Another Friday, another protest in Sheikh Jarrah. 

Another Friday where Israeli police react with fury and force, trying to bar and then break up the event, and arresting peaceful protesters. 

Another Friday and more evidence that democracy - and key pillars of democracy like freedom of speech and freedom of association, let alone the freedom to protest peacefully - are under threat in Israel.

When the Sheikh Jarrah protests first started an Israeli friend told me that they would never have any impact -- that Jerusalem is something that Israelis just can't think rationally about.  He said that even though we are talking about settler activities in neighborhoods that few Israelis can find on a map, let alone ever visit, the average Israeli hears "Jerusalem" and stops listening. 

I hope he is wrong.  Because this is about more than settlers targeting houses in this one Palestinian neighborhood.  Sheikh Jarrah is a microcosm of the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict - as pointed out by Didi Remez in a podcast he did with APN earlier this week, following his arrest in last week's protest.  It is about Israeli actions and policies that are wholly inimical to peace.  It is emblematic of the battle between those who believe in a negotiated peace -- for Israel's own sake -- and those who prefer the zero-sum logic of occupation, domination, and perpetual conflict. 

In one neat little package the Sheikh Jarrah protests encompass the core issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the peace process: territory, settlements and borders, displacement of Palestinians, and of course, Jerusalem.

I have watched (from afar) these protests grow, week after week.  I have watched them gather more and more "mainstream" support, especially in the face of the extraordinary actions of Israeli police. I hope my friend turns out to be wrong -- that Sheikh Jarrah will be the issue that focuses Israelis minds on what is really at stake and motivates them to action.

In yesterday's Middle East Peace Report, I provided coverage of the manner in which Israel's police interfered with a perfectly legal (and sensible) demonstration against the settler take-over of homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah:

In a rare bit of good news regarding Jerusalem, this week it was confirmed that famed architect Frank Gehry has pulled out of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's (SWC) misguided plans to build a "Museum of Tolerance" smack-dab on top of the most important historic Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.  As he exits the project he takes with him his ambitious blueprint for the structure, taking away the government of Israel's lame argument that the project is vital to Israel since it will create an architectural gem of international stature in the heart of West Jerusalem. 

The Government of Israel and SWC's longstanding insistence on building the museum on the site of this historic Muslim cemetery from the start provoked widespread consternation and outrage among right-thinking people in the US and Israel, not to mention the Muslim world.  In a sort of tragi-comedy (where the irony of the situation was apparently lost only to the SWC), it has also forced SWC leaders (and in particular Rabbi Hier) to transform themselves into rhetorical, moral, and ethical contortionists, twisting and turning the facts and arguments to try to defend a plan that is patently indefensible. 

The exit from the project of its celebrity architect offers Israel and the SWC a wonderful face-saving opportunity -- a chance to change course and come up with a new plan on a new site.  Doing so will ensure that if a Museum of Tolerance is built in Jerusalem, it is built in a manner that reflects and supports the value for which it is named and to which, ostensibly, it is dedicated.

Continue to read a Backgrounder on the project

Special report from Daniel Seidemann and Lara Friedman

As more reports of new settler activities and settler plans in East Jerusalem accumulate now on an almost daily basis, it is becoming clear that we are in the middle of a Jerusalem settlement blitz.  

This blitz is part real and part hype.  The motivation behind the blitz is clear: fear that the peace process will take root.  The goal of the blitz is also clear:  to prevent this from happening.  

The good news here is that the nature of this blitz - consisting of a combination of relatively obscure, small projects and projects that are unlikely to actually be implemented - demonstrates how few cards the settlers and their supporters have to play in Jerusalem. 

The bad news is that every report of new provocative plans in Jerusalem - even reports that are mostly hot air - represents a very real and tangible blow to the effort to re-launch the peace effort.  As such, the Obama Administration and the international community cannot let the Israeli government off the hook in Jerusalem - even as the Israeli government will try to disclaim responsibility, assert that it has no authority, and will try to downplay the importance of these Jerusalem provocations.  Jerusalem is the first and best test of how serious the Netanyahu government and the international community are about peace.

Headlines in Israel and the US continue to report progress toward launching Israeli-Palestinian permanent status talks.  And where there is smoke there must be fire - as the axiom goes - and thus even many cynical observers are today feeling moderately hopeful that new talks may break out.

But developments in Jerusalem challenge that hopefulness.  

Last week, Israel announced new tenders for 700 units in large East Jerusalem settlements.

Quietly on December 29th, with no fanfare or press coverage, steps were taken to expedite final approval of the http://peacenow.org/entries/wp263 (link has expired) Shepherds Hotel settlement plan - paving the way for the imminent demolition of that iconic building and the beginning of construction of the first Jewish settlement to be established in the heart of the densely-populated Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.  (The link is to a screen shot from the Jerusalem Municipality website - Hebrew only).

Most recently, on January 4th (Monday) the Jerusalem Municipality approved the construction of four large buildings to house 24 families - in what will be the first Israeli settlement construction on the Mount of Olives since 1967.  The site is adjacent to the existing Beit Orot settlement (a yeshiva housed in pre-1967 building with some additional trailers).