Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Israel’s preeminent peace movement, in cooperation with other
Israeli civil society organizations, has launched a new initiative demanding a referendum on the future of
Israel’s rule over the West Bank and on peace with the Palestinians. Americans for Peace Now, the U.S. sister
organization of Shalom Achshav, supports the initiative. APN calls on all Americans who care about Israel’s
future to support the call for a referendum on the occupation, which is now entering its fiftieth year.
Decision at 50 press release 9/5/16: A New Movement Demanding a
Referendum on the Fate of Israeli Control over the Palestinian Territories and on the Future of Israel
Decision at 50 letter to Netanyahu 9/5/16: Letter to Prime
Minister Netanyahu on the "Referendum at 50" (Hebrew)
APN Statement on the launch of Decision at 50 (September 5, 2016): APN to Support New Israeli Initiative for Referendum on the Occupation
Take Action:
If you are an Israeli Citizen, click here to learn more and sign your
name in support of the Decision at 50 Referendum
Learn more about Decision at 50 in English at http://www.mishal50.org.il/en/
The policies and actions of the current Israeli government are actively fanning the flames of
violence, further entrenching and expanding occupation, and killing the two-state solution. Some of the most
recent and ongoing outrages are:
The Israeli government is in the process of establishing – by stealth –the first new settlement
complex (28 units, providing housing for some 100 settlers, or a 10% increase in the settler population in the
area) in Hebron in more than a decade. This action directly contravenes Israeli law, which prohibits seizing
lands for military needs and then using them for the purpose of settlements. It also contradicts the principle
of distinction between civilians and combatants, and constitutes a clear violation of International Humanitarian
Law. In addition, allocating these properties to the settlers based on the argument that they belonged to Jews
before 1948 in essence constitutes implementation of a “right of return” for Jews, at the expense of protected
Palestinians tenants – even as Palestinians are denied any parallel “right of return” to properties they left or
were expelled from before 1948. The Israeli Peace Now movement uncovered this story and is leading the effort to
pressure the Israeli government to cancel these plans.
Amona is the largest illegal outpost in the West Bank, home to some fifty families, located near
the settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah. Built on some 100 acres of land registered as privately-owned by
Palestinians, the outpost was built without permits from the Israeli government, but with the direct and
indirect support of Israeli authorities. In 2006, following a decision of the Israeli High Court of Justice,
nine structures in the outpost were demolished – but in the years since, the outpost has grown and flourished.
Now, the High Court is forcing the Israeli government to take action once again to remove the illegal
construction – but rather than simply removing the outpost, the Israeli government has decided to re-locate it –
to another area of privately-owned Palestinian land.
The Netanyahu government is actively promoting an extraordinarily dangerous and destructive new
settlement plan which activists have dubbed “E-2” – a name that reflects the fact that the plan is as dangerous
and destructive to the two-state solution as the infamous E-1 project (against which the international community
has formed a united front). The E-2 project, which the settlers call Givat Eitam, involves thousands of new
units to be built south of Bethlehem, near the settlement of Efrat. Documents recently released by the
government in connection with a lawsuit brought by Peace Now show that the Netanyahu government is actively
moving ahead with this plan at this time, including working to seize new land on which it can build necessary
infrastructure to implement the project (a new major road).
