Ateret Cohanim

The lower boundary of Batan al-Hawa, with a view of the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Silwan, East Jerusalem, October 28, 2025. (Omri Eran-Vardi)

In the shadow of Al-Aqsa, a Palestinian neighborhood faces mass evictions

Backed by the Israeli state and courts, settlers are taking over multi-story homes in East Jerusalem’s Batan Al-Hawa — with 700 more residents targeted.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman and Charlotte Ritz-Jack November 11, 2025

Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis march from Silwan in East Jerusalem to the Prime Minister's Residence, February 6, 2021. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Can Silwan’s rekindled protests beat back Israel’s eviction threats?

With little hope that the courts will stop the settlers' eviction campaign, one Palestinian activist feels energized by the Israelis joining the neighborhood's struggle.

By Oren Ziv March 1, 2021

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen with his wife Sara and their son Yair, celebrating the Prime Minister's 64th birthday, October 20, 2013. (Kobi Gideon/GPO

How the Israeli Right succeeds at making itself the victim

From prostituting women to befriending anti-Semites, the Israeli Right has reached a level in which revealing its transgressions only evokes wonderment among its supporters. By Almog Behar We are in the historical stage of the ideological Right, in which every single detail, which would have previously embarrassed the right wing, now only strengthens it. The most…

By +972 Magazine January 12, 2018

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The Kirsh family is seen after being evicted from their home in Jerusalem's Old City by a settlement organization. (OCHA)

Police evict Palestinian family in East Jerusalem

Settler organization Ateret Cohanim has been gradually kicking out every single member of the Kirsh family from their homes since 2010. By Yael Marom Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from their home in Jerusalem’s Old City earlier this week, at the height of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The nine-member Kirsh family, which includes…

By +972 Magazine September 16, 2016

Screenshot of Israelis taking over an empty home in Hebron.

WATCH: Ever wonder what a ‘settler takeover’ looks like?

Dozens of Israeli settlers with crowbars descend on two homes in the old city of Hebron. Israeli authorities remove them a day later. The phrase “settler takeover” is used fairly often by the international media to discuss a common occurrence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. But rarely do the cameras actually capture just…

By Edo Konrad January 22, 2016

A Palestinian man cleans the scene where a Palestinian woman allegedly tried to stabbed an Israeli man, following which she was shot to death, Jerusalem's Old City, October 7, 2015. (photo: Faiz Abu Rmeleh)

Why one Jerusalem street has seen so many stabbings

For Israel and settler organizations, creating a Jewish identity and presence on the access road to the Western Wall is crucial. Palestinians, on the other hand, view it as a dangerous provocation. By Yonathan Mizrachi The many stabbings in Jerusalem’s Old City in recent weeks have taken place in one precise location: Ha-Gai Street, or…

By +972 Magazine October 11, 2015

The Old City of Jerusalem, September 26, 2014. (Photo by Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

East Jerusalem streets given Hebrew names amid tensions

The city council pours oil on the fire by approving Hebrew street names in Palestinian neighborhoods as tensions run high. The move is part and parcel of efforts to ‘Judaize’ the eastern half of the city, which Palestine claims as its future capital. With all eyes on Jerusalem as tensions in the city continue to…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth September 21, 2015

Women from the Sub Lahan family sit in their family home, Old City of Jerusalem. (photo: Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)

Palestinian family under threat of eviction by settlers

The Sub Laban family has been living in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City for over 60 years. Now, a right-wing settler group is trying to expel them, with the full support of the state. By Aviv Tatarsky The State of Israel has been trying to expel the Sub Laban family from their home in…

By +972 Magazine March 21, 2015

Israeli policemen enter the the Hayat family house in Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem after Israeli settlers took over an apartment in the building, September 30, 2014. Israeli settlers took over seven homes in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem Tuesday morning.

Nine more Jewish families take over Silwan homes in dead of night

If settling Jews beyond the Green Line in Palestinian East Jerusalem is legitimate, why are organizations sneaking in settlers in the middle of the night? Nine Jewish Israeli families took over two empty buildings in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem overnight Sunday. According to the NGO Ir Amim, the families took control…

By Mairav Zonszein October 20, 2014

The “Religiousization” of the conflict in Jerusalem

By Mairav Zonszein and Aziz Abu Sarah Crossposted from commongroundnews.org Jerusalem – Jerusalem, home to Christianity, Judaism and Islam – and highly significant to Palestinians and Israelis alike – continues to be a crucial focal point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Holy Basin in Jerusalem is home to some of the most sacred sites to…

By Mairav Zonszein January 20, 2011

Shepherd Hotel demolished, to be replaced by settlement

Bulldozers razed a big chunk of the Shepherd Hotel in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah early morning Sunday to make way for a new residential complex for Jews (a.k.a settlement). The Shepherd Hotel was owned by Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini until 1967, when Israel expropriated it under the Absentee Property Law (Read…

By Mairav Zonszein January 9, 2011