elad

U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (left) with White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt (center) and Senator Lindsey Graham seen during the opening ceremony of an the Pilgrimage Road at the City of David archaeological site in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, June 30, 2019. (Flash90)

Using archeology in the service of nationalism

The inauguration of a supposed ancient Jewish ‘Pilgrimage Road’ by Ambassador David Friedman and White House envoy Jason Greenblatt is a reminder that archeology is never as neutral as some would like to believe. By Chemi Shiff and Yonathan Mizrachi We tend to think of archeology as a neutral discipline. Archeologists dig up artifacts, date them, and try to build…

By +972 Magazine July 5, 2019

Elad Chairman David Be'eri meets with Silwan Mukhtar Abu Jamil in City of David, Jerusalem, April 22, 2010. (Abir Sultan/Flash 90)

A lifetime achievement award for normalizing settlements

David Be’eri won the state’s highest award for doing what decades ago would have seemed impossible: inspiring the Israeli people to identify with the settler enterprise. By Yonathan Mizrachi Following last week’s announcement that David Be’eri, the founder of the settler organization Elad, had won the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement, some who closely monitor Israel’s…

By +972 Magazine March 20, 2017

Behind police barricades, Palestinian residents of Jerusalem hold a counter-protest against the nationalist display in their neighborhood, June 5, 2016. In years past physical and verbal violence against Palestinians was a central feature of the march. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israel’s extremist settlers are aiming for the mainstream

The fact that this year’s Jerusalem Day did not include violence and racist chants against Palestinians signals a change of strategy in winning the hearts and minds of average Israelis. The main lesson I learned from Jerusalem Days past was to wear comfortable walking shoes. Or preferably running shoes, since I previously learned that there…

By Orly Noy June 6, 2016

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Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire's control over Palestine.

Before Zionism: The shared life of Jews and Palestinians

Before the advent of Zionism and Arab nationalism, Jews and Palestinians lived in peace in the holy land. Menachem Klein’s new book maps out an oft-forgotten history of Israel/Palestine, and offers some guidance on how we may go back to that time. By Noam Rotem Menachem Klein’s book, Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in…

By +972 Magazine April 4, 2016

Screenshot of Israelis taking over an empty home in Hebron.

WATCH: Ever wonder what a ‘settler takeover’ looks like?

Dozens of Israeli settlers with crowbars descend on two homes in the old city of Hebron. Israeli authorities remove them a day later. The phrase “settler takeover” is used fairly often by the international media to discuss a common occurrence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. But rarely do the cameras actually capture just…

By Edo Konrad January 22, 2016

The Old City of Jerusalem, September 26, 2014. (Photo by Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

East Jerusalem streets given Hebrew names amid tensions

The city council pours oil on the fire by approving Hebrew street names in Palestinian neighborhoods as tensions run high. The move is part and parcel of efforts to ‘Judaize’ the eastern half of the city, which Palestine claims as its future capital. With all eyes on Jerusalem as tensions in the city continue to…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 21, 2015

Archaeological dig at City of David (rachelsharon/CC BY NC ND 2.0)

Why a pro-settler group wants to talk about ISIS

An Israeli group working in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan is presenting ISIS destruction of antiquities as a cautionary tale for its own struggle with Palestinians. By Yonathan Mizrachi A group that manages the City of David’s archaeological site in the heart of the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem, the “Elad Foundation in the…

By Haokets August 28, 2015

The Ruweidi family outside their home in Silwan May 9, 2012 (Photo: Moriel Zecher-Rothman)

A rare win for E. Jerusalem family facing settler takeover

Israel’s Supreme Court ‘recommends’ that settler organization Elad and the JNF withdraw their petition to take control of the property. By Moriel Rothman-Zecher In the context of the absurd reality of Israel’s occupation, last Thursday brought a glimmer of good news. Attorneys for the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and settler group Elad withdrew their petition…

By +972 Magazine March 16, 2015

Israeli policemen enter the the Hayat family house in Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem after Israeli settlers took over an apartment in the building, September 30, 2014. Israeli settlers took over seven homes in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem Tuesday morning.

JNF, settler group seek to evict Palestinian family in Silwan

The Jewish National Fund, known to Jews worldwide as an organization that plants trees in Israel, is once again trying to evict a Palestinian family from their home in East Jerusalem. By Moriel Rothman-Zecher Over the past few decades, the Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), an organization known to many in the diaspora for its work…

By +972 Magazine March 10, 2015

An Israeli police van outside the City of David archeological park in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. (File photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Parks and Occupation: Archaeology is the new security

The Biblical blueprint is being dragged up around our feet, seeking to use what is under the ground as evidence of divine right and the political and territorial sovereignty it supposedly affords us. The past makes for prime real estate when you’re developing a national mythology. It’s also a fine way to exert control over…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland March 7, 2015

Daoud Al-Ghoul, shown near properties taken over by Israel settlers in Jerusalem's Old City. (photo: Activestills.org)

Three Palestinian activists exiled from Jerusalem for five months

Without explanation, three Jerusalemite Palestinians are given five-month bans from the city of their birth and residence. One is banned from the West Bank as well. Text and photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org In early December, three Jerusalem-born Palestinians received orders from Israeli authorities banning them from the city for a period of five months.…

By Activestills December 15, 2014

Elie Wiesel (photo: World Economic Forum / Remy Steinegger)

A Palestinian admirer of ‘Night,’ disenchanted by its author Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel, who knows too well the hideousness of racist ideologies, should do better than to blindly succumb to them himself. In this conflict, he is not a messenger for mankind, but a messenger for one ethnic group’s victory over others. Night is one of the most memorable books I have ever read. I was…

By Amjad Iraqi October 25, 2014

Israeli policemen enter the the Hayat family house in Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem after Israeli settlers took over an apartment in the building, September 30, 2014. Israeli settlers took over seven homes in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem Tuesday morning.

Nine more Jewish families take over Silwan homes in dead of night

If settling Jews beyond the Green Line in Palestinian East Jerusalem is legitimate, why are organizations sneaking in settlers in the middle of the night? Nine Jewish Israeli families took over two empty buildings in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem overnight Sunday. According to the NGO Ir Amim, the families took control…

By Mairav Zonszein October 20, 2014