settlement expansion

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks at the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship at J Street's 2019 National Gala Dinner, October 28, 2019. (Photo courtesy of J Street)

J Street conference confronts America’s ‘blank check’ to Israel

By making U.S. aid to Israel the main theme of its 2019 conference, J Street is challenging bipartisan support for Israel ahead of 2020.

By Mairav Zonszein November 1, 2019

Israeli policemen scuffle with Palestinian demonstrators in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, on July 4, 2018. (Flash90)

For Israel, Khan al-Ahmar residents lack ‘good faith’ displayed by settlers

As far as Israel is concerned, the demolition and displacement of Palestinian communities cannot be prevented, because they lack the good intentions that seemingly only Jewish settlers have. By Sharona Weiss An interim injunction that prevented the demolition and eviction of the Jahalin Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar ends on September 12. Israel will then face the weighty choice…

By +972 Magazine September 11, 2018

An Israeli settler argues with Palestinians during a protest against a new tent placed by Jewish settlers near the West bank village of Bani Naem on June 23, 2018 (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90).

In advocating for a Palestinian state, Haaretz forgets about the Palestinians

According to Haaretz, all Israel has to do to maintain the relevance of the two-state solution is evacuate 9,800 Jewish families from the West Bank. How do the Palestinians factor into this vision? They do not. By Meron Rapoport The headline on the front page of last weekend’s Haaretz weekend magazine was a short one:…

By +972 Magazine August 20, 2018

Latest

A Muslim Palestinian worshipper headed to the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem walks by an Israeli soldier as she crosses the Qalandia checkpoint on August 05, 2011 (Miriam Alster/ Flash90).

Israeli, Palestinian support for two states hits record low

A new survey finds that fewer Jewish Israelis and Palestinians now support the two-state solution. And while support for armed struggle against the occupation has dropped, more Jewish Israelis now support a ‘definitive war’ against Palestinians. By Henriette Chacar Support for a two-state solution is at the lowest level among both Israelis and Palestinians in almost two decades,…

By Henriette Chacar August 13, 2018

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, November 1, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel increasingly defiant as the world loses interest in Palestine

From the prime minister down, the Israeli government has effectively dropped the charade that the occupation is temporary, or that it actually fears consequences for its intransigence. Israel’s leadership wants you to think it is worried about some bold move by President Barack Obama during his lame duck period between the November 8 U.S. elections and…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man November 1, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) visits the West Bank with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (L) and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizencot (center-right), October 6, 2015. (GPO/Amos Ben-Gershon)

The right-wing solution for the violence

The Israeli Right has offered up legislation to deal with stone throwing, supported new settlements, and at times even championed annexation. The result has only led to a worsening security situation. In the thick of a wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis are either looking backwards to figure out how we got here, or…

By Dahlia Scheindlin October 10, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House on September 13, 1993. (Vince Musi/The White House)

Oslo has become a tool for Israeli expansionism — it’s time to let go

The Oslo Accords have been manipulated for the unspoken goal of Jewish annexation of West Bank land. So long as both governments adhere to this failed system, they will be unable to pursue a real peace agreement. By Nathan Hersh The Oslo Accords are the banner accomplishment of the Israeli peace movement. But their impact on…

By +972 Magazine October 3, 2015

Israeli settler couple killed, and the band plays on

Our hearts are desensitized by horror fatigue, convinced that nothing can change. But we must still try, if not for the dead then for the living. A lifetime of sorrow lies before four children who became orphans last night when their parents were killed in a hailstorm of bullets on a West Bank road. The children were…

By Dahlia Scheindlin October 2, 2015

‘A consciousness free of occupation’: Bil’in marks 10 years of popular struggle

The village that managed to unite the world behind the spirit of nonviolent Palestinian protest marks not only a decade of tear gas, night raids and tragedy, but also of co-resistance and victories in its struggle against settlements, the separation barrier and the occupation. Anyone who has visited the West Bank village of Bil’in on…

By Haggai Matar February 26, 2015

Shimon Peres, John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan (World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell)

Israel won’t become part of the Middle East until the occupation ends

The chance of Israel’s re-admittance to the Middle East lies in its ability to show initiative, originality and flexibility of thought. Only by attempting sincerely to solve the Palestinian problem will it have a chance to become a public and recognized player. Prof. Elie Podeh A few months ago, former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni traveled…

By +972 Magazine January 26, 2015

Israeli mourners console each other during a memorial for the three murdered teens in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv. (photo: Activestills)

Our problem with selective sympathy for young victims

When our sympathy only reaches out to the children of one nation alone, we have condemned all of them to this atrocious cycle of violence. The news spread in a flash. After 18 days of tense waiting, the three bodies of the abducted Israeli boys were finally discovered, with their families’ worst fears realized. Gilad…

By Amjad Iraqi July 1, 2014

An Israeli settlement water tank stands near the Ibrahimi Mosque or Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Settlements as punishment prove Palestinian lives are bargaining chip

By using settlements as a punitive response to Palestinian political actions, Israel proves they come at the direct expense of Palestinian statehood, and that it holds all the power in this conflict. Here we go again. Palestinians do something Israel doesn’t approve of, and Israel retaliates by using its unchecked power and leverage to block…

By Mairav Zonszein June 6, 2014

Damage after a bomb exploded on an Israeli bus in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, December 22, 2013. A policewoman's eardrums were damaged in the attempted attack. (Photo: Israel Police)

‘Wave of Palestinian terror’? Not exactly

It’s pretty difficult to pinpoint anything resembling a starting point for the latest violence; prior to last week, Israeli forces killed 19 Palestinians since July, compared to four Israelis who were killed. The violence is neither unilateral nor arbitrary. The latest escalation between Israel and the Palestinians has taken lives on both sides over the…

By Dahlia Scheindlin December 26, 2013