The United States and Israel earlier this month signed a deal allocating land for a permanent U.S. Embassy in West Jerusalem on land claimed by Palestinian families, including that of Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi. This move, centering on the disputed Allenby compound, involves land that Palestinian families say was unlawfully taken from them decades ago, which Khalidi states is in violation of repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions.
This isn’t just a diplomatic shuffle or a change of address.
The Battle for the Allenby Compound
The heart of the controversy lies in the Allenby compound, a site where the U.S. and Israel have now agreed to anchor a permanent diplomatic presence. While a temporary embassy was established during Trump’s first term in office, this new agreement seeks a permanent footprint on land that Palestinian families insist was taken from them decades ago.
Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said professor emeritus of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, isn’t just an academic observer here—he’s a claimant. He describes the arrangement as a transaction of illegality: “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.”
The legal friction stems from the U.S. government signing an agreement with the Israeli government to lease land the Israeli government has no right to, according to claimants.
Erasure Beyond the Embassy: The Mamilla Cemetery
Khalidi points to the Mamilla Cemetery as a primary example of this systemic displacement. Once one of the most sacred and holy sites to Muslims, the cemetery has been systematically dismantled.
Over several decades, Israel has gradually taken over the cemetery, replacing it with a museum, parks and parking lots.
The Geopolitical Ripple Effect
By cementing its presence in West Jerusalem, the U.S. has finalized a deal allocating land for a permanent embassy.
