On the Eve of the New Year: A Different & Dangerous Jerusalem
Collective punishment: From Sporadic to Systematic The emergence of a new policy towards Palestinians in East Jerusalem The period of the Jewish High Holidays is often a time of tensions in Jerusalem and, for the past two years, has been a time of intense violence and upheaval in East Jerusalem. With that season nearly upon […]
Breaking News: Government Actively Advancing E-2
As covered in detail over the weekend in the Israeli media, a lawsuit brought by the Peace Now movement revealed that the government of Israel is moving ahead full steam with plans for a new settlement comprising 2500 units, widely dubbed “E-2” (referred to as the Nahla plan and, by settlers, as “Givat Eitam”). The plan deals with […]
Tisha B’Av Incitement Re: The Temple Mount
The Tisha B’Av fast day, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, always brings the ever-tense situation on the Temple Mount to the brink of conflagration. This year was no different, with the day (starting at sundown on August 13 and ending at sundown on August 14) witnessing the well-established patterns of skirmishing, […]
Deepening the Occupation in East Jerusalem
In recent months, the focus of the world, when it comes to East Jerusalem, has been on urgent issues – like violence/clashes, home demolitions, etc. It is to this backdrop that the government of Israel has been quietly advancing two types of measures to increase its presence in the life of East Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents. […]
Back in the Headlines: Plans for 2500 Units South of Gilo
Last week, there were press reports concerning a new plan for the construction of large-scale construction in East Jerusalem, near the border between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, as part of an expansion of the settlement of Gilo. These press reports detail a private sector initiative, being promoted by Israeli developers, under a town plan drawn up […]
Israeli Govt: “The Mt of Olives will be Reinforced as a Visitors’ Site”
Israeli Govt: “The Mt of Olives will be Reinforced as a Visitors’ Site” This week, the Netanyahu government decided to start designing a plan for to develop the Mount of Olives as a major tourist site, “under the framework of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the unification of the city of Jerusalem.” Notably, this initiative is being […]
Ma’ale Adumim Annexation bill
In early July, a group of Knesset Members representing every party in the coalition signed onto and introduced legislation to annex the settlement of Maale Adumim to Israel. The bill enjoys the active support of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud). It is also supported by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home party). Supporters of the bill commissioned a poll which […]
Recent Spate of Settlement Announcements – details/analysis
During July 2016, there were several official Israeli government announcements related to the advancement of construction in East Jerusalem settlements. On 13 July 2016, the Jerusalem Municipality Planning and Construction Committee granted building permits for 90 new units in the settlement of Gilo. These permits pertain to four buildings, two of which will have 22 units each, […]
The Uptick in East Jerusalem Demolitions
The frequency and intensity of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and properties in East Jerusalem [as a separate issue from demolitions in the West Bank and especially in Area C] has been increasing in recent months, and reached even higher levels in July 2016 (with 20 structures demolished on July 26 alone, all for alleged building violations; […]
New housing units in Maale Adumim, Ramot; Har Homa and Beit Safafa
The past week saw a spate of terrorist attacks, both in the West Bank and inside Israel. Rather than responding with an announcement of any policies actually geared to stopping/preventing further violence, the Netanyahu government – predictably – exploited the attacks to announce new settlement approvals, both for the West Bank and East Jerusalem. All […]