More than 300 Palestinians showed up at an Israeli military base in the West Bank recently, hoping they could win the lifting of security bans that prevent them for entering Israel. But they were also anxious. Talking in small groups, they recounted past experiences where some had been asked to spy on their neighbors in exchange for a permit — a gut-wrenching choice.
on April 30, 2018Bassem Tamimi’s voice sounded frail and exhausted when he answered the phone. He had been answering calls about his daughter’s arrest by Israeli Defense Forces for days, “They surrounded my home,” he told Yahoo News. “Between 3 and 4 a.m., they attacked the village.” His daughter, Ahed Tamimi, 16, was arrested last month in a pre-dawn raid on the family’s home. The arrest followed another video, posted to Facebook, of Tamimi protesting the Israeli occupation by slapping an Israeli soldier outside her house in Nabih Saleh.
on January 24, 2018President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel represents a major break with decades of U.S. foreign policy. It is a final, devastating blow to the prospect of a two-state solution for Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. The move involves, first, a contemptuous dismissal of Palestinians’ aspirations and rights, a denial of their claim to the city they consider their capital, where almost 400,000 of them live.
on December 7, 2017There is a small constituency in the United States that genuinely cares about the location of the American Embassy in Israel. Evangelicals and a right-wing, pro-Israel lobby were thrilled by President Trump's campaign promises to reverse decades of U.S. policy by recognizing a “united” Jerusalem as Israel's capital and shifting the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. At a speech on Wednesday, Trump is expected to outline his plans to do just that.
on December 6, 2017“You’re suspected of stealing a motorcycle,” one of the men told me as he beat me. Every time I tried to explain that I was the owner of the bike and that I was the one who had called the police, he would say, “Shut your mouth. I’ll screw you. Not a word!” As he continued to hit me, referring to me constantly as “Mohammed,” two other men began kicking me from the sidelines.
on August 18, 2017The policies of discrimination and displacement that Israel has implemented against Palestinians in the lands it has military occupied since the 1967 war are part of a larger program of dispossession of Palestinians dating to Israel’s establishment in 1948 and encompassing Palestinians citizens of Israel as well.
on June 8, 2017Today, there are approximately 650,000 settlers living on occupied Palestinian land in approximately 125 official settlements and more than 100 “outposts,” including approximately 300,000 in East Jerusalem and 350,000 in the rest of the West Bank.
on June 5, 2017In recent weeks, I have been paying particular attention to the arguments in favor of Zionism from those who call themselves progressive Zionists and call for a two-state solution, support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and express criticism of some of Israel’s policies and actions.
on March 29, 2017