Welcome to +972’s Sunday Recap!

Since Aug. 9, Israeli settlers have been besieging a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Qusra in an effort to seize their home. For Local Call’s Oren Ziv, who reported from the siege, the army’s unwillingness to stop them tells the whole story.

Tawfiq Da’adli wrote about the Mamilla Cemetery in Jerusalem, where an entire heritage is being erased. After the Museum of Tolerance was built atop the cemetery, Israeli authorities are now planning to renovate an ancient pool — and are more concerned about disturbing toads than centuries-old Muslim graves (originally published on Local Call).

Israel’s Education Ministry has been secretly surveilling its teachers online, searching not only for expressions that could constitute “incitement to terrorism,” but any political statements opposing the Israeli government. As Gil Gertel detailed, it’s no surprise that 3 out of every 4 teachers targeted are Arab (originally published on Local Call).

In March, Said Alsaloul founded “Gaza English Corner,” a community for Palestinians across the Strip to meet and practice their language skills. But it’s become something larger: a place to connect, grieve, and feel human again, as they stitch their future back together one English word at a time.

Arms sales to Israel are slowing, but as Sahar Vardi argued, that’s only half the story: By continuing to purchase weapons from Israel, foreign states are sustaining the infrastructure, expertise, and financing it needs to wage its next war.

And on the latest episode of The +972 Podcast, Amos Brison spoke with Noa Sattath, executive director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), who reflected on four years of far-right rule and the paradox of defending democratic institutions in an apartheid state. 

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