News Nosh 02.11.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday February 11, 2016
 
Debate of the day:
Knesset Law and Justice Committee Chairman MK Nissan Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi): "I wanted to hold a principled discussion."
MK Miki Rosenthal (Zionist Camp): “What principle do you want us to discuss? This law includes two words: ‘Arabs, Out.’”
MK Yousef Jabareen (Joint Arab List) to Slomiansky: “Perhaps you will propose we resign and that’s it?” 
MK Oren Hazan to MK Jabareen: “I’m prepared to drive you home.” 
--The 'circus' of a debate held in the Knesset Law and Justice Committee to discuss a bill that states that aims to be able to dismiss Arab MKs with a vote.*
You Must Be Kidding: 
1.) “First, Israel builds a military base in a Palestinian neighborhood, then, impertinently, it infringes on the neighborhood’s children’s basic right to education.”
--Ir Amim NGO said in response to Israel's objection to opening a school in East Jerusalem, claiming it would endanger a nearby Border Police base.**

2.) "I want to go back to history, what is our place here, about Jerusalem, about Palestine, when like we said, Arabic doesn't even have 'P,' so this loan-word also merits scrutiny." 
--Likud MK Anat Berko, a criminologist who  expert on Islamic terror, tells the Knesset plenum that the Palestinian nation doesn’t exist, because Arabic doesn't have a 'P.' (The Arabic word is Falasteen, not Palestine.)***
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News Nosh 02.12.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday February 12, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
“I didn’t compare for a moment between IDF soldiers that were killed and between Palestinians. I think that between the feeling of a bereaved Israeli and a bereaved Palestinian mother – there is no difference. If the words hurt, it was an unsuccessful remark.”
--Army Radio journalist Razi Barkai was quoted saying on air after bereaved parents of fallen Israeli soldiers expressed outrage at his comparison this week. Yesterday, Army Radio director Yaron London apologized to the Israeli parents, Israel Hayom reported today. The parents have demanded Barkai's removal and Army Radio has announced it has shortened his show and added a show by far right-wing journalist, Aral Segal.

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Not asking for money.

As always, I started today with coffee and the news including APN'S News Nosh. This morning, the News Nosh shared a surreal Knesset debate about a bill that would make it possible to dismiss Arab MKs with a simple vote. MK Nissan Slomiansky of Habayit Hayehudi actually said "I wanted to hold a principled discussion" about it.

News Nosh

A principled discussion about such a bill!

Much of what I read in News Nosh is infuriating, but it would be far worse to be uninformed. I - and you - need to know what is going on and we need to know about the good news and the good work being done by so many on both sides of the conflict. News Nosh enables us to do that.

APN offers a unique and necessary daily news aggregator from the Hebrew press, for free! You can surf the web for Israeli news sites, struggle with Hebrew and pop-up ads, or you can let APN do the work for you. All you need to do is sign up.


Thank you,
Geoffrey Lewis
Board member, Americans for Peace Now

 

APN Legislative Round-Up: February 12, 2016

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record

Note: This week, APN issued an Action Alert opposing legislation in both the House and Senate that seeks to legitimize settlements by conflating settlements with Israel.  That action alert, “Tell Congress: Pro-Settlements is NOT Pro-Israel,” is here.

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News Nosh 02.14.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday February 14, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
“The government’s message to the settlers is that in practice, there is no need for planning and advance approval of plans, as ultimately the construction will be approved after the fact.”
--Peace Now said after it released its 2015 report on settlements that revealed that since Binyamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009, 61% of all building in settlements was in isolated ones.
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News Nosh 02.15.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday February 15, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"What makes you think that the tears on the pillow of a bereaved Palestinian mother are of a different color or substance than those of a grieving Israeli mother? What could make you think that in comparing suffering no mother can suffer more than 'our' mothers?  Perhaps you think that you know how a Palestinian mother feels, or that their culture is different, or that she does not value the life of her child like 'we' do?"
--Robi Damelin, whose soldier son was killed by a Palestinian sniper, slams Jewish Israelis who call for Army Radio journalist Razi Barkai to be fired for comparing bereaving mothers.**
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Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

This week, Alpher discusses the recent poll revealing that fully two-thirds of Israeli Jews believe it is possible to continue to occupy the West Bank yet remain truly democratic and how this finding meshes with emerging developments inside Israel; what has changed in Israel and the Middle East over the last 20 years; Is the Levant conflict and the agreement, reached last week in Munich, for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Syria the beginning of the end of ISIS; and whether there is a broader global strategic meaning to these developments.

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News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:

Report2015SettlementsOver the weekend, Israel’s Peace Now movement published its annual report on West Bank settlement planning and construction in the past year. Following is the executive summary of Peace Now’s report, followed by a link to the full report, as well as links to several news articles about the report.

2015 In the Settlements: No Freeze At All
Settlement Watch Annual Construction Report
Peace Now's annual construction report reveals that in 2015 construction continued throughout the West Bank settlements, and especially in isolated settlements. These finding refute the argument that a "silent freeze" is currently in place. While earlier this year Netanyahu argued in English that he is the Prime Minister who has built the least in the settlements, in Hebrew he proudly demonstrated to Likud members the increase in settlement construction during his time in office. It is clear that in 2015 as well, Netanyahu's statements in Hebrew are more representative of the reality on the ground than his statements in English.
 
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My Book of Ruth

Ruth

On January 11th, my mother, Ruth Epstein, died at the age of 100.  She was born in 1915: World War I was raging, Woodrow Wilson was president, the typhoid epidemic was spreading and Congress rejected giving women the right to vote.

Her mother spent her early years in County Cork Ireland, being part of a large group of Lithuanian Jews who hired 3 boats to take to them to America, only to learn that the "goniffs" had dropped them in English-speaking Ireland instead. Her father came from Russia, and shared numerous stories with us - none of which were ever confirmed - of his exploits with the Czar. She was engaged in the world, offended by injustice and devoted to the state of Israel until her last breath.

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News Nosh 02.16.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday February 16, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"Many voices in Israel today have a narrow, minimalist understanding of the substance of democracy. For them, democracy is not anything but majority rule. Some of them believe this."
--Israeli President Reuven Rivlin sounded alarms over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bill aimed at suspending Arab Knesset members.*
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You Must Be Kidding: 
Police investigating a fire at a Muslim holy site in an Arab village in northern Israel said they saw no indication that this was a hate crime, as they didn't find any inflammatory graffiti. The tomb was seriously damaged and holy books were burned.**
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