#israeli-settlements

#israeli-settlements

Israeli authorities are engaged in multiple major efforts, including building settlements and pursuing annexation, to ensure there will be no Palestinian state in the future. Israeli authorities are expected to advance plans to build 9,000 new housing units in an illegal settlement on the site of the abandoned Qalandiya airport in occupied East Jerusalem, in another attempt to cut off Palestinian lands from each other and block any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state ever emerging.

While I was there, I was "picked up" on the street by an ultra-orthodox woman who offered me free lodging in a hostel exclusively for Jewish travelers in the Old City of Jerusalem. I was a broke teenager at the time, so I said yes. It was Hanukkah, and all across the Jewish Quarter, picturesque oil menorahs twinkled in the windows and doorways of ancient-looking buildings built from a pearly-pink marble called "Jerusalem stone."

There have been more than 1,000 violent settler attacks in the first eight months of 2025 alone. While much of the globe's attention remains on the Gaza ceasefire deal, less than 33 kilometres (21 miles) away, Israeli settlers, often backed by soldiers, continue daily assaults and raids across the occupied West Bank. On Monday night, Israeli settlers uprooted 150 olive trees in the village of Bardala, in the northern Jordan Valley, destroying the livelihood of several families.

There won't be a Jerry at Ben & Jerry's anymore. Jerry Greenfield, one of the ice cream brand's co-founders, said late Tuesday that he was leaving the company. Greenfield criticized the ice-cream brand's parent company, Unilever, in his announcement, saying that it had silenced the brand's speech on social and political issues. "It's with a broken heart that I've decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee at Ben & Jerry's," Greenfield wrote in a statement shared by his cofounder, Ben Cohen, on X. "I am resigning from the company Ben and I started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I've ever made."

In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution. She made the remarks during her annual state of the union speech to the European parliament in Strasbourg, during which she depicted a turbulent world, where battle lines are being drawn and dependencies are ruthlessly weaponised.

The fund had held a 1.2 percent stake in Caterpillar, valued at 24.4 billion krone ($2.4 billion), as of the end of last year. The Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said it had decided to exclude Caterpillar as it posed "an unacceptable risk... to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict". The fund said it had based its decision on a recommendation by its council on ethics.

"My family and I were forced out under gun threats, along with all the families of the village. We cried over our beautiful days there, and we are still crying. We are in shock because we never deserved this. We are peaceful people who love life, simple and educated people, and we never imagined leaving our home this way."

Maersk will cut ties with companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank, following months of activist pressure.

The Israeli government's revocation of the nature reserve status for Jabal Abu Ghneim has led to significant environmental degradation and the establishment of settlements.

The soldiers raided my house today, they wanted revenge from me for participating in the BBC documentary about the settlers, after the army left the settlers raided my house.