from Aviva Meyer, APN Interim CEO and Board Vice Chair:

A few months ago I was watching Fareed Zakaria's show GPS on CNN when I heard him mention the name, Michael Walzer. Okay, when I say "watching" the show I had it on while I was trying to do a myriad of other things. But upon hearing the name Walzer I stopped what I was doing and paid attention. You see, both Michael and I serve on the board of Americans for Peace Now, where I am also the interim CEO. Fareed was paying homage to Michael's new book, "A Foreign Policy for the Left".

KEEP YOUR PLAN TO YOURSELF!

Jared Kushner, appointed by his father-in-law President Donald Trump to come up with what Trump called “the Ultimate Deal” for Israeli-Palestinian peace, has signaled that his “peace plan” does not aim to achieve a two-state solution. Kushner recently indicated that because past attempts to achieve a two-state solution failed, his plan focuses on “new and different ways to reach peace.” Kushner’s colleague, Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, said the plan is an effort to “think outside the box.”

SIGN THE PETITION: TELL JARED NO!

A peace initiative that falls short of a two-state solution is not thinking outside the box. Rather, it is boxing Israelis and Palestinians into a state of endless conflict. It is a plan that condemns Israel to becoming either a non-democratic apartheid-like state or a binational state that will lose its character as the homeland of the Jewish people. A plan like this is neither pro-peace nor pro-Israel. Instead of creating a political horizon for Israelis and Palestinians, it blocks realization of Palestinian aspirations for self-determination in a sovereign state.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) mourns the passing of Franklin Fisher z"l, who was twice the chair of its Board of Directors (1985-1989; 2006-2009) and a leading advocate for Jewish and progressive causes in the United States and in Israel.

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.

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived

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

Shameless Plug: Last week’s Round-Up included details of letters sent to the Department of Education demanding answers and retribution for an academic conference held by UNC & Duke, dealing with Gaza. Since then, media reports continued to breathlessly repeat and even escalate the charges made in the letters - underscoring the need for someone to set the record straight. Which I did, in an April 24 op-ed: Why So Much Fuss about a Conference in North Carolina?

Go HERE for "American Jews, Don't Walk Away From Israel" by Debra Shushan, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations

In the coming months - and probably years - Americans will witness Israel sliding faster and deeper than ever before toward becoming an anti-democratic, intolerant, annexationist, jingoistic, fanatical, xenophobic state.

With the Trump administration’s almost unrestricted backing, Netanyahu’s new government will be much more predatory and defiant in its establishing facts on the ground that preclude a peace settlement with the Palestinians and undermine democracy. 

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.