We join fellow members of the American Jewish community in grief and shock over the horrific attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Our hearts are with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community during this time of mourning.

The surge in anti-Semitism we are witnessing in the United States is extremely disturbing and dangerous. Not only is ancient hatred against Jews being stirred up, it is being legitimized. We are being attacked for our tikkun olam, the work we do to repair our world.

We and our colleagues at Israel’s Peace Now movement are committed to confronting political violence and the hate speech that incites it and to making the world a better place. We have our work cut out for us, but thankfully, we are in this together. And we will emerge stronger from this tragedy.

עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה.

Olam chesed yibaneh.
We will build this world with lovingkindness.

In solidarity,

Jim Klutznick
Chair of the Board

Aviva Meyer
Acting CEO and Vice-Chair of the Board

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.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is devastated and outraged by the mass shooting murder at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life congregation. We offer heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones were killed and wish full recovery to those injured.

This mass shooting is likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US history, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). As an American Jewish organization, APN is extremely concerned by rising anti-Semitism in the US and worldwide.

Amid a barrage of anti-Palestinian actions, a tacit endorsement of Israel’s West Bank annexation, and an occupation-denying U.S. Ambassador, are the big guns of U.S. Jewry – AIPAC, ADL, AJC, JFNA – really too afraid to rock the boat with Trump?

While Donald Trump’s word salad du jour on Israeli-Palestinian peace vacillates between one state and two, it is by now clear that his administration has jettisoned the longtime bipartisan U.S. goal of a two-state solution. Nothing the administration has said indicates that it embraces this vision, and everything it does undermines it. 

Where does that leave American Jewish establishment organizations which have made the two-state solution a pillar of their policy on Israel? 

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.

Americans for Peace Now's new, one-of-a-kind settlements map app will be officially launched on November 13th!

Facts on the Ground is the only interactive map that gives anyone with an iPhone or Android phone instant to access comprehensive, up-to-date information, statistics, and analysis on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Help support APN's Facts on the Ground, coming November 13th

Even as we prepare to launch Facts on the Ground, APN is working to make it even better. We're developing more videos, interactive features, and enhanced functionality that will let users further explore and understand West Bank settlements.

But we rely on the generosity of supporters like you to make Facts on the Ground possible. Your support will help put this invaluable tool in the hands of all those working to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Help inform and educate the world about West Bank settlements. Support APN's Facts on the Ground today.

APN strongly condemns the Trump Administration’s decision to subsume diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians into the US embassy to Israel. We call upon fellow American Jewish organizations to join our demand that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reverse this disastrous decision.

Turning the US consulate to Jerusalem, which until now has served as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians, into a “new Palestinian Affairs Unit inside US Embassy Jerusalem” (to use the language of today’s State Department press release) is a severe blow to efforts to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

A poll published today yet again confirms that – just like Americans for Peace Now – a majority of American Jews are critical of Israeli government policies, even as they support Israel. The poll, conducted this month by the Mellman Group, finds that a solid majority (59 percent) of Jewish voters are pro-Israel and critical of at least some of Israeli government policies. Only 32 percent indicated that they are “pro-Israel and supportive of policies.” Three percent reported that they are “generally not pro-Israel.”

US ambassador to Israel David Friedman yesterday attended a business gathering at the West Bank settlement of Ariel. This is the first ever official visit by a sitting American ambassador to a West Bank settlement, breaking a longtime US policy that banned American ambassadors to Israel from crossing the Green Line and even more so from visiting West Bank settlements.

Join us and our fellow organizations TODAY for a briefing call in advance of the Israeli Supreme Court’s consideration of the case of Lara Alqasem. We are calling on the Israeli government to admit Alqasem into Israel to pursue her studies at Hebrew University.

Alqasem has become the latest symbol of the fight for an open Israeli society. She is fighting the government’s decision to expel her for her past political affiliation with a student organization that supports boycotts against Israel.

For more background on Lara’s case, click here to read APN’s press release calling on the Israeli government to let her stay.

Click here to join the briefing call on Facebook Live TODAY at 3pm. Speakers will be Leora Bechor, Alqasem's attorney, and MK Tamar Zandberg, leader of the Meretz party.

Thanks for your support,
Americans for Peace Now

This briefing call is co-sponsored by Americans for Peace Now, J Street, Ameinu, National Council of Jewish Women, New Israel Fund, Partners for a Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism, and T’ruah.