IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE
ON THIS PAGE:
• One Village, The West Bank's Survival
• Entry Denied: The BDS Blacklist
• Defectors from Birthright Trips
• African Asylum Seekers
• Settlements Surge; Annexation Coming?
OneVillage, The West Bank's Survival
For much of 2018, the village of Khan al-Ahmar, home to roughly 200 Palestinian Bedouins, was under imminent threat of demolition and forcible displacement by Israeli authorities. Israel wants to remove Khan al-Ahmar to fulfill its development plan for area "E-1," thereby connecting the huge Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim to East Jerusalem and cutting through most of the West Bank. The already illegal Separation Wall would then be greatly extended to go around this entire bloc (see the dotted red line in map).
ABOUT OUR NEWS SOURCES
The articles we include in our lists to 'Read More' – in our newsletters and on our website – are provided as an informational service for our readers, and the views expressed may or may not be shared by UMKR.
Some selections may be repetitive;because some periodicals have paywalls, we provide a variety of sources in the hope that every reader will find some of them accessible, with or without a subscription.
Defectors from Birthright Trips
Birthright Israel is a program in its 20th year, which brings Jewish young adults on free trips to Israel for an overwhelmingly pro-Zionism, anti- or non-Palestinian perspective on "their homeland." Birthright hosted thousands of trips in 2018 and most went smoothly. But three trips ran into trouble with participants who wanted more information about what is happening to the Palestinian people. They had been informed of things to look for and ask about, by the US group IfNotNow, prior to leaving the U.S.
When some tour participants tried to engage their tour guides in discussion of the Israeli occupation, they were met with denial and hostility. Some were were made to leave the trip; others chose to do so. They then joined activities with such Israeli groups as Breaking the Silence and Peace Now, and reported on their experiences in the U.S. press. One of the Birthright deserters stated, "It is morally irresponsible to participate in an institution that is not willing to grapple with reality on the other side of the [Separation] Wall."
This trend dubbed "Birthright exodus" is small now, but it is a hopeful sign that young adult Jews in the US are aware of the injustices done to the Palestinians and are not accepting verbatim what they've been told about Israel. Organizations like IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace are mobilizing this younger generation of American Jews and providing a much-needed voice to counter those old-school Jewish organizations of the Israel Lobby that too often claim, erroneously, to speak for the US Jewish community.
READ MORE
LA Times: Young American Jews walked off their Birthright tour of Israel The protest sparked a debate at home The Nation: I'm One of the Young People Who Walked Off Birthright Israel This Summer Palestine Home: "Birthright Exodus" is a sign of hope Forward: I Was Kicked Off Birthright For Asking Questions About The Occupation Forward: Walking Out on Birthright Was the Right Thing To Do
Prime Minister Netanyahu's government has attempted to negotiate a means of fulfilling Israel's reprehensible plans for this land. Villagers have been offered two other locations, one next to a garbage dump, the other next to a sewage plant. It would be the third time this Bedouin tribe has been forced to move – first from the Negev desert within Israel from which they were expelled decades ago, and then from the West Bank area that now houses the illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Adumim.
The village includes over 150 structures: a clinic, a mosque, many homes, and a school built with European aid that also serves 1,400 people in neighboring villages. There are many other Bedouin communities in the Negev, with over 200,000 inhabitants, that are also threatened with destruction. But the Israeli High Court has ordered the destruction of this one, and its location in area E-1 is particularly significant. Khan al-Ahmar has become a symbol of Israel's battle for ultimate control over Area C, 62% of the West Bank over which Israel was given control – ostensibly temporarily – in the Oslo Accords. The West Bank is still occupied territory under international law, and forcibly evicting an occupied population is illegal.
Khan al-Ahmar reappeared in the media numerous times throughout the year, as Israel continually stepped up plans for its demolition, only to retreat under pressure from the International Court of Justice (ICC) and foreign powers. Even members of the U.S. Congress spoke out for this endangered community (see story below). Village leaders have declared their people's determination to stay where they now live and to return and rebuild if their community is destroyed. Every time that Israel has ramped up its demolition plans, activists from across Israel/Palestine and abroad have gathered to stand down bulldozers and the Israeli military (photo).
16 Christian denominations and organizations issued a statement opposing the destruction of Khan al-Ahmar and UMKR issued an Action Alert, in July 2018. It is likely the fate of Khan al-Ahmar will again demand our attention and activist intervention in 2019.
READ MORE
NY Times: As Israel Pushes to Build, Bedouin Homes and School Face Demolition Middle East Eye: How bulldozers, Bedouin and ethnic cleansing herald the death of the two-state solution B'Tselem: Israel’s Supreme Court greenlights state to commit war crime; if implemented, the justices will also be liable Middle East Monitor: With no meaningful international plan, Khan Al-Ahmar needs a popular uprising to save it Haaretz: Palestinians Take Israel's Eviction of West Bank Village to The Hague +972 Magazine: Khan al-Ahmar: Setting the record straight UCC Global Ministries: International Ecumenical Joint Statement on planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar
News & Analysis UMKR News & Alerts
Download 2018 Review: Part One –
Download 2018 Review: Part Two –
The Big Stories of 2018
________________________
Read these sections of
Part Two on our website:
• The Top Stories
• People in the Spotlight
• Events IN Israel/Palestine
• U.S. Scene: Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism
• U.S. Scene: More from Trump Admin
• U.S. Scene: On Campus
• U.S. Scene: Legislation- State, Federal
• U.S. Scene: Changes on the Horizon
• Around the World
• Successes: BDS & More
• Last, But Not Least
• For Information Junkies
UMKR Newsletter
Settlements Surge; Annexation Coming?
Israel's settlements enterprise, the illegal colonization of occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank, expanded greatly in 2018;reports indicate that as many as 10,000 new units were approved for construction. Israel has been undeterred by the UN Security Council resolution of December 2016, which states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law with "no legal validity," and demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Most political observers attribute Israel's increasing boldness in flouting international law to the tacit support of the Trump administration which has not condemned any of Israel's current actions. Trump's appointee for US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has even helped raise money for the illegal settlements. Referring to the great increase in settlement building, a spokesman for the Israeli group Peace Now has said Israel would never have undertaken these plans before Trump's presidency and points to lack of deterrence from the US as a key factor in the escalation.
This surge in settlement building comes in concert with signs that Israel is moving toward formally annexing parts of the West Bank, which many would view as Israel's most egregious violation of international law to date. Although many also see the current situation in the West Bank as a de facto annexation by Israel, the United Nations has warned that Israel may be getting closer to formal annexation, something that would present much greater obstacles to reverse. Several bills that would facilitate annexation have been introduced in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and this will be a key issue to watch in 2019.
READ MORE
Al Jazeera: Israeli settlement activity surged in Trump era Mint Press News: Illegal Jewish Settlements Surge By 187% As Israel Eyes Formal Annexation Peace Now: Settlement Watch: 2,191 Settlement Housing Units Advanced on Christmas Middle East Monitor: Israel illegal settlement construction more than doubled in 2018 Press TV: Israel OKed construction plans for over 10,000 settler units in 2018 Middle East Monitor: United Nations: Israel has done nothing to halt settlement growth
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ABOUT OUR NEWS SOURCES
The articles we include in our lists to 'Read More' – in our newsletters and on our website – are provided as an informational service for our readers, and the views expressed may or may not be shared by UMKR.
Some selections may be repetitive;because some periodicals have paywalls, we provide a variety of sources in the hope that every reader will find some of them accessible, with or without a subscription.
UMKR needs your support
🔸 New or Recently Updated
Entry Denied: The BDS Blacklist
Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs published a list of 20 organizations around the world that will be banned from entering the country. They are groups that support the global nonviolent BDS campaign (boycott, divestment and sanctions) to achieve justice, freedom and equality in Israel/Palestine. U.S. groups on the list include Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for its work helping victims of the Nazis. Human rights activists in Israel believe that there may be a larger list of groups and individuals that Israel is not making public.
Creation of this list was based on Israel's 2017 law denying visas to foreign nationals who publicly back any kind of boycott of Israel or its West Bank settlements. For many years, Israel had already been arbitrarily denying entry to and deporting many would-be visitors, including US citizens, most often people of color and those of Middle Eastern background, particularly Palestinians. The 2017 law codified criteria based on political beliefs and nonviolent political action, making clear this purportedly democratic nation's undemocratic policies regarding criticism and dissent.
Since the 2017 law was passed and increasingly in 2018, a wide variety of people have been refused entry when arriving at Ben Gurion airport, including church and government leaders. In related action, a Human Rights Watch official working in Israel was expelled in 2018, due to alleged support for BDS. But Jewish Americans who have been denied entry to Israel seem to garner the most press attention, including prominent journalist Peter Beinart, Columbia University professor Katherine Franke, and Rabbi Alissa Wise, whose five interfaith colleagues were also denied entry.
READ MORE
Washington Post: 20 groups that advocate boycotting Israel will now be
denied entry Haaretz: Boycotting the World
The Guardian: Israel's BDS blacklist is straight out of apartheid.
BDS South Africa Newsletter: Similar to Apartheid South Africa, Israel
Has Set up Department to Counter BDS
ON INDIVIDUALS DENIED ENTRY:
NY Times: Israeli Airport Detention of Prominent U.S. Jewish Journalist
Prompts Uproar Forward: I Was Detained At Ben Gurion Airport
Because Of My Beliefs Haaretz: The Jewish State's Just Barred a
Rabbi From Entering. So Where's the Jewish Protest? Forward: I'm The
First Jew Banned From Israel For Supporting BDS
Electronic Intifada: Israel slaps entry ban on Norway's largest labor union
The Guardian: Israel refuses visa to theologian over boycott and divestment activism Haaretz: Court Orders Israel to Reconsider Entry Ban of First BDS Deportee
African Asylum Seekers
In early 2018, Israel sent deportation notices to thousands of African asylum seekers, most of whom who had fled violence in Sudan and Eritria in the 2000's and made a hazardous journey northward, some enduring torture and rape on their way, finally arriving at the Sinai Desert where they crossed the border into southern Israel. There are about 38,000 adults and 4,000 children; roughly 8% are from other countries in Africa.
Israel has taken a hard line on these refugees, erecting a barrier at the southern border, and Israeli government officials have often referred to them as "infiltrators" and claim they are not refugees but economic migrants who can and should be deported. Israel has a laborious, slow and painful process for refugees to apply for asylum and only a tiny percentage are accepted.
The government has offered money to those agreeing to be deported to African nations, and threatened long-term imprisonment to those who do not accept the offer. But those who did agree to deportation have sent back stories of terrible living conditions after deportation and have advised those still in Israel to accept prison instead.
Thousands of Israeli citizens and many in the Jewish community worldwide have protested Israel's treatment of these refugees, with huge demonstrations, and numerous petitions and public statements. Israel worked out an agreement with the United Nations to resettle a large portion of the refugees in western nations that will accept them, and the others will be allowed to remain in Israel. But some doubt this will be the end of the problem, which has been driven by intrinsic racism not applied to thousands of other current residents in Israel who lack current visas.
READ MORE
Haaretz: Everything You Need to Know About Israel's Mass Deportation of Asylum Seekers
NY Times: Israel Offers African Migrants a Choice: Ticket Out or Jail +972 Magazine: Pushed out by Israel, asylum seekers find only limbo in Uganda +972 Magazine: 'They told me to go to a third country. I won't go. I'll go to jail.' Haaretz: As an Ethiopian Israeli, I Call Out My Country's African Refugee Policy for What It Is: A Racist Manhunt +972 Magazine: 'I won't fly refugees to their deaths': The pilots resisting deportation The Guardian: Israeli Holocaust survivors plead case of African migrants Times of Israel: Nearly 800 US Jewish clergymen urge Israel to halt
refugee deportations +972 Magazine: Israel halts refugee deportation plan, UN to help with resettlement
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