APN Weekly Update - APN Fighting Back, Israel Study Tour Concludes, Alarming Settlement Bill, and more

Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now: November 22, 2016


"Even allowing for the usual exaggeration on the part of taxi drivers--the US is not the only increasingly polarized society."

Yossi Alpher, Israeli security expert referring to Israel in this week's APN Hard Questions, Tough Answers (Yossi is pictured speaking to the 2016 APN Israel Study Tour last week).


Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher

 

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

November 21, 2016 - Early Levant and Israeli fallout from Trump election; the messy meaning of eastern Mediterranean strategic depth

Q. As President-elect Trump announces key appointments, how is the Levant reacting?

A. The most obvious and immediate response among the Syria antagonists appears to be an informal but increasingly widespread recognition that the Assad regime has survived the Syrian revolution...

Q. And the reaction in Israel to Trump’s indication of the far-right direction he plans to follow?

A. The Trump appointees for national security director, CIA director, attorney general and strategic adviser signal that he remains far to the political right where Americans condone the West Bank settlements and are not strongly committed, if at all, to a two-state solution...

Q. What’s the striking exception you mentioned above to the pro-settler sentiments and atmosphere encouraged by the Trump victory?

A. Last week, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman surprisingly called for a freeze on settlement construction beyond the West Bank settlement blocs...

Q. There remains the question whether the Trump victory atmosphere will affect the upcoming Elor Azaria verdict. This concerns the court martial of the soldier who, eight months ago, executed a wounded and subdued Palestinian terrorist in Hebron--an act caught on camera by a B’tzelem activist.

A. The military judges will begin deliberating their verdict this week...

Q. Turning from Trump to the Mediterranean depths, last week witnessed the renewal after a five year hiatus of licensing for natural gas exploration off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, along with a major controversy over an Israeli order for three more submarines from Germany. Can we learn something from this seeming fixation with the Mediterranean?

A. Definitely. In the course of the past two decades the eastern Mediterranean basin has begun to provide Israel with a dimension of strategic depth it never had before, in both security and economic terms. And the two are intertwined...

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Government Relations

APN Legislative Round-Up: November 18, 2016 (Lame Duck)

Note to Round-Up readers: In these difficult times, a couple of things to highlight this week, from elected officials who do, indeed, care about rational policies in the Middle East and do, indeed, understand the U.S. national security interests at stake:

  1. Bills and Resolutions
  2. Letters
  3. Hearings
  4. On the Record

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APN Statement on Congressman Keith Ellison's Record on Israeli-Palestinian Peace

APN has worked closely with Congressman Ellison for nearly a decade. He is a close friend and a trusted ally in the effort to achieve security and peace for Israel and the Palestinians in the context of a two-state solution.

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Consider Donations of Stock Sales to APN

Contributions to APN via sale of stocks is an option worth considering as the year-end approaches.

Information needed: APN's Brokerage is TD Ameritrade, Account #881348597, DTC #0188.


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APN Response

APN is fighting back

The election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States has set off reverberations around the world...But the response cannot be one of despair and resignation. Our collective response must be fueled by hope, commitment, and tenacious perseverance. As one of the last bulwarks against the growing extremism that threatens a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians, APN is here to lead that response.

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Open Letter to President-elect Donald J. Trump from Jewish American Organizations

APN joined proudly with other Jewish American organizations in sending a letter to President-elect Donald Trump laying out many of our concerns and hopes for the coming Administration, and sending an unambiguous message about being powerful opponents, if necessary.

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APN Condemns Appointment of Bannon, Calls Out Jewish Groups for Failure to Stand Against Anti-Semitism and Hate-Mongering

We urge President-elect Trump to cancel his appointment of Bannon. We urge him, too, to finally denounce and reject the abhorrent actions and views of the hate-mongers who are acting, publicly and proudly, in his name.

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Times of Israel: "Illiberal Support for Israel: Antithetical to Jewish Values and Israel's Interests" by APN's Lara Friedman

We must fight for our Jewish and American values and apply them consistently, both with the respect to what is happening in the United States and what is happening in Israel. The silence of too many in the right-wing Jewish establishment today underscores how, for American Jews, the two are inextricably linked.

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Settlement Watch

NY Times Editorial: "Israel’s Alarming Settlement Bill"

Peace Now Director Avi Buskila (on right) in dialogue with Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett during a protest of the "Regulation Bill" at Bennett's home.

Right-wing Israeli politicians see Donald Trump’s election as helpful toward their goal of burying the prospect of a Palestinian state. On Wednesday, Israeli lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a bill that would retroactively legalize settlements built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

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APN Israel Study Tour

APN Israel Study Tour Concludes Successfully

A whirlwind of meetings, travel, and experiential activities in Israel and the West Bank has concluded. In addition to Jerusalem (east and west), a West Bank Settlement tour, and a day in Tel Aviv that concluded by hearing from the young Peace Now activists and leaders, the group went to Israel's border with Gaza, the northern cities of Nazareth and Haifa, and the Palestinian cities of Rawabi and Ramallah.

Email IsraelTour@peacenow.org to receive information on next year's Study Tour.

Study Tour visits a Hand in Hand school

The Israel Study Tour group paid a special visit to Bridge Over the Wadi school in Kfar Kana.. Part of Hand in Hand - Center for Jewish-Arab Edcuation, the school has an integrated Jewish and Arab student body and faculty, a fully bilingual curriculum, and provides a community for the Jewish and Arab parents.


News Nosh 11.23.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday November 23, 2016  
 
Quote of the day:
“(It is) a very dangerous step.”
--Sheikh Muhammad al-Far, imam of a mosque in the mixed Israeli city of Lod. The imam was fined $200 for using the loudspeakers (as he has done everyday, five times a day) to broadcast the call to prayer. Al-Far said it was the first time this has ever happened in the city since the founding of the State of Israel.*
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Hope Is Something You Make

Americans for Peace Now

These days you may be feeling shell-shocked, angry, and depressed. We certainly are: As we observe Washington’s new political landscape, we acknowledge that advancing an Israeli-Palestinian peace agenda, based on a two-state solution, will be difficult. We have long said that supporting Israel means supporting peace. This was never merely a slogan. Compromising core Jewish values in order to avoid criticizing Israel comes at a high price – both for Israel and for Jews in America. Jewish values are incompatible with occupation. We will not give up – and you must not give up, either.

DonateIsraeli superstar and peace activist David Broza has never given up. He has performed in anti-war demonstrations despite warnings that political activity would destroy his career. He has fought with all the tools he had - his music, his songs, his voice. And he is still fighting. His album, East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, is a collaborative project with Palestinian musicians focusing on hope and peace. Active in Peace Now for decades, he is proud to partner with Americans for Peace Now, to offer you the album and the film — a CD and DVD set — for a donation of $36 or more. All but $15 of your donation is tax-deductible. This #BlackFriday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, support our work in this critical moment - and get a little hope for a friend (or yourself). Hope is not just something you have, it’s something you make.

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News Nosh 11.25.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday November 25, 2016  

 
Quote of the day:
"The fire does not distinguish between Jews and Arabs. There were fires in (the Arab town of) Umm al-Fahm and in other places. Unfortunately, there are those who decided to take advantage of this terrible situation to incite and lash out at an entire population. Those who love our motherland should focus now on putting out the fires and helping the victims rather than inflaming hatred. Now let's save what can be saved. Afterwards, if it turns out a despicable Jew or Arab did this act, he should be condemned and severely punished."
--Joint List Chairman, MK Ayman Odeh, himself an Arab resident of Haifa said Thursday as 60,000 residents were evacuated from the city.**
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israeli-separation-barrier-Newsweek-AnatBenNun320x265With the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, speculation is running high in regard to Washington’s policy on Israeli settlement construction and the future of the Middle East peace process.

While many unpredictable variables are in place, one thing is certain—the viability of the two-state solution is at stake. After 50 years of occupation and as the point of no return grows closer, Trump’s administration is set to carry an even heavier responsibility on its shoulders than previous U.S. administrations.

When it comes to Trump’s settlement policy, I argue that instinctual assumptions of reckless Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank during his presidency may be misleading. Unfortunately, the likely alternative also contains substantial risks for the two-state solution.

Celebrating Trump’s election, the Israeli right-wing was single-minded. It was not worried about democratic values, nor was it concerned with pluralism or for the American Jewish community. Rather, it expected that starting from January 20, all restraints on settlement construction would be removed. Without restraints from either Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continued settlement developments will create irreversible damage to the two-state solution.

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Bilingual schools fighting segregation in Israel

kid and barbara350x375Jewish and Arab students celebrated “Tolerance Day” when we visited Bridge Over the Wadi, the bilingual elementary school in the Israeli Arab town of Kufr Kara. This extraordinary school is one of a handful statewide, in which Jewish and Arab kids study and socialize in Hebrew and Arabic, learn about each other’s culture and narrative, and build common ground.

“How is ‘Tolerance Day’ different from any other day here,” I asked the school’s principal, Dr. Hassan Aghbaria. “That’s a good point,” he laughed, “we teach and experience tolerance every day, year round.”

Dr. Aghbaria’s school is one of six bilingual schools throughout Israel, run by Hand in Hand, the Center for Jewish-Arab education in Israel. The one in Kufr Kara is the only place in Israel where Jewish parents take their children, every day, to a school in an Arab community.

To understand how unusual these schools are, one must realize how segregated Israel’s school system is, and how segregated Israeli society is. Jewish and Arab students attend separate schools, where separate curricula are taught. Jewish and Arab citizens hardly socialize. They hardly get together. “What we have in this school is a virtual environment. Everything outside is segregated, while everything inside our school is integrated,” Principal Aghbaria told participants in APN’s Israel study tour who visited his school mid-November. The challenge, he said, is to extend this environment beyond the school, beyond Kufr Kara, and beyond the five elementary school years that students attend.

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News Nosh 11.27.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday November 27, 2016  
 
Quote of the day:
"From our point of view, above all saving lives is what leads us, and so we decided to come. Our motivation is very high, and we're happy to give help and human assistance."
--Suhail Abed, a firefighter from Qalqilya, Palestine, who helped Israeli firefighters put out flames in Haifa and outside Jerusalem.**

You Must Be Kidding: 
"Though the initial concern was that the two were looking to commit arson out of nationalistic motives, after they were arrested, they were found to be known to the police to be part of a band of thieves. As such, the police began investigating whether the forest fire was caused due to security forces using equipment to light the way during the chase," Ynet reported.
--Israeli security forces may have sparked one of the fires in Israel due to negligence and their zealousness in suspecting Arabs.**


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News Nosh 11.28.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday November 28, 2016  
 
You Must Be Kidding: 
"The police should stop using Google Translate.”
-- Arab Knesset member Osama Saadia (Joint List) commenting on the ridiculous police detention of a Bedouin social activist, Anas Abudaabes, for a satirical post he wrote mocking Palestinians and Arabs who celebrated the fires in Israel. The police said the post was written in very high language and some would misinterpret it to think he was encouraging Arabs to set fires.**
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November 28, 2016 - Forest fires raise strategic issues; so does Golan clash with ISIS

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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 what we have learned from Israel's recent emergence from a week of battling massive forest fires; climate change as a national security issue for Israel; "pyro-terrorism;" the state of Israel’s emergency services; the strategic significance of all this regional and international aid to Israel for the fires; and how significant is Sunday's IDF clash with an ISIS force on the Golan.

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APN/Peace Now in the News: November 14 – 25, 2016

Newsweek: November 23, 2016
With the election of Donald Trump, the two-state solution is at stake” Peace Now's Anat Ben-Nun discusses the imminent threats to the two-state solution posed by the Trump Administration

Times of Israel: November 18, 2016
Illiberal Support for Israel: Antithetical to Jewish Values & Israel’s Interests” APN's Lara Friedman challenges the actors within the American Jewish community that are prioritizing land over peace, security, and core Jewish and American values

Haaretz: November 24, 2016
Five Tips for Jewish Resistance: How to be Bannon’s Worst Nightmare,” Bradley Burston’s op-ed lists Americans for Peace Now among the American Jewish groups engaging in active resistance against Bannon.

Hawaii News Now: November 23, 2016
Trump win could give Israel freer hand with Palestinians,” cites Peace Now data projecting that the settlement housing construction started during Obama’s term will exceed that of George W. Bush’s presidency.

Jewish Telegraph Agency: November 22, 2016
Jewish groups fret as Republicans retreat from two-state solution,” in contrast to AIPAC’s removal of a reference to the two-state solution, Americans for Peace Now and other pro-Israel groups remain outspoken in advancing two states.

The Washington Post: November 20, 2016
Even Israel says this Jewish settlement is illegal – now comes the showdown,” Amona settlers claim “Palestinians never would have made a peep of complaint, were it not for left-wing Israeli activists, from groups such as Peace Now and Yesh Din, who supplied the lawyers.”

Haaretz: November 19, 2016
Jewish Leaders Across America Deliver Warning Letter to Trump: We Will Not Sit Idly By,” Americans for Peace Now and other American Jewish organizations sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump denouncing the anti-Semitism surrounding his campaign, expressing concern for the plight of minorities, and urging the new administration to uphold the two-state solution.

Times of Israel: November 19, 2016
Liberal Jewish groups to Trump: Condemn anti-Semitism, dump Bannon,” in a letter from J Street, New Israel Fund, and Americans for Peace Now, among others, the President-elect is urged to back two-state solution.

Jewish Telegraph Agency: November 18, 2016
Right-wing critics take aim at Keith Ellison’s Israel record, Jewish left-wingers rally to his defense,” Americans for Peace Now, among other Jewish groups, have defended Keith Ellison, particular from attacks from the Zionist Organization of America for his support for a cease-fire in 2014 and putting pressure on Israel to loosen the blockade on Gaza in 2009.

Ynet News: November 16, 2016
Regulation Bill draws protests outside Bennett’s home,” dozens of Peace Now activists demonstrated outside Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s home in protests against the Regulation Bill, which aims to legalize outposts in the West Bank built on privately owned Palestinian land.

Jewish Press: November 14, 2016
Peace Now Against Amona Bill,” Peace Now plans to petition the High Court against the Amona Regulations Bill, denouncing it as illegal.

Al Jazeera: November 14, 2016
Israeli committee approves bill legalizing outposts,” Peace Now denounces the approval of the Regulations Bill, which could retroactively legalize 2,000 settlement homes.

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