Thistles and brown grass blanket a patch of earth in a modern Jerusalem neighborhood likely slated to be part of a new U.S. Embassy. But according to Houston pathologist Dr. Hasan Khalidi, Israel has no right to grant the American government permission to build there. That’s because he believes the 7.5-acre the plot belongs to other Palestinian families like his own. “I consider this as stolen land, confiscated land,” said Khalidi, 61, who was born in Amman, Jordan, but says his family roots in Jerusalem date back a thousand years. “We visited Jerusalem at least three or four times a year, we would always go and explore the city and he used to tell me, ‘This is Khalidi land,’” he said, referring to his father, Ragheb. (https://news.yahoo.com/u-planning-build-embassy-embassy-083006145.html) The issue here is more than a simple property dispute and instead touches on one of the most sensitive flashpoints of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the city of Jerusalem. The Khalidis and other Palestinian families’ claim also provides an insight to the convictions and the sense of loss that underpin many Palestinians’ relations with Israel overall.