Jerusalem Pulse: Recent Research Roundup

In Gaza Nakba 2023–2024 (ed. Hiroyuki Suzuki and Keiko Sakai), one of the first edited volumes on the topic, Kensuke Yamamoto contributes a chapter titled “Israel’s Ongoing Annexation of East Jerusalem: Oppressing Palestinian National Sentiments before and after October 7.” Yamamoto reviews various aspects of the crackdown on free speech for Palestinians in East Jerusalem after October 7, 2023. The chapter, published January 16, 2025, examines developments related to education, higher education, social media use, and laws that have directly or indirectly impinged on freedom of expression.

The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center published a report on “Occupation Strategies to Violate the Rights of Palestinians in Jerusalem (October 7, 2023–April 30, 2024”) in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 300–318). The report surveys a variety of measures used by Israel to displace Palestinian Jerusalemites, from 1967 onward but with a spotlight on the intensification of existing means and introduction of new ones from October 7, 2023, forward, under cover of the genocide in Gaza. Some of the measures studied include extrajudicial killings and withholding of bodies (see Israel Refuses to Return Palestinian Corpses, Holding Them as Bargaining Chips); arrests; intensification of Jewish settlements; tightening of control over the Palestinian educational system in the city (see Education); measures designed to distance or separate Palestinian Jerusalemites from al-Aqsa Mosque; taxation policies; and home demolitions and denial of building permits. The data are current as of May 2024.

In its Humanitarian Situation Update No. 285, dated April 30, 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that on April 27, a 50-year-old Palestinian man from the Nablus governorate fell to his death while reportedly attempting to climb over the Separation Wall near the town of al-Ram, in the Jerusalem governorate.1 According to the update, the man was part of a group of Palestinians searching for work who were met with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets fired by Israeli forces while crossing.

Since October 2023, OCHA has documented the killing of 10 Palestinians by Israeli live ammunition as they attempted to cross through informal openings in the wall, primarily in the Tulkarm and Qalqilya governorates, amid rising unemployment in the West Bank. An additional 113 Palestinians have been injured in similar circumstances. By contrast, during the first nine months of 2023, there were no fatalities and 15 injuries in this context.

On its 58th session, held on April 1, 2025, the United Nations Human Rights Council called upon states to abide by their responsiblities2 according to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.3 The council reinforced business enterprise responsibilities to abide by international law and refrain from contributing to human rights violiations. The council also asserted the obligation to disengage from all economic and trading activities associated with illegal Israeli settlements. The council expressed concerns that business enterprises are breaching their obligations under international humanitarian law by profiting from the construction and growth of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT), including East Jerusalem.4

The council requested that all states cease support for all settlement activities and respect their legal obligations in this regard. It emphasized states’ legal obligations to abide by their domestic legislation and to take appropriate measures to prevent, investigate, punish, and redress human rights violations committed by business enterprises that profit from activities associated with the illegal Israeli settlements.5

The council identified certain economic activities as contributing to human rights abuses and violations, including the production and trade of settlement goods, the facilitation of settlement expansion and entrenchment, and the harvesting and production of goods made within settlements. It further emphasized that labeling products from settlements as “made in Israel” constitutes a breach of international law.6

The council stressed that funds and donations from private individuals, associations, and charities in third states must comply with international law, as such funding contributes to the maintenance and expansion of settlements.7

States, business enterprises, associations, and individuals involved in trade or funding related to settlements are in breach of applicable legal norms, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. These activities serve to strengthen and perpetuate the Israeli occupation of the oPT, including East Jerusalem,8 in contradiction to the recommendations of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice issued on July 19, 2024.9

The board of the Al-Maqdisiyah journal contributed an article titled “Jerusalem: Peace between Approaches: Functionalism and Dismantling of Settler Colonialism” in its English edition of the quarterly issued by Al-Quds Institution for Studies and Research (Winter 2025, 6–17). The article examines ways to reach a true just peace in Palestine, arguing that “peace in Palestine cannot be achieved without resolving the issue of Jerusalem through the recognition of national rights.” Merely granting “superficial civil rights” as Israel advocates will not resolve the issue. The authors state, “We contend that the functionalist approach cannot deliver peace to Jerusalem or Palestine. It fails to address the core issue: the colonial settlement and the Zionist claim, backed by Israel, that the city’s rights belong exclusively to Jews. This framework inherently excludes the Palestinians—Muslims and Christians alike—from their rightful claims to the city.”10

In his article “The Status of Jerusalem: Challenges and Outlook” in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 102–33), Rasem Khamaisi sets out to “provide a concise review of the geopolitical, demographic, and symbolic status of Jerusalem, while also exploring the diverse narratives surrounding its physical and urban development.”11 The article offers an in-depth review of the current status of the city, in terms of its purposefully vague definition, and its residents, in terms of their legal status and demographic trends. It then assesses the socioeconomic and political implications of these realities in the context of a head-on clash between Zionism and Palestinian nationalism in the Jerusalem space. How, the author asks, can Palestinians confront the juggernaut of Judaization in innovative ways? What unique strengths do they bring? And what are the plausible scenarios for the near-term future in the city?

In “The Future of Jerusalem amid Political and Regional Changes: A Forward-Looking Analysis,” a policy paper from the Gaza-based think tank Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, researchers Rami Murad and Mahmoud Ereikat survey the political landscape in Jerusalem in order to “propose policy alternatives that support the city’s resilience, safeguard its identity, and strengthen its presence in the international political landscape.”12 To this end, they analyze existing Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab policies on Jerusalem and then lay out four main policy alternatives for the future of Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem-focused Israeli NGO Ir Amim published a policy paper and political roadmap titled “Hope from Jerusalem: 13 Principles for Future Israeli-Palestinian Peace in Jerusalem as the Capital of Two Peoples.”13 The paper, published January 1, 2025, outlines Ir Amim’s proposed principles for achieving a sustainable and equitable resolution in Jerusalem, emphasizing the city’s centrality to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and advocating for it to serve as the capital of both peoples.

These principles address core issues, including borders, authority and governance, citizenship status, holy sites, municipal services, freedom of movement, and socioeconomic development. The paper points to concrete actions that must be taken to create a reality amenable to negotiations, some of which can already be implemented.

In an alert distributed April 22, 2025, Ir Amim reported that Israel is using the Absentees’ Property Law to advance two settlement plans encompassing 1,900 settlement units along Jerusalem’s southern flank.15 The plans, namely, Nofey Rachel in Umm Tuba and Gilo Southeast’s territorial expansion, were discussed on April 23, 2025, by the planning committee. These lands, or parts of them, were seized through the Absentees’ Property Law.

According to Ir Amim, both plans target lands along East Jerusalem’s southern boundary, reinforcing an Israeli-built wedge between the city and the southern West Bank.

In an article titled “Roads That Cut Off Jerusalem,” published in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 208–25), Samir Jaber takes an in-depth look at Israel’s road policy and construction of “colonial routes” in Jerusalem.16 According to the author, these roads serve a dual purpose: to connect Israeli colonial settlements and to isolate Arab Palestinian neighborhoods, transforming them into open enclaves encircled by Israeli thoroughfares. Under the guise of “public interest,” Israeli authorities confiscate Palestinian lands to build these roads, which traverse Palestinian communities, but are only available to them through narrow openings, further marginalizing them.

Moreover, Israel has overtly been embracing racial profiling to delineate which roads are accessible to Palestinians and which are reserved solely for Israelis. The author traces the beginning of the era of “explicit apartheid roads” to the opening of Route 4370, which allocates one lane for Palestinian use and another exclusively for Israelis. New roads designed specifically for Palestinian access are pending construction. These roads aim to prevent Palestinians from using the routes favored by the settlers surrounding Jerusalem. According to Jaber:

In his article “The War on UNRWA in Jerusalem,” Said Abu Ali, editor in chief of Al-Maqdisiyah, provides a systematic review of actions taken by Israel to dismantle UNRWA’s ability to operate in Jerusalem in particular, as part of its “ongoing . . . campaign to liquidate the Palestinian cause and erase Palestinian existence.” The review includes a look back at the legal foundation for UNRWA’s mandate as well as the agreements signed in 1967 by Israel relating to its work in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip.

The article also lays the foundation for several other articles in this issue of the journal (Winter 2025), the theme to which this issue is dedicated.

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In his article “Strategic Foundations to Protect UNRWA and Counter the Israeli Plan to Dismantle It,” published in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 34–51), Ahmed Hamash addresses the question “What means and mechanisms are available to the Palestinians to defend UNRWA against the ongoing Israeli assault?” The article goes on to analyze the main strategies that Israel has used to delegitimize and weaken UNRWA and then explore the strategies available to Palestinians—both at official and civil levels—to safeguard it.

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In “UNRWA: A Milestone in a Final Struggle,” published in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 56–71), Daoud Al-Ghoul analyzes the campaign to end UNRWA “within the broader context of global, regional, and local shifts,” especially the drive “to dissolve the Palestinian refugee issue and even the Palestinian cause itself.”18 This, he argues, is aimed at advancing US and Israeli interests in reshaping the Middle East around normalization with Israel without any recognition of Palestinian rights.

The public policy journal Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) recently featured an essay titled “Between Colonialism and Patriarchy: The Role of Agency among Palestinian Women in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”19 The paper, published in January 2025, analyzes how Palestinian women exercise agency within the dual contexts of colonial occupation and traditional patriarchal norms, specifically in the Palestinian territories under Israeli control.

Authors Lana Shehadeh and Samira Alayan examine female agency both within traditional gender roles and Arab cultural norms, and as a form of resistance to colonial structures that restrict their presence and identity as natives to the land. To illustrate these experiences, the authors conducted interviews with 20 women from both rural and urban areas in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. The findings emphasize the non-monolithic nature of Palestinian women’s lived realities and highlight the nuanced forms of resistance and self-determination they enact in everyday life.

Azeez Al-‘Asa authored an in-depth profile of the Jerusalemite writer Mahmoud Shuqair in Al-Maqdisiyah (Winter 2025, 271–99). The article offers biographical background, a comprehensive survey of Shuqair’s prolific body of work, including fiction for adults and children; biographies and autobiographies; scripts for television series and plays; an assessment of Shuqair’s impact on Palestinian culture; and the centrality of Jerusalem in the author’s works. Al-‘Asa observes:

In her book East Jerusalem Palestinian Students’ Experiences in Israeli Academia: Crossing the Line (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2025), Al-Khansaa Diab explores the experiences of Palestinian students from East Jerusalem in Israeli higher education.21 The book draws from intimate firsthand experiences to shed light on students’ struggles, triumphs, and strategies for overcoming barriers and biases.

The author combines inquiry and critical theories, including settler colonial theory, postcolonial theory, intersectionality, critical pedagogy, and cultural capital theory, to highlight the ways in which Israeli academic institutions are complicit in oppressing and displacing Palestinians. The book further explores how the entire Israeli educational system supports and perpetuates systems of settler colonial power, reinforcing the marginalization of Palestinians.

An article titled “The History and Philosophy of the First Progressive Palestinian School in Late Ottoman Palestine: Khalil Sakakini and Al-Dusturiyyah School, 1909–1917” was recently published in the Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies on March 26, 2025.22 Kamal Mo’ed examines the foundation and significance of al-Dusturiyya, a private Palestinian Arab school established in Jerusalem in 1909 by the influential educator Khalil Sakakini, during the final years of Ottoman rule.

Mo’ed argues that al-Dusturiyya was a groundbreaking initiative, embodying a progressive educational philosophy that challenged the inadequacies of the Ottoman government schools. He presents the school as a pioneering effort in modern Palestinian Arab education, driven by enlightened Palestinian intellectuals who recognized the need for reform. Furthermore, the article positions al-Dusturiyya as powerful evidence against the “the malicious claim that in Palestine there was not a Palestinian people but a group of primitive divided people devoid of any culture or education.”23