New East Jerusalem “Park” Soon to get Final Approval
New East Jerusalem “Park” Soon to get Final Approval On January 27, 2012, Town Plan 12222 – creating the “Refaim Metropolitan Park” – was deposited for public review. Now that the 60-day public review period is complete, hearings on the plan will be conducted shortly, and subsequently the plan will be signed into law. The […]
New Settlement in Beit Hanina?
New Settlement in Beit Hanina? On March 29, 2012, Jerusalem settler impresario Aryeh King tweeted: “History! The Israel Land Fund went in today into the first jewish home in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem.The land zoned for 56 Apartments!” Later that day he tweeted: “History!If you want to participate in building Yerushalaim, you can save to yourself Apartment […]
Israeli High Court Rejects Shepherd’s Hotel Appeal
Israeli High Court Rejects Shepherd’s Hotel Appeal On April 2, 2012, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected an appeal by the Husseini family against the Shepherd’s Hotel being turned into a new settlement in East Jerusalem. The site was once the headquarters of Haj Amin al Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem during World War II, who […]
Will Arab & Muslim Leaders Start Coming to Jerusalem?
Will Arab & Muslim Leaders Start Coming to Jerusalem? A top headline from the recent Arab League International Conference on Jerusalem in Doha (or, as it was called in Arabic, the Conference on the Defense of Jerusalem) was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calling on Arab and Muslim leaders to visit Jerusalem. Doing so, he made clear, should […]
A Major East Jerusalem Settlement Plan Comes Back to Life
A Major East Jerusalem Settlement Plan Comes Back to Life On February 23rd a story broke in Maariv (Hebrew only, and subsequently in the Jerusalem Post) that the Jerusalem Municipality has begun the process to develop a huge area of land in East Jerusalem, located at the northern tip of the city and currently the site of the […]
Spotlight on Jewish Access to the Temple Mount
Spotlight on Jewish Access to the Temple Mount In recent months there has been a campaign by a number of Israeli right-wing groups and individuals, including Knesset members, to force the issue of Jewish access to the Temple Mount. The ostensible reason for this campaign is the controversy over the reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Mughrabi Gate, […]
East Jerusalem and the Imminent Demise of the Two-State Solution
Volatility in Silwan: Mini-Intifada Continues, Cave-Ins, and New Settler Plans
Volatility in Silwan: Mini-Intifada Continues, Cave-Ins, and New Settler Plans With international attention focused on Syria and Iran, and with Israeli attention focused on Iran, Gaza, the economy, and a range of other issues, the mini-Intifida in Silwan has once again been forgotten, as has the volatile situation caused by rampant tunneling and its inevitable […]
The Ongoing Settlement Surge in East Jerusalem
The Ongoing Settlement Surge in East Jerusalem The Israeli government is on an East Jerusalem settlement binge. The pace of approvals of new settlement plans has been so fast and so furious in recent weeks, that even the most experienced settlement watchers are having trouble tracking them. Context As we reportedly previously, from March until the […]
The Mughrabi Gate Saga – Update
The Mughrabi Gate Saga – Update As we reported previously, in early December 2011 Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat attempted (once again) to force the Netanyahu’s hand regarding the Mughrabi Gate, threatening this time not only to condemn the existing ramp but to institute legal proceedings against government officials for blocking him. All of this came […]