From the windows of the grey, cube-shaped building that houses the US embassy in Tel Aviv, staff enjoy an undisturbed view out over the Mediterranean and a beach adorned in the summer with sunbeds and parasols.Most days the only evidence of activity is outside on the pavement: A queue of Israelis snake out of a side door, clutching their documents and watched over by Israeli soldiers as they wait expectantly for a US travel visa.
A group of US citizens and Palestinian nationals is suing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and key members of US President Donald Trump’s administration for perpetrating and enabling war crimes. Their lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, alleges a money laundering scheme that involves the US defendants raising charitable donations to send to Israeli government leaders.
Barely a week has passed and you’ve screwed things up, Donald Trump. The reason is simple: You didn’t consult Israel on how to deny entry into your country without rousing half the world against you. But when it comes to your other promise – actual expulsion – you still have time to consult us.
Ben Ehrenreich discusses and shares passages from his recent book, The Way to the Spring, which chronicles what he witnessed and experienced while living in the West Bank from 2011 to 2015. During that time, he lived in different cities of the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families, and writing major stories for American outlets including a cover story for The New York Times Magazine. He was also gathering material for this book, which places readers in the footsteps of Palestinians.
In this panel we look at the conditions of Israel’s hegemony to consider future prospects. Panelists analyze the continuing reality of Israeli military occupation and incursions into Gaza, illegal settlements, intensified domination of Jerusalem, and detentions of Palestinian children. Panelists include Dr. Thomas Abowd, Brad Parker, and Dr. Abdelhamid Siyam.
In this panel we look back at salient developments in the Middle East over the past century, from Sykes-Picot to the “Arab Spring and BDS, to see the deep impact they have had on Palestinian national aspirations. Panelists include Dr. Jenab Tutunji, Phyllis Bennis, Dima Khalidi, and Rami Khouri.
Gallery Al-Quds presented a new form of “virtual reality”—the reality of Palestine interpreted by artists in short and long-form videos and slide shows. Several Gaza artists have contributed films and images difficult for them to share outside its borders. Other artists created mini documentaries, metaphysical musings, hopeful fictions and painterly images of a reality that sometimes only they can see.
Members of the multimedia program at The Freedom Theatre of Jenin discuss the role of creative work as a means of resisting the Israeli occupation, and their work with the Theatre in introducing young Palestinians to a variety of artistic forms, including music, photography, filmmaking, and writing. They view these forms as necessary creative outlets in an environment that is often violent and oppressive.
By Jada Bullen and Marie Helmy
For almost two decades, Mohammed Abu Rajab and Rabah Odeh have been working in infrastructural development in the West Bank and Gaza as field staff for American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), which focuses on meeting the development and humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and refugee camps in Lebanon since 1968. On their recent trip to the United States to attend the annual ANERA dinner in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 7th 2016, Mr. Abu Rajab and Mr. Odeh were able to visit the Palestine Center.
Through educational events, humanitarian support, and cultural preservation, the Jerusalem Fund is helping build the movement for Palestinian liberation.
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