This week, Alpher discusses the prospects of nuclear negotiations with Iran and Gaza negotiations in Cairo; whether a new intifada has erupted in East Jerusalem; is the resignation of a senior Likud minister who was conflicted with Netanyahu, leaving the party second in size to Yesh Atid in the Knesset, the beginning of the end for the current government;
This is another in a series of reviews of new books on Middle Eastern affairs. We asked Dr. Gail Weigl, an APN volunteer and a professor of art history, to review the book Seeking Palestine, edited by Penny Johnson and Raja Shehadeh.
Penny Johnson and Raja Shehadeh, Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian
Writing on Exile and Home (Northampton, Massachusetts: Olive Branch 
Press, 2013), 202 pages. $16.00.
What does it mean to be an exile from Palestine? Is it defined merely by physical dislocation, or is it less tied to a place than to an idea, to a Palestine that once or perhaps never existed, to a pervasive sense of being displaced, even from a land that was not the land of one’s birth? The essays that compose Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian Writing on Exile and Home examine notions of exile, of Palestine, of Palestinian identity in diaspora from the perspectives of poets, academics, novelists, artists and independent writers living as outcasts from a country that never existed as a nation-state, the idea of which calls forth irrepressible longing for a way of life known only through memories, many of those not memories of their own. These writers ask themselves what it means to cling to an identity, a way of life, a set of grievances across generations, and whether the persistence of an idea and an identity can persuade the world at large to seriously address the Palestinian longing to return to their homeland.
Boston Globe - September 15, 2014
In Memory: Leonard Fein
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/14/leonard-fein-writer-and-activist-illuminated-roles-and-responsibilities-america-jews/PIzs464sVq3Qy1f3HZGiiM/story.html
Boston Globe (AP Story) - September 17, 2014
Peace Now's Yariv Oppenheimer commenting on surge in number of West Bank settlers
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2014/09/16/west-bank-settler-group-boasts-rapid-growth/9TjFJXTydM6EFQndZ5TpML/story.html
LA Jewish Journal - September 17, 2014
Peace Now data quoted in opinion article criticizing Israeli government's West Bank settlement
policy
http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/west_bank_land_grab_undermines_two_state_advocacy
Haaretz - September 18, 2014
Peace Now data quoted in opinion article criticizing Israeli government's West Bank settlement
policy
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.616291
This year's Israel study tour was an amazing experience.
Below is a sampling of images from this year's tour: It's not too early to sign up for next year.
If you would like to be placed on the mailing list for the 2015 Israel study tour please contact Ori Nir at
202-408-9898 or at israeltour@peacenow.org
As published today by AP, Settlers claim that the number of Israelis living in the West Bank is 382,031 (excluding those who live in East Jerusalem). This number shows a rapid growth in setters' population, of 2% in six months, double the growth rate in Israel itself.
