September 2020
Dear Friend,
Twenty-five years ago this November 4th, thousands of Israelis gathered at a Peace Now rally in what was then known
as Kings of Israel Square. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had the courage to shake his enemy’s hand on the White
House lawn just two months earlier, stood in front of the audience of hopeful faces and announced “the path of
peace is preferable to the path of war.” Sadly, we all know what happened next. Minutes later, he was gunned down
by a radical national-religious Israeli, assassinated for his willingness to embrace change, to grow beyond a
military commander and become a champion for peace and a better future for Israel and its Palestinian
neighbors.
Perhaps you were there, holding a candle and singing with thousands of Israelis and Aviv Geffen
as he almost predicted the outcome of the evening with his somber lyrics, “to cry for you.” Yitzhak Rabin
risked and lost his life for a chance to make peace. He did not succeed. But we shall continue until his dream
is realized. Yitzhak Rabin is my hero. And I hope you will join me this fall as we commemorate his life and
his legacy.
There will be more information coming soon regarding APN’s October 20th celebration of Yitzhak
Rabin, which will be hosted by actor, social activist, and APN board member Mandy Patinkin. But in the meantime, I hope you will consider making a gift to APN as we gather for the High Holidays and continue to work towards
the peace that Rabin championed—and all of us—believe in so passionately.
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.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday September 6, 2020
Quote of the day:
"A young officer in the Israeli army, the age of my daughter, threw 60-year-old (Khairi) Hanoun to the
ground. His kaffiyeh fell off from the force of the fall. The officer sat on Hanoun. He held him down on the
ground, pushing Hanoun’s face in the sand. And he put his knee on his head. That’s how a soldier doing 'meaningful
service' in the Israel Defense Forces looks today. And this is exactly how George Floyd was killed by a policeman
in Minneapolis, in an incident that led to a worldwide protest against police brutality in the United States
against Black people...It never occurred to him that his knee was crushing the neck of the Palestinian George
Floyd."
--Haaretz+ commentator Rogel Alpher writes about the meaning of the soldier filmed attacking an unarmed Palestinian man
who protested the confiscation of his village lands.*
1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings &
Markups
3. On the Record
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
Shortly after the El Al jet arrived back from Abu Dhabi at Ben Gurion Airport last
Tuesday, bringing the dignitaries and a large chunk of Israel’s press corps home, an Israeli radio
channel broadcast a scoop: Israel and the United Arab Emirates will negotiate jointly
sending astronauts to outer space. There was great excitement in the studio. “UAE and Israeli astronauts,
together, in the same rocket ship,” crowed one anchor, while the other quipped that “They’ll pay for the fuel.”
Funny.
Well, not really.
That same night, three Gazan siblings, a five-year-old and two toddlers, were burned to death at the Nussirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Most Gazans still get only four hours of electricity per day, so they are forced to light candles after nightfall. It was by these candles that the fire in the al-Hazeen home started, and because of the water shortage in Gaza, relatives and neighbors could not find a water source to douse the flames.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday September 3, 2020
Quote of the day:
"Successful leadership relies upon sociology and ideology – on a group of supporters united around a common
interest and idea. Netanyahu rallied the Mizrahim and the religious behind him, promising them a bigger slice of
the national pie after they’d been oppressed by “the left,” and he’s been keeping this promise."
--Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn writes about what makes Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu popular, despite it all.*
APN's daily news review from Israel - Wednesday September 2, 2020
You Must Be Kidding:
“The commander showed restraint and was forced to arrest the suspect after he continued attacking the
forces.”
— IDF Spokesman response to video in which an Israeli military officer is seen with his knee on the neck of a
65-year-old Palestinian protester.*
APN's daily news review from IsraelTuesday September 1, 2020
Irony of the Day:
Sheldon Adelson, the right-wing Jewish-American tycoon who is the largest donor to the election
campaigns of US President Donald Trump and the Republican party, is reportedly buying the US
government's beach side official residence for US ambassadors in Israel, which is for sale after the
US ambassador left to Jerusalem following the transfer of the US embassy there at the behest of Trump with
Adelson's support, if not at his behest.*
You Must Be Kidding:
"We brought them a garbage bag, and one of the girls in the group said that she doesn’t need the bag. ‘The
Hasbani Stream is mine, Be’er Sheva is mine and so is Hebron. The whole country is mine and you are the ones who
have to clean it,’ she said."
--Tarek Hassuna, from the Arab-Israeli village of Misr, was one of many cleaning workers, who report constant
daily bullying and expressions of racism by visitors to Lake Kinneret and streams in the Galilee.**
“The minds of 14-year-old children are full of hatred and racism. I don’t respond when they curse us and
the police. They tell us we have no place in this country, that we’re their slaves...Two girls pushed a worker into
a latrine yesterday, telling him to clean it.”
--Sharif Zoabi, an Israeli-Arab who has also worked for a decade as a cleaner at the country's northern
nature parks.*
Breaking News:
Report: 11 people killed in alleged Israeli strike south of Damascus, Syria points finger at
Israel
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 3 Syrian soldiers, 7 pro-Iranian militia fighters and a civilian woman had
been killed as a result of the attacks southwest of Damascus and in the province of Daraa. (Ynet, Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
Americans for Peace Now's objective, and indeed our dream, is to see Israel living in peace with all its Middle East neighbors, far and near. If Israel's normalizing its relations with the UAE were a step towards ending the occupation of the West Bank, then we would be all for it.
Sadly however, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his allies in the White House will pocket the Israel-UAE normalization agreement to further normalize, entrench and perpetuate the occupation. We are therefore reluctant to celebrate today.