Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: February 27, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Israeli Settler Group Plans Zip Line Over East Jerusalem,

The Elad nonprofit group has just been awarded a permit for building the longest omega, or zip-line for children, in Israel. The installation will be 784 meters long, beginning at Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv promenade and ending at the Peace Forest in the Abu Tor neighborhood.

How Israel treats Palestinian detainees,

Israel often detains Palestinians and keeps them in custody for several days or weeks without meeting a lawyer.

Israeli justice minister's stealthy plan to annex the West Bank,

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is trying to erase the legal separation between Israeli settlers and Palestinians on the West Bank, which would amount to annexation of the occupied territory.

After Church of Holy Sepulchre shut, Jerusalem suspends church tax collections,

The Jerusalem municipality will suspend a controversial move to tax church-owned properties until a new government committee finds a solution to the issue, which has sparked angry protests from the churches, including the shuttering of Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday. The government will also suspend all pending legislation regarding church land until the committee examines the issue, the statement said.

Opinion: The Israeli Settlement Movement Is Failing,

“Despite decades of effort, the settlement movement in the West Bank has failed to become a deeply-rooted presence,” maintains Shaul Arieli.

Palestinian politics

Opinion: The end of the Netanyahu era is an unexpected gift to Mahmoud Abbas,

“The political uncertainty in Israel has made it impossible for Trump to put the blame for the mess on Abbas,” writes Menachem Klein.

Deposed Fatah strongman slams ‘fascist, corrupt’ PA,

Mohammad Dahlan, the ousted Gaza leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement, on Monday launched a scathing broadside on the Palestinian Authority leadership, saying it has become an “additional burden” on the people.

PLO: 3000 policemen dispatch to take control of Gaza,

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has called for the dispatch of 3,000 policemen from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, a senior PLO leader has told Anadolu Agency.

Palestinians call for clashes with IDF and settlers to protest US Jerusalem move,

Palestinian groups on Monday called on Palestinians to clash with IDF soldiers and settlers next Friday, as part of a “day of popular rage,” to protest the US administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the US embassy to the city.

Israeli politics

Knesset advances bill banning Breaking the Silence from Israeli schools,

The bill seeks to grant the education minister “the authority to prohibit individuals or organizations that are not part of the education system from engaging in activities within an education institution when the nature of the activity undermines the goals of the state education system or one that works to harm IDF soldiers who are a consensus in Israeli society.”

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Entire US Senate calls for Israel to be added to expedited screening program,

All 100 US senators have reportedly signed a letter calling on the administration to allow Israelis to participate in an accelerated screening travel program.

Gaza

Gaza hotel tiff highlights power struggle between Qatar and Egypt,

Senior Egyptian security officials who arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday were forced to search for new accommodation after discovering that a Qatari envoy was staying at the same hotel.