silwan

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

Israeli police arrest a Palestinian protester outside the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. May 14, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why the Jerusalem embassy opening was a fitting way to mark the Nakba

Both the U.S. and Israeli governments are run by racist demagogues who simultaneously deny an occupation exists while doing all they can to perpetuate it. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat believes that East Jerusalem Palestinians are “satisfied” with the move of the U.S. Embassy to their city. Speaking to Israeli news website Ynet on Sunday, as…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 15, 2018

Protesters block the entrance to the JNF headquarters in Jerusalem. January 31, 2018. (Joshua Leifer)

Activists barricade JNF headquarters to protest eviction of Palestinian family

The JNF has been trying to evict the Sumarin familiy from their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan for decades. An international campaigned stopped the eviction in 2011. Now, the family is threatened again. Several dozen Israeli and international activists demonstrated outside the Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) Jerusalem offices Wednesday, protesting its role in the…

By Joshua Leifer February 1, 2018

Latest

Prime Minister Netanyahu attends a joint event of the Knesset and the U.S. Congress, at the Chagall state hall in the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 7, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu can count on U.S. Jews to stay silent on the occupation

The prime minister sparked controversy when he announced he wouldn’t be speaking at the biggest Jewish American event of the year. But Bibi knows that no matter what, American Jews won’t speak out against his occupation policies. Prime Minister Netanyahu knows that no matter what, he can count on American Jews not to speak out against…

By Joshua Leifer October 31, 2017

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

A Palestinian father stands in the ruins of his son's family home a few hours after it was demolished by Israeli authorities, East Jerusalem, May 20, 2013. He is holding a portrait from 1983 in which he and his own father are seen standing near their demolished home in the Anata neighborhood. Seven family members, including 5 children were displaced due to the demolition. (Activestills.org)

The home demolitions Israel’s media isn’t talking about

The Jerusalem municipality has repeatedly refused to come up with master plans for its Palestinian neighborhoods. The result? It has taken to demolishing illegally-built homes. By Michal Haramati and Sahar Vardi Forty Israeli Jews set out for a tour beyond Jerusalem’s hills of darkness last week, paying a visit to the neighborhood of Ein al-Loza in Silwan.…

By +972 Magazine February 6, 2017

Private security guards stand atop a home taken over by Israeli settlers in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, February 21, 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

It didn’t have to be this way in East Jerusalem’s Silwan

The neighborhood of Batan al-Hawa is today the site of major friction and tensions between Palestinian residents, Jewish settlers and the massive security presence that accompanies them. But things weren’t always like this, and they don’t have to be. By Hussam Abed Try and imagine this: Jews move into a Palestinian village and are welcomed…

By +972 Magazine January 12, 2017

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in ‘The Pilgrims’ tunnel under East Jerusalem, December 26, 2016. (Regev’s Facebook)

A tunnel in the service of nationalism

Israeli politicians use problematic archeological findings to drum up support for exclusionary nationalist narratives under East Jerusalem. By Yonathan Mizrahi “I didn’t think I would be so excited,” said Culture Minister Miri Regev. “Mr. President Obama, I am standing here on the path that my forefathers walked 2,000 years ago. There is not another nation…

By Haokets January 4, 2017

Israeli border policemen stop and check Palestinians going out of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya, on October 15, 2015. Israel set up checkpoints in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem and mobilised hundreds of soldiers as a collective punishment after recent attacks by Palestinians. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Jerusalem mayor believes collective punishment is key to coexistence

How does one go about fostering neighborly relations in Jerusalem? It’s very simple, according to the city’s mayor: curfews, closures, concrete blocks and lots of police. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat regularly holds forth about how his city’s various demographics can rub along in peace and quiet. Back in July, in deference to the city’s ultra-Orthodox population,…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 12, 2016

Archaeologists digging at a digging site of the remains of a citadel used by the Greeks more then 2,000 years ago to control the Temple Mount at the City of David near Jerusalem Old City on November 3, 2015, According to the Israeli Antiquities Authority the site was found under a parking lot a few years ago also know as Givati Parking Lot. (photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israelis don’t understand Palestinian fears over Jerusalem

For Israelis, Jerusalem is an archaeological treasure. For Palestinians, it is a city whose heritage and identity are constantly under threat. By Yonathan Mizrachi It turns out that issues of identity, religion and recognition are far more critical to East Jerusalem Palestinians than what the Israeli Right and center would have us believe. A new…

By Haokets July 11, 2016

Construction takes place in the illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa in between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, West Bank. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Dispelling the myths about building in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, construction of Jewish neighborhoods continues unabated, while Palestinians are still struggling for basic infrastructure. By Aviv Tatarsky There is no construction freeze. As opposed to declarations by right-wing politicians such as Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat or Education Minister Naftali Bennett, construction in Jerusalem was never frozen, while the cranes and bulldozers keep working…

By +972 Magazine July 7, 2016

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

Tourists and worshipers visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Photo by Fat Jackey / Shutterstock.com)

‘Israel only officially recognizes Jewish holy sites’

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is one of the most sacred places in the world for Christianity. Yet Israel does not officially recognize it as a holy site, a new report reveals. Last Saturday the Eastern Churches marked Holy Fire, the Saturday after Good Friday, when Easter begins. Thousands of pilgrims visited…

By Orly Noy May 6, 2016