May 16, 2013 Right-wing group takes IDF soldiers on tour of East Jerusalem Amos Harel, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe nongovernmental organization, Elad, which works to increase the Jewish presence in Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods, is accused of pushing a political message onto the two-day course. Israel Defense Forces cadets in officer training school spent the weekend at a “leadership Sabbath” in East...
May 8, 2013 Jerusalem’s “What Me Worry“ Archaeology Raphael Greenberg, The Bible and InterpretationCategory: Alt-arch GeneralWhen you are digging 20 or 100 yards away from the Temple Mount you are in the heart of politics, not above them. When you take money from settlers you are in the heart of politics. When you excavate in the midst of a Palestinian population that is under constant surveillance and deprived of its civil...
May 4, 2013 Exhibition on loan: How Israel's cultural institutions contribute to occupation Yonathan Mizrachi, 972 MagazineCategory: Alt-arch GeneralEven if bringing the Herodium exhibit to the Israel Museum is not identical to wielding physical violence against Palestinians, it seems that in everything that pertains to the West Bank, those in charge exploit resources for their own needs, be it for exhibition or settlement expansion. The exhibition...
April 25, 2013 Jordanian-Palestinian lobbying at UNESCO ‘pushes Israel to accept Jerusalem expert mission’ Hani Hazaimeh, The Jordan TimesCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCOAMMAN — Jordan and Palestine, supported by other Arab states, helped secure Israeli acceptance of a UNESCO experts’ mission to investigate and assess the status of heritage and conservation of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday. This breakthrough is the result of a recent agreement signed between...
April 24, 2013 Israel to allow UNESCO inspections in Jerusalem after Palestinians agree to pull damning resolutions Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCOUNESCO inspectors will visit Old City on May 19 to inspect renovation and rehabilitation projects, but will not visit the Temple Mount; Foreign Ministry officials say deal is the result of Israeli diplomatic initiative. Israel will allow UNESCO inspectors to tour Jerusalem’s Old City next month to...
April 19, 2013 Archaeology in the service of the right Haaretz Editorial , HaaretzCategory: Alt-arch GeneralArchaeology mustn't be used as a political tool for exclusion. Historical sites in Israel must be researched and presented with respect for all their various layers - and also for the people who live alongside them. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority deserves praise for deciding to cancel a grandiose...
April 15, 2013 Israel heritage plan exposes discord over West Bank history Raffi Berg, BBC NewsCategory: West Bank archaeologyIsrael is launching a Year of National Heritage, to coincide with the country's independence day. As part of this push to celebrate heritage, Israel is progressing with a five-year project promoting Jewish ties to ancient sites in Israel and the West Bank. Israel says it is a purely cultural endeavour,...
April 3, 2013 Hopis Try to Stop Paris Sale of Artifacts TOM MASHBERG, The New York TimesCategory: ArtifactsIn a rare case of a cultural heritage claim arising from the sale of American artifacts abroad, the Hopi Indians of Arizona have asked federal officials to help stop a high-price auction of 70 sacred masks in Paris next week. Enlarge This Image Antoine Mercier/Dan Graphiste A Hopi sacred mask...
April 1, 2013 Palestinians kick off Jerusalem bid by ceding Holy Sites Custodianship to Jordan’s king DEBKAfile, DEBKAfileCategory: Jerusalem Old CityA historic agreement signed in Amman Sunday, March 31, between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II takes a new stand on Jerusalem - one of the core issues subject to negotiation with Israel - by accepting the king as Custodian of the city’s Holy Sites. The Palestinians...
March 26, 2013 Qatar Proposes $1 Billion Jerusalem Heritage Fund HALA DROUBI, The New York TimesCategory: Jerusalem Old CityDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatar’s emir proposed on Tuesday that the Arab League create a $1 billion fund to protect the Arabic and Islamic heritage of Jerusalem, the disputed holy city that remains one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Enlarge This Image...
March 20, 2013 King Herod, Long Reviled, Finds New Love Among Jewish Settlers Yigal Bronner and Yonathan Mizrachi, ForwardCategory: Alt-arch General‘Our largest archaeological project ever” is how Israel’s national museum has described its new exhibition featuring King Herod. James Snyder, the museum director, proudly announced that no fewer than 30 tons of material have been brought from one archaeological site alone — Herodion, one of...
March 7, 2013 ARCHAEOLOGY AND LOCAL CULTURE AT UMM EL-JIMAL Myrna Anderson, Calvin CollegeCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Aerial photos of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan, from the 1950s show tents around the ruins of the original Nabataen-Roman-Byzantine town. By the time Calvin history professor Bert de Vries began studying and preserving the archeological site in the 1970s, a small village had sprung up adjacent to the ruins....
February 27, 2013 EU consuls recommend imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemNonbinding Heads of Mission report for 2012 focuses on Israeli construction in E-1, policy in East Jerusalem and endangering of two-state solution; call to actively encourage European divestment from settlements is particularly severe. The European Union’s consuls general in East Jerusalem and Ramallah...
February 25, 2013 Jerusalem Old City master plan derailed by rightists on city council Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityNew master plan for Palestinian construction in Old City, in the works for 8 years, blocked because it didn't include new Jewish neighborhood. Right-wing members of the Jerusalem City Council succeeded in blocking a master plan for Palestinian building in the Old City, saying one of their big objections...
February 22, 2013 Herodium turns into a cultural settlement Benny Ziffer, HaaretzCategory: West Bank archaeologyExcavations at Herodium, near Bethlehem, uncovered the grave of King Herod while disrupting the lives of residents of the Palestinian village surrounding the King's winter palace. In May 2007, there was tremendous excitement when archaeologist Ehud Netzer announced that, after years of unsuccessful...
January 31, 2013 Herod blockbuster puts control of West Bank site into spotlight Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, The Art NewspaperCategory: West Bank archaeologyIsrael Museum says loans respect international law. King Herod of Judea, who was notorious for his violence and whose appetite for building resulted in the Second Temple in Jerusalem and other monuments, is getting his first museum tribute, 2,000 years after his death. The Israel Museum has organised...
January 21, 2013 Israel's largest-ever archaeological exhibit shines light on King Herod Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: West Bank archaeologyIsrael Museum reconstructs first floor of Herod's tomb in an exhibit about the life and architectural legacy of the controversial king. The Israel Museum is putting the finishing touches on a huge exhibit about the life and architectural legacy of the controversial King Herod the Great, while the Prime...
January 21, 2013 Turkey wages 'cultural war' in pursuit of its archaeological treasures Constanze Letschand Kate Connolly, GuardianCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCOAnkara accused of blackmailing museums into returning artefacts while allowing excavation sites to be destroyed Turkey has been accused of cultural chauvinism and attempting to blackmail some of the world's most important museums in the wake of its demands for the return of thousands of archaeological...
January 10, 2013 A Future for the Archaeology of Jerusalem Raphael Greenberg, The Bible and InterpretationCategory: Alt-arch GeneralThe present excavators in ancient Jerusalem consider their work relevant to their own community, but not to that in whose back and front yards they are digging, i.e. the Palestinian inhabitants of the Old City and nearby villages. They prefer to see only a distant past, thus helping their political...

December 26, 2012 Petition slams Tel Aviv University's involvement in East Jerusalem dig Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationOver 80 academics call on university administration to withdraw its participation in archaeological excavations in the City of David national park, operated by the pro-settlement NGO Elad. Tel Aviv University administrators on Monday received a petition signed by dozens of senior academics from Israel...
December 13, 2012 High Court raps Housing Ministry over private security for Jewish homes in East Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemPalestinian who reside in the vicinity of Jewish enclaves in the city have petitioned the High Court of Justice against some 350 private security guard hired by Israel for more than 20 years. The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rebuked the Housing Ministry for employing private security guards to...
December 6, 2012 UNESCO likely to recognize West Bank village's terraces as heritage site Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCODesignation expected to aid legal battle against separation fence near West Bank village. UNESCO has informed the Palestinian Authority that it will accelerate the process of recognizing the ancient terraces near the West Bank village of Battir as a world heritage site. The Palestinians, along with...
November 13, 2012 Israel's Parks Authority names plan to demolish Palestinian structures 'They Won't Know and Won't Understand' Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemIsrael Nature and Parks Authority says name of plan for National Park in East Jerusalem, slated to displace Arab residents, is 'poor choice of words.' "They Won’t Know and Won’t Understand 2012” – this is the name that was given to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority plan to demolish Arab...
November 11, 2012 Ultra-right party goes underground - to convene in Old City cave Roy (Chicky) Arad, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemAround 100 members attend convention of splinter party whose platform asserts that Jordan is the Palestinian state. Perhaps in reaction to the Likud and Labor conventions, with their stars and their deal-making, MK Aryeh Eldad's Hatikva party opted to hold its convention at an archaeological site on...
November 7, 2012 Elad's Involvement in Archaeological Sites and Projects in East Jerusalem Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Alt-arch GeneralOver the past few years, the Israeli-Jewish campaign for control and sovereignty over Palestinian East Jerusalem has been closely tied with the development and operation of several archaeological sites in that area. The East Jerusalem site which is most strongly identified with the Israeli settler ideology...
October 25, 2012 TAU to take part in East Jerusalem dig funded by pro-settlement group Talila Nesher and Nir hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsSilwan residents say excavations in City of David promote Elad's political agenda. Tel Aviv University: It's an academic project A right-wing organization active in settling Jews in controversial parts of East Jerusalem, is providing the funds for excavations by Tel Aviv University archaeologists on...
October 24, 2012 High Court bans work on separation fence near West Bank farming village Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCOResidents of Batir say construction would threaten ancient agricultural terraces and contravene a historic agreement made after the 1948 war. An injunction against beginning work on the separation fence between Israel and the West Bank in the area of the village of Batir was issued by the High Court...
October 22, 2012 Field trips to centuries past Linda Gradstein, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Students participate in Emek Shaveh initiative, an organization focusing on the role of archaeology in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One by one, the eighth graders hop over the iron safety bar, and quickly descend the steep flight of steps until they are in the bottom of a giant hole. There, they...
October 17, 2012 Israel thwarts UNESCO resolution condemning its Temple Mount activities Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCORussian envoy presents compromise deal to postpone Jordanian move for six months; dramatic turn comes on same day that new Jordanian and Egyptian ambassadors present their credentials to President Shimon Peres. Diplomatic contacts within UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural...
October 2, 2012 Vandals deface church in Jerusalem Noam (Dabul) Dvir, AFP, YnetCategory: Jerusalem Old CityGraffiti insulting Jesus found on Mount Zion Franciscan monastery's walls. Unknown vandals sprayed graffiti defamatory to Jesus on the walls of a Franciscan Dormition monastery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem on Tuesday.The Jerusalem Police have launched an investigation. The inscriptions, reading "Jesus,...
September 13, 2012 For first time, Israeli state agency opposes segment of West Bank separation fence Zafrir Rinat, HaaretzCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCONature and Parks Authority reneges on prior consent, claiming ecological peril and political interests. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has reneged on its consent to construction of the separation fence near the Palestinian village of Battir, south of Jerusalem. It is the first time a government...
September 6, 2012 Israeli archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old cistern in Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityDiscovery near the Western Wall has changed archaeologists’ understanding of Jerusalem’s water supply during the First Temple Period. By Nir Hasson | Sep.06, 2012 | 3:48 PM The cistern uncovered in Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Text size Comments...
September 5, 2012 Archaeology on a Slippery Slope - Elad’s sifting project in Emek Tzurim National Park Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Video Articles

September 5, 2012 Archaeology on a Slippery Slope - Elad’s sifting project in Emek Tzurim National Park Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Politics
August 30, 2012 History should not be privatized Editorial, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationA government that wastes no opportunity to underline the importance of national heritage sites cannot allow the political privatization of such an important chapter in the heritage of the Land of Israel. For the past 15 years the City of David National Park, one of the most important historical and...
August 26, 2012 Libya militants bulldoze Sufi mosque Reuters in Tripoli, The GuardianCategory: Heritage sites and UNESCOPolice 'stood by' as Salafi extremist group razed Tripoli mosque in most blatant sectarian attack since Gaddafi's overthrow. Libyan Islamic militant use a bulldozer to raze the mausoleum in Tripoli. Photograph: Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images Armed men have bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim...
July 28, 2012 Settlers’ install locked gate to Silwan Spring Silwanic, SilwanicCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Confrontations broke out in the Ein Silwan area on Monday evening, 23 July, when Palestinian residents of Silwan removed a barrier installed by settlers at the southern entrance to Silwan Spring. Israeli settlers had installed the locked steel gate to Silwan Spring that day during the quiet hours...
July 27, 2012 Civil Administration calls for demolition of West Bank Palestinian village built on archaeological site Amira Hass, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society High Court to rule next week on the fate of Zanuta; State: retroactive authorization of unlawful construction is impossible. The Civil Administration is calling for the demolition of a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, partly because it is built on an archaeological site.
July 5, 2012 Questions raised over archeologist's IDF escort in Area B Elior Levy, YnetCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationBinyamin Spatial Brigade troops accompany archeologist on tour of site in Palestinian village not under Israeli jurisdiction and even though Oslo Accords clearly state site is under PA authority Three weeks ago and IDF force belonging to the Binyamin Spatial Brigade arrived in the Palestinian town...
June 29, 2012 'Palestinians' Continue Bid for Church of Nativity Heritage Site Rachel Hirshfeld, Arutz Sheva7Category: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsPalestinian’ delegation to UNESCO is hoping to gain recognition for Church of Nativity as an endangered world heritage site. The ‘Palestinian’ delegation to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting on Friday in St. Petersburg is attempting to gain recognition...
June 29, 2012 UNESCO makes Church of Nativity as endangered site Associated Press, YnetCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsUN organization approves Palestinian bid, places Jesus' birthplace on list of World Heritage in danger. Abbas: This is a victory for our cause and for justice. US says its 'profoundly disappointed' by politicized decision UNESCO's World Heritage committee has voted to approve a Palestinian bid to place...
June 25, 2012 PA eyes its first World Heritage site Ziv Reinstein, YnetCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsUN yet to grant Palestinian Authority state status, but that hasn't kept Ramallah from bidding for World Heritage Sites Are the Palestinians about to get their first World Heritage Site? The question of whether to declare the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem an UNESCO site will be the main issue...
June 25, 2012 A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of Agriculture ISABEL KERSHNER, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsBATTIR, West Bank — In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient...
June 23, 2012 Palestinians push for World Heritage status for Church of the Nativity, despite naysayers Associated Press, The Washington PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as the newest members of the U.N.’s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage status for the iconic Christian site — and perhaps boost their own campaign for legitimacy. The...
June 15, 2012 Rare photograph reveals ancient Jerusalem mosque destroyed in 1967 Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityA few days after the Six-Day War, Israel destroyed the Mughrabi quarter to build the Western Wall Plaza, including one of few remaining mosques from the time of Saladin. A 1931 photograph taken from a German zeppelin has helped solve a mystery about the fate of one of Jerusalem's oldest Islamic schools. The...
June 14, 2012 Israel court acquits Palestinian teens of East Jerusalem firebomb attack Oz Rosenberg, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemTeens were charged with having participated in disturbances of the peace in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood in March 2011. Five East Jerusalem teenagers were acquitted on Wednesday of throwing rocks and firebombs - but only after having spent a year and a quarter in jail or under house arrest. The...
June 12, 2012 Settler organization granted control over spring in East Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Opponents say decision by zoning board is another way of imposing Israeli control over Palestinian resources. A right-wing organization that was granted use yesterday of an ancient East Jerusalem spring said the move would keep Haredi men from bothering the tourists by taking illicit dips in the nude....
June 7, 2012 Visit Jerusalem's new Museum of Tolerance. Feel your blood boil Bradley Burston, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Why, in Jerusalem, the neediest of Israel's cities, is an American rabbi spending some 100 million donated dollars to build what appears, more and more, to be a monument to himself? As the roots of its name suggest, Jerusalem should be a City of Peace. But it is what it is. Visit the city. Downtown,...
May 30, 2012 Palestinians to ask UN to recognize West Bank village as World Heritage site Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism PA seeks to protect Batir village, near Jerusalem, from the planned separation barrier, which is expected to destroy the village's ancient agricultural terraces. The Palestinian Authority is expected to ask UNESCO on Wednesday to recognize the West Bank village of Batir as a World Heritage site and...
May 29, 2012 Jerusalem planning NIS 4m light show to draw tourists to east Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism The show would illuminate Jeremiah's Cistern, an ancient underground cistern at the entrance to the park. The Jerusalem municipality and the Ministry of Tourism are to jointly allocate NIS 4 million for developing a sound and light show in the City of David National Park, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood...
May 23, 2012 Community archaeological dig in Jerusalem just wants to have fun Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Ancient cistern promises not to generate controversy for diggers, who include local high-school students. In Israel, where the past and present are deeply intertwined, an archeological dig is almost never just a matter of moving dirt. Israeli archeologist Gideon Suleimani learned this the hard way. In...
May 20, 2012 Artozia: The Many Ruins of Nahr al-Bared Joanne Bajjaly, Al AkhbarCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society The discovery of an ancient city beneath the destroyed refugee camp became, like everything else related to Nahr al-Bared, a political minefield. When the rubble removal operation began in Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp, teams from the Lebanese army found granite columns and their crowns as well as huge...
May 11, 2012 The Palestinian taxi driver crucial to Jewish settlement in E. Jlem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationAffidavits concerning property ownership provided by East Jerusalem taxi driver raise suspicions. Mohammed Nabulsi's paper trail has been catching up with him, which is making it difficult for Jewish settlers and their state patrons to take over East Jerusalem homes. Starting in the 1970s, Nabulsi,...
April 20, 2012 Ecology-minded Palestinian village fights plans for separation fence Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Barrier threatens Batir's unique way of life - and a 63-year-old agreement with Moshe Dayan. Most of the world manages with a seven-day week, but the Palestinian village of Batir lives on an eight-day cycle. The reason is a sophisticated system of allocating water from the village's wells among the...
April 11, 2012 “Beit Haliba” and the Givati Parking Lot Archeological Excavations and their Effect on the Status Quo in the Old City of Jerusalem and in Silwan Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Alt-arch General
March 13, 2012 Palestinians Claim Ancient Judean Shekel Auctioned for $1.1 Million Is…Palestinian Sharona Schwartz, The BlazeCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsAn ancient Judean shekel coin was sold at a New York auction last week for a whole lot more than a shekel: a whopping $1.1 million. That in itself was interesting. But there’s more. Now, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is claiming the shekel from 66 A.D. is a Palestinian relic, even though it’s covered...
March 9, 2012 The writing on the wall, tablet and floor Ofer Aderet, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society An ambitious international project led by two adventurous Israeli classicists aims to analyze and catalog every ancient inscription that has been made in Israel. Their meticulous work includes crawling through caves and cellars and Indiana Jones-style adventures. Over the last few years. Hannah Cotton-Paltiel...
March 4, 2012 Yet Another Collapse in the “City of David” in Silwan Hagit Ofran, Peace Now - Settlement WatchCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationRain can make people happy, especially in our region where we desperately need any drop of water. Others might suffer from the Weather Blues whenever clouds are seen. In Wadi Hilweh of Silwan (East Jerusalem) the rain makes people worried. Today it has happened again. Several days of rain (and even...
February 26, 2012 Netanyahu: Abbas speech on Jerusalem was 'incitement' Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemSpeaking at a conference in Qatar, PA President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of trying to harm the al-Aqsa mosque and conducting ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly condemned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for a speech given at a conference...
February 21, 2012 Archeologists are bringing Jerusalem's ancient Roman city back to life Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityExcavations of the Roman city Aelia Capitolina, built on the ruins of Second Temple-period Jerusalem, have unearthed a few surprises. If you look at a map of the Old City of Jerusalem, you'll notice something odd. While the vast majority of the Old City's streets form a crowded casbah of winding alleyways,...
February 13, 2012 Interior Ministry approves J'lem tourism center Melanie Lidman, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe Interior Ministry gave their initial approval to a 9,000 square meter tourism center that will be located next to the Old City. The complex, called the Kedem Center, will include multiple floors of underground parking, an event hall, exhibits, a cafeteria, and other public facilities. It will be...
February 13, 2012 Israel approves new East Jerusalem visitors' compound, razes Palestinian community center Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsJerusalem planning and committee approves construction of new visitors’ center at City of David National Park in Silwan. The Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee approved on Monday the construction of a new visitors’ center at the City of David National Park in Silwan. As part...
February 10, 2012 Academics bow out of search for Antiquities Authority leadership Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsUnder the new law, which was passed by the Knesset recently, the academy has only an advisory role in selecting the Antiquities Authority chairman. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities has refused to help select the next chairman of the Israel Antiquities Authority, after the law was changed...
February 7, 2012 WATCH: Israel nature authority destroys caves in new national park Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Activists claim park is attempt to stop expansion of Isawiyah and A-Tur villages, authority says park needed to protect archeological sites; four Israelis, one Palestinian arrested trying to stop bulldozers. Bulldozers constructing the Mount Scopus National Park near Jerusalem destroyed on Monday...
February 7, 2012 Israel's last remaining abandoned Arab village, Lifta, gets reprieve as judge voids development plans Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Architects and planners view village as a cultural asset that preserves the way of life and the construction typical of Arab villages in the early 20th century. Lifta, the only abandoned Arab village in Israel not to have been destroyed or repopulated since 1948, has received a reprieve after plans...
January 29, 2012 Top archeologists condemn Israeli plan to rebuild ancient tomb Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism The plan, promoted by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Gush Etzion Regional Council, includes rebuilding the tomb of Herod the Great in West Bank. An unusual plan to rebuild the tomb of Herod the Great at the Herodium site, southeast of Jerusalem, has spurred opposition on the part of...
January 20, 2012 In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab Ben Lynfield, The Christian Science MonitorCategory: Articles - East JerusalemSeven existing and planned parks in sensitive East Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, would expand areas of Jewish control where Palestinians envision a future capital. An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem, preserving the ancient city's natural...
January 11, 2012 Israel moves to build East Jerusalem part despite lack of final approval Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee approved the park, to be located on land belonging to the villages of Isawiyah and A-Tur, pending objections that can be submitted until next month. The Jerusalem municipality and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have begun work on a planned national...
January 5, 2012 IDF rabbinate edits out Dome of the Rock from picture of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Gili Cohen, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityPhoto appears in army packet on Hanukkah describing the Jewish revolt against Hellenistic rule; IDF spokesman: Image meant to illustrate a period in which holy Muslim site did not exist. Israel’s military rabbinate released an educational document ahead of the holiday of Hanukkah last month, featuring...
January 4, 2012 State moves millions from public housing to security for Jewish enclaves in East Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationCourt petition opposing the use of private security guards to protect the Jewish residents contends that budget ballooned from NIS 7 to 54 million within two decades. The Housing and Construction Ministry has transferred NIS 5 million from the public housing budget and other funds in order to finance...
January 4, 2012 Where Are the Antiquities? National Parks between the Old City of Jerusalem and Area E1 Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Alt-arch General

December 19, 2011 Israel court rules against evicting two East Jerusalem Palestinian families Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationJudges reject claims that the homes had been sold to new owners who wanted the Palestinian families out. The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has rejected two separate lawsuits seeking the eviction of two Palestinian families from homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. In both cases, the...
December 16, 2011 Ah, wilderness! Yuval Ben Ami, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism There is one way to prove that the new national park in East Jerusalem is not a bluff: Lace up your walking shoes and hit the road. "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul," said John Muir (1838-1914...
December 7, 2011 National park in east Jerusalem stirs controversy MELANIE LIDMAN , The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Activists call it a "green settlement," Jerusalem Development Authority says park is the only way to save open areas. Residents of east Jerusalem and Israeli activists are slamming the plan for a new national park there. A plan to create a national park in the steep hills between the Arab neighborhoods...
December 7, 2011 Leave East Jerusalem alone Haaretz editorial, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemDiscussions on Jerusalem were postponed to a later stage of the final-status negotiations, but it was never agreed that this interlude be exploited to create facts on the ground. As the diplomatic process has sunk deeper into hibernation, acts whose sole purpose is to tighten Israel's annexation of...
December 7, 2011 Jerusalem mosque set alight in suspected 'price tag' attack Oz Rosenberg, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Jerusalem Mayor denounces arsonists' attack on burial site of noted Muslim figure, saying zero tolerance should be shown to violence of any kind, and that coexistence in the city must be kept. Arsonists set fire to a deserted mosque in central Jerusalem during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday....
December 6, 2011 New Jerusalem park a 'ruse' to set up new settlement, activists say Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Residents and leftists claim plan designed to block development of two Palestinian neighborhoods in eastern half of city. The Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee is to consider a plan for a new national park in the Mount Scopus area, which Palestinian residents and leftist activists say is designed...
December 2, 2011 Rogem Ganim Natasha DudinskyCategory: Video ArticlesStory of a summer spent at community excavations in Jerusalem's Ganim neighbourhood.
November 27, 2011 Scholars slam bill to change makeup of Israel Antiquities Authority Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsCulture Minister Limor Livnat did not approve Israel Academy of Sciences president's nominations for authority chairman, has submitted Knesset bill that would let her appoint a non-academy member. Culture Minister Limor Livnat previously asked Prof. Oded Abramsky, a neurologist at Jerusalem's Hadassah...
November 16, 2011 Palestinian Family at Immediate Risk of Eviction in Silwan Hagit Ofran, Peace Now - Settlement WatchCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationAugust 2nd, 2009. The Ghawi and Hannun families of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem are waking to the sounds of police and trucks and movers. In a few hours, their houses will have become the home to settler families, and they will be kicked out to the street. Those images are flashing back to me...
November 14, 2011 Archaeologists resume work at contentious worksite of Jerusalem museum Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsNo one involved in the digs would comment on any archaeological findings since the resumption of the excavations, which are taking place in the capital's Mamilla neighborhood. Archaeologists have resumed excavating the Jerusalem site where the Museum of Tolerance is to go up, amid controversy surrounding...
October 31, 2011 UNESCO grants Palestinians full membership Barak Ravid and News Agencies, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsCultural body is first UN agency Palestinians have sought to join since opening bid for recognition; Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France vote in favor; U.S., Canada and Germany oppose, while Britain abstains. * * Published 14:38 31.10.11 * Latest update 15:14 31.10.11 UNESCO...
October 30, 2011 U.S., EU scramble to delay Palestinian bid to join UNESCO Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsU.S., EU scramble to delay Palestinian bid to join UNESCO European and Israeli diplomats say Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was presented with a compromise proposal, but that he had yet to respond. The United States and the European Union are in the midst of marathon diplomatic efforts...
October 25, 2011 Grave concerns Noam Dvir, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society International archaeologists are calling for work to stop at the Museum of Tolerance. Eighty-four senior archaeologists from leading research institutions around the world have called on the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jerusalem municipality and the Israel Antiquities Authority to put an end to construction...
October 25, 2011 Gush Etzion head tapped to lead Nature Authority Zafrir Rinat and Chaim Levinson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsPick expected to face criticism from green groups. A special search committee has recommended the chairman of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shaul Goldstein, to head the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Goldstein lives in the West Bank settlement of Neveh Daniel. If the cabinet approves his...
October 24, 2011 Israeli NGO: Elad group has 'veto' power over Jerusalem's City of David Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationIr Amim, a nonprofit that seeks to make life in Jerusalem more equitable for Arab and Jewish residents, claims agreement is illegal and ostensibly privatizes one of Israel's most important tourism and archaeological sites. The Elad association has far-reaching administrative powers in Jerusalem's...
October 23, 2011 Israeli researchers: Jerusalem's trendiest street built over biblical site Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Two researchers see in the special topography of Jerusalem evidence that would require that we redraw our understanding of the geography of the city in ancient times. There's an old cliche in Jerusalem that the city's most Tel Aviv-like street is Emek Refaim in the German Colony, with its wealth of...
October 11, 2011 Leading archaeologist takes a dig at Elad's excavation at entrance to City of David Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Dr. Eilat Mazar says excavations carried out in violation of accepted procedures. An archaeologist who worked with the Elad association in Jerusalem's City of David claims that the association and the Antiquities Authority are carrying out excavations "without any commitment to scientific archaeological...
October 10, 2011 With eye on UNESCO membership, Palestinians draw up long list of heritage sites Reuters, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society Minister says PA seeking World Heritage status for 20 sites, including Bethlehem and Hebron; U.S. and Israel see bid as unilateral move aimed at bypassing negotiations. The Palestinians will seek World Heritage status for the birthplace of Jesus once the UN cultural agency admits them as a full member,...
October 6, 2011 Israeli archaeologists oppose privatisation bill Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, The Art NewspaperCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsJERUSALEM. More than 150 Israeli archaeologists and historians have petitioned the Israeli parliament to vote down an amendment to a bill that would privatise national parks, including archaeological and historic sites. The petition, delivered to the culture and environment ministers, charges that the...
September 26, 2011 Israel Hands Ancient Site to Ideologues Sarah Kreimer, ForwardCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsImagine stepping off the ferry to find that the Statue of Liberty monument is not run by the U.S. National Park Service, but that an evangelical Christian group has a special concession to operate this historic site. Also imagine that the film shown at the Ellis Island museum no longer emphasizes America’s...
July 27, 2011 Government move would cement rightist group's control of Jerusalem national park Zafrir Rinat and Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationElad, which manages the City of David national park, is active in 'Judaization' of East Jerusalem. The government and a group of MKs led by Yisrael Hasson (Kadima) this week renewed the process to approve an amendment to the National Parks Law that would permit park lands to be transferred to private...
July 26, 2011 Left-wing groups urge musicians to boycott City of David Dafna Arad, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationLeft-wing groups Solidarity and Ir Amim post demands to cancel performances on Facebook pages of David D'Or, Micha Shitrit, Lior Elmaliach and Shlomo Bar. The Solidarity Movement and leftist figures are calling on artists not to perform in the City of David, located in the East Jerusalem area of Silwan...
July 20, 2011 Knesset approves first reading of bill to extend Israeli law over West Bank museums Jonathan Lis, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Bill aims to strengthen Israeli sovereignty over West Bank, bring end to ‘discrimination’ against settlers. The Knesset passed a preliminary reading on Wednesday of a bill that would extend Israeli law to museums in West Bank settlements. The bill passed by a vote of 51 to 9. According to its...
July 12, 2011 Professor B.Z. Kedar, is Israeli archaeology an 'old-boys club'? Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society The Israel Antiquities Authority has been attacked for not doing enough to preserve the Temple Mount antiquities, on one hand, but also for supposedly being a tool of extreme nationalist groups. Prof. Benjamin Z. Kedar has been chairman of the board of the Israel Antiquities Authority for 11 years....
July 12, 2011 Tolerance museum gets final OK Ronen Mezini, YnetCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsJerusalem approves construction of museum on Muslim burial ground, angering Islamic Waqf After countless delays and disagreements, the Jerusalem District Building and Planning Committee on Tuesday approved the construction of a tolerance museum near Independence Park in the center of the capital. The...
July 11, 2011 Archaeologists: Right-wing culture minister making appointments based on politics Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsTop archaeologists slam Limor Livnat's bid to change make-up of Israel Antiquities Authority's board of directors, say move will allow her to appoint officials identified with the political right. Senior archaeologists are up in arms over an amendment to the Antiquities Authority Law proposed by Culture...
June 24, 2011 Politics get mixed up with archaeology in dispute over Solomon's Silwan wall Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe excavations near the Temple Mount's eastern wall in an area known as the Ophel continued on and off for decades. An archaeological site dedicated in Jerusalem this week consists of a section of an ancient wall built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C.E., says the archaeologist who dug up...
June 16, 2011 King Hezekiah's inheritance - a cesspool of political garbage Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsNobody, not the Copts or the Waqf, is happy about Jerusalem's attempt to conquer an incessant health hazard. After years of neglect, Hezekiah's Pool in the Old City of Jerusalem is finally being cleaned up. The work is being done by the Jerusalem Municipality, the Environmental Protection Ministry...
June 8, 2011 East Jerusalem: 'Every action in this area is very sensitive' Christian Bennett, Mustafa Khalili, Michael Tait, Mona Mahmood and B'Tselem, GuardianCategory: Video ArticlesA Jewish-Israeli archaeologist takes us on an alternative tour of the 'City of David' - the archaeological site and tourist attraction in the centre of Jerusalem, owned by the Israeli settler organisation Elad
May 30, 2011 Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape MATTI FRIEDMAN, The GuardianCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Associated Press= JERUSALEM (AP) — Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above. At street level,...
May 25, 2011 Israel and Palestine: who owns what? Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, The Art NewspaperCategory: Video ArticlesWhile officials squabble over heritage sites, non-government experts are working behind the scenes to propose solutions In anticipation of a Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the UN in September, Israelis and Palestinians are racing to claim cultural heritage sites in the West Bank. Both...
May 14, 2011 Palestinian teen dies of wounds sustained in East Jerusalem clashes Nir Hasson and Avi Issacharoff, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemMilad Said Ayyash, 17, was shot in the stomach on Friday during violent clashes near Silwan; police deploy heavily throughout Jerusalem as further demonstration expected. A Palestinian teenager who was shot on Friday during clashes with Israeli security forces near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of...
May 7, 2011 Archaeology, Politics and Living People in Jerusalem Yonathan Mizrachi, Emek ShavehCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsA recent article by noted archaeologist Israel Finkelstein underscores some of the problems and misconceptions surrounding the “City of David” - archaeological site located in the Palestinian village of Silwan A large part of the site lies beneath the houses in the village. Professor Finkelstein...
April 26, 2011 In the Eye of Jerusalem’s Archaeological Storm Israel Finkelstein, ForwardCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsArchaeological activity in Jerusalem has been sucked into a whirlwind of conflicting political agendas, and the site commonly referred to as “the City of David” is in the eye of the storm. At issue is a place of seminal importance for the Jewish people and indeed for anyone who cherishes the heritage...
April 24, 2011 Jerusalem's time tunnels Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Horizontal excavations throughout the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan are producing important archaeological discoveries, but opponents charge that they are undermining Palestinian foundations, in more ways than one. Under the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem and the neighboring village of Silwan...
April 24, 2011 Stop privatizing national parks Zafrir Rinat, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsFrom the Israeli public’s vantage point, the privatization of national parks can be seen as another step in the continuing erosion of efficient management of public assets, a process that started with the privatization of social services and government companies. A few months ago, Environmental Protection...
April 19, 2011 Sharing the right to Jerusalem’s past Yonathan Mizrachi, Search for Common GroundCategory: Alt-arch GeneralJerusalem - The Palestinian village Silwan in East Jerusalem is situated about a hundred metres from the Temple Mount/Haram el Sharif. It is home to 40,000 Palestinians and almost 400 Jewish settlers. The village also hosts a large archaeological site called the “City of David”. The past few...
April 17, 2011 Jerusalem Underground - The excavation of tunnels, channels, and underground spaces in the Historic Basin Emek Shaveh, Emek ShavehCategory: Alt-arch General
January 26, 2011 New Jerusalem tunnel will damage Temple Mount, Palestinians say Yair Ettinger and Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Despite Israeli claims to the contrary, parts of tunnel pass just meters from the Western Wall. The tunnel leading from the City of David in Silwan to beneath the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority and announced to media fanfare Sunday, is drawing fire from...
January 25, 2011 Digging completed on tunnel under Old City walls in East Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsDigging delayed after residents of Silwan filed petition claiming dig was damaging their homes; tunnel dates back to Second Temple and links City of David to location near Western Wall. The Israel Antiquities Authority has completed an archaeological dig of a tunnel that will enable visitors to cross...
January 14, 2011 Jerusalem opens Muslim Quarter Jewish site to prayer, upsetting status quo Akiva Eldar, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe Waqf - the Muslim religious trust - has specifically warned against opening the 'Little Kotel' to prayer gatherings, threatening a strong response. The Jerusalem Development Authority recently removed scaffolding in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, disrupting the sensitive status quo in the...
January 13, 2011 Jerusalem to finance Jewish museum in Arab neighborhood Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe Tourism Ministry joins investment of NIS 2 million in project run by Elad, a Jewish group that buys property in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem municipality and the Tourism Ministry will invest NIS 2 million in a project run by the Elad organization that buys property for Jews in East Jerusalem's...
January 13, 2011 Attorney General to Barkat: Beit Yonatan will be sealed Aviad Glickman, YnetCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationAttorney General Yehuda Weinstein sends letter to Jerusalem Mayor Barkat stressing Jewish site in Silwan will be sealed as per court's ruling, claims implementation of order not subject to his consideration as mayor Despite a compromise proposed by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat the State insists on...
January 11, 2011 After hotel demolition, East Jerusalem activists appeal to EU for protection Nir Hasson and Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemKey activists in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood yesterday asked European Union consuls in the city to give them international protection against Israel. In a letter to EU representatives, the activists asked that a European consulate in East Jerusalem grant political asylum to Adnan Jith, a...
January 10, 2011 The Attack of the Police on Silwan Hagit Ofran, Eyes On the Ground in East JerusalemCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe Jerusalem police have been putting a lot of pressure on the Palestinian residents of Silwan in what seems to be an attempt to break the social and political leadership of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem. The recent wave of attacks started a few weeks ago when Adnan Ghaith, one of the local leaders...
January 1, 2011 Press Release: Excavation of a tunnel under the Jerusalem Old City walls Near the Western Wall plaza Emek ShavehCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsIn recent months, the Israeli Antiquities Authority has excavated a tunnel connecting the archeological site in Silwan (City of David) to the Davidson Center archeological park at the southern edge of the Temple Mount (See at the link: http://www.alt-arch.org/jerusalem_map.php ). The excavated tunnel...

December 26, 2010 Preserving Heritage, and the Fabric of Life, in Syria Nicolai Ouroussoff, The New York TimesCategory: Articles- Archaeology and Society ALEPPO, Syria — At first glance it seems an unremarkable scene: a quiet plaza shaded by date palms in the shadow of this city’s immense medieval Citadel, newly restored to its looming power. Foreign tourists sit side by side with people whose families have lived here for generations; women,...
December 25, 2010 Caution: Children Ahead - The Illegal Behavior of the Police toward Minors in Silwan Suspected of Stone Throwing Naama Baumgarten‐Sharon, B'TselemCategory: Articles - East JerusalemAn investigation conducted by B'Tselem shows that, during the past year (November 2009 to October 2010), at least 81 minors from Silwan have been arrested or detained for questioning, the vast majority on suspicion of stone throwing. The arrests and detentions followed confrontations between Palestinians...
December 21, 2010 Government committee to set aside another NIS 50 million for national heritage projects Noam Dvir, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe panel is expected to approve the preservation, restoration and expansion of 12 important historical and architectural sites. Government committee to set aside another NIS 50 million for national heritage projects The panel is expected to approve the preservation, restoration and expansion...
December 10, 2010 A Columbia professor tours East Jerusalem, where national histories clash, converge, and intertwine TODD GITLIN, Tablet MagazineCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism “What Is ‘Occupation’?” In October, I took part in a conference at the luxurious, tourist-stuffed Mount Zion Hotel, a stone’s throw south of the Old City wall in Jerusalem. My group debated “delegitimization,” the current Israeli catch-all term that clumps together hostility to the...
November 21, 2010 Israel to invest $23m in Western Wall plaza AFP, AFPCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJERUSALEM — Israel's cabinet on Sunday backed plans to invest millions of shekels in a five-year project to develop the Western Wall plaza, in a project branded by the Palestinians as "illegal." The plans to improve access to both the Wall and to nearby archaeological sites were outlined in a statement...
November 7, 2010 Full Haaretz expose / How the state helped right-wing groups settle East Jerusalem Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationA Haaretz investigation shows the state used a controversial law to transfer East Jerusalem assets to the rightist organizations Elad and Ateret Cohanim without a tender, and at very low prices. On October 8, David Be'eri started his car in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan and drove off....
November 7, 2010 MK: remove the memorial in Silwan Roni Sofer, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemMK: Remove memorial for Silwan riots instigator Barkat asked to get rid of 'illegal' monument commemorating Palestinian shot while throwing stones Roni Sofer Published: 11.07.10, 18:42 / Israel News share Knesset Member Miri Regev (Likud) sent a letter to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Sunday...
November 2, 2010 City of David or City of Gmaryahu ben Shafan? Yonathan Mizrahi, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsIn the more than 140 years of excavations at the "City of David" archaeological site in the Palestinian village of Silwan in Jerusalem, dozens of fragments have been unearthed bearing inscriptions in ancient Hebrew. Most date from the beginning of the eighth to the sixth century B.C.E , and many of...
October 25, 2010 Children the New Target in Silwan Ethnic Cleansing Campaign Charlotte Silver, Palestine MonitorCategory: Video ArticlesChildren the New Target in Silwan Ethnic Cleansing Campaign Palestine Monitor 25 October 2010 “I asked them to give me a minute to wake him up. But they didn’t wait, they came in and took him”, said Mahmoud Mansour as he explained how the Israeli police arrested his son. Mahmoud is the father...
October 24, 2010 Jerusalem municipality distributed demolition orders in Silwan Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJerusalem municipal supervisors on Sunday distributed four demolition orders to homeowners in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan, in the east of the city. Clashes broke out between local youths and the officers accompanying the supervisors; police responded by firing tear gas. Mayor Nir Barkat has...
October 17, 2010 Jerusalem: City of David Lesley Stahl, CBS NewsCategory: Video ArticlesJerusalem is one of the holiest cities on Earth, for Jews, for Muslims and for Christians. It is also one of the most difficult issues at the negotiating table as Palestinians and Israelis struggle to continue the peace talks. The challenge is how to divide the city between the two sides. Back in...
October 10, 2010 OECD threatens to cancel J'lem conference over minister's remarks Ronen Medzini, YnetCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism The Organization of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) is threatening to cancel a conference scheduled to take place in Jerusalem in late October, Ynet learned. A letter sent by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria implied that statements made by Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov suggesting...
October 10, 2010 Looting the Holy Land Filmmakers: Mariam Shahin and George Azar, Al-Jazeera EnglishCategory: Video ArticlesSince 1967 countless artifacts have been unearthed and removed from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many are displayed in Israeli museums and private collections, while others are sold to tourists. For Israel, archeology has been a key tool in buttressing its territorial claims to historic...
October 5, 2010 Tourism Minister: U.K., Spain to boycott OECD tourism conference because it's in Jerusalem Irit Rosenblum, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Tourism Minister: U.K., Spain to boycott OECD tourism conference because it's in Jerusalem Palestinians pressure Europe to shun October conference on sustainable tourism, which normally takes place in Paris. Britain and Spain will not send delegates to the OECD's biannual tourism conference on October...
October 4, 2010 Open door Chris Elliott, The GuardianCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe readers' editor on… how a small distance can make a big difference Few places in the world are more difficult to report from than the Middle East. It is not just the physical danger that can face journalists. The unresolved religious and territorial conflicts that characterise the area are...
September 27, 2010 The police accepted the guard's version - now there's doubt Moshe Nussbaum, Israel Channel 2Category: Video Articles...Jerusalem police automatically accepted the version of the settlers guard about what led him to shoot dead Samer Sarhan. The head of the police, Aharon Franco declared that the guard was blocked and attacked by Palestinians. Now channel 2 exposes a film that shows that the guard wasn't at all block
September 24, 2010 The government must stop funding zealotry in Jerusalem Haaretz Editorial, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe circumstances under which a private security guard fired at demonstrators in Silwan in East Jerusalem, killing a local man, Samar Sirhan, still need to be clarified. The police are investigating the guard's version of events, that he had to fire at people throwing stones who were endangering...
September 23, 2010 The Guards of the Settlers Just Shoot Hagit Ofran, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThis morning it happened. The Palestinian residents were warning, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel published a detailed report on that threat and it was even reported in the Israeli media. But for the family of Samer Sarhan it will never help. Sarhan, 32 years old, the father of 5 little children...
September 23, 2010 Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag Ethan Bronner and Isabel Kershner, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - East JerusalemWith Israel’s construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank scheduled to end this weekend, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were seeking an elusive formula on Wednesday to keep their peace talks going while both sides warned that if the talks ended, violence could erupt. Multimedia Slide...
September 22, 2010 Palestinian shot dead by Israeli guard in East Jerusalem, sparking riots Liel Kyzer and Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemAn Israeli security guard shot and killed a Palestinian on Wednesday in the East Jerusalem district of Silwan, an area that sees frequent tensions over its settler enclave, local residents and Israeli police said. The guard shot the 32-year-old man while driving through Silwan before dawn, a police...
September 19, 2010 Contesting Past and Present at Silwan Joel Beinin, Middle East ReportCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsOn September 1, Elad -- a Hebrew acronym for “To the City of David” -- convened its eleventh annual archaeological conference at the “City of David National Park” in the Wadi Hilwa neighborhood of Silwan. Silwan, home to about 45,000 people, is one of 28 Palestinian villages incorporated into...
September 6, 2010 Western Wall development 'illegal', opponents claim Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Jerusalem Old CityThe controversial Strauss House is a 900-square-meter building planned for the northern area of the plaza in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. A controversial construction project for the Western Wall Plaza was approved illegally, opponents claim. The Society for the Protection of...
September 2, 2010 Protest in Silwan: It's about the Settlement not the Archeology Youtube, YouTubeCategory: Video ArticlesOn September 1st, the settlers in Silwan had a conference on the archeology of what they call "The City of David". A group from Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity (www.justjlm.org) came to protest and inform the participants of the political meanings of the event. The police did the work of the settlers and kicked...
August 26, 2010 Clashes in East Jerusalem Reuters, YouTubeCategory: Video ArticlesResidents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan clash with settlers and police, claiming armed settler guards entered their ancient mosque for its water.
August 20, 2010 The State Attorney visits the settlers in Silwan silwanic.net, YouTubeCategory: Video ArticlesOn 19/8/10 the Israeli State Attorney, Moshe Lador, together with the Government Legal Adviser, Yehuda Veinstein, the Commander of Jerusalem Police, Aharon Franco and other senior members of the Ministry of Justice, visited the settlements in Silwan, and were hosted by the settlers. They started the...
August 18, 2010 Palestinian on Hunger Strike in Berlin for Family Rights in East Jerusalem AL-HAQCategory: Articles - East JerusalemPalestinian on Hunger Strike in Berlin for Family Rights in East Jerusalem AL-HAQ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REF.:182/2010 12 August 2010 As a Palestinian NGO committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq is deeply concerned...
August, 2010 Silwan: When David Becomes Goliath Helena Hogan, NENA newsCategory: Articles - East JerusalemSILWAN: WHEN DAVID BECOMES GOLIATH An article written by Helena Hogan - Fakhri Abu Diab abruptly interrupts the interview as an alarming swell of whistling rises up from the streets. He stands up and walks out of the “Al Bustan Center” tent, a makeshift wooden structure draped in black canvas...
July 29, 2010 Rights group: Police's 'Captain George' harrassed East J'lem organizer Chaim Levinson , HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemRights group: Police's 'Captain George' harrassed East J'lem organizer Former army interrogator had been accused of torture. By Chaim Levinson More allegations about the Jerusalem District Police adviser on Arab affairs have emerged a day after Haaretz reported the man tapped for the job had been...
July 12, 2010 Ir Amim demands El-ad leave Silwan Dan Izenberg, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe nonprofit organization Ir Amim and several intellectuals and activists petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday, demanding that the National Parks Authority annul an allegedly secret agreement allowing right-wing Jerusalem settlement movement El-ad to manage the City of David national park...
July 4, 2010 Public security minister: Settlers won't forcibly evict East Jerusalem Palestinians Jonathan Lis, HaaretzCategory: Video ArticlesPublic Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has persuaded rightist Knesset members not to forcefully evict Palestinians from a building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. Last week, MK Uri Ariel (National Union) declared from the Knesset podium that settlers would hire private security...
June 28, 2010 Razing of Palestinian homes in E. Jerusalem approved despite 250 defects in plan Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemDocuments obtained by Haaretz suggest that the plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in Silwan to make room for tourist center was not ready to be approved by planning committee, but was rushed by Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. A controversial plan to raze Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem was approved...
June 28, 2010 A Report from the Battlefield of East Jerusalem Hagit Ofran, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - East Jerusalem"There is trouble in Silwan," M., a Palestinian friend living in Silwan, informed me last night by phone. Almost every evening over the last weeks there have been clashes in Silwan between police, guards, and residents. This time it sounded serious. M. reported on the injured and ambulances that were...
June 27, 2010 East Jerusalem fracas leads to heavy clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians Liel Kyzer and Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemPalestinian protesters and Border Police officers engaged in heavy clashes late Sunday near a Jewish enclave in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The clashes began with a fracas between some 150 protesters and the settlers' security guards, according to Palestinian sources, and spiraled...
June 27, 2010 Molotov cocktails thrown in Silwan, 10 injured Shmulik Grossman, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemAfter house demolition in King's Garden project announced, disturbances noted in Silwan streets for days straight. Some 200 people riot, throw stones, Molotov cocktails at police, Jewish house. 'Red line crossed,' says senior Border Guard official Disturbances in Silwan continue. Some 200 people...
June 27, 2010 Western Wall museum plans threaten Roman relics, archaeologists warn Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsJerusalem planning council to rule on controversial project that opponents claim would destroy valuable ancient structures beneath the Old City. Jerusalem's district planning council was on Sunday set to rule on a controversial museum project that archaeologists claim would destroy valuable ancient...
June 24, 2010 Outcry over Silwan demolition plan Jacky Rowland, Al-Jazeera EnglishCategory: Articles - East JerusalemOutcry over Silwan demolition plan By Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem Around 1,500 people will be homeless if the demolition programme proceeds in Silwan [EPA] The Palestinian village of Silwan clings to a steep hillside facing the southern walls of Jerusalem's...
June 24, 2010 UN concerned over Silwan demolitions alJazeera MagazineCategory: Articles - East JerusalemUN concerned over Silwan demolitions 24/06/2010 06:19:41 AM GMT Comments (1) Add a comment Print E-mail to friend The UN has expressed "deep concern" over Israel's "illegal" plan to demolish Palestinian homes in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) to make room for an archaeological...
June 24, 2010 Last Publication: Archaeology in the Shadow of the Conflict The Mound of Ancient Jerusalem (City of David) in Silwan Emek Shaveh, From Shiloah to SilwanCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe subject of this booklet is archaeology in the heart of Jerusalem, one of the most complex cities in the world. We will focus primarily on the mound of ancient Jerusalem, also known as the City of David, located on a ridge south of the Temple Mount, presently part of Palestinian Silwan, and will...
June 23, 2010 Settlers threaten to forcibly evict East Jerusalem Palestinians Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemIsraeli settlers say they will hire private security firms to evacuate four families if they do not leave property by July 4. Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem on Wednesday threatened to forcibly evict four Palestinian families they claim are living on property belonging to Jews in the neighborhood...
June 23, 2010 U.N.'s Ban criticizes East Jerusalem housing plan ReutersCategory: Articles - East JerusalemU.N.'s Ban criticizes East Jerusalem housing plan UNITED NATIONS Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:24pm BSTRelated NewsIsrael slams Palestinians for lack of direct talks Jun 22, 2010 Israeli panel revives East Jerusalem housing plan Jun 21, 2010 Israel sets up inquiry into deadly Gaza ship raid Jun 14, 2010 Israel...
June 22, 2010 Jerusalem demolition plan approved Al-Jazeera EnglishCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJerusalem demolition plan approved Israeli officials claim that all 88 Palestinian homes in Silwan are built illegally [AFP] The Jerusalem planning committee has given initial approval to a proposal for demolishing 22 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighbourhood to make room...
June 21, 2010 Erekat: E. Jerusalem home demolitions proves Israel wants to destroy peace talks Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemChief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday slammed Israel's decision to raze 22 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and said the move shows Israel wants to destroy the indirect peace talks with the Palestinians. The Jerusalem municipal planning committee approved Monday a contentious plan...
June 21, 2010 Silwan demolitions approved Ronen Medzini, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemMunicipality endorses mayor's plan to raze 22 homes in east Jerusalem before Netanyahu-Obama meeting The Jerusalem Planning and Construction committee approved Monday a plan by Mayor Nir Barkat dubbed "King's Garden", which calls for the demolition of 22 houses in Silwan's al-Bustan neighborhood....
June 21, 2010 Erekat: Israel destroying talks by razing Silwan homes Ma'an News AgencyCategory: Articles - East JerusalemErekat: Israel destroying talks by razing Silwan homes Published Monday 21/06/2010 (updated) 22/06/2010 17:05 Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat reportedly said Israel's decision to demolish 22 homes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem reveal Israel...
June 20, 2010 Yet another provocation in Jerusalem Hagit Ofran, Peace Now - Settlement WatchCategory: Articles - East JerusalemTomorrow (Monday the 21st of June) two very controversial East Jerusalem plans are scheduled to come before the municipal planning committee (also known as the local planning committee). They are likely to be approved – the first of series of necessary approvals. The first is for the King’s Garden...
June 14, 2010 How United Is Jerusalem? A Tour of Palestinian Neighborhoods and Israeli Settlements Ziva Galili, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe recent clashes in East Jerusalem, though limited in scope and duration, are forcing us again to question the presentation of Jerusalem as a united city. Just a few weeks ago, on Jerusalem Day, Israeli politicians and settlers celebrated "Eternally United Jerusalem" and swore it will never be partitioned...
May, 2010 Archaeology in the Shadow of the Conflict Emek Shaveh, From Shiloah to SilwanCategory: Links
May 26, 2010 The dig dividing Jerusalem Ahdaf Soueif , GuardianCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe search for the City of David may offer tourists a reminder of Jerusalem's ancient past. But for the Palestinians whose homes are threatened by the excavations, archaeology is merely the latest weapon being used against them. If you walk out of Jerusalem Old City through its south-eastern gate and...
May 25, 2010 Court rejects settlers' appeal to stay in East Jerusalem building Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe 7-story Beit Yehonatan structure was built by ultra-nationalists in the heart of Silwan, a predominantly Arab neighborhood. The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal to overturn an order to seal off a building in the heart of East Jerusalem in which a handful of Jewish families...
May 20, 2010 What to do with the graves? Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsHaaretz's investigative reporting on the eve of Shavuot about the removal of skeletons from the Mamilla Muslim cemetery so the Museum of Tolerance can be built there rightly prompted questions from the people at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which had initiated the museum project. The questions went...
May 18, 2010 Museum of Tolerance Special Report Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsOn the connection between the esteemed California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, run by one of America’s most famous rabbis, an enterprising Jerusalem contractor and the feverish excavation at what was then probably Israel’s most secret civilian building site. Sometimes a lack of sensitivity...
May 11, 2010 Jerusalem Day / Number of students visiting Jerusalem more than doubles Or Kashti, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemMore than 400,000 students visited J'lem from September through January, double the number for the entire school year two years ago. More than 400,000 children visited Jerusalem on school field trips from September through January of the current school year, compared to about 200,000 for the entire...
May, 2010 Human Rights in East Jerusalem: Facts and Figures ACRI, ACRI - The Association for Civil Rights in IsraelCategory: Links
April 30, 2010 Jerusalem's secret land deals Al-Jazeera English, YouTubeCategory: Video Articles
April 27, 2010 The Real Story of Yesterday’s Protest in East Jerusalem Hagit Ofran, Peace Now - Settlement WatchCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThere has been a lot of press coverage of yesterday’s march and counter-protest in Silwan in East Jerusalem. The New York Times reported that “Israeli Rightists Stir[red] Tensions in East Jerusalem” and Israel’s HaAretz Newspaper reported that “Clashes Erupt[ed] As Extreme Rightists March...
April 24, 2010 Attorney General rejects Bibi's request to delay rightist march Roni Sofer, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemPM's Office says rightists planning to march in Silwan Sunday want to provoke local Arabs; claims rally may 'ignite the city, hinder efforts to jumpstart peace talks.' AG Weinstein : No legal grounds to postpone rally The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Internal Security Ministry to postpone...
April 21, 2010 Silwan residents: Rightist march will ignite area Ronen Medzini, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemExtreme rightists to march in east Jerusalem village Sunday to protest illegal Palestinian construction there. Leftists: Dangerous provocation Activists from the extreme rightist group Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel), including Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, are expected to march on...
April 6, 2010 Under the Beautiful Valley Danny Felsteiner, The Electronic IntifadaCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsSometimes when I walk in Wadi Hilweh, Jerusalem's beautiful valley, I imagine Hilweh, the legendary Palestinian grandmother for whom this valley is named, treading up the main road in the year 1947 on the way back from her olive grove with a heavy wicker basket perched on her head. If you listened carefully,...
March 28, 2010 Digging out East Jerusalem: how Israeli families are taking over Hamida Ghafour, The NationalCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsHouse by house, street by street, Israeli families are taking over an area that Palestinians want as the capital of their future state. Armed with eviction notices and backed by police, settlers are forcing Arabs from their homes. Hamida Ghafour reports from Jerusalem’s new flashpoint The City...
March 11, 2010 Rightists to march in Silwan Shmulik Grossman, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJerusalem Police and the Border Guard deployed backup forces in the eastern side of the capital Thursday, including the Old City and the Palestinian villages, due to intelligence saying teens are planning to riot there Friday. Last Friday's riots were instigated by a government decision to include...
March 11, 2010 Settlements in East Jerusalem ICAHD, YouTubeCategory: Video Articles
March 9, 2010 Israel using strong arm tactics against young Palestinian stone-throwers Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemLast update - 09:42 09/03/2010 Israel using strong arm tactics against young Palestinian stone-throwers By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel Border Police Several children in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan were arrested and taken from their homes in handcuffs...
March 4, 2010 Muslim right to the Jewish past Yonathan Mizrachi, Search for Common GroundCategory: Alt-arch GeneralJERUSALEM - The decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb on the list of National Heritage Sites would, at first glance, appear to be one about which every Jew should be pleased. And, in fact, many Israelis believe that historical sites identified with the Jewish past should...
February 25, 2010 Critics slam heritage plan for omitting non-Jewish sites Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe national heritage proposal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the cabinet this week is attracting criticism for including only sites that are part of the Jewish and Zionist narrative. The NIS 400 million heritage project, which is geared toward supporting the preservation of...
February 25, 2010 Mayor’s Housing Offer Sets Off Row in Jerusalem Ethan Bronner, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJERUSALEM — The mayor of Jerusalem is offering 120 Palestinian families in a jumble of houses scheduled for demolition a deal he believes they can’t refuse: new apartments atop shops and restaurants, a day care center, boutique hotels and a huge park. Tourists and income will flow. It is — as...
February 24, 2010 Jerusalem inspectors hand out demolition notices in Silwan Ronen Medzini, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemResidents of east Jerusalem neighborhood say municipal inspectors entering various buildings, distributing demolition orders. Peace Now: This is a provocation by the mayor Municipal inspectors accompanied by security forces distributed demolition notices on Wednesday in the east Jerusalem Arab neighborhood...
February 21, 2010 Cave of Patriarchs included in national heritage plan Hagai Einav, YnetCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Netanyahu convenes cabinet in Tel Hai on 90th anniversary of fall of Trumpeldor as government approves NIS 400 million plan to preserve 150 heritage sites across Israel. Last minute protest by ministers leads PM to include Cave of Patriarchs, Rachel's Tomb in plan While the government has frozen construction...
February 9, 2010 In Jerusalem archaeology is politics Paul Reynolds, BBC NewsCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe very stones of Jerusalem are political weapons in the age-old struggle for possession of the Holy Land. And nowhere is more sensitive than the great platform built by King Herod, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to the Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. To understand...
February 8, 2010 Archaeology in Jerusalem: Digging Up Trouble Tim McGirk, Time MagazineCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe Jerusalem syndrome is a psychological disorder in which a visit to the holy city triggers delusional and obsessive religious fantasies. In its extreme variety, people wander the lanes of the Old City believing they are biblical characters; John the Baptist, say, or a brawny Samson, sprung back to...
February 5, 2010 Archaeology and the struggle for Jerusalem Katya Adler, BBC NewsCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Politics"I like to travel and when I travel, I like to have a guide book. Here in Jerusalem, that guide book is the Tanah, the Bible." This is how guide Asher Altshul likes to start his tours at the expansive City of David archaeological site in Jerusalem. The site stretches along and down one of Jerusalem's...
February 4, 2010 Israel to seal settler house in east Jerusalem AFP, France24Category: Articles - East JerusalemAFP - Municipal authorities will comply under protest with a court order to seal a Jewish settler's building in mainly Arab east Jerusalem, the mayor's office announced on Thursday. Rightwing Mayor Nir Barkat pointedly insisted this meant the municipality must tear down 200 homes -- virtually all...
January 31, 2010 Archaeology Digs Up Controversy in Jerusalem Jaron Gilinsky, Time MagazineCategory: Video ArticlesThe controversial history of an area called the City of David in East Jerusalem fuels tempers between Israelis and Palestinians Read more: http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,64098268001_1957917,00.html#ixzz0eHLFGsmJ
January 22, 2010 Yediot exposé: Settler orgs fund police infrastructure in East Jerusalem Uri Misgav, CoteretCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationA Yedioth Ahronoth investigation reveals some very surprising facts concerning the funding of the new headquarters. According to our findings, only a small portion of the funding originates from the state. The bulk of the money comes from private organizations with a clear right wing orientation: the...
January 20, 2010 Jerusalem mayor could face charges for refusing to evacuate Jewish home Akiva Eldar, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemA Jerusalem city councilman submitted a police complaint against Mayor Nir Barkat on Wednesday for the latter's defiance of a court order mandating the evacuation of a home inhabited by Jews in the predominantly Arab part of the city. The councilman, Meir Turgeman, is accusing the mayor of obstruction...
January 1, 2010 Mazuz to police chief: Evacuate Beit Yonatan now Akiva Eldar , HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe attorney general has instructed Police Commissioner David Cohen to take immediate action to evacuate the illegal structure known as Beit Yonatan in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. "This is a grave ongoing case of flouting court orders and cannot be allowed to continue," Attorney General...

December 22, 2009 Barkat gears up for Silwan plan protest Dan Izenberg, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemMayor Nir Barkat has told Jerusalem Municipality legal adviser Yossi Habilio that he does not want him to represent the city in a High Court petition demanding the cancellation of controversial plans by architect Moshe Safdie for the Silwan neighborhood, south of the Old City, The Jerusalem Post has...
December 20, 2009 Jerusalem mayor cuts health funds for Arab children Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Thursday rejected municipal recommendations and cut funding for a toddler health-care center in East Jerusalem, while approving aid to a similar center in a Jewish neighborhood. The funds would have gone to opening a branch of the "Drop of Milk" (Tipat Halav) program,...
December 2, 2009 EU envoys: Israel trying to sever East Jerusalem from West Bank Barak Ravid, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemA classified report drafted by European consuls in East Jerusalem and Ramallah slams Israeli policy in East Jerusalem and recommends that the European Union take steps to strengthen the Palestinian Authority's status in the city. It also advises taking various measures to protest Israeli policy in the...
November 20, 2009 Digital map reveals Israeli archaeology Suzanne Muchnic , Los Angeles TimesCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsA searchable map detailing 40 years of Israeli archaeological work in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, developed for the USC Digital Library, has won the 2009 Open Archaeology Prize from the American Schools of Oriental Research. A nonprofit organization founded in 1900 and located at Boston University,...
October 29, 2009 An empty land? Yonathan Mizrachi, Search for Common GroundCategory: Alt-arch GeneralJewish history and Biblical studies are the two main humanistic subjects taught in Israeli schools. However, the average Israeli pupil doesn’t learn anything about the rest of the history of the land of Israel. In my opinion, the absence of this field of study greatly influences the development of...
October 19, 2009 Will preservation of ancient Roman road destroy the Western Wall? Nir Hasson, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsOne of the country's leading archaeologists has publicly condemned the Israel Antiquities Authority's failure to object to a plan to construct a building over a site in the Western Wall plaza where a well-preserved ancient Roman road was recently excavated. "I would like to take advantage of this...
October 14, 2009 Voices from Jerusalem: Archeology and National Claims in Jerusalem Yonathan Mizrachi, The Huffington PostCategory: Alt-arch GeneralThe film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- the fourth in the Indiana Jones series--portrays an archaeologist who seeks to return a crystal skull of great importance to the place where it was found. As an archaeologist, Indiana Jones' role is not just to find artifacts but to rescue...
October 8, 2009 Shallow and brutal archaeology Raphael Greenberg, HaaretzCategory: Alt-arch GeneralAs usual during the Jewish holidays, the Israeli public has been inundated with reports of "amazing discoveries" in excavations in Jerusalem. One might dismiss them as a combination of public relations and the need to fill the holiday newspapers, but in fact they attest to a worrying process whereby...
October 6, 2009 Netanyahu, the Tunnels Opener Hagit Ofran, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemLast week, an incident that could have set the entire Middle East on fire was prevented. Netanyahu's secret plan to visit a disputed tunnel in the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, at the site known as Ir David (the City of David), was canceled, probably with some international intervention....
October 5, 2009 WATCH: Organizer admits City of David endangers Arab homes Akiva Eldar, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsA video tape made during a guided tour of the archaeological excavations at Silwan (the City of David) near Jerusalem's Old City walls reveals how Elad, the association that runs the dig, works together with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Jerusalem municipality...
October 4, 2009 Religious use contested east J'lem site as mikveh Ronen Medzini, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemIt happens every Friday: Religious men turn public Pool of Siloam in Silwan into a ritual bath – enter water naked and ward off anyone who approaches. This is what the source of a 3,000-year-long conflict looks like today How did a pastoral pool become another source of conflict in embroiled east...
October 3, 2009 Head of Elad reveals how he tricked the Israel Antiquity Authority Anonymous, YouTubeCategory: Video Articles
September 23, 2009 Court rejects Silwan residents' petition against City of David archeological work Abe Selig, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition submitted against the Israel Antiquities Authority by residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, concerning excavations being conducted at the City of David archeological park in the neighborhood's Wadi Hilweh section. The petition, which...
September 16, 2009 Shooting at the City of David Silwanic, YouTubeCategory: Video Articles
September 11, 2009 Silwan archaeological tunnel extended jpost.com Staff, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe extension of an archaeological tunnel under the City of David has caused upset among Palestinians, according to a Sky News report Friday, which featured mobile phone video footage. According to the report, the archaeological project is funded by settlers, and aims to uncover a road which led...
September 11, 2009 Row as Jerusalem tunnel is extended in Silwan Dominic Waghorn, Sky NewsCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsA controversial tunnel under Jerusalem has been extended in a move that is angering Palestinians, Sky News can exclusively reveal. Mobile phone footage shows the extent of the excavations Footage filmed on a mobile phone shows the extent of the excavations Mobile phone footage proves that archaeologists,...
September 10, 2009 Jerusalem court halts Silwan construction Abe Selig, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe Jerusalem Magistrate's Court this week ordered a halt to a number of construction projects in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, after residents and two local NGOs filed a petition claiming the projects were illegal. Judge Noam Sohlberg ordered a halt to the projects on Tuesday in response...
August 31, 2009 Fifteen minutes of hate in Silwan Meron Rapoport , The GuardianCategory: Articles - East JerusalemIt's searing hot, but there's some pleasantness about the stone-flagged path rising from the centre of Silwan, Jerusalem. Maybe it's the breeze, or the stone houses oozing coolness into the air, or maybe it's the wide-open mountain landscape. There are three of us – Ilan, the director, Michael, the...
August 6, 2009 Irving Moskowitz's bingo madness Richard Silverstein, The GuardianCategory: Articles - East JerusalemHow an American gambling mogul is forcing a showdown between the Obama administration and Israel over settlements. Irving Moskowitz has come a long way since he began his medical career as an young internist in California 60 years ago. Shortly after earning his medical degree in 1952, he bought...
August, 2009 Damage control: is een eerlijke opdeling van Jeruzalem nog mogelijk? (Dutch) Sofie Van Der Straeten, University of GentCategory: Articles - East JerusalemDe geïntensiveerde geografische en demografische strijd in de ‘Holy Basin’ van Jeruzalem en Silwan als case study van de vergevorderde judaïsering van een Palestijns dorp. Op één dag tijd: negen Palestijnse families worden door de Israëlische politie in het Palestijnse dorp Sheikh Jarrah...
July 30, 2009 The City and the Dogs: A Psychedelic Tour through Jerusalem's More Peculiar Districts Yizhar Be'er, The Huffington PostCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationYou have to see it to believe it. The photographs that appear here document the murals that stretch dozens of meters down the length of the road that leads from the neighborhood of Silwan -- that is, the City of David -- along the Eastern Wall of the Old City on the way to Dung Gate. The murals decorate...
July 26, 2009 Two-day-old Silwan info center in jeopardy Abe Selig, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - East Jerusalem"We built this place last Sunday, and on Tuesday, the police arrived with orders to knock it down," said Ahmad Qara'een, as he sat inside the Wadi Hilwah Information Center, a 35-sq.m. covered wooden deck erected by residents of east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. Qara'een does not dispute the...
July 19, 2009 Gambling with peace: how US bingo dollars are funding Israeli settlements Chris McGreal, The GuardianCategory: Articles - East JerusalemFor the winning punters chancing their luck at Hawaiian Gardens' charity bingo hall in the heart of one of California's poorest towns, the big prize is $500. The losers walk away with little more than an assurance that their dollars are destined for a good cause. But the real winners and losers live...
July 19, 2009 Wadi Hilwah Information Center - Silwan Silwanic, SilwanicCategory: Links
June 30, 2009 Private security costs in e. J Abe Selig, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemGovernment funding allocated to a private security firm tasked with protecting Jewish residents in Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem has more than doubled over the last 10 years, and now exceeds NIS 54 million, according to a new report released by Peace Now. The report, which was based on information...
June 27, 2009 IDF weekend trips hosted by East Jerusalem settlement group Anshel Pfeffer, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationAn organization advocating Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem has led several Israel Defense Forces groups on weekend trips there, and the trips were approved and partially funded by the army. The trips, which have taken place over the past several months, include tours of Jewish homes in the area...
June 24, 2009 Holy Land Grab Jacky Rowland, Al-Jazeera EnglishCategory: Video Articles
June 3, 2009 War of the Graves: The Mount of Olives vs. Mamilla Yonathan Mizrachi, AIC - Alternative Information CenterCategory: Alt-arch GeneralDuring the past two to three years, the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem has enjoyed a flourishing period of development. The cemetery overlooks the Old City from the East and according to tradition is the place from which the Messiah will arrive during the resurrection of the dead....
June, 2009 ELAD co-funds municipal construction plans in East Jerusalem Ha'im Rivlin, Israel Channel 2Category: Video Articles
May, 2009 Shady Dealings in Silwan Meron Rapoport, Ir AmimCategory: Links
May 26, 2009 "Unser Herz schlägt hier"(In German) Von Clemens Höges, Der SpiegelCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsGeheime Tunnel, meterdicke Mauern, 3000 Jahre alte Siegel: Archäologen suchen nach dem Ursprung Jerusalems und wollen König Davids Palast entdeckt haben - aber unter einem arabischen Viertel. Das Rauchen hat sich Jawad Siyam angewöhnt, als die Israelis ihn mal wieder eingesperrt hatten. Er war...
May 19, 2009 Barkat may relocate Silwan residents Etgar Lefkovits, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat hopes to reach an agreement on the relocation of Arab residents living in illegally constructed homes in east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood, to make way for a planned archaeological park adjacent to the City of David. "This is one of the most strategic sites in the city,...
May 9, 2009 Parks Fortify Israel’s Claim to Jerusalem Ethan Bronner and Isabel Kershner, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationIsrael is quietly carrying out a $100 million, multiyear development plan in some of the most significant religious and national heritage sites just outside the walled Old City here as part of an effort to strengthen the status of Jerusalem as its capital. The plan, parts of which have been outsourced...
May, 2009 The State of Human Rights in East Jerusalem ACRI, ACRI - The Association for Civil Rights in IsraelCategory: Links
April, 2009 The very eye of the storm Akiva Eldar, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJawad Siam pulled out a brochure issued by the Jerusalem municipality heralding development plans for his place of residence, the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem. He pointed to the map in the brochure, where the neighborhood's streets were marked. "You see this, Hashiloah Road?" he asked. "All these...
April 5, 2009 Yishai vows to settle Jews in east Jerusalem Roni Sofer, YnetCategory: Articles - East JerusalemInterior Minister Eli Yishai said Sunday that he was developing a plan to settle Jews in the City of David in Jerusalem. "The City of David and everywhere in Jerusalem that was the origin of our growth is our sovereign right," he said. Yishai was speaking at a meeting with Jewish entrepreneurs who...
March, 2009 Where's King David's Garden? Yonathan Mizrachi, From Shiloah to SilwanCategory: Alt-arch GeneralRecently, some articles praising the archaeological significance of the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan have appeared in various newspapers, in attempt to justify the plan to demolish the 88 houses in the neighborhood. Most of the houses in the neighborhood, which is located at the feet of the archaeological...
March, 2009 Archaeology in Jerusalem 1967 - 2008 Raphael Greenberg, Public ArchaeologyCategory: Alt-arch GeneralThe village of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, contains the remains of most ancient Jerusalem, often termed “The City of David”. In recent years the excavation and presentation of the archaeology of Silwan has been placed in the hands of a Jewish settler non-governmental organization. Their incorporation...

December 6, 2008 New Tensions in Jerusalem’s Arab Neighborhoods Isabel Kershner, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - East JerusalemA series of recent Israeli actions in the mainly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem have raised tensions there, with Palestinian and Israeli critics contending that they are part of a wider plan to “Judaize” historically charged areas around the Old City. The actions, ostensibly unconnected,...
November 14, 2008 Court orders state to explain construction in Jerusalem's Holy Basin Akiva Eldar, HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemThe High Court of Justice last week ordered the state to explain the unauthorized construction and earthworks by government bodies near the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Arab residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan and Peace Now activists had petitioned the court...
November, 2008 Archaeological Views: Archaeology Adding to the Powder Keg David Ilan, Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR)Category: Articles - Archaeology and Politics
July 30, 2008 Archaeological Digs Stoke Conflict in Jerusalem Adina Hoffman, The NationCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsSomething of the street punk and village elder mingle in Jawad Siyam. Wiry, dark and stubble-chinned, with a cigarette often dangling from the side of his mouth and a slightly amused look in his eye, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Jean-Paul Belmondo--if, that is, one can imagine the star...
July 9, 2008 The City of David Sergio Yahni, AIC - Alternative Information CenterCategory: Video ArticlesThe City of David Visitor's Center is ranked among the top five tourist attractions in Israel, growing from 25,000 visitors in 2001 to 350,000 visitors in 2008. Like other Palestinian neighborhoods, the barbed wire, security guards, and Israeli flags hanging from houses speak the true story, a story...
June 1, 2008 Islamic-era skeletons 'disappeared' from Elad-sponsored dig Meron Rapoport, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsDozens of skeletons from the early Islamic period were discovered during excavations near the Temple Mount, on a site slated for construction by a right-wing Jewish organization. Contrary to regulations, the skeletons were removed, and were not reported to the Ministry of Religious Services. The Israel...
May 30, 2008 Jewish tunnel worries Palestinians AFP, The Taipei TimesCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsPalestinian and Israeli critics are wary of the principal financial backer of an archeological project, the Ir David Foundation, and its political agenda. Amin al-Siyam says he is awakened nearly every night by the sound of Jewish settlers tunneling under his east Jerusalem house toward the Old City's...
May 1, 2008 Archaeologists for hire Yigal Bronner , The GuardianCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsIn the early 1990s, a settler organisation by the name of Elad (a Hebrew acronym for: "To the City of David") began to plot its takeover of Silwan, a densely populated Palestinian neighbourhood located a stone's throw from the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa mosque. Silwan is also home to one of the...
April 17, 2008 A separate peace Meron Rapoport , HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe guests who arrived at the Jerusalem Van Leer Institute this week were archaeologists, as their footwear attested to. Most of them wore hiking boots, though some showed up in biblical-style sandals, toes poking out on a chilly Jerusalem evening, and others in slippers of the type kibbutzim once gave...
March 16, 2008 City of David tunnel excavation proceeds without proper permit Meron Rapoport , HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThe excavation of a tunnel under Jerusalem's City of David has gone on for months without a license from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), as required by law. In addition, there is no operative plan for developing the site by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA),...
March 2, 2008 Digging too deep? Michael Green, The Jerusalem PostCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Politics'You can feel it here. It's life, real life," whispers a voice in the dim light illuminating a narrow tunnel hidden below the surface of Jerusalem's streets. "Life in Jerusalem ended here," says Doron Spielman, the Ir David Foundation's international director of development, crouching in the passage...
February 14, 2008 Archeologists battle over the history of Jerusalem Ben Lynfield, The Jewish ChronicleCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsIn a softly lit subterranean passage at the City of David archeological park in East Jerusalem, guide Hila Levinger reads from the Bible an account of how King David captured the area, thought to be impregnable, before establishing his capital there. “It is possible he captured it through this...
January 17, 2008 Settler group refuses to vacate land slated for school for the disabled Or Kashti and Meron Rapoport, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe right-wing Elad settlement organization is refusing to vacate an area in the Jerusalem Peace Forest that had been promised to the special education organization Hadvir Hahadash. The Jewish National Fund signed an agreement in 2004 with Hadvir, which wants to build a boarding school for young...
January 1, 2008 Digging for Trouble - Israel/Palestine Natasha Dudinski, DigressMediaCategory: Video Articles

December 18, 2007 Das Klingelschild von König David (German) Alex Rühle, Süeddeutsche ZeitungCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsWie politische Archäologie in Jerusalem die Gegenwart entsorgt und wo der gefährlichste Ort Israels entsteht: Tausende von Touristen pilgern täglich zum angeblichen Palast König Davids. Silwan. City of David. Ein Ort, zwei Namen. Zum einen zieht sich hier, südlich der Mauern der Altstadt von...
November 21, 2007 Group 'Judaizing' East Jerusalem accused of withholding donor information Meron Rapoport , HaaretzCategory: Articles - Settlers OrganizationThe registrar of associations is considering demanding the dissolution of the Elad association, which promotes the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem. Elad has been operating in East Jerusalem for about 20 years. It has acquired and received many properties belonging to Palestinians in Kfar Silwan,...
November, 2007 Archaeology and The Battle For Jerusalem Raphael Greenberg, Jewish QuarterlyCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsAny intellectual practice in Israel entails both the representation of politics and the politics of representation. The ideological implications of practising archaeology in Jerusalem are as many-layered as the cultures that lie buried beneath the city’s surface. Archaeology has always been implicated...
May 8, 2007 Researcher: We have found Herod's tomb Amiram Barkat, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism Herod's tomb has been discovered near Jerusalem, Hebrew University's Ehud Netzer will announce today. The discovery of the grave at Herodium solves one of the great mysteries of archaeology in the Land of Israel. Professor Netzer, considered one of the most senior researchers on Herod, has been excavating...
May 7, 2007 Archeologist: King Herod's tomb desecrated, but discovery 'high point' Amiram Barkat, HaaretzCategory: Articles - Archaeology and Tourism The tomb was discovered by Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer, who has been trying to locate it since 1972. The archeologist who located King Herod's tomb at Herodium said Tuesday that the grave had been desecrated, apparently shortly after his death, but called the discovery a "high point." The...

July 9, 2005 Palestinians Feel Like Underdogs Against King David Christine Hauser, The New York TimesCategory: Articles - East JerusalemJERUSALEM - Every so often, events surface in Jerusalem that remind its Arab and Jewish residents how easily their city of gentle hills and golden light slips back and forth across time, from the artifacts of the past to the passions of contemporary politics. So it is with the Israeli decision to...
January 20, 2005 Land lords Meron Rapoport , HaaretzCategory: Articles - East JerusalemAs a result of a secret Israeli government decision, thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank who own land or homes in East Jerusalem lost all rights to their holdings. And there are already plans to build on the expropriated land. On July 8, 2004, the cabinet met and adopted resolutions...

November, 2000 (Re)designing the City of David: Landscape, Narrative and Archaeology in Silwan Jeffrey Yas, Jerusalem QuarterlyCategory: Articles - Archaeology and PoliticsThis article concerns the role of archaeological sites in the modern (re)creations of historical landscapes. Within the social sciences the word "landscape" increasingly refers to a subjective projection cast onto an ever-contested external terrain. In contrast to our positivist forebears, who so ambitiously...