Washington, DC - Ahead of next week's meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - as well as other senior Israeli leaders - Americans for Peace Now today urged the President not to "walk back" from his positions on Israeli-Palestinian peace and not to commit to precipitous military action against Iran.
February 2012 Archives
APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Quote of the day:
"You need to decide if you are part of the state or if you are against it."
--Yariv Oppenheimer, Peace Now Secretary-General, in a video to Migron outpost settlers.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.28.12.
APN founder Mark Rosenblum just returned from a trip to Israel with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major US Jewish Organizations. APN is a member of the Conference of Presidents, and through its membership, APN attempts to encourage America's organizational Jewish community to adopt more dovish positions on Israel. Listen to Mark's trip report and his insightful political analysis.
APN founder Mark Rosenblum just returned from a trip to Israel with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major US Jewish Organizations. APN is a member of the Conference of Presidents, and through its membership, APN attempts to encourage America's organizational Jewish community to adopt more dovish positions on Israel. Listen to Mark's trip report and his insightful political analysis.
Continue reading Interview with APN Founder Mark Rosenblum on His Visit to Israel.
Washington, DC - Americans for Peace Now (APN) expresses concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria and urges the Obama Administration to engage urgently to end the crisis.
APN President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "Last Friday, the U.S., along with the Arab League and other members of the international community, met in Tunis with various Syrian opposition groups, in an effort to end the crisis in Syria. APN commends the Obama Administration for its role in organizing this meeting and the Arab League and Turkey for their own efforts in this crisis.
Continue reading APN Concerned about Syria Situation; Urges Obama to Engage Urgently.
Alpher discusses what will be on the agenda for the March 5th meeting between Obama and Netanyahu, what the United States could do to stop the slaughter in Syria, what Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was talking about when he warned publicly that the current "security silence" could collapse at any moment and how seriously we should take him, and what will happen in the aftermath of Israel's high court overturning the Tal law which had regulated a slow trickle of voluntary military service on the part of ultra-orthodox yeshiva students.
Continue reading Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - February 27, 2012.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday, February 27, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Mr. President, we are prepared for every scenario."
--General tells US President Barack Obama whle watching the Oscars on the television screen where Iran and Israel competed for best foreign film in today's Yedioth cartoon.
Continue reading News Nosh 2.27.12.
Washington, DC - Americans for Peace Now (APN) expresses concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria and urges the Obama Administration to engage urgently to end the crisis.
Continue reading APN Concerned about Syria Situation; Urges Obama to Engage Urgently .
Yesterday the Israeli government sent yet another signal that it when it comes to settlements, rule of law is optional. It also gave another sign that this Israeli government prefers settlements to peace. It did this by approving the biggest West Bank settlement since the Netanyahu government took power - in a settlement and illegal outpost located deep since the West Bank, far east of Israel's separation barrier, in an area that could not possibly remain under Israeli control under any future peace deal. The approvals come in response to Peace Now petitions to the Israeli High Court against illegal construction at these two sites. Rather than implement the law, the Israeli Government responded to the petitions by taking action to post-facto legalize the settlers' illegal construction and now has added insult to injury by approving this additional construction. Peace Now's report on the approval is available here.
This week, a national coalition of several religious organizations today issued an "Interfaith Statement of Principles" calling on presidential as well as all other candidates to tone down the religious rhetoric that has been so prevalent in this election cycle.
The coalition calls on candidates to, among other things, "reject appeals or messages to voters that reflect religious prejudice, bias or stereotyping," and "avoid statements, actions or conduct that are intended primarily to encourage division in the electorate among religious lines."
The coalition calls on candidates to, among other things, "reject appeals or messages to voters that reflect religious prejudice, bias or stereotyping," and "avoid statements, actions or conduct that are intended primarily to encourage division in the electorate among religious lines."
Continue reading Tone down the religious rhetoric!.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, February 23, 2012
NOTE: Tomorrow there will be no News Nosh. Sunday's News Nosh will include commentary and key news from Friday and the weekend.
Quote of the day:
"Inshallah, next time I'll bring with me all my Arab friends."
--Arab-Israeli runner Abdullah Musrawwa tells Yedioth after winning settler race in Hebron.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.23.12.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Alongside the team tasked with granting a kosher stamp to the illegal outposts, we shall also establish a committee that will be tasked with legitimizing the illegal embezzlement of public funds."
--Asaf Gefen writing in Ynet about the morality of a committee for legalizing the illegal.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.22.12.
Discussion of military action against Iran is again taking center stage. It takes me back to a late September 2002 meeting, when I brought a former senior Israeli official to see the late Congressman Tom Lantos, then the ranking minority member of the House International Relations Committee. Our meeting focused on Iraq, with Lantos arguing passionately for pre-emptive U.S. military action against Saddam Hussein, who he compared to Hitler.
Continue reading Shaking the Kaleidoscope in Iran (Foreign Policy).
Yesterday I wrote that Israel should charge Khader Adnan or set him free. Perhaps recognizing the danger that a martyred Adnan poses to its own interests, Israel has done so, sort of. That is, Israel has not charged Adnan. Nor has it set him free. But it has committed to release Adnan at the end of his "term" in Administrative Detention on April 17th. In response, Adnan has ended his 66-day hunger strike. Hopefully he will survive.
Continue reading Khader Adnan to be Freed, but Admin Detentions to Continue.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Weinstein's letter is a slap in the face for the the settlers."
--Maariv reporting on problem now facing Netanyahu's outpost legalization committee.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.21.12.
For weeks now I have been tweeting about the case of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian who is dying in an Israeli hospital as he enters the 10th week of a hunger strike.
Continue reading Israel Should Charge Khader Adnan or Set Him Free.
Alpher discusses why Russia is propping up the Assad regime and how this affects Russia's relations with Israel and the rest of the Arab world, the state of the revolution in Syria, and whether the right-wing organization "Im Tirzu" is fascistic in nature.
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - February 20, 2012.
The following is a timeline of major "Price Tag" attacks (as reported by Israeli sources). It documents a clear escalation in attacks, and the increasing spread of attacks inside the Green Line. Italics indicate so-called "triggers" - events or developments that appear to be linked to subsequent attacks. A recent Haaretz report noted: "According to the Shin Bet, the right-wing extremists no longer appear to need a 'trigger' to take action, while the targets of the violence are also widening..."
We will update this regularly.
We will update this regularly.
Continue reading "Price Tag" Escalation Timeline: Jan 1, 2011 - present.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday, February 20, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Present the story of settling Gush Katif (former Jewish settlements in Gaza Strip) as one of the possible responses to the question, 'How is Zionism carried out.'"
--Instructions on card game that was part of a kit distributed to Israeli teachers to mark Gush Katif Day.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.20.12.
=======================
for the week ending
February 17, 2012
=======================
1. Bills, Resolutions
& Letters
2. Egypt in the Spotlight
3. Obama Sends FY13
Foreign Affairs Budget to
Congress
4. Odds & Ends
Continue reading Legislative Round-Up: February 13-17, 2012.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday, February 17, 2012
Quote of the day:
"When it's about children, there is no place for politics."
--Haim Weingarten, a Zaka medic at the site of the crash of the Palestinian children's bus.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.17.12.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Quote of the day:
"I felt like they were raping me in many senses, and I am not prepared to let this go."
--Israeli Arab journalist Yara Mashhour on the humiliating treatment she received by El-Al security agents.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.16.12.
We are all concerned about the threat of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons represents an alarming scenario that neither the U.S. nor Israel, nor for that matter, the world, can afford to dismiss, and one that the U.S. and the international community must exert all efforts to avoid.
Most of us are also concerned - and increasingly so - over the growing frenzy of talk about military action against Iran. Military action is unlikely to do more than delay Iran's nuclear program and is almost certain to have far-reaching unintended consequences for the U.S., Israel, and the region.
The fate of Migron, an illegal outpost in the heart of the West Bank, is about to be decided. The implications of this decision are about far more than the future of a handful of settlers in a single outpost. This decision will be a litmus test of Israeli rule of law and, ultimately, of Israel's capacity to make peace with the Palestinians.
How can one outpost be so important?
APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Ahmadinejad's Iran is great for the settlements."
--Bradley Burston in an Op-Ed in today's Haaretz.
Continue reading News Nosh 2.15.12.
The Rabbis always understood that the Torah is a document that must be interpreted. Throughout our history we have always understood that we cannot have direct access to God's meaning but are always bounded by the need to put it in human terms. Therefore, insisting that any particular meaning is the only meaning - whether it's about the borders or settling the land, how to dress, or anything else -- is dangerous.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Mixing Israeli academia with an ideology of occupation and oppression undermines [ties with academic institutions in other democracies] and threatens to cause severe damage to the Israeli academia."
--From letter written by more than 250 Israeli academics, including four Israel Prize laureates, to the Education Minister to stop Ariel college from being recognized as a university.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.14.12.
The ongoing work of Peace Now's Settlement Watch program, headed by the formidable Hagit Ofran and readily available at peacenow.org, and frequent analysis by the apparently indefatigable Lara Friedman, American for Peace Now's director of policy and government relations, provide comprehensive -- and disheartening -- details on settlement actions and issues in general.
Fein is an APN Board Member who has written and advocated for progressive Jewish causes since the 1960s. In 1974 he founded Moment magazine, the journal of Jewish ideas, and in 1985 he founded MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
Extremists vandalized again in Jerusalem in an apparent "price tag" attack against Peace Now's Jerusalem offices. The extremists sprayed "No leftists, no terror attacks"
Read JTA and Jerusalem Post articles...
Continue reading Articles on new "Price Tag" attacks against Peace Now.
Peace Now executive director Yariv Oppenheimer, slammed Monday's compromise offer by Migron residents as "outrageous. The government is avoiding fulfilling the Supreme Court decision. Not only will the outpost not be evacuated on time, it will not be evacuated at all. And the settlers will gain another settlement in the heart of the West Bank,"
Continue reading Articles re: Migron Deal to Relocate Inside West Bank.
Brian Reeves, a graduate student who interned with APN over the summer, is pursuing his graduate studies at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Following is the first in what we hope will be a series of blog posts commenting on his experience in Israel. Brian is a graduate of Brandeis University, where he was the President of J Street U.
Continue reading City of Layers - Guest Column.
Alpher discusses how Hamas and Fateh signing the "Doha declaration" and moving their reconciliation project a step forward influences the peace process, what international military intervention in Syria might look like, what else, if anything, can Israel do about the daily slaughter in neighboring Syria, and what was the general strike that the Netanyahu government just settled and why is this significant?
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - February 13, 2012.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday, February 13, 2012
Quote of the day:
"I saw their regret. I understood why they did it and I knew their hearts were clean. Today I consider them brothers."
--Ali, Arab student in Tsfat who asked the court to lessen the punishments of two Jewish youth who burned his car.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.13.12.
=======================
for the period of
January 31- February 10, 2012
=======================
1. Bills, Resolutions
& Letters
2. Odds & Ends
Continue reading Legislative Round-Up: January 31-February 10, 2012.
Today, February 10, is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Emil Grunzweig. Grunzweig was a reserves paratrooper in the IDF, who fought in the Six-Day War, and served as a reserve officer in the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War. After his discharge, he became an educator and peace activist. Emil was killed during a 1983 Peace Now rally when right-wing activist Yona Avrushmi lobbed a grenade into the crowd.
Continue reading Don't Say We Didn't Know.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday, February 10, 2012
Quote of the day:
"No leftists, no terror attacks."
-Graffiti spray-painted on offices of Peace Now in Jerusalem -- Israel Hayom**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.10.12.
In the last two days, two more price tag attacks were made against a monastery, a Jewish-Arab bilingual school and the offices of Peace Now in Jerusalem.
Continue reading Two additional price tag attacks in recent days.
APN made online history this week. Our active Facebook page now has over 30,000 fans, more than any US Jewish organization. We use our Facebook page to feature activities, news and views, and to encourage open discussion on the issues. Americans for Peace Now has been leading the pack in providing a fresh voice on Facebook about Israel for over two years.
If you have not done so yet, join our Facebook page and be a part of APN's online conversation.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Quote of the day:
"The High Court decision was clear: Brave journalism is preferred over the right to one's good name."
--Tehila Altshuler, a communications researcher, in an Op-Ed in Maariv about a revolutionary High Court ruling**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.9.12.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Quote of the day:
"Netanyahu must end his obsessive search for flaws in the internal Palestinian agreement and focus instead on an initiative for ending the conflict. For he has the ability to do so."
--From today's Haaretz Editorial 'By avoiding peace, Netanyahu is punishing Israel.'
Continue reading News Nosh 2.8.12.
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek ("house of peace/pursuers of justice!") in Chester, CT. She serves as co-chair of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America and is a member of the Rabbinic Cabinet of JStreet. She is also an alumna of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Continue reading Peace Parsha: Becoming Truly Free.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Quote of the day:
"The truly worrisome finding is not the apparent belief in God, but rather the inverse relationship demonstrated ... between this belief and the belief in democratic values: The stricter a respondent's worldview, the less he identified with democratic values."
--Yair Sheleg, Haaretz religious affairs commentator on the findings of the Guttman study.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.7.12.
Alpher discusses why there is such a fuss being made over the 23 percent that Moshe Feiglin won in the Likud leadership primaries, what "confidence-building measures" in the West Bank the Quartet is asking Netanyahu to offer, whether Bashar Assad resembles his father in terms of the violence currently being perpetrated by him, and what the Israeli angle should be on Congress threatening to withhold foreign aid to Egypt unless Cairo stops cracking down on American and other foreign-sponsored democracy-advocacy groups in Egypt.
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - February 6, 2012.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday, February 6, 2012
Quote of the day:
"The educational system is under attack by extremist political forces, aiming to trade education for indoctrination. We won't allow that to happen."
--Udi Gur, a literature teacher from Jerusalem and one of the initiators of the teachers' letter opposing school tours to Hebron.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.6.12.
Q: There is a lot of talk in the Israeli media these days about the outpost of Migron, and Peace Now has launched a major campaign around the issue, with the publication of its document "The Migron File."
Continue reading Settlements in Focus: What's All the Fuss over Migron?.
This was a winning week for Israel's true patriots, Peace Now's dedicated staff and activists.
Earlier this week, Hagit Ofran, the director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project, won an esteemed prize, named after her grandfather, iconic philosopher and anti-occupation activist Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz.
Continue reading Brady, Manning, Ofran and Oppenheimer.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday, February 3, 2012
Quote of the day:
"They see what the boundaries of the [Israeli] prime minister's flexibility are and who makes up the coalition, and they know the maximum this government will offer will not reach their minimum."
--Israel's Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen speaking in a closed forum about why he thinks the Palestinians do not want to negotiate with Israel.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.3.12.
Iran is trying to strike Israeli targets around the world in a bid to stop the assassinations of its nuclear scientists, the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, said Thursday.
Lecturing at a closed forum in Tel Aviv, Cohen said that Iran believes Israel is behind the attacks on its nuclear experts, which have killed four scientists since November 2010. "It doesn't matter if it's true or not that Israel took out the nuclear scientists," Cohen said. "A major, serious country like Iran cannot let this go on. They want to deter Israel and extract a price so that decision makers in Israel think twice before they order an attack on an Iranian scientist."
read the articleAPN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Quote of the day:
"It sounds Arab."
--Reason why Jewish stall owners in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market oppose naming a street there after the famous hummous restaurant 'Rahmo.'**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.2.12.
A new presentation by Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann demonstrates how planned Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem could make the two-state solution impossible by 2013
Continue reading East Jerusalem Settlement Construction Hinders Two-State Solution.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Quote of the day:
"The height of chutzpah"
--Arab Jaffa city councilman Ahmed Mashharawi on the request by Jewish residents of the city to name streets after Jews.**
Continue reading News Nosh 2.1.12.
feed
twitter- 5/16 5:22a Minister Meridor predicts: Ulpana neighborhood in WB settlement of Beit El will be removed, as Sup' Court ordered http://t.co/8Ba479nG
- Israeli leading columnist explains Likud-Kadima alliance
facebook- 5/15 12:33p Israeli Minister Landau says Jews respecting Palestinians' narrative of loss in 1948 is like commemorating dead Nazis. http://t.co/n52YjMQU
- Ambassador Oren Gets it Right on "Pro-Israel" (LFriedman at The Daily Beast)
- 5/16 4:49a Israel’s drone dominance. Tangential to direct peace issues, but worth reflecting upon. http://t.co/TyTzb3J8
- APN Urges Members to vote "No" or "Present" on H. Res. 568 (Iran resolution)
- 5/7 7:27a RT @peacenowisrael The Court Ordered the Eviction of the Ulpana by July 1st : http://t.co/SAMIBSc4
- 4/19 A new settlement in Beit Hanina
- 5/10 1:16p Just heard Israeli writer Stuart Schoffman. Always great! Says instead of BDS, concern is PDD (polarization, demonization, denial)
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