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. 

We at Americans for Peace Now are following with horror the reports from Israel, as the casualty tally of the disaster on Mount Meron keeps rising.

Washington, DC – The world's leading human rights organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW), today issued an important report, which highlights the systemic oppression, discrimination and blanket violations of Palestinian human rights under Israel's almost 54-year-old occupation. The report lumps these violations together with the discrimination that Palestinian citizens of Israel suffer and defines them all as "Apartheid."

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes a new congressional letter urging the Biden administration to use all the tools at its disposal, including the recently released Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism and the Nexis Document, in its efforts to combat antisemitism.

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.

The evening of Thursday, April 14th began Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. Every year, for Yom Haatzmaut, our colleagues at Shalom Achshav distribute hundreds of “peace flags” to fellow Israelis who endorse the notion that their country cannot be fully free and independent as long as it has not liberated itself of the occupation and made peace with the Palestinians. 

This year, for Yom Haatzmaut, we are bringing these flags and this message to Capitol Hill, distributing them to members of Congress who support our mission – and to some who don’t.  

We started distributing the flags on Tuesday. The first member of the House to receive a flag was Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a friend of APN and a staunch supporter of Israeli-Palestinian peace. In the photo below, holding the flag, is Rep. Raskin’s Chief of Staff, Julie Tagen.

We respect and cherish the blue-and-white Star of David official flag of the State of Israel. We view it as a symbol of the accomplishments that a nation-state of the Jewish people is, and of the many accomplishments of Israel. But we also want to see the “Shalom” flag by its side, as an aspirational expression of the peace that Israel has not yet accomplished. The absence of peace, while the occupation lingers, denies Palestinians the national independence that Israelis enjoy, but it also denies Israelis full liberty and democracy. Because an occupying power cannot be fully democratic, egalitarian, and free.

In the future, with the help of our supporters and activists, we would like to take the Shalom flag beyond Washington and make it a household symbol of support for peace at Jewish and non-Jewish institutions and homes throughout the United States.

B'Shalom,

Ori Nir

Vice President for Public Affairs