Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: August 21, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

In advocating for a Palestinian state, Haaretz forgets about the Palestinians,

“According to Haaretz, all Israel has to do to maintain the relevance of the two-state solution is evacuate 9,800 Jewish families from the West Bank. How do the Palestinians factor into this vision? They do not.”

I’m One of the Young People Who Walked Off Birthright Israel This Summer,

“Here’s why I chose to leave the trip.”

In first, IDF opens investigations into pair of deaths in Gaza border clashes,

For the first time since weekly Gaza border protests began four months ago, the IDF announced Tuesday that it would be opening investigations into the deaths of two Palestinians killed during clashes with Israeli forces.

Fighting the double standard: Palestinians file case to demolish illegal settlement homes,

Two Ramallah-area Palestinian villages — Deir Dibwan and Anata — have filed a case in the Israeli High Court, asking Israeli authorities to demolish illegal structures in the Israeli settlement of Kfar Adumim — the same settlement which has ceaselessly pushed for the state’s decision to demolish Khan al-Ahmar.

West Bank University Illegally Moved Construction Debris to Site That May Belong to Palestinians,

Tons of construction debris have been removed from a building site at Ariel University to a site near the campus that is not state land, and may be private Palestinian land, according to information obtained by Haaretz. Some of the area has been leveled and turned into a parking lot for the university.

After decade building freeze, flagship settlement to grow by 65%,

After roughly a decade without new housing construction, the [settlement] of Beit El is about increase in size by as much as 65%, with the construction of a new neighborhood promised as compensation for the demolition of 30 housing units six years ago.

Israel Sentences Ahed Tamimi's Brother to 14 Months in Prison for Throwing Stones at Border Police,

An Israeli military court in the southern West Bank sentenced Waed Tamimi, the brother of the high-profile former Palestinian prisoner Ahed Tamimi, to 14 months in prison on Monday for throwing stones at Israeli border police in an incident last year and another one the year before.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

No Arab Leader Will Be Able to Accept Trump's Peace Plan, ex-Jordanian FM Says,

A former Jordanian foreign minister says his country should cut all its ties with Israel in response to the peace plan the Trump administration is expected to unveil in the near future.

How Did A Youth Group Rabbi Become David Friedman’s Top Aide At Embassy In Israel?,

The choice underscores Friedman’s and the rest of the Trump administration’s unprecedented, unequivocal support for the current Israeli government and their frequent decisions to draw advisers on Israel policy from a narrow pool of Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers, even when those people lack traditional credentials and experience.

Palestinian politics

Abbas’s son said to tell US envoy he supports one-state formula,

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s sons told a top Trump official that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unrealistic, during a meeting nearly a year ago.

Israel-Hamas talks isolate Abbas,

“Israel negotiates with Hamas, despite its ideology of destroying the Jewish state, while ignoring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, its only security partner against terror.”

Israeli politics

`Israeli right exchanges barbs as contacts with Hamas progress,

The negotiations between Israel and Hamas are sparking a fierce political debate among the Israeli right.