will exploit these conditions to wage a mass protest. Another divisive U.S. demand is exempting VIPs from the Palestinian Authority from security checks. At first, around 5,000 people were thought to have VIP badges, but a deeper review found that at least 20,000 Palestinians have such status. The Israeli government will have a hard time explaining their acceptance of this demand to the public.”

“Knowing who the movement’s leaders are makes it easier to assess what its true goals may be. Thus, without fanfare, with patient grassroots work and funding from American Jews, an Arab-Zionist movement has come into being that aspires to transform Israel’s Arab society. The movement espouses right wing-style Zionist values, sends delegations to visit the death camps in Poland and, without saying so explicitly, also strives to get Arabs drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. For Atidna, it’s a long-distance run, whose aim is the creation of a new generation of Arab Zionists. “Good Arabs.” The National Committee of the Heads of Arab Localities understands what is at stake and is doing battle against the movement. In the meantime, though, 15 Arab towns, from the north to the Negev, have already opened their doors to Atidna. That’s understandable, because the movement comes with plenty of money in hand, which it distributes in the form of generous scholarships and subsidized outings and trips. That’s an offer that’s hard to refuse, certainly in the case of disadvantaged communities.”

“Bibi, I think, is trying to work through how we can work through his existing problems in terms of his coalition,” Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, adding “it’s not all Israel now in the West Bank, all Israel’s problem, but they are a part of the problem, and particularly those individuals in the cabinet who say, ‘We can settle anywhere we want. [The Palestinians] have no right to be here, etc.’”

Next Read: “Smotrich, Ben Gvir respond to Biden: Jews have right to build everywhere in West Bank” (The Times of Israel): “The United States “wants two states for two peoples and we think it’s suicide,” continued Smotrich, who also holds a ministerial post in the Defense Ministry that grants him extensive authority over settlement construction. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who joins Smotrich as one of the White House’s personae non gratae, said that “the USA is our wonderful friend and we love it, but I say to President Biden: The Land of Israel is for the people of Israel, according to the Torah of Israel.””

“The White House called on the Israeli government “to protect and respect the right of peaceful assembly” after Israeli police made dozens of arrests and used force against protesters who rallied across the country against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul…The unusual statement by the White House on domestic issues of an ally like Israel signals the growing concern of the Biden administration about the escalating internal unrest in the country.”

“Republican members of Congress and presidential contenders are amplifying their criticism of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Israel policy, largely centered around Biden’s decision to stop transferring funds to research institutes or scientific and technological projects in the West Bank. This is despite the fact that Biden stopped short of reversing the majority of Donald Trump’s doctrine on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. 14 Republican senators, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, threatened to derail the confirmation of State Department nominated officials should the Biden administration not walk back the “antisemitic boycott of Israel.””

“Perhaps no person finds himself at the nexus of the future of both Israeli and American democracy more than Republican megadonor Jeffrey Yass. He is not only responsible for bankrolling the brains behind Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial coup – which reaches a critical inflection point in the next 72 hours – but he is already making unprecedented headways into next year’s U.S. election on behalf of the GOP.”