On Sunday, June 5th, Americans for Peace Now joined the Progressive Coalition at this year's Celebrate Israel Parade. Although the weather was damp, spirits were not as we joined with T'ruah, Partners for Progressive Israel, and New Israel Fund to show the world that there is a strong and vibrant progressive community supporting Israel and thousands of Israelis working for a just and peaceful society.
Pictures below
Hagai Elad, executive director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, on a short visit to
Washington DC, was hosted Friday June 17th for a roundtable briefing by the New Israel Fund. NIF is one of
B’Tselem’s chief funders.
B’Tselem, one of the most prominent human rights organizations in Israel, works tirelessly to inform the Israeli public about human rights violations of Palestinian civilians under Israel’s occupation in the West Bank.
Elad elaborated on B’Tselem’s recent decision to stop referring complaints to the Israeli military law enforcement system, whose role is to handle cases of mistreatment of Palestinians by Israeli Defence Force soldiers. Elad explained that the whitewashing employed by the military law enforcement system has made it extremely difficult for B’Tselem to follow through with investigations: only 3% of cases filed by B’Tselem go to trial. This percentage is so small that even the number of files misplaced and lost in the system is higher.
On Tuesday, June 21st, APN and New Israel Fund co-hosted a a briefing from security expert Yossi Alpher, who was in Washington DC promoting his new book, “No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine.”
Alpher focused on the disastrous impact of the peace impasse with the Palestinians and the dangerous slippery slope Israel and the Palestinians are on, zeroing in on the need for all parties, including global think tanks and policy planners as well as Diaspora Jewish communities, to adopt a new agenda that recognizes the emerging reality and asks how to manage the slippery slope (rather than a non-existent peace process) and to at least delay Israel’s descent towards the status of ugly bi-national state and international pariah.
From June 16-26, 2016, Israeli security expert Yossi Alpher, pictured on the right with APN
President and CEO Debra DeLee , spoke at APN sponsored events in New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and
as the keynote speaker for the APN Luncheon in the Berkshire Mountains in Western MA.
The tour came shortly after the release of Alpher's new book, "No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine".
(scroll down for more pictures)
On Wednesday, June 29th, APN intern Rebeca Feldman attended a panel discussion on the
role of Syrian women journalist-activists. Following is her report:
The Middle East Institute hosted an event entitled: Media Activism Amid Civil War: The Role of Syrian Women Journalists. The event, moderated by Kate Seelye, Senior Vice President of the Middle East Institute, featured three speakers with vastly different backgrounds and experiences of the Syrian media. However, all three were unanimous in their belief in a free and empowered media for a democratic Syria, which can be achieved by making the media a voice of the people, representing all classes, communities, and genders.