Jerusalem

Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem, holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jews, is a flashpoint of the Israel-Palestine conflict and its future is one of the most contentious issues to be resolved under any peace agreement. Although the eastern half (including the Old City) has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, Palestinians regard Jerusalem—Al-Quds in Arabic—as their capital. Despite the fact that most Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are banned by Israeli military order from accessing the city, Jerusalem remains a powerful focal point and symbol of Palestinian culture.

Quick Facts: The Palestinian Nakba (“Catastrophe”) Fact Sheets
IMEU

Quick Facts: The Palestinian Nakba (“Catastrophe”)

The Palestinian “Nakba” (“catastrophe” in Arabic) refers to the mass expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from British Mandate Palestine during Israel’s creation (1947-49). The Nakba was not an unintended result of war. It was a deliberate and systematic act necessary for the creation of a Jewish majority state in historic Palestine, which was overwhelmingly Arab prior to 1948.

on April 5, 2023
Fact Sheet: Meet Israel’s New Government Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: Meet Israel’s New Government

on June 15, 2021
Palestinians Have No Choice but to Continue the Struggle
Noura Erakat, The Washington Post

Palestinians Have No Choice but to Continue the Struggle

Over the past month and a half, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have taken part in a series of weekly protests called the Great Return March, culminating Tuesday with Nakba Day, when Palestinians mark their mass expulsion during Israel’s establishment in 1948.

on May 16, 2018
Israel Kills Dozens at Gaza Border as U.S. Embassy Opens in Jerusalem
David M. Halbfinger, Isabel Kershner and Declan Walsh, New York Times

Israel Kills Dozens at Gaza Border as U.S. Embassy Opens in Jerusalem

More than 2,700 Palestinian demonstrators were injured on Monday — at least 1,350 by gunfire — along the border fence with Gaza, the Health Ministry reported. The mass protests began on March 30 and had already left dozens dead.

on May 15, 2018
I Helped Start the Gaza Protests. I Don’t Regret It.
Ahmed Abu Ratima, New York Times

I Helped Start the Gaza Protests. I Don’t Regret It.

The seed that grew into Gaza’s Great Return March was planted Dec. 9, just a few days after President Trump announced he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Palestinians long have held onto the dream of Jerusalem as our own capital, or at least as a shared capital in a country that offers equal rights to everyone.

on May 14, 2018
Quick Facts: Jerusalem Fact Sheets

Quick Facts: Jerusalem

Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, the United Nations and international community have not recognized the sovereignty of any country to any part of Jerusalem in the absence of a permanent peace agreement in the region.

on May 4, 2018
Mourning Arabs Fly Palestinian Flags as Israel Marks Independence Day
Stephen Farrell, Ayat Basma, Reuters

Mourning Arabs Fly Palestinian Flags as Israel Marks Independence Day

In a field south of Haifa, near an Arab village that was depopulated and abandoned in 1948, children read the lyrics of nationalist anthems from their iPhones, while their elders sat beneath awnings, listening to dignitarites and musicians.

on April 19, 2018
Israel Celebrates Its Independence, We Mourn Our Loss
Ayman Odeh, New York Times

Israel Celebrates Its Independence, We Mourn Our Loss

Seventy years ago, the world changed around my family. The establishment of the state of Israel represented self-determination for Jews, but a catastrophe — “nakba” in Arabic — for Palestinians. In the area around the Mediterranean city of Haifa, where my family has lived for six generations, only 2,000 Palestinians of a population of 70,000 remained.

on April 18, 2018
I Am American, Jewish and Banned from Israel for My Activism
Medea Benjamin, The Guardian

I Am American, Jewish and Banned from Israel for My Activism

This month, the Israeli government announced that activists affiliated with 20 organizations, including my organization Codepink, would be banned from entering Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories because of our support for the nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights. As a Jew, this causes me tremendous sadness because I have a lifetime attachment to Israel and Palestine.

on January 15, 2018