Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: January 23, 2018

What We’re Reading

FMEP Resources

Settlement Report: January 19, 2018,

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

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: January 19, 2018,

A weekly run-down of Middle East-related developments on Capitol Hill.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Timing of Trump peace plan depends on Palestinians: Pence,

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday the timing of a long-awaited U.S. Middle East peace initiative depends on the return of Palestinians to negotiations.

Palestinian Christians slam Pence’s pro-Israel faith,

Palestinian Christians say US Vice President Mike Pence’s brand of evangelical Christianity, with its fervent embrace of modern-day Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, lacks their faith’s compassion and justice, including for those who have lived under Israeli occupation for half a century.

In pictures: Palestinians protest Pence's visit with closed shops, empty streets,

At the behest of Fatah, Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank kept their shops closed on Tuesday to protest the US vice president’s trip to Israel.

Can Palestinians bear halt of US aid?,

Palestinians fear that halting UNRWA’s aid might be the beginning of a US-Israeli plan to settle the refugees affair.

Occupation/Human rights

Focus On: When Does It Become Apartheid?,

The Israeli right is poised to annex much or all of the West Bank while continuing to isolate Gaza. Is Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people apartheid? Al-Shabaka experts weigh in.

Holy City of Sterile Streets,

“If there’s an endpoint to the terrible logic of an occupation driven in part by a fanatical settler movement abetted by the state of Israel, that place is the historic center of Hebron. Once home to the souk and jewelry market, a bustling maze of commerce, it is now a stretch of apocalyptic real estate,” writes Roger Cohen.

EU ready to take ‘central role’ in peace process alongside US,

European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini is ready to take a “central role,” alongside the United States, expanding the international role in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians, she said on Monday, in Brussels.

[PDF] Internet Freedoms in Palestine: Mapping of Digital Rights Violations and Threats,

As internet freedoms are facing a global decline1 , Palestinians are no exception. This report aims to present an assessment of the current status of internet freedoms in the Palestinian Territories, through mapping recent developments in restrictions or violations of Palestinian rights on the internet by governments and private tech companies.

Israel, Palestine & the Middle East

Al-Qaeda calls for attacks on Jews and Americans 'everywhere' over Jerusalem,

A senior Al-Qaeda leader has called on Muslims “everywhere” to rise up and kill Jews and Americans in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Gaza

Israel’s Hamas dilemma,

Israel blames Hamas for the suffering faced by Gaza’s residents yet ignores its own contribution to the suffering caused by years of closure.