“Disrupting” UNRWA Means Disrupting School for 500,000 Palestinian Children Mark Leon Goldberg August 8, 2018The UN agency that provides humanitarian relief for Palestinian refugees is coming under assault from the Trump administration. Again. Late last week, Foreign Policy reported that the Trump administration was seeking to abolish the UN Relief and Works Agency,...
PODCAST: Understanding Trump’s Jerusalem Gamble Mark Leon Goldberg May 14, 2018Editor’s note. This podcast was originally published in December, following news that the Trump administration would move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That move happened today, in a ceremony in Jerusalem attended by top American off...
A UN Peacekeeping Force is Caught in the Crossfire of Escalating Conflict in the Golan Heights Mark Leon Goldberg May 11, 2018UN Peacekeepers have been stationed in the Golan Heights since 1974. The mission, known as the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF, deployed to the border region of Israel and Syria following a ceasefire in May 1974. Technically, UNDOF is su...
The UN Agency That Provides Humanitarian Relief for Palestinian Refugees is Facing a Crisis Mark Leon Goldberg March 30, 2018The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, is facing a crisis. This is the humanitarian agency that provides relief for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This includes running hospitals and schools tha...
Will the Trump Administration Upend Decades of US Policy and Cut Relief Aid to Palestinian Refugees? Mark Leon Goldberg January 3, 2018Is the United States about to cut off American funding for the UN agency that provides humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees? A tweet from President Trump and remarks from Ambassador Nikki Haley seem to suggest that the US is considering such a move.I...
UN Vote on Jerusalem Tests the Power of Trump’s Threats and Ultimatums Mark Leon Goldberg December 21, 2017UPDATE II: The resolution passes with 128 countries voting in favor; 9 against; and 35 abstentions. As you can see from the list below, Trump's threat yesterday to cut off aid to countries who vote against the United States did not seem to hold much sway. This...
Understanding Trump’s Jerusalem Gamble Mark Leon Goldberg May 14, 2017Editor's note. This podcast was originally published in December, following news that the Trump administration would move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That move happened today, in a ceremony in Jerusalem attended by top American off...
PODCAST: What’s Next for Israel and Palestine? Mark Leon Goldberg January 19, 2017The Two State Solution--the idea that a sovereign, secure and independent Palestine can co-exist with a sovereign secure and independent jewish state of Israel is arguably as far from being realized now than at anytime in the past twenty five years. With t...
3 Takeaways from the UN’s Gaza Report Mark Leon Goldberg June 22, 2015A UN Human Rights Council commission of inquiry dispatched to investigate alleged human rights violations stemming from last year's conflict in Gaza and Israel released a long awaited report today. For those who follow this issue in particular or international...