Over the weekend, more than 70 American intellectuals - including members of APN's Board of Directors such as
Michael Walzer and Edward Witten - published an Open Letter in the New York Review of Books calling for a targeted boycott of “all goods and
services from all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, and any investments that promote the
Occupation.”
APN warmly welcomes and endorses this letter. Its message echoes and validates the position that APN has proudly
advocated for years, often as a lone voice of sanity in the pro-Israel Jewish community. You can find out more
about our position - expressed in policy statements, opeds, advocacy documents, and more - here.
Like the signers of the Open Letter, we oppose boycotts of Israel. And like the signers of the Open Letter, we have long argued
for activism targeting settlements and the occupation, which we believe to be an important and effective way to
fight the occupation and fortify the foundations of a two-state solution.
We are pleased and encouraged to see that this position is gaining greater traction in the American intellectual
community, especially given the fact that the conflation of Israel and the settlements is becoming dangerously
mainstream. Now more than ever, we must fight to uphold the distinction between Israel and the settlements. We must
reject the creeping legitimization of settlements. And, with our rhetoric and our activism, we must target the
pro-settlement and anti-peace policies that fuel the occupation and endanger the two-state solution. This Open
Letter is an important step in doing all of those things, and we commend its authors and signers. We also hope
their action will inspire others to act as well - click here for some actions that can be taken today to fight settlements and the occupation.