“On 7/23, as expected, H. Res. 246, delegitimizing boycotts of Israel/settlements and disparaging anyone who engages in them, was brought to the House floor under suspension of the rules (a method of fast-tracking non-controversial measures that limits floor time and prevents any amendments being offered).”

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

Yara Hawari writes, “Though Palestinian women have always played a fundamental role in the struggle for liberation from the Israeli settler colonial regime, they have faced consistent political marginalization. This experience has become more multifaceted and entrenched since the 1990s, when the Oslo Accords unleashed a myriad of changes in the structure of Palestinian society and governance. These changes have included a newfound dependence on international donor aid among Palestinian civil society, including women’s organizations, and the bolstering of a corrupt and relentlessly patriarchal Palestinian Authority (PA) that complements rather than confronts the Israeli occupation and its oppression of the Palestinian population, both male and female. Such developments have caused today’s Palestinian women to endure perhaps even more formidable challenges when it comes to activism and political participation.”

“While it is clear that the American and Israeli governments are trying to push Abbas over the edge of a cliff, their plan after his fall is rather vague at best. In fact, various actors within the Israeli security establishment have warned that such a move could have dangerous consequences.”

“Palestinians are caught between the desire to call it quits with Israel and the fear of a further deterioration in their socioeconomic situation as a result of the punitive measures that Israel might impose. Palestinians support talk of withdrawing from the agreements, but they don’t believe their everlasting leaders can navigate ‘the new phase.'”

“Twelve acclaimed Palestinian writers have imagined what their country might look like in 2048, 100 years after the Nakba saw more than 700,000 people expelled from their homes, in what is believed to be the first ever collection of science fiction from the occupied territories.” Stories in Palestine + 100 range from Majd Kayyal’s depiction of a futuristic solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, in which two parallel worlds occupy the same geographic space, to Saleem Haddad’s Matrix-like concept of a “right to digital return”. Man Booker International prize nominee Mazen Maarouf’s story, meanwhile, is set in the aftermath of a nanobot attack in 2037, narrated by the last Palestinian left alive, his body so affected by radiation that he is kept in a glass box, but who cannot be killed.”

“Israel’s government has embraced two seemingly opposing views, boasting on the world stage that B.D.S. is having no effect while warning Israelis that it is a strategic threat. In domestic politics, exaggerating the threat of B.D.S. adds to the sense that Israel is besieged and that the Palestinians are not really interested in peacemaking, bolstering right-wing arguments for continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.”

“But anyone who believes that this resolution will in any way resolve or mitigate the bitter political wrangling over BDS has been drinking too much celebratory champagne, said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace — a nonprofit that promotes a two-state solution. ‘You’d have to be delusional to think that this is over,’ said Friedman.”

“‘The resolution is a far-reaching, unambiguous indictment of anyone who boycotts Israel,’ tweeted Foundation for Middle East Peace President Lara Friedman before the bill was passed. ‘Folks who support it are in effect legitimizing the same simplistic narrative that is being used to justify laws quashing free speech…Folks who support it are going to be called hypocrites if they subsequently vote against legislation trying to fight what they have in effect labeled an evil scourge.’

“Speaking in his office in a stone building in Haifa, wearing his signature flat cap, Jabareen explains why that is a positive development. ‘Soon, the debate in the world won’t be whether Jewish and democratic goes together or not; the debate soon will be whether Israel is apartheid.’”

“Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Rafi Peretz announced on Sunday that their parties will run on a joint slate led by Shaked, following weeks of speculations and pressure to form a broad union ahead of Israel’s September election.”

“Hadash, Ta’al and Ra’am parties, that have announced their reformation during a press conference on Saturday, were joined by the fourth and the most nationalistic Arab party – Balad – to reunite the Joint List. The merger came days before this week’s deadline for Israeli political parties to finalize their lineups before the elections.”

“Touting the same ‘in a league of his own’ line alongside Putin appears to place the Israeli prime minister on par with the Russian leader, who has ruled for almost two decades and whose critics accuse of jailing political opponents, curtailing press freedom, and eroding free and fair elections”

“On the podcast, Sanders said that the US policy toward Israel could not be one-dimensional, but instead more holistically focused on what best serves the interest of the United States and the region, including the Palestinians. ‘This is not easy stuff — to try to finally bring peace to the Middle East and to treat the Palestinian people with a kind of respect and dignity they deserve,’ he said. ‘Our policy cannot just be pro-Israel pro-Israel pro-Israel. It has got to be pro-region working with all of the people, all of the countries in that area.’”

“Multiple sources familiar with the debate told Al-Monitor that some Democratic leaders want to dilute the language in order to secure buy-in from Republicans, who have soured on the previously noncontroversial two-state solution in the Trump era. A senior Democratic aide told Al-Monitor that the ‘resolution is still being discussed and worked on,’ noting that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., wants to ‘ensure that the resolution is supported by the broadest number of people possible, including Republicans.’”