Please join us on Friday at 1:00 PM (EST) for a briefing call with Dr. Matti Steinberg, an Israeli expert on Hamas, on Palestinian politics and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A former senior adviser to the heads of the General Security Services in Israel and a professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Steinberg is one of Israel’s leading experts on Palestinian affairs. He is the author of the award-winning book “Unending Quest: The Development of Palestinian National Consciousness, 1967- 2007 (Hebrew).
Peace Now has just announced that in the last few days, following the killing of the three Israeli teens, there have been alarming developments on the ground in settlements: Three new (serious) outposts were established and a new road to Givat Eitam outpost was paved, in addition to other several protest tents and other developments that the settlers put up in different places in the West Bank.
The settlers are taking advantage of the killing of the three teens in order to set facts on the ground that they wouldn't dare to do before. We don't know if they got a green light from the government (although such a green light could not have made the acts legal, short of planning procedures), however, those developments will be judged by the government's reaction.
The APN ad (scroll down to read) was on the front page beneath President Obama's "Peace is the only path to true security for Israel and the Palestinians."
Israel's Peace Now movement, Shalom Achshav, organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv Thursday, calling for restraint and denouncing violence, incitement and revenge. Several thousand Israelis gathered for this Demonstration of Sanity, and listened to speeches by Knesset members and leading peace activists, including Peace Now's Secretary General Yariv Oppenheimer.
Washington, DC –Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, supports Israel's right of self-defense and calls on the government of Israel to avoid harming innocent civilians as it retaliates for the rocket attacks.
Commenting on the current escalation, APN President and CEO Debra DeLee stated:
"The escalating violence on Israel's border with Gaza is deeply alarming. Once again innocent Israelis are being targeted by rockets, while innocent Palestinians are caught in the crossfire as Israel exercises its legitimate right to self-defense.
Link to the article from American President Obama at the top of the page, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' piece also published in conjunction with the Ha'aretz Israel Peace Conference.
See a large and readable version of APN's Ad
Palestine's vision of
peace is clear
By Mahmoud Abbas
We believe that no just and lasting peace can be achieved without respecting the rights of everyone, including
both Palestinians and Israelis.
Twenty-six years have passed since the Palestine Liberation Organization officially endorsed the two-state solution. In a painful and historic decision, Palestine recognized the State of Israel based on pre-1967 territory, conceding over 78 percent of Palestinian land. Rather than seize this opportunity for peace, the current Israeli government has chosen to use the peace process as a smoke screen for more colonization and oppression. We still wish to believe that our Israeli neighbors do not expect the Palestinian people to live under a system of apartheid. The desire of a peace- and freedom-loving nation for independence can’t be eliminated by force.
Palestine’s vision of peace is clear, and grounded firmly in principles of international law. This is because we believe that no just and lasting peace can be achieved without respecting the rights of everyone, including both Palestinians and Israelis. In accordance with these principles, the sovereignty of the states of Palestine and Israel, as bound by the 1967 international border, must be respected; and the rights of Palestinian refugees must be honored in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194.
Peace is the only
path to true security for Israel and the Palestinians
By Barack Obama
"As I said last year in Jerusalem, peace is necessary, just, and possible. I believed it then. I believe it
now. Peace is necessary because it’s the only way to ensure a secure and democratic future for the Jewish state of
Israel...Peace is also, undeniably, just."
As Air Force One prepared to touch down in the Holy Land last year, I looked out my window and was once again struck by the fact that Israel’s security can be measured in a matter of minutes and miles. I’ve seen what security means to those who live near the Blue Line, to children in Sderot who just want to grow up without fear, to families who’ve lost their homes and everything they have to Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s rockets.
And as a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain endured by the parents of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, who were tragically kidnapped and murdered in June. I am also heartbroken by the senseless abduction and murder of Mohammed Hussein Abu Khdeir, whose life was stolen from him and his family. At this dangerous moment, all parties must protect the innocent and act with reasonableness and restraint, not vengeance and retribution.
Israeli strategic affairs expert Yossi Alpher, who authors Hard Questions Tough Answers, APN's
weekly news analysis, was our guest on Thursday, July 3rd, for a briefing call on the current
Israeli-Palestinian security crisis and its repercussions. Since Thursday, Alpher's presentation has been
overtaken by events; we have included here the still relevant Q&A session.