Defend Prospects for Peace by Reaffirming Support for a Two-State Solution

In the latest example of members of the Republican party abandoning the two-state solution, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is preventing consideration of the Israel Relations Normalization Act because he objects to language in the bill that supports a two-state solution. Introduced by Senators from both sides of the aisle, the bill reaffirms longstanding bipartisan US policy in support of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states living side by side in peace, security, and mutual recognition. 

While there is a growing conversation around a confederation or rights-based one state approaches, that's not what Senator Cruz is advocating. What Senator Cruz wants is to leave the door open for an apartheid one state nightmare. This is unacceptable.

With over 60 of his colleagues’ bipartisan support for this bill, Senator Cruz’s antics demonstrate that his is still a fringe position. We need to keep it that way. Elected officials must push back against the far right’s dangerous efforts and proudly reaffirm their support for a two-state solution.

Take action below to urge your senators to stand up to Senator Cruz’s efforts to change decades of bipartisan US policy in favor of apartheid by making a clear statement in support of a two-state solution.

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Update: this action, now closed, ran from May 7-10, 2021. 

Monday is Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day. This city, sacred to billions of people across the globe, is not only the spiritual center of multiple religions. It is also the home of real people.  Families, men, women and children. Jewish and Muslim. Israeli and Palestinian. And this city is in crisis.

In Sheikh Jarrah, in Silwan, Palestinian families are being forcibly evicted from their homes, only to be replaced by Israeli settlers. This crisis has been building for a long time. Our colleagues at Shalom Achshav have been on the ground fighting against this, and we here in the US have been pushing for our government to speak up and take action. 

Today members of Congress, led by Representatives Marie Newman and Mark Pocan, are urging Secretary of State Tony Blinken and the Biden Administration to do just that. 

See the full text of the letter here.

Members of Congress need to speak up and to push the Administration to act before it is too late. And they need to hear from you. 

Update: this action, now closed, ran from April 22-27, 2021.

At Americans for Peace Now, we strive to be clear about what we believe. We believe that antisemitism—like racism, islamophobia and other forms of hatred—is a serious and growing problem here in the US and around the world.

We have opposed the codification of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, based on the fact that it uses overly broad brush strokes, and in doing so is often used to quash legitimate criticism of unacceptable Israeli government policies. In the past few weeks, two new efforts have been put forth to address the issues of antisemitism.

We are pleased to be working with Representatives Jan Schakowsky, Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, Andy Levin and Jamie Raskin to bring these to the attention of Secretary of State Blinken, and the entire Biden Administration, and to urge them to consider these definitions in their efforts to combat antisemitism. 

See the full text of the letter to Secretary Blinken here.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in March 2021. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that “the Biden administration enthusiastically embraces the 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism,” known by its acronym as IHRA.

Join us in asking Secretary Blinken to curb his enthusiasm.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in February 2021. 

Add Your Name to Speak Out Against JNF-KKL Settlement Expansion Plans

Americans for Peace Now is part of an international coalition of organizations opposing the decision of the Jewish National Fund – Keren Kayemet Le’Israel (JNF-KKL) to start officially purchasing privately-owned Palestinian land in the West Bank to expand Israeli settlements.

We are writing to the World Chairman of the JNF-KKL, Avraham Duvdevani, to let him know that we refuse to legitimize or contribute to the expansion of Israel's settlement enterprise and the further entrenchment of the occupation.  

Not in our names!

Please add your name to this letter to Mr. Duvdevani. Help us block this disastrous initiative.

Update: this action, now closed, ran from November 25, 2020-January 20, 2021. 

CLICK to read and sign the petition

On January 20, when President Joe Biden and his foreign policy team enter the White House, they will have the work of restoring America’s leadership abroad cut out for them.

The Trump administration is filling its last days by starting fires and laying land mines that Biden’s team will have to remove one-by-one.

Americans for Peace Now sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, addressed to incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, with some specific recommendations that President Biden should take action on in order to clear some of the wreckage left behind by Trump.

They heard from us. Now they need to hear from you!

Go HERE to sign the petition urging President-elect Joe Biden to reverse Trump’s course of endorsing occupation, annexation, settlement construction and apartheid, and to instead commit his administration to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace in earnest.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in October 2020. 

On October 1, both the Senate and the House of Representatives introduced resolutions (S. Res. 745 / H. Res. 1173) honoring the life, legacy, and example of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 25th anniversary of his assassination.

Urge your Senators and Representatives to cosponsor the resolutions.

Update: this action, now closed, ran from August 24-August 28, 2020. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans for annexing the West Bank have been put on hold. Maybe. But his efforts to undermine a two-state solution continue unabated. His government is currently advancing plans for a new settlement project in the territory known as E-1.

E-1 is a narrow piece of land between East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. The international community has long viewed settlement construction in E-1 as a redline, as it would undercut the viability of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state.

This Friday, August 28 is the deadline for submitting objections to the construction plan. Right now, thousands of Israelis, led by our partners at Peace Now - together with Ir Amim, and the Association of Environmental Justice in Israel (AEJI) - are mounting a major opposition campaign.

Stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel by adding your name to block this plan and preserve prospects for a just and viable solution to this conflict. Together with our colleagues from the Progressive Israel Network, we will be submitting this petition to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who has the authority to block this plan from moving forward.

CLICK to TAKE ACTION

BACKGROUND

The Sumarin family has been living in the same house in East Jerusalem for generations. Yet unless the Israeli Supreme Court rules in their favor, they will soon be evicted, their home and their land taken from them. Please urge your representatives in Congress to speak out against this injustice and sign the letter aimed at stopping this eviction of a Palestinian family from their home.

This case goes far beyond the struggle of one family to save its home. It is a part of a broader fight against the efforts of Israeli settlers to displace East Jerusalem Palestinians and to create facts on the ground that would block the path for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement on Jerusalem.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) is circulating a Dear Colleague letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging his government “to intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family and halt their eviction from their long-standing home."

Please urge your Representative to sign on to Congresswoman Speier’s letter.

Write to your Representative.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in July 2020.  

Annexation is a game changer. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank, with the blessing – indeed the encouragement – of the Trump administration, is a dire threat to the prospects of a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.

Last week, Senator Chris Van Hollen introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (the bill that authorizes providing U.S. aid to Israel), which would block the Netanyahu government from using any US aid to fund its illegal annexation.

Tell your Senators to cosponsor the Van Hollen amendment or thank them if they already have.