Analysis on West Bank/Gaza
- Israeli Settlements in East Jerusalem
- Analysis | May 11, 2010
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In Jerusalem the term “settlements” refers to Israeli construction across the 1949 Armistice Line (aka the Green Line). While this whole area is referred to as “East Jerusalem,” such construction includes areas north, south, east, and west of Israeli West Jerusalem. There are two major categories of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem.
Government settlements: After 1967 Israel expropriated much of the open area in East Jerusalem. On these areas it built large settlements (around 50,000 housing units). Most of these settlements
- Jerusalem’s Best Laid Plans
- Analysis | May 11, 2010
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Beit Yehonatan, is just one dot on the map of new Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, which features dozens of individual buildings and a number of complexes. Connecting these dots gives a clear picture of the effort the right is making to encircle the Old City with a ring of Jewish settlements. This effort is focused on two main tracks: One is purchasing Palestinian buildings and moving Jewish families into them; the other is initiating plans to construct Jewish neighborhoods
- 2 Officials and 2 Views on Discussing Mideast Peace
- Analysis | May 11, 2010
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For those wondering why it has been so hard for the United States and Israel to get past their dispute over Jewish housing, consider the disconnect on display [last] week in Washington.
On Tuesday, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, made the rounds at the State Department and the Pentagon, warmly welcomed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. At a White House meeting with the national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones Jr., President Obama
- Sharing a West Bank Highway Proves a Tall Order for Israel, Palestinians
- Analysis | May 4, 2010
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For eight years, Israeli commuters have whizzed between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Highway 443, a road whose West Bank portion is lined with barriers, off-limits to Palestinians who live along the way. Naji Suliman, mayor of the Palestinian community of Beit Ur al-Tahta, thought that would change after a decision by Israel’s Supreme Court calling for the ban on Palestinians to be lifted by May. Then, after meeting with an Israeli military commander last week, Suliman concluded that Israel’s
- A New Style of Politics in the West Bank
- Analysis | May 4, 2010
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Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is quietly changing the rules of the Arab-Israeli conflict with a simple credo: Palestinians have to build their state now and cannot wait for an elusive peace deal with Israel. He is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to get the Palestinians ready for statehood by August 2011 by trying to build it from the ground up: paving roads, reforming the judiciary, planning new cities.
The U.S.-trained economist has been showered with praise, money and support
- The Real Hope of Economic Peace
- Analysis | May 4, 2010
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The mean age of Palestinians in the territories is about 19 years old. If we assume normal rates of growth, and the return of only half of the refugees to a Palestinian state, Palestine would soon become an Arabic-speaking metropolis of perhaps 6 million to 7 million people, radiating east from Jerusalem. … Olive groves, picturesque as they are, will seem beside the point. …
The good news is that the Palestinian private sector, though small, is prepared for a take-off.
- The Palestinian With a Plan for Statehood
- Analysis | May 4, 2010
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Pundits and politicians have taken recently to comparing Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion. No less a figure than President Shimon Peres, one of Ben-Gurion’s foremost disciples, is the latest Israeli leader to offer the accolade. The reason is simple: Like Ben-Gurion, Fayyad is building institutions of statehood. …
The results on the ground have been impressive. Palestinian security forces trained by Dayton’s troops have been deployed in West Bank cities, creating new levels of
- A Peaceful Strategy for Palestinian Independence
- Analysis | Apr 27, 2010
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Palestinians have recently been developing a peaceful multilevel strategy to achieve their national goals of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, an end to the occupation, and the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. …
These three new tactics—state building, nonviolent protests and economic measures—challenging the occupation, are no substitute for diplomacy, since this is a political problem that requires a political solution through a negotiated agreement. …
As Palestinians rightly demand their independence and emphasize that Israel
- Progress, of Sorts
- Analysis | Apr 27, 2010
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has made abundantly clear in the last few days that he has “red lines” where building in Jerusalem is concerned, and he’s not going to cross them. … At the same time, the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly insisted that it won’t resume what Mahmoud Abbas at the weekend called “real negotiations” with Israel on final-status issues unless or until there is a halt to building beyond the green line, emphatically including Jerusalem. So how is it
- Netanyahu, U.S. Gave You a Second Chance. Use It
- Analysis | Mar 23, 2010
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [left Sunday] for a visit of considerable importance to Washington. The American government has decided to give him a second chance, following the Ramat Shlomo crisis that erupted during Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel. …
Netanyahu must make use of this second chance to create a new relationship with President Barack Obama and senior members of the U.S. government. Obama’s support is vital to achieving Netanyahu’s stated goals: preventing Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons and