By APN Intern Naomi Tamura

Every Shabbat, Jews around the world ask God to “spread over us a sukkat shalom – a sukkah of Your peace.” We express our hope for the protection of our dignity and our rights, and to live in a just and peaceful world with our neighbors. As the Jewish festival of Sukkot begins just days after Yom Kippur, Jewish communities come together to celebrate, among other things, the freedom of the people of Israel – and to build their individual and communal sukkahs as physical representations of this peace and protection that we seek.  Unfortunately, there are other homes being built that only serve to prevent both peace and freedom.

Three years ago, I lived on Kibbutz Ein-Dor in the north of Israel as part of my gap year program. There, I and 37 others helped build a sukkah (pictured).  Although it was little more than a simple, open-roofed structure with only one permanent wall, we rejoiced in our sukkah’s vulnerability. Our collective efforts to hang pictures of our families, lace colorful streamers around the few tree branches that served as our roof, and stake PVC piping into the ground as the sukkah’s base all brought us closer together as a community. Yet, it was the way that we ate, sang, joked, and dreamed together that allowed us to understand the true meaning of community filled with members who are at peace with one another.

This Sunday evening, as we prepare to celebrate Sukkot in a new year, we should be reminded of the connections between the sukkah and peace. The openness of the sukkah not only reminds us to share our homes with others, but asks us to open our hearts and minds towards building inclusivity and tolerance. In doing so, the sukkah becomes a communal structure sustained only by the shared commitment and vigilance of all its guests.

We recognize that the final US Presidential Debate is the evening of October 19th, so we have changed the start time to 8:00 pm. You will thus have the opportunity to watch the debate in its entirety, and then have a discussion with a leading expert on the issues that are relevant to Israel, and to US Foreign Policy towards Israel and the Middle East.

On the Eve of Elections: The U.S. and the Elusive Quest for Middle East Peace
A discussion with a leading authority from Washington, DC

Lara Friedman
Director of Policy and Government Relations
Americans for Peace Now

Wednesday, October 19, 8:00 p.m. 
(changed from 7:30 to accommodate watching the final US Presidential Debate)

Private Home in Sunnyvale, CA
Receive location and directions upon RSVP

RSVP to apnwest@peacenow.org or 323-934-3480

Friedman, whom the Jewish Daily Forward Newspaper listed as a "must-read pundit on the Middle East," is a go-to expert for those working inside government, those looking to influence U.S. policy, and for journalists. Her opeds and analyses are frequently published in the US and Israeli press, and she is a highly requested and respected speaker in forums throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Lara Friedman, director of policy and government relations at APN, spoke on October 14, 2016 before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at a special session organized to examine the issue of “Illegal Israeli Settlements: An Obstacle to Peace and a Threat to the Two-State Solution.”

Speaking in advance of the meeting, APN President and CEO Debra DeLee stated:

Israeli settlement policies is an issue on which APN and our Israeli sister organization, Shalom Achshav, are justifiably recognized as the leading experts, both in terms of knowing and in terms of explaining the facts about settlements and their implications for peace and the two-state solution. And the facts point to a clear conclusion: the Israeli government’s policy of prioritizing settlements threatens the vital interests of Israel – its people and its national future. This Security Council meeting is a welcome opportunity to highlight the damage settlements are doing to Israel and the quest for peace.

 

VIEW: Full video of the October 14, 2016 UNSC Arria-formula meeting on settlements

READ: Lara Friedman's statement to the UNSC, delivered October 14, 2016
(A pdf of the statement may be viewed/downloaded here).

VIEW: The Post-meeting press conference

LISTEN: To the Briefing Call with Lara Friedman and Israeli legal expert Michael Sfard (immediately following the UNSC meeting & press conference)

Media coverage

Haaretz 10/25/2016: As an Israeli, B'Tselem and Peace Now Protect Me. Who Will Protect Them?
Haaretz (Zeev Sternhall) 10/21: Yes, Israelis, We Must Wash Our Dirty Laundry in Public
Haaretz 10/21/2016: APN's Lara Friedman in Haaretz: Speech Made by Americans for Peace Now at the UN Reflects Love for Israel (text also available here)
Haaretz  (Rabbi Eric Yoffie) 10/20/2016 Americans for Peace Now, You Made a Mistake in Appearing Before the UN
Haaretz 10/19/2016: Israeli Envoy to Security Council: UN Must Stop Interfering in Israeli Affairs by Funding B'Tselem
YNET 10/18/2016: US State Department 'grateful' to B'tselem
Arutz Sheva 10/18/2016: Washington 'grateful' to B'tselem
The Forward 10/17/2016: If Israel Lets in Palestinian Refugees, Will It Lose Its Jewish Character?
Haaretz 10/17/2016: U.S. Defends Israeli Anti-occupation Group, Says 'Freedom of Expression' Must Be Protected
Israel Hayom 10/16/2016: Netanyahu: Peace Now, B'Tselem are 'deluded,' slander Israel
Press TV 10/16/2016: Netanyahu raps Israeli NGOs for anti-settlement UN comments
HaModia 10/16/2016: Netanyahu: Leftist Groups That Testified at U.N. Security Council ‘Beyond the Pale’
ABC News 10/14/2016: Israeli Rights Group Urges UN to End Palestinian Occupation
New York Times 10/14/2016: Israeli Rights Group Urges UN to End Palestinian Occupation
JTA 10/14/20161: At UN Security Council, human rights groups slam Israeli occupation, settlement expansion
Haaretz 10/14/2016: U.S. Tells UN Security Council: Israeli Activities in West Bank Creating One-state Reality
Haaretz 10/14/2016: Americans for Peace Now, B'Tselem to Address UN Security Council
Jerusalem Online 10/14/2016: B’Tselem Executive Director speaks in front of UN Security Council about settlements
Times of Israel 10/14/2016: B’Tselem head urges Security Council to act now on settlements
Arutz Sheva 10/14/2016: Danon: Too bad Israeli organizations join diplomatic terror
Jerusalem Post 10/13/2016 B’Tselem, Peace Now to speak to UNSC against settlements
San Francisco Chronicle 10/13/2016: Palestinians push for UN membership and against settlements
YNet 10/13/2016: B'Tselem to address UN Security Council's informal meeting on West Bank settlements
Haaretz 10/13/2016: Israeli NGOs to Address Special UN Security Council Session on Settlements
Arutz Sheva 10/13/2016: MK Kish: Time to disconnect from B'Tselem and Peace Now
ABCNews 10/13/2016: Palestinians Push for UN Membership and Against Settlements
Times of Israel 10/13/2016: B’Tselem under fire for planned UN presentation on settlements

In the October 14, 2016 briefing call with APN's Lara Friedman and Israeli Legal Expert Michael Sfard on the UNSC Session on Israeli Settlements, they discussed the threat to Israel's security and the two-state solution posed by settlements, the dangers of unilateral withdrawal, and the possibility of further action at the UN.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loves to use social media as a tool to settle accounts with those who dare to challenge his policies, often in demagoguery that panders to the online mob both in content and style.

On Sukkot Eve, it was us, Americans for Peace Now, who were the target of Netanyahu’s bluster. Why? Because we dared to highlight his West Bank settlement policy at a special United Nations Security Council session.

At the gathering, APN’s Lara Friedman delivered a measured, fact-based analysis of the damage that West Bank settlements inflict on Israel’s national security. We are proud of Lara’s performance at the security Council and gratified to have been given the opportunity to share with the world our deep concerns about the direction in which Netanyahu’s policies are leading our Jewish homeland.

Netanyahu, in a misleading Facebook post, falsely accused us of alleging that the settlements are the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We never make this argument.

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 what in particular in last week’s UN Security Council discussion of the settlements angered the prime minister; B'tselem's Hagai El-Ad's and APN’s Lara Friedman's testimony before the Council on the settlements issue; at the broadest strategic level, what the Security Council discussion contributes toward a two-state solution; and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's suggestion that a “Potemkin” Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be better than none at all.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) denounces a resolution adopted last week by the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and ratified this week by the body’s Executive Board.

APN agrees with critics of the language used by UNESCO’s resolution, which refers to the Holy Basin in Jerusalem’s Old City only by its Muslim title, the Haram al-Sharif (the Nobel Sanctuary), does not mention the Temple Mount, the way Jews refer to the site, mentions the Western Wall Plaza in quotation marks while using its Muslim name, Al-Buraq Plaza, without quotation marks, and uses other inflammatory language.