| | CMEP Weekly Bulletin: UN Security Council Debates Jerusalem Violence, UAE Summons Israeli Envoy A look at holy site clashes, more designation discussions, and more news in this week’s bulletin. CMEP’s Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP’s behalf. | | | |  | Image: Israeli forces in Jerusalem's Old City, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Ohad Zwigenberg) | | | UN Security Council debates Jerusalem violence, UAE summons Israeli envoy Haaretz “The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency session on Tuesday (April 19) to discuss the latest outbreak of violence in Jerusalem's Old City. A joint statement by European members of the council called for ‘calm and de-escalation,’ stressing that ‘violence needs to stop immediately. Further civilian casualties need to be prevented as a priority.’" | | | | | | | |  | Image: Fatima Khader was among dozens of worshippers confined to parts of al-Aqsa Mosque for hours during Israeli raids this week. (MEE/Aseel Jundi) | | | A tumultuous week at al-Aqsa Mosque ends with renewed Palestinian defiance
Middle East Eye “Thursday (April 21) wrapped up one of the most intense weeks that al-Aqsa Mosque has seen in recent memory. It has seen violent raids by Israeli forces, thousands of far-right intrusions, and repeated assaults on worshippers young and old. These were just some of the hardships Palestinians had to endure in the mosque as they mark the holy month of Ramadan in the revered occupied East Jerusalem site. Every day since Friday last week, except Saturday, began the same way. On the eve of dawn prayers, thousands of worshippers flock to the mosque from across Jerusalem and Palestinian towns inside Israel." | | | | | | | |  | Image: Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, greets people as he arrives to the Church of Nativity during Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Dec. 24, 2021. (Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images) | | | Christians continue to leave Jerusalem amid ongoing instability
Al-Monitor “The number of Christians in Jerusalem is steadily declining due to the political instability and the deterioration of the economy, and they now make up less than 1% of the city’s population. Four years after leaving Jerusalem for Chicago in the United States, Clara Nasrallah, 27, finds it very difficult to return to her homeland today, especially after she became a mother. Clara was born and raised in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, and she studied business administration at Bethlehem University. In 2018, she married a man who lived in the US and moved there with him." | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony: On May 3, 2022, we will gather to call for peace, freedom, and human rights for all. The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony is hosted by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle–Families Forum, and we are proud that CMEP is an official sponsor again this year. | | | | |  | Public Statement: CMEP Joins Coalition Calling for an End to All U.S. Support for the War in Yemen: CMEP joined over 60 National Organizations in a letter to Congress calling for an end to all U.S. support for the war in Yemen. | | | | |  | Upcoming Webinar: What Can We Do to Build a Better Future in Palestine and Israel?: Thursday, May 19. 1-3 pm Eastern. Via Zoom.
This webinar will feature some of the key ongoing challenges for peace and a just future in Israel-Palestine in East Jerusalem (demolitions, evictions, and confiscations) and the West Bank (challenges within Palestinian civil society). Each speaker will then address where transformation and glimmers of a “better future” have come from: What do you hope to see happen? Finally, what role can foreign actors play in resolving these aspects of the conflict? | | | | | | | | Support CMEP We could not continue to pursue our mission to Educate, Elevate, and Advocate for a just and holistic peace in Israel, Palestine, and the broader Middle East without your support. Consider supporting CMEP today. | | | | | | | | | |  | Image: Flames and smoke rise during Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza strip, on April 21, 2022. (Bashar Taleb/AFP) | | | IDF hits Hamas sites during pair of overnight raids in response to Gaza rocket fire
Times of Israel “The IDF carried out a pair of air raids in Gaza after midnight on Thursday (April 21) in response to rocket fire and anti-aircraft missiles launched from the Hamas-run enclave during what appeared to be the tensest night in the Strip since last May’s 11-day war. During the exchange, the IDF said its Iron Dome missile defense system mistook gunshots for a salvo of rockets in what initially appeared to be a sign of a significant escalation. But by night’s end, the army confirmed that only one rocket had been fired into Israel during the whole exchange.” | | | | | | | |  | Image: A protest condemning Germany for calling the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement anti-Semitic outside of Germany's Representative Office in the West Bank, 22 May 2019. (AFP/Getty Images) | | | From Ukraine to Palestine: The boycotting double standard
Middle East Monitor “The plight of Ukrainians in 2022, struggling against a Russian invasion and occupation, serves as a reminder of the Palestinian struggle for statehood, a resistance against the continuous illegal annexation of lands in the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. Launched in 2005, the Palestinian BDS (boycott, divest, and sanction) movement challenged Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism, calling for an effective ostracisation of Israeli products and goods." | | | | | | | |  | Image: A Lebanese woman stands next to her empty refrigerator in her apartment in Beirut, Lebanon on 17 June 2020. (Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP/Getty Images) | | | EU sends Lebanon $22m humanitarian aid to ease food crisis
Middle East Monitor “The European Commission announced on Thursday (April 21) that the EU will send €20 million (almost $22 million) of humanitarian aid to Lebanon to ease the food insecurity exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine, Anadolu News Agency reports. ‘To support the most vulnerable segments of the population in Lebanon, the EU has allocated an additional €20 million in humanitarian aid to respond to rising food insecurity and other needs,’ the EU executive body said in a statement." | | | | | | | | CMEP's Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP's behalf. | | | | Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
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