| | For Sixth Night in a Row, Palestinians Confront Israeli Police in Jerusalem's Old City A look at unrest and uncertainty, changing relationships, and more news in this week’s bulletin. Image: Damascus Gate in Jerusalem Sunday (April 18). (Ohad Zwigenberg) | | | | | |  | Image: Damascus Gate in Jerusalem Sunday (April 18). (Ohad Zwigenberg) | | | For sixth night in a row, Palestinians confront Israeli police in Jerusalem's Old City
Haaretz “Israeli police clashed on Sunday (April 18) with hundreds of Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City for the sixth night in a row, amid a row over an Israeli decision to put up barriers preventing people from sitting in the Damascus Gate plaza. Police used water cannons, stun grenades and other riot control gear against the crowd, even though at least most protesters remained nonviolent. Three were detained for assaulting officers, police said. The plaza is the most popular public area during the month of Ramadan, which started last week, with tens of thousands of people passing through or sitting there every evening." | | | | | | | |  | Image: A police officer and protesters in Jerusalem, this week. (Ohad Zwigenberg) | | | Uncertainty about Palestinian election adds fuel to fire flaring in Jerusalem
Haaretz “At a time when Israel’s strategic attention is focused on Iran and its politicians are devoting most of their waking hours to desperate survival tactics, a new and explosive Palestinian front is developing in Jerusalem. It’s a problem that has been impacted by several local incidents, Ramadan tensions, the influence of social media and right-wing Jewish activists. And in the background, a diplomatic crisis between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is brewing over whether voting in the PA’s upcoming election can take place in Jerusalem." | | | | | | | |  | Image: Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center on Feb. 25, 2020, in Charleston, S.C., co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) | | | Sens. Sanders, Warren call for ‘restricting’ US aid to Israel at J Street confab
Times of Israel “Prominent progressive senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both used their Monday (April 19) addresses at the J Street lobby’s national conference to call for regulating US aid to Israel, asserting that such assistance should not be allowed to bankroll Israeli policies in the West Bank that damage prospects for a two-state solution. The stances appeared to mark a shift by more left-wing Democrats away from talk of ‘conditioning’ aid to Israel to ‘restricting’ it." | | | | | | | | | |  | Conversation with Apeirogon Author Colum McCann: Join us on Wed, May 12, at 11 am Eastern for a conversation with bestselling author and National Book Award winner Colum McCann about his book, Apeirogon: A Novel. You do not need to have read the book to participate in this event. | | | | |  | Take Action: Ask Your House Member to Cosponsor HR 2590: Congress must make clear that the United States will not provide financial support to the ongoing violation of Palestinian rights. HR 2590 is a necessary start in helping to ensure the United States can be an honest partner for peace to both the Israeli and Palestinian people. | | | | |  | Peacemakers Working in Gaza Webinar: Join CMEP on Wed, April 28, at 9 am Eastern for a webinar featuring local organizations working in Gaza. They will speak about their personal experiences as humanitarian workers focused on Gaza, the impacts of COVID-19 on their work, and upcoming projects in their respective organizations. | | | | | | Donate Our work to protect the most vulnerable in the Holy Land continues during this time of crisis. Please support CMEP. | | | | | | | | | |  | Image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a memorial ceremony for Joseph Trumpeldor in Tel-Hai, northern Israel, February 23, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash 90) | | | Netanyahu gives up on forming a government
J-Post “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer seeking a government that relies on the outside support of the Ra’am Party (United Arab List), he said Tuesday at a press conference in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu no longer sees any chance of forming a government, although he still intends to maintain his mandate to form a government, which ends on May 4, his associates said.” | | | | | | | |  | Image: A woman walks in front of new murals of the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2019. (Reuters) | | | ‘Iran’s economy is closer than ever to collapse,’ says expert
J-Post “After a period of stagnation, the US and Iran have in recent weeks embarked on negotiations for a mutual return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Until now, Iran has played hardball, demanding that the US move first and fully lift the sanctions it had placed on business with the Islamic Republic. But Iran may not have the economic fortitude that would allow it to sustain its stubbornness and economically survive under sanctions." | | | | | | | |  | Image: A Sudanese demonstrator, seeking to revive a push for civilian rule in ongoing tumult since the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir more than two months ago, makes a victory sign during a demonstration in Khartoum, Sudan, June 27, 2019. (Reuters/Umit Bektas/File photo) | | | Sudan annuls its Israel boycott law
J-Post “The Sovereign Council and the cabinet of Sudan’s interim government gave its final approval to the annulment of the country’s Israel boycott law, which had prohibited the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Jewish state and forbid business relations between Israeli and Sudanese entities. The annulment approved on Monday (April 19) is another step on the path to normalization, which began with a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the head of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in February 2020.” | | | | | | | | 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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