The Hill

  • Telling Her Story: An Interview With Cherien Dabis, Director of Amreeka 

    In March, Hollywood will roll out the red carpet to honor the achievements of professionals in the film industry. One film that was overlooked by the Academy this year is Amreeka, the debut film directed by Cherien Dabis. Amreeka, which received rave reviews at film festivals throughout 2009, tells the story of a Palestinian woman, Muna, and her son, Fadi, who leave the West Bank to settle in the suburbs of Chicago at the beginning of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.  In February, Ms. Dabis took time to speak with AAPER about her film, her experience as a Palestinian American and her plans for the future. More...

America-Palestine

  • February 2010 Legislation and Developments Regarding U.S. Policy Toward Palestine

    During the month of February, one Congressional letter regarding Palestine and Israel was circulated and then submitted to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  It called upon the Secretary to work to prevent the United Nations General Assembly from referring the Goldstone Report to the UN Security Council and, ultimately, to the International Court of Justice.  Also in February, five members of Congress travelled to the Middle East as part of the first Congressional delegation sponsored by J Street.  More...

The Peacemakers

  • Sheikh Jarrah and Israel's Emerging Human Rights Movement

    Every Friday since November 2009, between 200 and 500 hundred Israeli human rights activists have gathered in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinian families and demolition of Palestinian homes.  These demonstrations draw hundreds as opposed to hundreds of thousands of activists, but they are a welcome sign to many who bemoan the rightward shift in Israeli politics.  Rabbis, academics and members of the Knesset are in regular attendance, thus lending legitimacy to the movement that has been missing for many years.  More...

the Palestinians

  • The High Cost of Israeli Demolitions of Palestinian Homes

    On February 4, Nir Barakat, the mayor of Jerusalem, announced that he would accept a 2007 ruling issued by an Israeli High Court ordering the Jerusalem municipality to evacuate and seal an illegally constructed Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem. Barakat then insisted that complying with this ruling would compel him to demolish 200 Palestinian homes that were built without Israeli permits in the same neighborhood. Such threats undermine the credibility of ostensible U.S. efforts to advance peace between Palestinians and Israelis. More...

The Occupation