Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: March 1, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Long Overdue: Alternatives to the Paris Protocol,

If Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is serious about distancing himself from reliance on US mediation and from collaboration with Israel he should look seriously at alternatives to the Paris Economic Protocol – the parameters for the economic relationship between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) signed in 1994.

Military dictatorship requires dehumanization,

A top military official dubiously declares that a Palestinian teen shot in the head by Israeli soldiers actually just had a bicycle accident. Welcome to a new era of Palestinian dehumanization.

New video contradicts IDF narrative of killing in Jericho,

Israeli soldiers shot Yasin al-Saradih in Jericho after he tried to attack them, then the army kept changing its story about how he died. New video shows soldiers abusing and beating him well after he was shot, without treating him.

Israeli Cops Ordered to Pay 17-year-old Settler for Jailing Him Overnight,

The Judea and Samaria Police were ordered to pay 6,500 shekels ($1,869) to a 17-year-old settler who was kept in a lockup overnight and brought to court in handcuffs unnecessarily.

Opinion: The two-state solution is still the only game in town,

“Even after Donald Trump’s Jerusalem decision, there is no feasible alternative to the two-state solution in Palestine,” writes Arafat Shoukri.

#Occupation365: Photo blog,

B’Tselem publishes a photo essay illustrating the routine of occupation that is Palestinian daily reality.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

European countries said to demand changes to US peace plan,

The countries are acting at the request of the Palestinian Authority, which is demanding that the plan include a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and a recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, the London-based Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat reported Thursday.

6 things to watch for at the AIPAC policy conference,

AIPAC’s byword is bipartisanship and, as we reported this week, that’s a hard sell in the increasingly polarized Trump era. Still, AIPAC remains the preeminent pro-Israel lobby and its conferences have been a reliable weathervane of where U.S. Middle East policy is headed for the next six months. Here’s what to look out for.

Can Jared Kushner navigate Middle East peace without top secret clearance?,

Kushner, who along with being the son-in-law of President Donald Trump carries the titles of assistant to the president, senior adviser to the president and director of the Office of American Innovation, had his security clearance downgraded.

Palestinians plan their own event to mark US Embassy move,

The Palestinians might prefer an “alternative ceremony” to the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, instead of the usual rage days.

Israeli politics

How Benjamin Netanyahu enables anti-Semitism,

“Netanyahu’s purpose is the same as his anti-Semitic predecessors: to rally disparate groups behind his ethno-nationalist project by stoking fear and hatred of its political opponents,” writes Joshua Shanes.

Palestinian politics

Palestinians tell UN states: 'don't let settlers enter your country',

nited Nations member states should deny Israeli settlers entry to their countries, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the UN Human Rights Council at the opening of its 37th session in Geneva this week.

Hamas and Abbas rival discuss forming joint Gaza government,

Hamas was not ruling out the possibility of forming a “national salvation” government with deposed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, who is an archenemy of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas official was quoted on Thursday as saying.