Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: September 18, 2018

What We’re Reading

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Opinion: The U.S. Can’t Punish the Palestinians Into Negotiating ,

“Diplomacy is generally about preserving options, not foreclosing them. The extinction of hopes for Palestinian independence will generate future trouble,” write Dana H. Allin and Steven Simon. “This is the problem with mistaking punishment for statecraft.”

Bereaved mother: Trump's aid cuts kill hope,

“It is heartbreaking to think that Trump will halt the last civil aid for NGOs operating on both sides of the border,” said Robbie Damelin, a bereaved mother who lost her son, David, when a Palestinian sniper shot him while guarding a checkpoint near the settlement of Ofra while doing reserve duty in 2002 during the second Intifada.

Occupation/Human rights

Mapping Segregation: Google Maps and the Human Rights of Palestinians,

In a context where land and ownership are highly contentious and inherently political, Google holds immense power as the largest source of digital geographic data in the world, to shape and legitimize certain interpretations of the physical world and the politics that underpin it.

Despite Mother's Warning, Israel to Demolish Family Home of West Bank Terrorist,

Despite Jabarin’s mother alerting Palestinian and Israeli security forces of her son’s intentions prior to the attack.

Israeli Culture Minister Pushes to Nix Funding for Festival Featuring Films That 'Undermine Our Values',

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev (Likud) has asked Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to reexamine government funding for the Haifa film festival, raising objections to two movies scheduled to be shown at the event.

Palestinian Dies in West Bank After Arrest, Israeli Army Denies Claim He Was Beaten to Death,

Israeli soldiers caused the death of a Palestinian man after beating him during his arrest Monday overnight in the West Bank, the Palestinian’s family claimed Tuesday.

No justice for Bil'in Palestinian activist shot dead by Israeli soldier,

Bassem Abu Rahmeh was killed by a tear gas canister fired directly at his chest at a nonviolent protest in Bil’in. Nearly a decade after the Palestinian activists’ death, a High Court decision confirms that the state will not prosecute or punish the killer.

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza,

Two Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza border, the besieged enclave’s health ministry has said, with Israel saying they had planted a suspicious object next to the border fence.

Israeli politics

Demands to sacrifice Yom Kippur scapegoat on Temple Mount rejected,

“The time has come that the Jewish people adds deeds to its prayers… The era of prayers by themselves and actions by themselves has ended.”