East Jerusalem

A pamphlet from students at the University of Applied Arts Vienna calling to boycott Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, which forms part of the exhibition "The Splinter" at Bezalel, Jerusalem. (Hadas Hay)

Can an exhibition be ‘explicitly political’ at Israel’s preeminent art school?

‘The Splinter’ at Bezalel Academy was born out of calls to boycott the institution. The result was a fraught collaboration between student unions.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman July 9, 2026

Israeli right-wing activists celebrate Jerusalem Day at the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City, May 14, 2026. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

At Jerusalem’s Flag March, Ben Gvir’s Israel was on full display

On a rampage through the Old City, Jewish supremacists celebrated the occupation with racist chants — as settlers put their words into action.

By Oren Ziv and Charlotte Ritz-Jack May 15, 2026

Fakhri Abu Diab, beside the rubble of his house that the Jerusalem Municipality demolished in 2024, Al-Bustan, Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh)

In East Jerusalem, ‘a whole Palestinian community is about to be expelled’

Israel is forcing out Al-Bustan’s 1,500 residents to build a biblical theme park. To avoid paying huge fines, families are demolishing their own homes.

By Shatha Yaish May 1, 2026

Latest

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

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference announcing his plans to approve more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, August 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

As the world recognizes a Palestinian state, Israel’s E1 plan moves to bury it

The long-frozen settlement project would sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank, fragment Palestinian communities, and advance permanent annexation.

By Shatha Yaish September 12, 2025

Palestinian students at an UNRWA school in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israel claims to care about Palestinian students — so it shuts down their schools

The Education Ministry ordered UNRWA-run schools in East Jerusalem to close, citing ‘student welfare.’ 800 may lose their classrooms this month.

By Gil Gertel May 6, 2025

Salah Diab in his home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, March 4, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

He led the fight to save Sheikh Jarrah for 15 years. Now he faces his own eviction

After more than a decade of legal battles, an Israeli court ruled that settlers can take over Salah Diab's lifelong home. But he refuses to give up fighting.

By Oren Ziv March 14, 2025

Israeli forces destroy a building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Feb. 20, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem hit new record

In 2024, Israel destroyed 181 homes and approved the fewest Palestinian building plans in a decade, while greenlighting thousands of settlement units.

By Georgia Gee and Dikla Taylor-Sheinman March 6, 2025

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, meets with internally displaced people in Rafah during his visit to the Gaza Strip, Dec. 12, 2023 (UNRWA Photo)

‘If UNRWA implodes tomorrow, there’d be no alternative’

Still functioning despite Israel's ban, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini explains how the agency is laying the groundwork for future Palestinian institutions.

By Ghousoon Bisharat and Meron Rapoport February 27, 2025

Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna appear in court after their arrest during an Israeli police raid of their Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, Feb. 10, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

The day Israel came for the booksellers

With a Palestinian coloring book as proof of 'incitement,' Israeli police raided East Jerusalem's world-famous Educational Bookshop and arrested its owners.

By Oren Ziv February 11, 2025

Israeli security forces destroy a house in Silwan, February 14, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Under cover of war, Israel is demolishing home after home in Silwan

The government has accelerated plans to depopulate the East Jerusalem neighborhood, displacing dozens of Palestinian residents this year.

By Jessica Buxbaum September 6, 2024

Mourners attend the funeral of four Palestinians killed by Israeli drone strikes in the Nur Shams refugee camp, Tulkarm, occupied West Bank, March 21, 2024. (Wahaj Bani Moufleh/Activestills)

From the river to the sea, Israel is waging the same war

The Gaza assault cannot be understood separately from Israel’s divide-and-conquer strategy against Palestinians in Jenin, Jerusalem, and Nazareth.

By Orly Noy April 26, 2024

Fatma Salem speaks during a solidarity gathering in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem. (Yahel Gazit)

‘A gentle, powerful light’: Honoring a symbol of Sheikh Jarrah’s steadfastness

Fatma Salem died with the threat of settler takeover still hanging over her family. But she never cowered to the forces that sought to displace her.

By Yahel Gazit January 12, 2024