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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

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