APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday December 1, 2020

Quote of the day:

"But what of preparing for the revenge that is undoubtedly sure to follow the brazen attack on Iran's chief nuclear scientist? Rather than brag about its success, what measures were taken to ensure the safety of Israel's embassies abroad? History has taught us that is where we are vulnerable. And what is the security situation for Jewish centers and synagogues around the world? Have we secured our airliners, our vessels at sea or the rest of our soft targets?"
--Following the assassination of Iran's chief nuclear scientist, which Israelis, Iranians and everyone else think that Israel was behind, MK Nahman Shai, a former IDF Spokesman, writes about Israeli hubris and condescension in its acts and its reactions to its own acts.*

Join Americans for Peace Now for a webinar featuring Hagit Ofran of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Project.

Monday, December 7^th 2020, 3:00 pm (EST)

REGISTER HERE

One of the world’s leading experts on the subject, Hagit will examine the Trump administration’s legacy regarding settlements and what the Biden administration will need to do to reverse Trump’s radical shift from America’s traditional policy on this issue.

The discussion will focus on current developments in East Jerusalem, illegal outposts, Area C of the West Bank, and other Israeli efforts – backed by the outgoing Trump administration – to normalize the settlements and to advance West Bank annexation.

This webinar is part of our series on the Israel-Palestine implications of the transition from the Trump administration to president-elect Biden’s administration.    

Dear Fellow APN Supporters,

To paraphrase the great Congressman John Lewis, peace is not a state; it is an act. Please read the letter from Kathryn and me -- read about Hebron, read about the moral bankruptcy the occupation has wrought, read and respond because we all want peace now, not peace later.

Thanks to the generosity of the Board of Directors of APN, of which I am a proud member, both new donations and increased donations from last year will be matched up to $20,000.

Kathryn and I wish you and your family health and strength as our nation continues to fight this brutal pandemic. I deeply appreciate the encouragement you continually give us.

Mandy Patinkin

November 2020

Dear Friend,

Thirty-eight years ago, when my wife Kathryn and I were expecting our first child, we went to Israel to research the movie Yentl. I stayed at an Orthodox Yeshiva, and Kathryn at The American Colony Hotel. The next day we spent a beautiful day in Hebron, surrounded by curious children happy to meet visiting Americans, and went on a tour of a vibrant neighborhood, guided spontaneously by a sweet stranger at the Cave Of The Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Our baby boy moved fiercely when visiting this tomb, and we decided that was a sign that he should be named Isaac. Fast forward almost 40 years, when I was filming an episode of Homeland, and I traveled to Israel and Palestine. Once again, I visited Hebron. But this time, traveling with Israeli peace activists from Shalom Achshav, those thriving streets Kathryn and I had seen were no longer.

Continue Reading. . .

APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday November 30, 2020

Number of the day:

 68.
--The number of Palestinian bodies Israel amassed as bargaining chips.**

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.

November 2020

Dear Friend,

Thirty-eight years ago, when my wife Kathryn and I were expecting our first child, we went to Israel to research the movie Yentl. I stayed at an Orthodox Yeshiva, and Kathryn at The American Colony Hotel. The next day we spent a beautiful day in Hebron, surrounded by curious children happy to meet visiting Americans, and went on a tour of a vibrant neighborhood, guided spontaneously by a sweet stranger at the Cave Of The Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Our baby boy moved fiercely when visiting this tomb, and we decided that was a sign that he should be named Isaac. Fast forward almost 40 years, when I was filming an episode of Homeland, and I traveled to Israel and Palestine. Once again, I visited Hebron. But this time, traveling with Israeli peace activists from Shalom Achshav, those thriving streets Kathryn and I had seen were no longer.

This “sterile” main street was the vast market of Hebron, known as Shuhada Street. It served the city and surrounding villages and was shut down by the Israeli army. Separation measures were imposed to protect the settlers against attack and further reduce friction between Arabs and Jews. Palestinians’ access to the center of town was severely restricted, their shops closed, a few stores taken over by settlers, and most were boarded up.

The main street looked like a ghost town, its crumbling buildings scarred with Hebrew graffiti: “No Arabs, No Mice.” “Death to the Arabs” and worse.

A nauseous sense overwhelms at the hate-filled words but even more so at the sight of all the boarded-up stores that were once a vibrant marketplace. With Israeli soldiers on guard over this area, Palestinians, because they cannot use the street, must reach their homes via their neighbors’ rooftops or by climbing through windows.

Think about it: Only Jews are allowed on that street, even though Arabs live in the apartments over the boarded-up shops. The very word used to describe this street division, “sterile,” conjures images of unthinkable crimes.

I have long sat on the board of Americans for Peace Now, and Kathryn and I both believe deeply in the prospect of peace. But this experience rattled us to our core, and I began to understand the profound complications for both Jews and Palestinians in a new light.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday November 29, 2020

Quote of the day:

"It's a week of achievements, and there will be more."
--Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the end of a video he posted on Twitter Friday, around the time that Iran's chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated.*

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday November 25, 2020

Quote of the day:

“One can still hope that when the next president takes office, he will have more than scorched earth, landmines and ticking time bombs left behind by Trump and Netanyahu to work with.”
—Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli expert on the geopolitics of Jerusalem, writes about the last-minute attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to create irreversible settlement facts on the ground and a “new normal” that would enshrine a Greater Israel and an exclusively Israeli Jerusalem.*

Breaking News:
Eight pro-Iran Militiamen Killed in Israel Strike in Syria, Watchdog Says
The Syrian state-run news agency says the Israel military struck areas near Damascus and Quneitra early Wednesday, where opposition says there is a strong Iranian military presence. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)

Update: this action, now closed, ran from November 25, 2020-January 20, 2021. 

CLICK to read and sign the petition

On January 20, when President Joe Biden and his foreign policy team enter the White House, they will have the work of restoring America’s leadership abroad cut out for them.

The Trump administration is filling its last days by starting fires and laying land mines that Biden’s team will have to remove one-by-one.

Americans for Peace Now sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, addressed to incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, with some specific recommendations that President Biden should take action on in order to clear some of the wreckage left behind by Trump.

They heard from us. Now they need to hear from you!

Go HERE to sign the petition urging President-elect Joe Biden to reverse Trump’s course of endorsing occupation, annexation, settlement construction and apartheid, and to instead commit his administration to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace in earnest.