1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. FY17 NDAA – Senate Madness Continues
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

Note: On June 5, 2016, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order (EO) entitled: “Directing State Agencies and Authorities to Divest Public Funds Supporting BDS Campaign Against Israel.”  Americans for Peace Now (APN) opposes boycotts of Israel. APN also opposes legislation (and the equivalent, like this executive order) that seeks to outlaw boycotts or other forms of legal, non-violent activism against Israel. We believe such initiatives are the wrong way to combat BDS. Our full policy is here.  Our explainer, laying out our objections to the new EO in New York (and which apply equally to similar legislation being considered/adopted elsewhere in the country) – including an explanation of the constitutional issues involved, can be found here.

Americans for Peace Now / (June 7, 2016)
Summary of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's Executive Order, entitled, “Directing State Agencies and Authorities to Divest Public Funds Supporting BDS Campaign Against Israel," which authorizes a blacklist of companies who partake in a boycott or any form of economic pressure on Israel. Read More >

1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. FY17 NDAA – In the Senate
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

June 6, 2016 marks the 49^th anniversary of Israel’s miraculous victory in the Six Day War. This was a war fought against terrible odds, in self-defense of the young nation of Israel. And it is a war whose victory gave birth to an historic opportunity for Israel to have different, better relations with the Palestinians and her other Arab neighbors, by trading lands captured in that war for peace.

All of us at Americans for Peace Now (APN) look forward to a future in which June 6 is a day of true celebration. But tragically, that day has not yet come – and, indeed, seems further away than ever. Because June 6, 1967 also marked the beginning of Israel’s catastrophic policy of open-ended, ever-deepening military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.

Over 49 years, that occupation has grown in the West Bank and East Jerusalem into a complex, far-reaching network of civilian and military modes of domination, control, and usurpation of territory and resources, increasingly interwoven with the economic, political, social, and national-security fabric of Israel proper. Territory that years ago should have served as a bargaining chip in a land-for-peace deal has been transformed into an incubator for malignant ideologies whose adherents rob Israel's citizens of the right to live in peace within recognized borders, with a recognized capital, enjoying international respect. Occupation has likewise robbed millions of Palestinians of their most basic rights.

This Sunday, thirty days after Passover begins, there is another holiday – one almost no one has heard of. This holiday is called “Pesach Sheni” – second Passover- and has no celebrations, no special services, no seder.  Yet, perhaps we should consider reviving it.

Originally, it appears in the Bible because there were a number of people who were, for reasons out of  their control, unable to celebrate the Passover a year after leaving Egypt. Upset that they would be unable to celebrate, they complained to Moses, and were instructed to observe it a month later, just for one day.

Second Passover is the holiday of second chances.

1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. FY17 NDAA – On the House Floor (Mideast-related amdts
3. FY17 NDAA – Senate Version
4. FY17 Defense Approps – Middle East-related Elements (HOUSE)
5. Hearings
6. On the Record

On May 19, 2016, the Executive Committee of APN's Board of Directors unanimously adopted the following policy regarding ongoing efforts in the U.S. Congress and in various state capitals to pass legislation dealing with BDS and the occupation.

1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record