News

Understanding Israeli Settlements: A Reading Guide

The Israeli Settlement of Efrat. Image by Getty

By Forward Stafff November 19, 2019

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States government no longer considers Israeli settlements inconsistent with international law. The statement, which garnered both warm praise and harsh criticism, is the latest development in a decades-long political struggle. To help you parse the debate, here’s a roundup of reading and watching resources on the Israeli Settlement movement.

The Forward’s coverage on this week’s developments
– Israeli Settlements No Longer Illegal According To U.S. State Department
– Opinion: The Real Beneficiary of US Settlement Recognition Is Not Israel
– Opinion: The Two State Solution Is Not A Gift To Palestinians. It’s The Only Way Israel Survives
– Opinion: We’re Having The Wrong Debate About The West Bank
– Opinion: The Problem With Settlements Is Not That They Are Illegal. It’s That They Are Immoral

Background reading
– From The Forward: Are West Bank Settlements An Obstacle To Peace?
– From Vox: Israeli Settlements, Explained in Eight Minutes
– From the New York Times: Are West Bank Settlements Illegal? Who Decides?
– For the bookworms: Gershom Gorenberg’s The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements

Watchlist
– Shimon Dotan’s documentary ‘The Settlers’

New York Times Op-Doc: What It’s Like to Grow Up In An Israeli Settlement

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO