News Roundup for July 2, 2021

July 2, 2021

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J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.

J Stream

Wednesday July 7 at 12:00pm Eastern: The Realities of the Israeli Occupation: A Deep Dive into Creeping, De Facto Annexation

 

J Street in the News

J Street Welcomes Robust Aid & New Accountability Provisions in Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, J Street
J Street applauds the House Appropriations Committee’s approval of the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill that ensures robust assistance to Israel and the Palestinian people, as well as critical US funding for multilateral organizations and diplomacy worldwide.

Top News and Analysis

A Razed Building and Another Possible Flash Point in East Jerusalem, Foreign Policy
One of the last times Israelis clashed with Palestinians in Jerusalem, it led to a war with Gaza and the deaths of hundreds of people. That was in May, when Jewish settlers sought to expel Palestinians from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and, later, when police stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque. Now, the flash point appears to have moved to Al-Bustan, another neighborhood of East Jerusalem, where the spark isn’t an ownership dispute—as it was in Sheikh Jarrah—but a different long-festering issue: Israel’s policy of denying most building permits to Palestinians.

Israel’s Coalition Government Agrees to Temporarily Evacuate Divisive West Bank Settlement, Wall Street Journal
Israel’s new government reached a deal with leaders of an unauthorized settlement in the occupied West Bank that would see them evacuate the site, a temporary solution for an issue that has sharply divided the country’s ruling coalition. Around 50 Jewish families built trailer-sized homes of concrete blocks and metal-sheet roofs on the hilltop outpost in Evyatar starting in May, sparking daily protests by local Palestinians who claim the land.

Palestinian activist calls on Biden to challenge Abbas, Axios
The Biden administration needs to put more pressure on the Palestinian Authority over its human rights abuses and anti-democratic steps, prominent Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro told me in an interview. “Palestinian Authority officials say internally that they are protected by the U.S. so they can do whatever they want. They feel nobody will try to hold them accountable and nobody will demand them to take steps toward reform and democracy,” Amro told me.

News

Israeli troops put AP photographer in danger during clashes, AP
Israeli soldiers held an Associated Press photographer against his will during clashes in the occupied West Bank earlier this week, in a spot where Palestinian protesters were hurling stones and the troops were firing tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. The Israeli military said the photographer interfered with an operation and was detained after ignoring soldiers’ requests to move. It said soldiers moved him behind a barrier to protect him from stones being thrown by the demonstrators.

For This Congressman, Support for the Palestinians Is Rooted in His Blackness, Haaretz
‘I will always speak out in defense of the Jewish community but will also unapologetically speak out for my Palestinian brothers,’ says Indiana Rep. Andre Carson, one of four Muslims ever elected to Congress

Iran nuclear talks seen as best chance to free US detainees, The Hill
Advocates seeking the release of four Americans detained in Iran are growing increasingly concerned that failure to reach an agreement on rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal will squander the best chance for them to return home. Biden administration officials stress that their work to free the Americans is separate from the talks to rejoin the Obama-era nuclear deal, but the meetings in Vienna nonetheless present a major opportunity to push firmly for their release.

Israeli Army Strikes Hamas Weapons Manufacturing Site Over Incendiary Balloons, Haaretz
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hamas weapons manufacturing site in Gaza in the early hours of Friday in response to the launch of explosive-laden balloons from the enclave into Israeli territory.

Israeli military’s TikTok attempt to make propaganda cool, Al Jazeera
Israeli military uses pop music, trendy hashtags and interactive games to convey its messages to over 100,000 followers.

Opinion and Analysis

Jewish parties ‘compromise’ against Palestinians and call it democracy, +972 Magazine
Orly Noy writes, “Negotiations over a settlement outpost and a racist law show that Zionist parties of all stripes will find common ground to deny Palestinian rights.”

The Stolen Childhood of Palestinian Kids, Haaretz
Galia Oz writes, “Sujoud is 12, and she tells the camera, matter-of-factly, about a man who approached her and her friends in a threatening manner as they walked to school in the adjacent village of A-Tuwani, in the West Bank South Hebron Hills. When she was 6, she suffered head injuries when she was assaulted by masked men. When asked if she still thinks about what happened then, she replies: Sometimes. Not always.”

The law tearing Palestinian families apart, +972 Magazine
Samah Salaime writes, “The controversial Citizenship Law is supposedly about maintaining Israel’s security. In reality, it’s a tool to engineer Israel’s population.”