On this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Kristin McCarthy is joined by Amy Cohen of Ir Amim to unpack the threat that land registration poses to Palestinians. Though land registration is a complex and bureaucratic process, Ir Amim characterizes it as one of (if not the) most pressing modes of dispossession facing Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Listen to understand why and how Israel is cynically exploiting land registration to grow settlements, expropriate more land, and push Palestinians out of the city.
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Recorded September 6, 2022
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Amy Cohen serves as the Director of International Relations and Advocacy for Ir Amim. She is the organization’s chief liaison to the international community concerning the geopolitical developments and status of human rights in Jerusalem; conducts policy advocacy with key stakeholders and decision-makers around the globe; and conveys Ir Amim’s expert analysis to policymakers, international media outlets, and think tanks. Prior to her position at Ir Amim, she worked at MASHAV- Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, a department within the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Over the course of her career, Amy has likewise engaged in programming and advocacy work on issues pertaining to asylum seekers, minority rights, gender equality, and socioeconomic development in various social change and aid organizations in Israel and abroad, including Care International.
Resources mentioned in this pod
Connect with Ir Amim:
- Subscribe to Ir Amim’s newsletter: https://www.ir-amim.org.il/en
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- Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IrAmimAlerts
Subscribe to FMEP’s weekly report on Israeli settlement activity – – > https://fmep.org/subscribe/
Ir Amim reports including information on settlement of title/land registration in East Jerusalem:
- “Strategic Bloc of Land Between East Jerusalem & Abu Dis Covertly Transferred into State Hands in Parallel to Completion of Land Registration” (August 2022)
- “Israel Initiates Land Registration Procedures In Sheikh Jarrah To Advance Jewish Settlement” (May 2021)
- Settlement of Land Title in East Jerusalem: A Means of Dispossessing Palestinians from their Lands and Homes (an overview)
- Interactive Map of Locations Undergoing Settlement of Land Title (recently released by Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights based on information collected together with Ir Amim)
- Advancement of New Settlement Plans in East Jerusalem Alongside Settlement of Land Title Procedures
- In a Dramatic Development, Israel Initiates Settlement of Land Title Procedure on Land Adjacent to Al Aqsa and Across Abu Thor
- Monitor Report on Implementation of Government Decision 3790: Land Registration
FMEP Reports on Land Registration:
- “Israel Set to Start Process of Land Registration in East Jerusalem” (November 2020)
- “Israeli Custodian General is Behind Six New Settlement Plans Across East Jerusalem” (December 2021)
- “Israel Advances Plan for New East Jerusalem Settlement, “Givat HaShaked”” (December 2021)
- “Straight from the Source: Regavim Explains Settler Agenda & 2020 Victories” (January 2021)
- “High Court Rules Against Ottoman Land Registration Laws, Paving Way for More Retroactive Legalizations and Presaging Ugly Land Registration Battle” (December 2020)
- “Israel Has Been Conducting a Secretive Land Registration Process in Sheikh Jarrah, Excluding Palestinians” (May 2021)
Bimkom report (2014): “Trapped By Planning: Isareli Policy, Planning and Development in the Palestinian Neighborhoods of East Jerusalem“