Prepared by Gabe Baldasare and Rachel Russell:
- On the morning of August 16, Israel conducted demolitions near Hebron and rendered approximately 70 Palestinians homeless http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772699
- Israeli troops stormed the eastern Hebron district of Jurat al-Kheil and forcibly removed Palestinian families from their homes
- Ziad Shalada, one of the homeowners, described how difficult it has been to obtain licences that prevent their land from being overtaken by the IDF
- The Israeli Civil Administration administers these licenses, but authorities often reject appeals with no explanation
- According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), Israel only approved 33 permits out of 2,020 applications between 2010 and 2014
- 168 homes were demolished in the first half of 2016, leaving 740 Palestinians homeless, and 125 homes were demolished in 2015, leaving 496 homeless
- Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) gave no comment
- On August 18, Jordan Olympian Ahmad Abughaush took the gold for taekwondo
- This was also considered a major victory for Palestine, as Abughaush also hails from Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem
- In the days following his win, however, Israeli media outlets began claiming him as Israeli rather than Palestinian http://www.jta.org/2016/08/19/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/palestinian-with-israeli-roots-wins-jordans-first-olympic-medal
- The Forward went as far as to call him a “Palestinian with Israeli Roots” http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/348129/palestinian-with-israeli-roots-wins-jordan-s-first-olympic-medal/
- There has also been an insincere reframing of Abu Ghosh as a city wherein “Jews and Arabs,” defined separately, live in harmony and set an example for how Israel and Palestine can coexist
- On September 9, Netanyahu asserted that a pre-condition for a Palestinian state according to Palestinian leaders amounted to an “ethnic cleansing” of Jews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8CUFSHB114
- Claimed that Israel is open to peace because of its “diversity” and frames Israeli resistance to Palestinian liberation as resistance to allegedly anti-Semitic policy
- State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau condemned the statement, as did other White House officials
- Meanwhile, Trump adviser David Friedman made an exclusive statement to Haaretz on September 11 detailing his support for it http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.741515
- Friedman denied that Palestinians had any indigenous claim to the land and that they are “refugees” that Israel would be forced to absorb
- Further aligning himself with Netanyahu’s statement, he claimed that Israel would ultimately become “Judenrein,” a Nazi term for “devoid of Jews”
Jewish Voice for Peace Triangle NC 