The iconic golden dome of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque, located on the Temple Mount or Haram el-Sharif, is the third holiest site in Islam and is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of the city of Jerusalem. Yet, this ancient site that dates back to the year 705 C.E. is…
Israel has controlled East Jerusalem and the walled Old City since the 1967 war in which it also occupied the adjacent West Bank. It has effectively treated them as annexed territory ever since. To consolidate its grip on the Old City, it has demolished homes and expelled Palestinian residents, empowered Jewish settlers, and imposed sweeping…
When Israeli prime ministers are in trouble, facing difficult elections or a corruption scandal, the temptation has typically been for them to unleash a military operation to bolster their standing. In recent years, Gaza has served as a favourite punching bag. Benjamin Netanyahu is confronting both difficulties at once: a second round of elections in…
A state of de facto annexation already exists on the ground in most of the occupied West Bank. Almost two-thirds of the Palestinian territory, including most of its most fertile and resource-rich land, is under full Israeli control. About 400,000 Jewish settlers living there enjoy the full rights and privileges of Israeli citizens. At least 60…
The White House’s prolonged financial bullying of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinians’ government-in-waiting, has reached the point where there are now credible warnings that it is close to collapse. The crisis has offered critics further proof of the administration’s seemingly chaotic, often self-sabotaging approach to foreign policy matters. Meanwhile, US officials charged with resolving…
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East peace negotiator, Jared Kushner, doesn’t give many interviews – so when he does, the media is not only riveted, but poised to pounce. And pounce certain segments of the US media did, after Kushner’s HBO Axios interview on 2 June. Slate published a piece under the headline:…
