Barbara Green has been a volunteer for Americans for Peace Now for many years. She lives in Washington, DC.

Commemorating as it does the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem, Tisha b'Av is problematic for secular American Jews. The destruction of the central institution of pre-rabbinic Judaism, first by the Babylonians in 587 BCE, and then by the Romans in 70 CE, both followed by exile from the land, were indeed terrible events in our history. Among observant Jews, Tisha B’Av has also been, and remains, a Jewish day of mourning, not only for these events, but also for a number of other historic tragedies which happened to fall during the late summer.

But it does make me wonder, what does the recitation of this litany do to our sense of self? Does it tell us we're victims and must always stay strong? We must behave toward our enemies the way they treated us? 

News from Peace Now:

The Shamasne family, who resides in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, recently received an eviction order from the Execution Office of Israel's Enforcement and Collection Authority. The order states that the family must evict its home by August 9th 2017, or else it will be forcibly evicted.
 
This order follows a High Court verdict from August 2013, in which the court rejected the Shamasne family appeal, and ruled that family members are not considered protected tenants and that therefore, their landlords are allowed to evict them. The landlords are settlers who had managed to gain ownership over the property on the basis of the right of return to Jews only (see more information below).

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 the aftermath of the Temple Mount and Jordanian crises, the resulting tension, and Netanyahu's territorial exchange proposal.

Americans for Peace Now hosted a briefing call with Jerusalem affairs expert Daniel Seidemann on Tuesday, August 1  to analyze the recent events in Jerusalem and their repercussions.

Listen here

The House of Representatives and the Senate are considering the “Anti-Israel Boycott Act,” measures that would criminalize boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel and its occupation of the West Bank.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) opposes BDS targeting Israel.

This legislation, however, intentionally blurs the distinction between Israel and the occupation. It clearly states that under this bill, measures targeting West Bank settlements and the occupation would be regarded as targeting Israel. APN opposes the occupation and supports boycotting West Bank settlements, the most visible physical manifestation of the occupation.

While opposing BDS, APN believes that boycotts are a legitimate non-violent expression of protest, which should not be criminalized.

These measures do just that: they criminalize free speech, as pointed out by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

For the Senate version of the bill see here. For the House version see here.

S.720 and H.1697, if passed, will set a terrible precedent. They must be opposed.

Click here to send your Representative and Senators a letter urging them to oppose these bills.

Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group is a leading expert on the Holy Esplanade, the site in Jerusalem that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount and Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif. Ofer analyzes the current crisis and discusses ways in which similar crises may be avoided in the future. 

The following is a timeline of major "Price Tag" attacks (as reported by Israeli sources).  It documents a clear escalation in attacks, and the increasing spread of attacks inside the Green Line.  Italics indicate so-called "triggers" - events or developments that appear to be linked to subsequent attacks - although as has been noted in the Israeli press, "According to the Shin Bet, the right-wing extremists no longer appear to need a 'trigger' to take action, while the targets of the violence are also widening..." We will update this regularly.

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 the Temple Mount crisis; where we start analyzing this; the Israeli mistakes; the Arab response; where Washington is in all this; and how the Temple Mount crisis might end.

Alarmed at the flare-up of violence on and around Jerusalem’s Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, and extremely concerned about a further deterioration, Americans for Peace Now (APN) is calling on the Trump administration to offer its services to help establish security arrangements in this sensitive spot, which would be accepted and respected by all.

Join us for a timely briefing call tomorrow, Thursday, July 20th, at 11:00 AM, with Debbie Gild-Hayo of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) to discuss current anti-democratic legislation in Israel.

Attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo is the Policy Advocacy Director of ACRI, overseeing the organization’s policy advocacy work in Knesset committees and before leading decision makers and government officials in Israel.

ACRI publishes a Legislative Roundup reviewing controversial Knesset legislation and occasional reports on anti-democratic initiatives in the Knesset. See here.

To join the call, dial 1-951-797-1058 and enter the conference code: 147414. A recording will be available shortly after we conclude the call.