But there is one settlement very much in the political spotlight right now. It’s called Migron.

About 50 Jewish Israeli families – 300 or so people in all – live at Migron. It’s mostly a cluster of mobile homes on a treeless hilltop outside the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Migron is the largest of the so-called illegal outposts scattered throughout the West Bank. But in the case of Israeli settlements, illegal doesn’t necessarily mean unsanctioned. Migron spokesman Itai Chemo said there is bitter irony to the situation.

“There’s an electricity poll,” Chemo pointed out to me during a recent visit to Migron. “I cannot bring it on my own, it’s the country that put it over here, the state.”

People have lived at Migron for 10 years, Chemo added. “The houses that you see here were brought in by the ministry of housing. The ministry of defense built the roads and all the infrastructure.” As what about water, I asked? “Same thing,” Chemo said.

But thanks to a Supreme Court decision that came down in August last year, the future of Migron is uncertain. The judges ruled that Migron was built illegally on private Palestinian land. And they ordered the government to evict the residents and demolish their homes by the end of March.

Itai Chemo called the demolition order, “the most horrific thing that a country can do to its people.”

But there is another group of people just down the hill from Migron who not happy with the situation either. They are the residents of the Palestinian village of Burka.

Standing next to an old cemetery filled with stones bearing inscriptions in Arabic, a village native who did not want to give his name said, “Do they have a cemetery over there? We belong. This is our proof that this land is ours.”

The Palestinian man said Migron should never have been built. He said the settlers living there now should be evicted according to Israel’s own rule of law.

“What gives them the right to take the land? ‘God gave us this, God said in the Bible that this is our land.’ What about us?”

“It’s apartheid,” he said. That’s all it is. We’re looked upon as nothing, we don’t belong here, we’re a nuisance.”

Palestinians seriously doubt Migron will ever be evacuated. That is despite the fact that Israel’s Defense Minister, Ehud Barak has said “it’s out of the question” for settlers to remain on private Palestinian land.

There is also a precedent for demolishing illegal buildings at Migron. It happened last September. Settlers tussled with Israeli police as bulldozers knocked down two houses. It was the kind of scene that pro-settler politicians say cannot be repeated, regardless of the Supreme Court decision.

Vice premier Silvan Shalom recently paid a visit to Migron and weighed in on the issue.

“We need to find a noble compromise,” Shalom said.

What does that mean? It appears the Israeli government is going to build the residents of Migron new homes. The new houses will be put up on another West Bank hilltop, about a mile from where they live right now. It is not clear how long this would take, or what would happen to the existing buildings at Migron itself.

But Peace Now, an Israeli organization that opposes the settlements, says the deal would essentially reward settlers for breaking the law.

“The deals that they are trying to make are absurd,” said Etai Mizrav of Peace Now. “We already passed the debating part and we’re now in the part when, after so many years that this injustice is taking place, the Supreme Court said that Migron should not be where it is right now.”

The prime minister’s spokesman, Mark Regev said he agrees with that. The law is clear and the Supreme Court has spoken, he said. Migron has to be evacuated by the end of March.

But Regev also said that finding a compromise with the settlers there is about avoiding violence.

“We are seeking a negotiated solution involving a voluntary relocation,” Regev said. “But if that’s not possible. I have to be clear: the Supreme Court’s decisions will be implemented.”

That would still leave about 100 illegal West Bank outposts in legal limbo. But the Israeli government is moving to resolve the legal question of the outposts. It has just put together a committee of legal experts to look at ways of legalizing the illegal outposts once and for all.

By age 17 though, no one was telling Charka how to draw. He started getting his stuff published in a youth magazine. And he hasn’t stopped.

Charka lives in a Jewish settlement called Zufim. It’s a neighborhood of suburban-style single family homes that sits on a hilltop above the Palestinian city of Qalqilya. Charka reckoned he’s Israel’s only syndicated political cartoonist who is also a settler.

“I really felt in love with that area,” he said. “The olive trees, the rocks, the hills, the everything. The feeling like living in the Bible somehow.”

Charka’s cartoons are full of Biblical references and scenes from Jewish and ancient history. His sense of humor is playful and slightly brutal all at once. The political issues he covers range from Palestinian suicide bombers to Europe poking its nose into Israeli affairs to radical settlers.

And Charka gets a lot of inspiration from his own life experience. One of his books, called “Beyond the Line,” is very much autobiographical. The protagonist is a short, yarmulke-wearing Israeli cartoonist living in a settlement. Other characters include a friendly Arab neighbor, an extremist Jewish settler, a bearded Rabbi and a handsome – but not very bright – TV reporter.

“There’s a stereotype about settlers,” Charka said. “People think they all hate Arabs and they’re against peace. But that’s not the whole story.”

Charka said he has Palestinian friends and that he would like to live in peace with all his neighbors. But like many Israelis, he’s skeptical about the idea of giving the Palestinians a state of their own on the West Bank.

“Peace will only come when each side comes to terms with the reality that the other side is here to stay. Israelis have understood that about the Arabs. But I don’t think the Arabs have never completely agreed,” he said.

And that’s why Charka is against giving up land for the hope of peace with the Palestinians. He thinks the whole two-state solution idea won’t work, and that the US president is wrong to keep pushing for it to happen.

Charka’s politics put him in profound disagreement with many Israelis, including fellow cartoonist, Uri Fink. But the two men remain good friends, and fans of each other’s work.

“Shay’s work should be seen by everybody because it’s really, really good. Even if you disagree with the politics, like I do, I still enjoy reading it. And I think the voice of Shay has nothing to do with the crazy settlers that you see in the news all over the world,” Fink said.

On a recent day, the news was full of reports about an attack by Jewish settlers on an Israeli army base in the West Bank. Vandals slashed tires and smashed windshields. And not far away, an Israeli officer was injured by a rock in another clash with settlers. The incidents followed a string of suspected settler attacks against Palestinian property, including mosques.

Charka said he was shocked by the events.

“I’m shocked by these people and I think they should be put in jail,” he said. “But I understand where some of their frustration comes from.”

A few days later, Charka published a cartoon showing a masked Jewish extremist standing next to West Bank settlements. The settlement are sitting on top of a giant bomb. The extremist is challenging the Israeli government to try to dismantle illegally-built settler homes… as he’s about to light the bomb’s fuse.

• The World’s Global Political Cartoons
• Follow Global Cartoons on Twitter @globalcartoons
• Find Global Cartoons on Facebook

Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Marco Werman: Raji Sourani is director for the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. He lives in Gaza. Sourani says the Palestinian bid for UN membership has brought together the divided Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah.

Raji Sourani: I think the Israeli government, especially Netanyahu(sp?) government leaves no room for anybody not to be united. I think, you know, all our difference has been ruled and the possibly of reconciliation exists right now better than any time before and Palestinians, I think, right now have no difference in the the political level whatsoever between Hamas and Fatah. Both should be united and there is no reason or excuse to keep this split and the institutionalized weakness for the Palestinians.

Werman: So Mr Sourani, you’re saying you would like to see the split change for these two parties to be united…?

Sourani: I’m very optimistic for the foreseeable future.

Werman: You’re optimistic?

Sourani: Yep. Basically right now, Palestinian people, after sixty three years of the Nakba they’re talking about very basic, fundamental primitive human rights: right of life, right of movement, right of medical care, right of education and we are extremely far of achieving our right of self determination and independence.

Werman: And yet, Mr Sourani, in the past week Hamas has reiterated it’s resistance and Abbas has reiterated peaceful negotiations. It feels like a standoff, yet you’re saying it’s not a standoff.

Sourani: No, I think Palestinian people do have the right to resist, abide by international law and that’s not a shame, that’s not something we are, you know, ignoring. It’s our full right and I’m saying that, you know, as a Human Rights Activist.

Werman: Mr Sourani, you’ve said that you feel deceived by President Obama’s overtures of the Arab world and the Palestinians. Now there’s news from Congress that two hundred million dollars in development aid has been suspended for the Palestinians. Do you think the US is still a credible mediator for Middle East peace?

Sourani: Absolutely not. What we want from United States, don’t put Israel as holy body. Don’t provide legal political protection, to apply the rule of law in equal footsteps. We are entitled to freedom. We are entitled to self determination. We are entitled to state and we want to see United States supporting in one way ticket, that.

Werman: Mr Sourani, I’d like to ask you a personal question. You’ve been denied entrance to the United States for the past eleven years and you’re now here on a three month visa thanks on part to an intervention by former US President Jimmy Carter, among others. Why do you think the US has kept you out for so long and what do you think has changed?

Sourani: I think that’s the shame. For me, lawyer, director of Palestinian Center for Human Rights and I’m a recipient of the Kennedy Award. If all that, and I’m considered a suspected terrorist, who’s that?

Werman: Raji Sourani is a 1991 recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. He lives in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Sourani, thanks very much for coming in. Nice to meet you.

Sourani: It’s quite an honor and a pleasure. Thank you.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

By Assia Boundaoui

The Palestinian leadership hopes this dramatic move would reenergize their quest for an independent homeland.

But in New York City, Palestinian-Americans are on the fence about whether a state of Palestine will ever exist and are worried about what statehood would actually mean.

At the Bayridge Café on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn, Palestinian-American Yousef Jadallah sips his coffee as he watches experts on Al Jazeera discuss the statehood bid. And he did not look too optimistic.

“It’s a good step, but useless. It’s all politics,” he said. “We’re not gonna get full membership in the UN so what’s the use. My opinion: waste of time, it is 64 years past due.”

Down the street at Badran Halal meats, owner Mamoun Hammouri is equally pessimistic about the possibility that the UN will grant membership for Palestine.

“I hope, of course I hope,” he said, “but I don’t think it is going to happen or exist.”

Habib Joudeh runs the pharmacy next door to the butcher shop. He said what he wants to happen and what he believes is going to happen are two different issues. In fact, he said, the bid for a Palestinian state will be futile.

“Though I know it is not going to pass, though I know even if it passes what we are given is nothing,” he said. “But you know what, anything is better than having this conflict, anything that will bring peace to the region, to the world, that will be much better than what we are living now.”

While the lack of hope that the UN will ever recognize a Palestinian state is pervasive, some Palestinians in Bayridge are outright hostile to the bid for statehood. On Twitter, the hash-tag #fakestate has become a trending topic among Palestinian activists who think that the bid for statehood at the UN will do more harm than good.

A Palestinian neighborhood in New York. (Photo: Ali Abbas)

Kenazi has written about the Palestinian situation and the frustration many feel with stalled negotiations.

“If there are still these restrictions, if there’s still the cutting off from West Bank Palestinians to West Bank Palestinians, never mind East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, then you really have a structure of the status quo,” he said. “It’s just a formalized situation where you would have statehood but no real rights, no real autonomy, no control over your territory, no functioning body that could actually exercise the fundamental rights of Palestinian people.”

Some Palestinians say the division over whether to support or oppose the UN bid is generational: younger Palestinians are opposed to the move while the older generation is looking for something, anything to change.

Others say the divide is a geographical one, with Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza generally in support of full membership in the UN, and Palestinian refugees and those who live in Israel are opposed to a recognized state that would not include them.

Dr. Ahmed Jaber, a Palestnian-American who runs a gynecology practice in Brooklyn, says whether you are for, or against the UN statehood bid, the fact is that it has raised more questions than answers. Questions no one can answer now.

“Is it going to make problems on the street in the West Bank and Gaza? Will there be a third intifada? What is really the 1967 border, does that exclude the Palestinians who were inside the Green line in 1948 Palestine? What will happen to them? Are we abandoning them? How about the right of return?” Jaber asked. “Whether this step is good for the Palestinians or not, I don’t know, we have to wait and see.”

No one doubts the Palestinians could win broad support at the UN in a vote to recognize the state of Palestine. In fact, they already have.

Back in 1988, the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s chairman, Yasir Arafat proclaimed a Palestinian state. A UN resolution to recognize the move got 104 yes votes. Two countries voted no: Israel and the United States.

But when the Palestinians go to New York in September, they’ll be asking for something different, according to veteran politician Hanan Ashrawi, who spoke to reporters in Ramallah on Sunday. What the Palestinian leadership wants in 2011, she said, is recognition as a state with defined borders. The borders the Palestinians have in mind are the pre-1967 lines that divided Israel from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem.

“We are going to the UN with all options open and we reserve our right to use any means – peaceful and legal and moral and human and responsible – that will guarantee our rights and save them from Israeli unilateralism and illegal measures,” Ashrawi said.

Ashrawi said Palestinian officials are hoping to line up more than 130 votes this time around. The US has said it would veto any resolution on Palestinian statehood. But the prospect of voting against Palestinian self-determination as a wave of uprisings sweep through the Arab world is likely something the Obama administration would prefer to avoid.

Ashrawi said the Palestinians are not seeking to embarrass or confront the United States.

“We’re telling the Americans, the best thing for you to do, at least if you don’t want to vote with us,” Ashrawi said, “if you don’t want to be seen as on the wrong side of the law, isolated with Israel, blocking the rights of one nation, we’re trying to convince them to abstain.”

But that’s probably wishful thinking on the part of the Palestinians. Congress is threatening to cut off vital US funding to the Palestinian Authority if it goes ahead with its plans. And Israel says the Palestinians are playing with fire by undermining the peace process. Still, some Palestinians I spoke with at the fruit and vegetable market in downtown Ramallah said it’s still worth the risk.

Market in Ramallah (photo: Matthew Bell)

But a mobile phone shop owner named Sultan said he sees the effort as a double-edged sword.

“If the Israelis let things play out at the United Nations,” he said, “it could help Palestinians in the long run. But if Israel uses this as a pretext to create chaos in the Palestinian territories, it could take us back decades.”

Others, like this fabric store owner, said they’re skeptical of what Palestinians could ever achieve in New York.

“This will do nothing for the Palestinian people,” the fabric store owner said. “There have been many resolutions in the past and Israel can do whatever it wants. Even if the resolution wins 130 votes, there are really only two countries that matter, and that’s America and Israel.”

The controversy that’s erupted in Israel over a new law was entirely predictable. The law allows Jewish settlers in the West Bank to sue Israelis who promote boycotts of their products.

The controversy reflects a growing chasm in Israel. On one side are those who support the country’s 44-year-long occupation of the West Bank as an historic Jewish right. On the other are those who view the presence of soldiers and settlers in the Palestinian territory as a national calamity.

The new law says an Israeli can be punished if they boycott an Israeli company or institution that’s in Israel, or in an area under Israel’s control. That last clause –- an area under Israel’s control – is a reference to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. If an Israeli calls for a boycott of products made by settlers, those settlers can sue her.

The law passed at night, and immediately, the Israeli organization Peace Now started a Facebook page. Danielle Blumenstyk is one of 4,000-some Israelis who joined. The first thing they did was to defy the new law.

“We are blatantly saying on our Facebook page,” Blumenstyk said. “We are calling out to a boycott of settlements. Sue us. That’s what it says, black on white.”

Blumenstyk and other activists with Peace Now frantically worked the phones today in their cramped basement office, urging celebrities to support a boycott of products made by Jewish settlers.

The Peace Now logo on their Facebook page. It says "Sue Me: I boycott settlement products"

“We’re hoping that this protest will … create a situation in which the law will be revoked,” Blumenstyk said.

Emotions about boycotts run high in Israel. Last year, more than 60 actors and directors from six major Israeli theater companies refused to perform at a theatre in Ariel, a West Bank settlement.

The theatre troupes are government subsidized. But the actors said they couldn’t perform in Ariel in good conscience because they consider Israeli settlements an obstacle to peace. That infuriated Israeli politicians like Danny Danon.

“When we heard about major groups who decided not to perform in Ariel, we decided enough is enough,” said Danon, who co-sponsored the new law.

“You cannot receive funding from the government and decide that you are not performing,” Danon added.” I think that it is part of democracy to put limits. In democracy, when someone is hurting someone else, you have to put limits.”

The other co-sponsor of the law, Zeev Elkin, insists that it’s “not meant to muzzle anyone, but to protect the citizens of Israel” who are settlers.

Parliament member Yohanan Plesner, however, predicts that the law, which seeks to impede boycotts, will only encourage them.

“As a result of this legislation, and as a result of the protest that it will give rise to, they will probably begin all sorts of boycotts,” Plesner said. “So obviously it will backfire because it’s a stupid piece of legislation.”

An Israeli civil rights group says it will challenge the boycott law in Israel’s Supreme Court in the coming days.

Palestinian players warming up before their home game against Afghanistan. (photo: Matthew Bell)

Team Palestine played its first World Cup qualification match at home on Sunday.

The 1-1 draw against Afghanistan was mildly disappointing to some of the fans. It was still enough for Palestine to advance to the next stage of the World Cup.

Share this slideshow

The Palestinian national soccer team has been competing internationally for more than a decade. Past games though have been played outside of the Palestinian territories.

This time, the Palestinian national anthem played, national flags waved and the crowd chanted throughout, “Fah-lah-steen!”

To many people in attendance, it was much more than just a soccer game.

Jabril Rajoub, a veteran Palestinian official and the head of the Palestinian Football Federation, was standing on the sidelines before the opening kickoff.

“Through sport, through football, we are making our state for the future of our kids, our sons and our grandsons,” Rajoub said.

Admission to the game was free. About 7,000 home team fans at Faisal Al Husseini stadium in Al Ram, a Palestinian town just north of Jerusalem. A tall concrete wall divides the town from Israel, which is just a couple of hundred yards from the stadium.

Back in 1934, under the British mandate, a previous incarnation of Palestine’s national team competed for World Cup glory. Jews and Arabs played together on that Palestine team. It’s a very different time now, said Atallah Najjar, editor-in-chief of a magazine called Palestinian Sport.

“The Palestinian people are struggling for a country of their own,” Najjar said. “The national soccer team is a symbol of that struggle.”

Palestine scored the first goal on Sunday. But Afghanistan never went away. The visiting team answered with a goal of their own in the second half and the Palestinian fans clapped politely.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Afghan coach – Yusef Kargar – said he wasn’t aware of any Afghan supporters in the crowd.

Speaking through a translator after the game, Kargar said there’s a real advantage when playing in front of your own fans. Afghanistan hosted Palestine in neighboring Tajikistan because of the security situation in Kabul.

But Kargar went on to thank his Palestinian hosts.

“It’s a lovely country,” he said. When the Afghan team gets home, Kargar said, “we will tell the people how lovely the country is and how beautiful.”

“There is no fight and there is peace and love.”

For one of the Palestinian players, Sunday’s game in the West Bank was also an opportunity to visit Palestinian territory for the very first time.

Omar Jarun is a Palestinian-American who grew up in Peachtree, Georgia. He plays professional soccer in Tampa, Florida.

Jarun said to “play in front of this crowd was unbelievable, they’re cheering the whole time. It’s just like European football.”

Palestinians, he said, “have so much pride and it’s just awesome to see [it] in their face[s].”

“It means a lot to me to play in front of Palestinians.”

Palestine is ranked 167th out of 203 World Cup contenders. By advancing past Afghanistan, the Palestinian national team faces Thailand next.

None of the fans I spoke with are talking about a miracle in 2014. Not yet, at least.

The show is called “Picasso in Palestine.” It’s really just a single painting, a cubist portrait from 1943 called “Buste de Femme.” But Charles Esche, director of the Dutch museum that owns the painting, reports that the show has created lot of buzz.

“I was in a taxi recently and I said, ‘can I go to the academy?’” Esche said. “And they said, ‘oh, we don’t know where the academy is, in Ramallah.’ And I said, ‘Picasso, Picasso.’ And he said, ‘Oh, Picasso. I know that, no problem.’”

But getting the painting here took two years to pull off.

There were questions about insurance for a seven million dollar painting. And, as with any important art exhibit, there was security to worry about. Of particular concern was moving the Picasso down the stretch of road between the Israeli checkpoint outside of Ramallah, and the part of the city patrolled by Palestinian security forces. It’s a security no-man’s land, said Khaled Hourani, director of the International Art Academy in Ramallah. But they found a solution.

“The only way to protect the work was inviting the media from all over with their cameras, so instead of having guns or Kalashnikov, we had cameras to protect the work.” Hourani said. “It worked. It’s here now, as you can see.”

A young Palestinian artist on hand, Osama Nazal said there is great symbolism in having a work by Picasso in the West Bank.

“There are many countries in the world that have been established states for many years that have failed to Bring Picasso into their country,” he said. “We already have Picasso in our state.”

The historical record is not clear on what Pablo Picasso thought about the Arab-Israeli conflict specifically. But art professor Linda Morris of Norwich University, who helped with this project, said the artist would have approved.

“This situation, and trying to humanize it through art, is exactly what Picasso stood for,” Morris said. “That’s why I feel certain that he would be here.”

Though the demonstrations are still small scale, the aim of the protesters is much bigger now.

In the shade of a giant fruit tree in the village square, a crowd of about 75 people gather and wait for Friday prayers to finish. They are local Palestinians from Nabi Saleh, joined by a couple dozen Israeli and foreign activists. Mahmoud Tamimi is one of the protest organizers.

“A year and a half ago I considered all Jews and Israelis as the enemy. These were the people who stole my land, hurt, imprisoned and killed my relatives,” Tamimi said. “But seeing Israelis take part in these protests here in his home village changed my views.

He said the protests here confirm that occupation is the enemy.

“It’s the enemy of humanity,” he said, “not just the enemy of Palestinians or Arabs or any one group. What the people here want is their freedom.”

Nabi Saleh only has a population of about five hundred people. And most of the demonstration organizers come from the same extended family. But the place has become a model for what Palestinians call non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Manell Tamimi said this movement could very easily catch on in other parts of the Palestinian territories, leading to a third Palestinian intifada. And that’s what the Israelis are afraid of.

“That’s why they attack the village violently and in a very cruel way, to stop it in Nabi Saleh,” Tamimi said. “Once they said in their report in the Israeli news that, “the virus of Nabi Saleh should be killed in Nabi Saleh and not spread to other villages.’”

The plan this Friday is the same as every Friday. To march down the main road, chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags. The crowd makes it about a hundred yards or so before the tear gas flies.

The main demonstration is over as soon as it started. Everyone dispersed and a small group of protestors gathered again to wait for the effects of the tear gas to wear off.

Another member of the Tamimi family said the Israeli soldiers are making it harder and harder to have any sort of demonstration, peaceful or otherwise.

“What they try to do is instigate the youth to throw rocks,” she said, “because this is what they eventually want, to have pictures of people throwing rocks. And what we’re trying to do is to march down there and just peacefully, either sit down on the floor, or just like stand there, confronting the soldiers. But not using any sort of physical violence. What they’re trying to do is to push the people to start throwing rocks instead of being able to march peacefully.”

What happens next in Nabi Saleh has become somewhat routine. Smaller groups of protesters head back down the road. And there is more tear gas. Sometimes soldiers move right into the center of the village, enter homes and make some arrests. By early evening, things usually quiet down.

Captain Barak Raz is a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. He said this and other demonstrations in the West Bank are not non-violent.

“We are aware that there are plenty of demonstrators there who don’t partake in the violence. But unfortunately there are plenty of inciters among them, people who are looking to instigate something a little bit beyond just a peaceful rally,” he said. “And they do use violence, be it throwing rocks and stones or Molotov cocktails and burning tires.”

The bigger challenge though might be how Israel’s military would handle much larger numbers of unarmed demonstrators. In other words, what happens if the Arab Spring spreads to the Palestinian territories?

Download MP3

By Daniel Estrin

According to the parable that Jesus tells in the New Testament, the Good Samaritan was the one who lent a hand to a Jewish traveler found beaten on the side of the road.

Two thousand years later, the Samaritans are still around. They’re one of the oldest and tiniest religious minorities in the Holy Land, and their community is split between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

One a recent evening, the sun was setting over the hills of Samaria, deep in the heart of the West Bank. On the top of one hill, young boys and their fathers dragged fifty very nervous sheep to the center of the village.

“For us this is a great event, a happy event,” said Samaritan elder Benjamin Tzedaka. “But from the other side it is very, very sad festival for the sheep.”

Tzedaka is a man with a white mustache, a sense of humor, and a deep devotion to his tradition.
“We are just fulfilling the commandment of the Almighty, like it is written in the story of Exodus. Chapter 12, 13, 14 and 15,” he said.

A rough version of that account goes like this: And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron in Egypt, tell the Israelites that each family is to take a lamb, and on the 14th of the month Nissan, they must slaughter the lambs at dusk. And they shall eat the flesh that night, in haste – it is the Lord’s Passover.

This community says it’s been reenacting the Biblical exodus every single year since the Israelites left Egypt and entered the Promised Land – exactly 3647 years ago, according to the Samaritan calendar.

As dusk falls, men cut the lambs throats and smeared a bit of blood onto everyone’s foreheads. Everyone clapped. The inner parts of the animal were burned, the lambs roasted and a few hours later the community feasted — just like the Bible commands.

“It is not Charlton Heston, the Cecil B. DeMille Ten Commandments movie,” said Tzedaka. “It is the real thing.”
What exactly is the real thing – and who are the real heirs to the Biblical tradition – has been the subject of debate for centuries. Both Jews and Samaritans claim they descend from the Biblical tribes of Israel. But there’s one major difference. The ancient Jews offered their Passover sacrifice in Jerusalem. Samaritans say God’s chosen holy site isn’t Jerusalem — it’s Mount Gerizim in Biblical Samaria, what is today the northern West Bank. Unlike Jews, they still reenact the Passover sacrifice.

During the time of Jesus, these theological differences made Samaritans and Jews bitter enemies. And in the late 80s, during the first Palestinian intifada, the Samaritan community in the Palestinian city of Nablus feared persecution and fled their homes. But today, said elder Benjamin Tzedaka, both Israelis and Palestinians want to be the Samaritans’ best friends.

“Actually the Samaritans became the only entity in the Middle East respected by Arabs and Jews in the same respect,” said Tzedaka. “They are making a competition, who will come to visit the Samaritans.”

Who came to visit this year for the Passover sacrifice? People who usually don’t mix. The Palestinian mayor of Nablus sat near a prominent head of the Jewish settlers’ movement. Israeli medics and Palestinian firefighters stood by the fire pits in case of injury. Palestinian police and Israeli army commanders shook hands. Jewish settlers and Palestinians and tourists from around the world were all there for a glimpse of this small community.

“I think it’s fantastic that there is such a multicultural diversity here in Israel,” said Ilan Ben Zion, an American immigrant serving in the Israeli army who was moved by the motley crew of visitors. “Despite all the conflict particularly in this area, things like this can still happen. In this sacred space people can mingle peacefully.”

Nearby stood Palestinian filmmaker Diana Alzier.

“ I have to say, this is the only place where I am in the same neighborhood with settlers, Israelis, Palestinians, Palestinian security forces, and Israeli security forces,” said Alzier, “And nobody is trying to show their authority, or power over you….it’s confusing.”

The Samaritan community itself is also confusing. There are only about 750 of them. About half live in an Israeli town near Tel Aviv, speak Hebrew and serve in the Israeli army. The other half are Arabic speakers who live here in the West Bank. They send their kids to Palestinian schools, and some even work in the Palestinian Authority government. Still, the Israeli and Palestinian Samaritans gather together on festivals like this, as one community.

Politicians on both sides seek to curry favor with the Samaritans as a way to stake their own claims to the Holy Land. Israelis see them as living historical proof of Jews’ ancient roots, while Palestinians emphasize their centuries-old relations with the community as proof of their historical connection to this land.

The Samaritans, for their part, say they don’t pick sides. Tzedaka said they often host Palestinian and Israeli community leaders together on their holy mountain.

“They feel free to come here and speak about peace and also (open) themselves to the Samaritan issue, which is most important to us,” said Tzedaka. “We see any activity as ensuring the existence of the community, a long time ahead.”

There were a million and a half Samaritans in the fifth century. A hundred years ago, there were only 146. The community wanted to prevent inbreeding and to boost their numbers, so the high priest started allowing men to marry non Samaritan women. Tzedaka’s grandfather was the first Samaritan to marry outside of the community.

Last year on Passover, for the first time, the high priest took another bold step: He welcomed a single mom and her four kids in to the fold as individuals, without marrying in. Sharon Sullivan grew up as a non-practicing Catholic in Michigan. Some in the community are still getting used to her family, she said.

“There’s a little bit of surprise on their part: What are these Americans going to be able to do here?” Sullivan said. “I see sometimes they laugh when they hear my kids reading in ancient Hebrew.”

This tiny community may be holding onto its most ancient customs, but it’s also adopting new ones too – like welcoming outsiders like Sullivan. Samaritan Elder Benjamin Tzedaka said with a smile that he hopes, little by little, the Holy Land’s oldest and smallest religious community will someday number a million again.

The World's Matthew Bell (left) talks with medic Yuval Yirmiyahu who was one of the first on the scene (Photo: Alon Tuval)

A bomb attack in central Jerusalem today killed a 60 year-old woman and injured at least 30 other people, three of them critically. Israeli police said it was the first major terrorist attack in the city since 2004. Israel’s top security official blamed Palestinian militants.

President Obama issued a statement condemning the bombing saying, “[t]here is never any possible justification for terrorism.”

The US-supported Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also condemned the deadly bombing. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said, “I resolutely denounce this terrorist attack no matter who stands behind it.”

The explosion occurred near Jerusalem’s central bus station at about 3 p.m. Wednesday. It’s a busy part of town, where the main highway enters the city. Late afternoon is the start of the rush hour, with lots of car and bus traffic, and people moving about on foot.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said a bag containing a bomb was placed on the sidewalk near a crowd of people getting on and off two city buses.

“Since the initial attack took place, we’ve heightened security in Jerusalem in order to prevent any future attacks,” Rosenfeld said. “We’re also searching for the possibility of a suspect that left the area.”

Police said they received a call from a merchant nearby about an abandoned bag near the bus station. During the emergency call was when the bomb went off.

The explosive device contained shrapnel that caused many injuries and shattered windows in the bus nearby. Police said the attack would have been more devastating had the bomb gone off inside a crowded bus.

Uri Shacham is a medic with Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service. He said paramedics arrived at the scene to find panic.

“At first, people didn’t know what to do,” Shachem said. But medics “calmed everyone down and evacuated all the injured people very rapidly to the hospitals in Jerusalem.”

Another paramedic, Yuval Yirmiyahu, said he has seen the aftermath of quite a few terrorist attacks in Jerusalem during his career, but not in a long, long time. He said he and his colleagues ran from their office nearby, and they got to the bus station right after the blast.

“The first thing I saw, it’s a lot of yelling, a lot of people yelling and running,” Yirmihahu said. “There were a few people laying down who badly injured.”

Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat surveyed the damage from today’s bombing. He wished those injured a speedy recovery and called on residents of Jerusalem to be extra vigilant. Barkat said this was a cowardly act of terror that won’t disrupt normal life here.

“The key is to move on,” Barkat said. “Continue with our normal life, normal plans. This alone will decrease the motivation of people that are trying to derail our normal life. They will not be successful in doing so.”

Jerusalem was hit by a string of bombings on buses and in restaurants during the second Palestinian intifada that began in 2000. But the last bus bombing happened here back in 2004.

In recent years, security in Jerusalem has been tight and things have been relatively quiet. Today’s bombing will surly bring back bad memories for many Israelis of the bad old days when terrorist attacks happened on an almost weekly basis.

(Photos by Alon Tuval)

• Pictures from the scene of the attack
• BBC video: Israeli police spokesman tells BBC police were looking for one suspect
• Ha’aretz: Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem
• Israel and the Palestinians
• Follow Matthew Bell on Twitter

The funeral for five members of the Fogel family took place on Sunday at a Jerusalem cemetary. Israeli media estimated 20,000 people attended.

Israeli security forces are searching for the perpetrators of a vicious attack over the weekend. It happened in a West Bank settlement outside of Nablus called Itamar.

As they slept in their beds Friday night, Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children – including their three-month-old infant – were stabbed to death. Israeli officials said Palestinian terrorists are the prime suspects.

The funeral for the Fogel couple and their three children was held on Sunday at a Jerusalem cemetery. An estimated 20-thousand Israelis came to mourn the loss of Udi and Ruth, 10 year-old Yoav, four year-old Elad and the baby, Hadas. Their bodies were wrapped in Jewish prayer shawls and laid out in a row.

One of the speakers was Yisrael Meir Lau, chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and a Holocaust survivor. In comments just before the ceremony began, Lau might have captured the sentiment of many Israelis, when he said such an attack makes it difficult to imagine this long, vicious cycle of violence ever coming to an end.

“If you have to deal with such people that the word ‘human beings’ doesn’t fit them. They behave like animals, like beasts,” he said. “I’m a survivor, as a child. And I thought that in the moment the Jewish independent state was declared 63 years ago, came an end to all this suffering, this misery, this bloodshed. Unfortunately, we still have to fight for our very existence.”

Samaria

A long-time friend of the Fogel family, Moshe Asher, said these murders would only strengthen the Jewish connection to Samaria, the Biblical name for parts of the West Bank.

“Samaria is the land of our forefathers,” Asher said. “And events like this usually lead to us putting down more roots and building more settlements there.”

And in fact, over the weekend, the Israeli government approved plans for 400 new Jewish homes in the West Bank. Settlement supporters said that’s a start, but they want more. Israel’s interior minister said there should be 1,000 new homes for every Israeli killed there.

The Palestinian Authority reacted to recent events by condemning the announcement on new settlement building, and also condemning Friday night’s murders.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas gave an interview to Israel Radio this morning. He said the killings were despicable, immoral and inhuman. He said, “Scenes like these – the murder of infants and children and a woman slaughtered – cause any person endowed with humanity to hurt and to cry.”

Incitement index

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed that statement from Abbas. But many Israelis believe Palestinian expressions of remorse to be hollow: Israeli officials said official Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews is to blame for the cycle of violence in this conflict.

They just created what’s being called an “incitement index,” that’s been sent out to the media. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said president Abbas should not be satisfied with his latest condemnation of the attack.

“(He needs) to stop institutional incitement to violence and hatred that unfortunately is still prevalent in Palestinian official media, controlled by the Palestinian government, and in their school system,” Regev said. “Ultimately, it’s very important that he creates there a culture of peace instead of the all-too-existing culture of hate.”

The Palestinian president has just called for the creation of a new commission on incitement that would include US participation. Regev said the Israeli government is considering the offer.

But Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Israel is guilty of incitement as well.

“The presence of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian territories and the behavior of the Israeli occupation, including the behavior of the settlers, is the main cause of incitement for the Palestinians,” Khatib said.

Palestinians said Israeli settlers were behind a series of revenge attacks over the weekend, including incidents of vandalism and stone throwing. Yesterday, Palestinians reportedly threw stones at a bus of Israelis returning from the funeral in Jerusalem. The Israeli military has deployed additional forces in the West Bank and have detained about 20 Palestinians for questioning.

• Israeli family of 5 killed in terror attack, military says

Palestinians called for a “day of rage” Friday to vent their frustration with the United States. But it never happened.

Last Friday, the US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Without the American veto, the resolution would have passed unanimously.

In recent days, West Bank Palestinians have held several demonstrations to denounce the Obama administration for vetoing a UN resolution that echoed America’s own stated policy on Israeli settlements.

Officials from the Palestinian Authority have condemned the veto. But they have also shown caution.

“I’m disappointed today’s demonstration was called off,” said a 20-something Palestinian in Ramallah who gives his name as Mohammed. “The uprisings taking place in the Arab world hold a lesson for Palestinians. They show how the power of freedom, democracy and change can sweep away fossilized regimes.”

Palestinian activist and photo journalist, Muhib Barghouti said Palestinian leaders are acutely aware that they themselves could become the targets of a new popular uprising.

Deflecting frustration

“No one was surprised by the American veto,” Barghouthi said. “But Palestinian officials are using it to deflect popular frustration away from their own shortcomings, and towards the US administration.”

Barghouthi said that people are not actually opposed to Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. “People are against corruption,” he said. “They’re against shady business deals. And they’re deeply disappointed in the state of divide between the Fatah-controlled West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.”

“Without Palestinian unity,” Bargouthi went on to say, “there can be no new elections and without elections, there can be no unity. It’s a chicken and egg problem.”

That’s not to say Palestinians aren’t angry at the United States right now.

In the West Bank village of Bilin, just outside Ramallah, there have been weekly protests against Israel’s separation barrier for the last six years. Today, demonstrators also raised their voices against the United States.

One protestor from Bilin said the American veto in the UN has proved to the Palestinian people that the US is biased in favor of Israel and that it’s standing in the way when it comes to getting rid of Israeli settlements.

Boycotting the US

Protest organizer, Iyad Burnaht explained that local Palestinian committees are now going to boycott US officials and agencies.

“We decided not to let the American government enter our villages,” Burnaht said.

“If, for example, someone from the consulate or the ambassador shows up, because they have come before,” he said. “Now, we cannot do it.”

Burnaht said the so-called popular resistance committees are also going to demand the same of the Palestinian Authority.

“The PA has to stop everything, all the contacts with the American government and with the Israelis,” he said.

“Change is coming to the whole Middle East,” Burnaht said. “The Palestinian territories are no exception.”

It’s not clear how far Palestinian officials are willing to go along with such demands.

The Palestinian Authority is highly dependent on foreign aid and the US is its single biggest donor.

• More from Matthew Bell in the Middle East
• Palestinians plan ‘day of rage’ after US vetoes resolution on Israeli settlements

Palestinian leaders have responded to the political earthquake in Egypt with promises of change. But the political shifts are sending mixed signals to Palestinians.

First, the Palestinian leadership announced it would hold long overdue elections, for new lawmakers and for a new president. Then, the Prime Minister’s cabinet called it quits.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas immediately reappointed Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister and ordered him to select new members for his cabinet.

Some people in Ramallah seem pleased with the call for new faces in Palestinian politics. Falafel maker Mohammed Jaber is among them.

“We need everything to be new,” says Jaber, “because the old leadership is making fools out of us. Everything they do is under the table. We want things to be direct and honest. We need elections.”

Diana Alzier, who works at a Peugeot car showroom in Ramallah, is also ready to say good-bye to some of the old guard politicians. “They’ve done their work, had their chances,” she says. “Now is the chance for others to take lead.”

Enacting reforms

A new cabinet has been a long time coming. There are a number of cabinet posts that have remained unfilled for a while. But Palestinian Authority government spokesman Ghassan Khatib says the toppling of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia influenced leaders here to enact reform a bit more quickly. He also says President Abbas is preparing his government for “very special challenges and tasks” ahead.

That’s an understatement. Khatib says the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank is still set on building all the necessary government institutions to run an independent Palestinian state. And they’re set on doing all of this by September.

“This plan is the plan of previous government, not the new one,” says Palestinian politician Hana Amiri. “Really it’s a complicated thing and I don’t understand it.”

Amiri suspects the reshuffling is only meant to appease Palestinians inspired by the toppling of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and may want to see new leaders at home too. “Maybe it will only be changing faces,” says Amiri, comparing the move to reshuffling a deck of cards.

WikiLeaks

But sometimes symbolic change is important, says Palestinian politician Saeb Erekat. He resigned recently as chief Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel. Erekat is at the center of a kind of WikiLeaks scandal.

Al Jazeera published leaked transcripts of meetings Erekat held with Condoleezza Rice and Israeli peace negotiators. Those transcripts showed that Erekat and his team were willing to let Israel keep a large number of disputed neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

Erekat says his resignation is about setting a record of transparency in the West Bank. “There were very sensitive documents stolen from my office,” he explains. “I said from day one. If some documents are stolen from my office, I will bear responsibility for this. The ethical and courageous thing to do is not to seek excuses. It’s to say, it’s my mistake, sorry for what pain I brought to my people.”

Many Palestinians were furious at Erekat for offering so much territory to the Israelis in secret negotiations. But he says that’s not why he’s resigning. President Abbas has also disbanded a group of Palestinian experts who advised Erekat in the peace negotiations. But Erekat says his advisors will have new roles to play in future rounds of negotiations.

That’s left a sour taste for some Palestinians. It’s another reshuffling of the same deck, says political analyst Khalil Shaheen.

“Erekat resigned because papers leaked, not because negotiations reached dead end. He still believes he can reach results. That’s why Palestinians are not satisfied. The main conclusion now is that there is no main partner in the Israeli government that you can negotiate with.”

Hamas refusal

So, to sum up: the Prime Minister dissolved his cabinet, but then he was reappointed to build it again. Palestinian leaders say they’ll hold presidential and legislative elections to provide fair representation to Palestinians, but Hamas, the rival party in Gaza, refuses to cooperate.

The Palestinian chief peace negotiator says he’s calling it quits, but peace talks with the Israeli government will continue. There’s lots of talk about change, but some Palestinians fear it may be more of the same.