The United Nations Security Council held its quarterly open debate on July 23rd regarding the situation in the Middle East, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As usual, the meeting was an occasion for Israel-bashing. This time, there was considerable discussion regarding the demolition by Israeli forces on July 22nd of buildings in the Wadi Hummus/Sur Bahir neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Most of the buildings were still under construction. The Palestinians argued that the demolished buildings were technically on land under Palestinian Authority control, which should not have required Israeli permission to construct so long as the Palestinian Authority had issued its own permit. But Israel considered the location of the buildings to be perilously close to Israel’s security barrier, which was intended to create a sort of buffer zone to more easily prevent surprise terrorist attacks. The matter went to Israel's highest court, which ultimately allowed the demolition to proceed.

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