Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

Last week, the Sabagh family received a notice from the Execution Office stating that it had to vacate its home in Kerem Ja'ouni in Sheikh Jarrah until January 23. If the family does not vacate the house by then, it will face eviction by force.

The eviction lawsuit against the Sabagh family was filed by a company called “Nahalat Shimon”, which represents settlers seeking to build a large settlement in Sheikh Jarrah. The settlers purchased the land from two Jewish associations, the Sephardi Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee, which in turn claimed to have purchased the land at the end of the 19th century.

In 1948 the land, which was then without structures, was transferred to the Jordanian rule. The Jordanians designated the land for the resettlement of dozens of Palestinian refugee families who exchanged their refugee statues for homes in the newly-built neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah. After 1967, the Jewish organizations recovered the ownership rights on the land and began to demand that the refugee families vacate their homes. To that extent, the associations were exercising the "right of return" of Jews to assets taken in 1948 (a right not afforded to Palestinians).

Peace Now: "This is part of an organized and systematic campaign of settlers, with the assistance of government agencies, to expel entire communities in East Jerusalem and to establish settlements in their stead. Dozens of other families face the risk of eviction by legal proceedings in which settlers and government officials exploit discriminatory laws that allow Jews to return to pre-1948 assets yet forbid Palestinians from doing the same. In this way, settlers seek to create a buffer inside the Palestinian neighborhood and make it difficult to reach a territorial compromise in Jerusalem so essential to a two-state solution.

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived 

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. The Saga of S. 1
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

Shameless plug: The Forward 1/7/19:  The Surprising New Battleground In the War Against Palestinian Rights: Your Local Courthouse (by Lara Friedman, examining “the “ongoing and expanding campaign that seeks to exploit America’s laws, regulations, courts, and financial systems as tools to target Palestinians and to quash international support for and solidarity with them.”)

Another shameless plug: At the end of 2018, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and state anti-boycott laws broke through into the public debate. Now, with the debate over the Combating BDS Act, that debate continues. For folks following or writing on these bills and the related issues, or simply looking to learn more, I've made it super easy by compiling source docs, court docs, expert analysis, etc all in one place: Constitutionality Issues & BDS Legislation: Source Docs & Expert Views

Brian Reeves, Director of External Relations at Peace Now, talks about the new West Bank settlement scandal: a plan to build another settlement near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, which would complete a ring around Bethlehem and severely threaten a two-state solution. Brian also talks about broader trends in settlement activity in 2018 and about what Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Project is focusing on going into 2019.

Debra Shushan, APN's Director of Policy and Government Relations, appears twice in the following Israel i24 News report from Dan Raviv about U.S. Senate Bill 1, which includes the so-called "Combating BDS Act" that APN opposes.

(UPDATE since the report below: Due to Democrat opposition, the Senate Bill 1 package that includes this act has been stalled both on Tuesday, January 8 by a vote of 56-44, and Thursday, January 10, by a vote of 53-43, neither enough to clear the 60-vote hurdle needed to advance.)