Gaza Cease-fire Announced, Broken
Original post: April 7, 2011. After weeks of mounting tensions and cross-boundary violence, Hamas has worked with all militant groups within Gaza to ensure a cessation of rocket attacks from the coastal territory. See this analysis from the Israeli daily...
Interesting Commentary on Goldstone Op-Ed
The Forward had an excellent article on Wednesday entitle “Did a Private Meeting Prompt Goldstone To Change His Mind?“. The article gives an analysis of the events leading up Goldstone’s Washington Post op-ed, what the op-ed might actually have been...
New Israeli Peace Initiative (IPI)
Today prominent leaders within Israeli society will officially reveal a new Israeli Peace Initiative (pdf). This initiative is meant to be a response to the Arab Peace Initiative issued by the Arab League in 2002 and again in 2007. Though...
The State of Israel in a post-Mubarak, post-Goldstone world
Ha’aretz blogger Natasha Mozgovaya has recently published an interesting article on the range of Israeli policy options presented to the annual conference of the Anti-Defamation League. The headline is a bit misleading, I think; the fascinating thing here is the...
Expediting the Expansions
Today, the Israeli government announced that another 942 housing units had been approved for construction in Gilo, one of the largest illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. According to several newspapers, including Ha’aretz and the New York Times, the...
Goldstone “Recants” Goldstone Report
In September 2009, the UN Human Rights Council released a report by the Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. This mission was chaired by Justice Richard Goldstone and therefore came to be known as the Goldstone Report (pdf). The report...
Knesset Passes New Citizenship Law
On Monday, March 28, by a vote of 37 to 11, the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a new Citizenship Law. The new law states that citizens of Israel accused with acts of terrorism against the state or in aiding those...
ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan Elected President of LWF
The Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), has been elected President of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF). He succeeds the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA,...
Palestinian Christians Issue Kairos Document
An ecumenical group of Palestinian Christians, including the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, issued The Kairos Palestine Document: A moment of truth – A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of...
Reports, Statements and Updates 2007-2010
Reports from the Ground The situation in Israel and the cccupied Palestinian territory covers a broad set of topics and issues which are continually interacting with each other and creating new situations on the ground. Keeping in mind that covering...