Focus

Focus On: Jerusalem Revisited

by Zena Agha, Halah Ahmad, Nur Arafeh, Tareq Baconi, Muna Dajani, Dana El Kurd, Yara Hawari, Nadia Hijab, Victor Kattan, Munir Nuseibah on April 27, 2022

Jerusalem continues to lie at the center of political developments in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and in the shifting landscape of US and EU foreign policy toward Palestine and the Israeli regime. Indeed, the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem thereafter, has had devastating implications for Palestinian claims to the city. Meanwhile, from forced expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan to attacks on worshipers in the al-Aqsa compound and in the vicinity of the Holy Sepulchre, the Israeli regime continues to ramp up its efforts to de-Palestinianize Jerusalem.

In light of this persistent campaign of erasure, and in light of Palestinian Jerusalemites’ persistent resistance to it, Al-Shabaka revisits the topic of Jerusalem, building on our 2017 Focus On, with a new selection of publications from our analysts.

Repercussions from the Trump Era

After Trump’s Jerusalem H-Bomb: Weighing Options for Palestinians,

Nadia Hijab

Which possibilities remain for Palestinians against the backdrop of US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? In this commentary, Nadia Hijab outlines opportunities for Palestinian leadership and civil society across the globe. Read more...

Trump, Jerusalem, and the Future of Palestine

Nur Arafeh, Dana El Kurd, Munir Nuseibah, Victor Kattan, Tareq Baconi

In this roundtable, Al-Shabaka analysts examine the US’s affirmation of Israel’s apartheid regime, the role of the Palestinian Authority, and ways to safeguard Palestinian rights in the face of such setbacks. Read more...

The EU and Jerusalem: The Potential for Pushback

Yara Hawari

Rhetoric without action is insufficient, Yara Hawari argues in this policy brief. In light of the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the EU must seize its role as one of the few remaining channels to pursue Palestinian human rights and pressure Israel. Read more...

The De-Palestinianization of Jerusalem

Israel’s Latest Attempts to Alter Geopolitical Realities in Jerusalem

Zena Agha

The threat of annexation looms large in areas surrounding Jerusalem. In this policy memo, Zena Agha assesses the potential implications of Israel’s illegal settlement annexation and recommends steps to impede the process and hold the regime to account. Read more...

Israel’s Annexation Crusade in Jerusalem: The Role of Ma’ale Adumim and the E1 Corridor

Zena Agha

In this policy brief, Zena Agha zooms in on Israel’s efforts to rid Jersualem of its Palestinian population with “demographic gerrymandering and territorial expansion,” using the cases of Ma’ale Adumim and the E1 corridor. Read more...

The Reification of Ramallah: Undermining a Palestinian Capital in Jerusalem

Halah Ahmad

The Palestinian Authority plays a critical role in solidifying Israel’s agenda for Jersualem, writes Halah Ahmad in this policy memo, as she delves into Palestinian leadership’s investment in Ramallah as a Palestinian pseudo-capital. Read more...

Destroying Palestinian Jerusalem, One Institution at a Time

Yara Hawari

Israel’s de-Palestinianization of Jerusalem extends beyond land theft. As Yara Hawari details in this policy brief, attacks on vital cultural institutions remain an integral part of the Israeli regime’s systematic destruction of the city’s Palestinian identity. Read more...

Sheikh Jarrah and Beyond

Muna Dajani

Muna Dajani joins host Yara Hawari on Rethinking Palestine, Al-Shabaka’s monthly podcast series, to discuss how the #SaveSheikhJarrah campaign acted as a catalyst for the 2021 Unity Intifada across historic Palestine. Read more...

Nur Arafeh

Nur Arafeh is a Fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, in Washington DC, where her work focuses on the political economy of the MENA region, business-state relations, peacebuilding strategies, the development-security nexus and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She previously served as Al-Shabaka's Palestine Policy Fellow between 2015 and 2017, worked as an Associate Researcher at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), and as a Visiting Lecturer of Economics at Al-Quds Bard College. Nur has also consulted for several Palestinian and international organizations, on issues related to development policies, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and socio-economic policy analysis. Her commentaries have appeared in English, Arabic and French in The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, Al-Jazeera, and Al-Akhbar, among other outlets. Nur holds a doctorate in International Development as a Rhodes Scholar from the University of Oxford, a Master’s in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a dual-BA degree in Political Science and Economics from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University.”

Muna Dajani

Dr. Muna Dajani holds a PhD from the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE). Her research focuses on documenting water struggles in agricultural communities under settler colonialism. She is a Senior Research Associate at the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) where she works on a project entitled “Transformations to Groundwater Sustainability” (T2GS), exploring grassroots initiatives of intergenerational holistic groundwater governance. She has contributed to numerous studies on the hydropolitics of the Jordan and Yarmouk River Basins. She also co-led a collaboration project documenting the story of the occupation of the Syrian Golan through developing an online knowledge portal featuring collective memories of the popular struggle that took place there.

Victor Kattan

Victor Kattan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore. He previously served as Al-Shabaka's Program Director and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore. He is the author of From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891-1949 (London: Pluto Books, 2009) and The Palestine Question in International Law (London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 2008). He was a legal adviser to the Palestinian Negotiations Support Project from 2012-2013 and a Teaching Fellow at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) from 2008-2011 where he obtained his PhD in 2012. He worked for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law from 2006-2008, Arab Media Watch from 2004-2006, and the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights from 2003-2004.