Tagged settlement expansion

Netanyahu, a man in the middle, scrambles to give Trump a warm welcome

Air Force One arrives at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, May 22, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

  TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did his best to give Donald Trump a warm welcome when he landed Monday at Ben Gurion Airport on his first trip abroad as U.S. president. Netanyahu offered support for Trump’s stated aspiration to broker the “ultimate deal” between Israel and… Read more »

Hundreds of Jews respond to John Kerry’s speech with West Bank solidarity tour

Joseph Waks, fourth from the right, poses with Jewish visitors and soldiers at the Oz Vegaon tent outpost in the West Bank, Jan. 2, 2017. (Courtesy of Avi Hyman Communications)

JERUSALEM (JTA) – About 200 Jews from around the world toured the West Bank in response to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent speech warning of the dangers of settlement expansion. The group, organized on short notice by Miami-based fashion designer Joseph Waks, visited Jewish communities and met… Read more »

OP-ED Blaming Obama doesn’t advance the cause of Middle East peace

President Barack Obama speaks with John Kerry during a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in New York City, Sept. 21, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(JTA) — What did Secretary of State John Kerry say last week that caused former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren to say that U.S. policy toward Israeli has become “sad, tragic and dangerous?” That led Sen. Ted Cruz to say that Kerry and President Barack Obama are… Read more »

In Ramallah, West Bank Palestinians divided between celebratory and cynical

Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, faced off against Israeli soldiers during their weekly protest on the same day that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a bid for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations, Sept. 23, 2011. (Isasm Rimawi/Flash 90/JTA)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (JTA) — A larger-than-life sky-blue chair with the word “Palestine” dominates the center of Manara Square in downtown Ramallah. The Palestinian flag, a national symbol once banned by Israel, flies everywhere. Long banners of flags crisscross the square, huge flags decorate the sides of buildings, and… Read more »