The United States and Israel earlier this month signed a deal allocating land for a permanent U.S. Embassy in West Jerusalem — years after a temporary embassy was established during Trump’s first term in office. Palestinian families have pleaded with the U.S. government to reconsider the embassy’s planned location, saying the site in the area known as the Allenby compound was unlawfully taken from them decades ago.
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor emeritus of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, belongs to one of the families that has claims to the land. “So, here we have the U.S. government signing an agreement with the Israeli government to lease land the Israeli government has no right to, to which … we and many other families have title, in order to establish an illegal embassy in Jerusalem, which is in violation of repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
Khalidi also comments on the ongoing fight to save the centuries-old Mamilla Cemetery in Jerusalem, “one of the most sacred and holy sites to Muslims.” Israel has gradually taken over the cemetery, replacing it with a museum, parks and parking lots.