Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump
Author Khaled Elgindy presents his new book which discusses a critical political history of US-Palestinian relations.
settlements
At least 206 companies have ties to illegal Israeli settlements: UN report
The United Nations human rights office said on Wednesday it has identified 206 companies doing business linked to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where it said violations against Palestinians are “pervasive and devastating”. “Businesses play a central role in furthering the establishment, maintenance and expansion of Israeli settlements,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report said.
The Palestinians: History, Agency, and Future Prospects
Panel I: Legacies of the British Mandate and the Changing U.S. Role in the Conflicts of the Middle East; Keynote Address: Ambassador Riyad Mansour; Panel II: Living with Israel’s Hegemony
Settlements and Occupation: The Case of Hebron and Beyond
Internationally renowned Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro talks about his work as the coordinator of Youth Against Settlements (YAS), a Hebron-based organization that documents human rights abuses and encourages the local families to resist nonviolently and remain steadfast in their homes despite severe freedom of movement restrictions and ongoing attacks by settlers and soldiers.
Summer Film Series: “Roshmia” by Salim Abu Jabal
The film follows an elderly couple, Yousef and Amna, in their final stand-off with Israeli authorities to keep their rustic home, a shack in the Roshmia valley in Haifa. A friend encourages them to leave and works to secure municipal compensation for the couple, but tensions grow between Yousef, who refuses to leave his home, and Amna, who seeks to move on.
The West Bank Village of Wadi Foquin: Trying to Survive
By Zeina Azzam
The bucolic Palestinian village of Wadi Foquin, nestled in a lush valley on the West Bank, is known for its fruits and vegetables, honey, olive trees, and natural springs. Situated near the green line with Israel, it lies five miles southwest of Bethlehem. Wadi Foquin is also a village fighting for its very existence.
Soccer and settlements
As soccer grows in popularity in the U.S. and more fields sprout up around the country, in some places in the world building a field is not just about love of soccer, but about freedom. Such is the situation in Wadi Foquin, a small agricultural village in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories. The village council of Wadi Foquin began construction on a soccer field in the summer of 2015 to accompany a newly built park providing recreational space for their children, youth, and families.
Israel’s expanding West Bank settlement bloc condemned
The U.S. State Department on Friday condemned Israel’s decision to expand the boundary of an existing West Bank settlement bloc, saying it hinders attempts to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Israel’s defense ministry in late December added a compound in the West Bank to the jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion regional council, near Jerusalem.
Palestine’s lost present: A journey in the Jordan Valley
Although the 1994 Oslo Agreement allocated the Jordan Valley for a future Palestinian state, 93.4 percent of the land is in Israeli control, part of Area C. On that land, there are now close to 40 Israeli settlements, deemed illegal under international law, which use twice the amount of arable land available to the Palestinians.
