The Palestine Chronology

In Gaza, unknown assailants open fire on trucks at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, causing light damage to 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in Qalqilya, 1 village nr. Ramallah, Tulkarm r.c. and 1 village nr. Tulkarm, as well as al-‘Arub r.c. and 1 village nr. Hebron, arresting 18 Palestinians; patrols in 2 villages nr. Jenin, 1 each nr. Qalqilya and Hebron, and ‘Aqabat Jabir r.c. nr. Jericho. Meanwhile, a group of armed men from the Balata r.c. shut down a main road in Nablus in protest of the PASF crackdown on the camp. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces confiscate the contents of a store in Hizma and demolish a residential building under construction in Wadi al-Juz. They also conduct raids in Silwan, assaulting 2 Palestinians and arresting 3. Meanwhile, the Jordan-funded Islamic Waqf begins renovations at Haram al-Sharif, and Israeli minister Uri Ariel calls for the project to be halted. In the Galilee, Palestinians in Kafr Kanna conduct a general strike in protest of the demolition in the village on 4/12. (MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 4/13; MNA 4/14; PCHR, WAFA 4/16)

PA Pres. Abbas meets with Russian pres. Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss Russian-Palestinian relations, the Middle East peace negotiations, and other issues. (AFP 4/9; AFP, HA, TOI 4/13; REU 4/14)

U.S. Pres. Obama meets with several U.S. Jewish groups to discuss the “key parameters” announced on 4/2 by the P5+1 and Iran, and their concerns about Israel’s security. The groups include the AJC, ADL, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Federations of N. America, AIPAC, and J Street. (HA 4/13; HA, TOI 4/14; JP 4/23)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah and Jabaliya fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers and agricultural areas nr. the border fence, causing damage. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in and around Qalqilya, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, 1 village nr. Jenin, and Tulkarm, arresting 4 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Salfit. IDF troops arrest 3 Palestinians at a checkpoint nr. Jerusalem and 2 more at an entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Israeli forces deliver stop-work orders to Palestinians in 1 village each nr. Hebron and Tubas; demolish a well, a wall, and 10 olive trees in a village nr. Jenin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian woman as she is exiting Haram al-Sharif and 6 youth playing in the sanctuary. They also conduct house searches and raids in al-Jdayra, arresting 4 youth and sparking light clashes; arrest 2 Palestinian youths in Bayt Hanina. Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for 5 Palestinian-owned buildings in Silwan. (MNA, WAFA 3/23; MNA 3/24; PCHR 3/26)

Swiss amb. to the PA Paul Garnier visits Gaza to discuss a possible long-term cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. UN Special Coordinator Serry conducted similar meetings in Gaza on 3/2. (MNA 3/23; ALM 4/14)

Fearing that the continued tax revenue freeze could spark an uprising in the West Bank, Senior IDF officers say that the IDF has issued 10,000 permits for Palestinian laborers in the West Bank and has directed its troops to engage in clashes with Palestinian protesters less frequently. (TOI 3/23; YA 3/24)

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough clarifies the Obama admin.’s response to Israeli PM Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric and subsequent attempts to defend himself from international criticism in a speech at the annual J Street conference. “After the election,” McDonough says, “the PM said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a 2-state solution, as did his suggestion that the construction of settlements has a strategic purpose of dividing Palestinian communities and his claim that conditions in the larger Middle East must be more stable before a Palestinian state can be established.” (YA 3/23; HA, TOI 3/24)

In Geneva, the UNHRC holds its scheduled debate on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights in the oPt. Israel is absent, pursuant to its longtime boycott of the council, but so is the U.S. Israel’s FM denies a Reuters report claiming that the U.S. absence stems from the Obama admin.’s recently announced reassessment of its policy on defending Israel in international institutions. Later, U.S. amb to the UNHRC Keith Harper confirms that the U.S. has joined the Israeli boycott due to the UNHRC’s focus on Israel. (JP, REU, TOI 3/23; JP 3/24)

Israel returns the bodies of 91 Palestinians (79 to the West Bank, 12 to Gaza) killed inside Israel, mostly while carrying out attacks on Israelis; the oldest body in Israel’s possession was killed in 1975. Israel agreed to the significant concession on 5/14 as part of the deal to end the Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike (see QU in JPS 164). (NYT, WT 6/1)

The IDF patrols in 1 village each nr. Jenin, Ramallah, and Tulkarm in the morning (firing tear gas at stonethrowing Palestinians who confront them in 1 instance); in 2 villages nr. Ramallah, and 1 village each nr. Jenin, Jericho, Qalqilya, and Salfit in the afternoon; and in 2 villages nr. Qalqilya late at night. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yakir settlement nr. Salfit raze a plot of nearby Palestinian land. (PCHR 6/7; OCHA 6/8)

Israel’s atty. gen. decides to prosecute fmr. Ha’Aretz journalist Uri Blau for illegal possession of classified documents related to a 2008 investigative report he wrote (approved by Israel’s military censor) revealing that senior IDF officers had authorized targeted killings of wanted Palestinians in the West Bank in violation of a High Court ruling banning assassinations of militants who could be apprehended. The decision makes Blau the 1st Israeli journalist to be charged for receiving leaked documents. In 2008, he had obtained 1,800 IDF documents (100s classified) from an IDF soldier, Anat Kam, currently serving 54 mos. for stealing the documents. (WP 6/1)

J Street says it is on track to raise $2 m. for 60 congressional races for 2012—its largest campaign effort to date. The success is seen as evidence that hawkish pro-Israel advocates no longer have a monopoly on setting the U.S. political agenda on Israel and that J Street has successfully created an outlet for a sector of pro-Israel donors who never felt represented by the established pro-Israel lobbies. (NYT 5/31)

No Israeli-Palestinian violence is reported. OCHA reports, however, that in the previous week, 2 Palestinian children were injured when they accidentally triggered unexploded IDF ordnance while playing nr. Gaza City (different from those injured on 3/20). (PCHR 3/29; OCHA 3/30)

Israel’s centrist Kadima party replaces Tzipi Livni as leader, giving the post to fmr. IDF chief of staff Shaul Mofaz. (NYT 3/28)

Some 700 mbrs. of the critically pro-Israel lobbying group J Street spend the day lobbying Capitol Hill against a military strike on Iran. The advocacy day is part of J Street’s annual conference, which this yr. drew 2,500 participants. The conference itself, in addition to focusing on lobbying against a strike on Iran, stressed the importance of supporting a 2-state solution and settlement expansion as undermining peace. (NYT 3/28; WJW 3/29)

The IDF makes a brief early morning incursion into c. Gaza, searching and firing on residential areas in Bureij r.c., but entering no buildings and making no arrests. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 4 tents, 3 barnyards, and 3 residential barracks in a bedouin encampment in al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley; demolishes 2 barnyards nr. Tubas. The IDF also patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah in the morning, 1 village nr. Qalqilya in the afternoon, and 1 village nr. Ramallah in the evening; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Bethlehem, and nr. Ramallah (firing on the occupants of 1 raided home, wounding 3 Palestinians); conducts late-night patrols in 1 village nr. Qalqilya. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus attack Palestinian farmers working their land nearby; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers escorted by IDF troops begin leveling a large area of Palestinian agricultural land in Kafr Lakif village nr. Qalqilya; local Palestinian gather to protest and are informed by the IDF that the area has been approved for construction of an industrial zone; the soldiers agree to suspend the digging until the matter is clarified but bar Palestinians from the site. (PCHR 3/29; OCHA 3/30)

Jailed Fatah tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti issues a statement on the 10th anniversary of his arrest by Israel that is read to a crowd of supporters in Ramallah, stating that “the launch of large-scale popular resistance at this stage serves the cause of our people.” He also calls for “stopping all forms of security and economic coordination [with Israel] in all areas immediately.” (JPI 4/6)

Israel severs working relations with the UNHRC over the 3/22/12 res. calling for an investigation into settlements, calling the council biased against Israel. (NYT, WP, WT 3/27; JPI 4/6)

The U.S. Supreme Court orders a lower court to decide whether Americans born in Jerusalem can claim Israel as their birthplace on their passports. Congress approved legislation in 2002 allowing this, but the executive branch has claimed Congress overstepped its authority by attempting to override the president’s right to set foreign policy. The U.S. officially recognizes Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory and does not recognize Israel’s claim to united Jerusalem as its capital. (NYT 3/27; WJW 3/29)

J Street holds its annual conference. Fmr. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert gives the keynote speech at the gala dinner, emphasizing that PA pres. Abbas “wants peace with Israel and he accepts the existence of Israel as Israel declares itself to be.” (JPI 4/6)

Thailand officially recognizes Palestine as an independent state, becoming the 131st country to do so. (NYT 1/21)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 1 Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF detains Hamas-affiliated PC speaker ‘Aziz Dweik at Jaba’ checkpoint nr. Jerusalem, placing him in administrative detention; makes a late-night raid on Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform PC mbr. Khalid Thwaib’s home in Za’atara village nr. Bethlehem, arresting him and confiscating his computers, phone, and files. The IDF also conducts synchronized morning patrols in 2 villages n. of Jericho; conducts other daytime patrols in 3 villages nr Ramallah, 1 nr. Jenin, 1 nr. Jericho; conducts evening patrols in 1 village nr. Jericho; conducts late-night patrols in al-Bireh. (JP 1/19; WT 1/25; PCHR 1/26; OCHA 1/27)

The U.S.’s new Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. Martin Dempsey begins a 3-day visit to Israel for talks on Iran, regional security, and military-tomilitary strategic coordination. He will meet with PM Netanyahu, Pres. Shimon Peres, DM Barak, and senior IDF commanders. (NYT, WT 1/20; NYT, WP 1/21)

Pro-Israel groups (including the Anti-Defamation League [ADL] and American Jewish Committee [AJC]) publicly accuse the Center for American Progress (CAP; a Washington-based think tank seen as close to the Obama admin.) of “anti-Semitism,” citing several Twitter posts by CAP staffers to their private Twitter accounts referring to “Israel-firsters” (i.e., Americans who put Israel’s national interests before America’s) and accusing AIPAC of pushing the U.S. toward war with Iran. The ADL and AJC allege that the private Tweets are part of a “very troubling” pattern of “anti-Semitism and borderline anti-Semitism” at CAP. Former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block says that the pro-Israel groups went public with their complaints only after CAP officials ignored a compilation of CAP staffer’s writings and public statements that he quietly presented to them in 12/2011 that he said amounted to “outrageous vilification of pro-Israel Americans.” CAP says it is “baffled and appalled” by the charges. Some on the left of the pro-Israel spectrum, such as J Street, say the issue is overblown and they suspect that it is being brought forward now “to shut down needed policy debates,” cautioning groups such as the ADL and AJC to “tread lightly” with accusations of anti-Semitism or “people won’t take you seriously.”(WP 1/20)