Go HERE to support the work of Americans for Peace Now and its Israeli partner Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now (APN) sends its condolences to the Oz family and to the people of Israel,
who today lost Amos Oz, a literary giant, a beacon of morality and humanity, and a founder of Israel’s peace
movement.
Watch highlights from the myriad activities and accomplishments of our Israeli partner Peace Now in 2018, and help us support their valuable work in 2019 with a tax-deductible donation.
When Jerusalem-based journalist Orly Halpern edits the daily
edition of News Nosh, APN's daily roundup of news from Israel, she chooses the quote of the day and the
outrage of the day, which she dubs "you must be kidding."
The Following is a small selection of the quotes and outrages featured in News Nosh in 2018.
If you have not yet subscribed to News Nosh, please subscribe here. It’s free! If you have, please make a donation to support this one-of-a-kind APN publication.
Summary
- The Higher Planning Committee approved today and yesterday construction plans for 2,191 housing units in the settlements. Another plan for 68 new housing units in Givat Ze'ev was discussed but no decision has yet been made.
- 87% of the units approved can be found in the isolated settlements that Israel will likely need to evacuate within the framework of a two-state agreement: 1,908 units east of the proposed route of the Geneva Initiative; 283 units west of it.
- 1,159 housing units have been approved for validation (the final major hurdle before it is possible to issue building permits) and 1,032 housing units approved for deposit (the first stage of the planning process after which the deposit of the plan is published).
- Two plans are designed to regulate illegal outposts, giving them legal status - Ibei Hanahal and Gvaot.
- One plan establishes a new settlement adjacent to the Mitzpeh Danny outpost in the form of an educational institution with boarding schools and residential units.
- Three plans for new settlements in the form of new industrial zones.
- In 2018 in total, the amount of units in plans advanced came to 5,618 units, of which 83% (4,672) are in the isolated settlements east of the Geneva Initiative line.
The full list of settlement plans advanced can be found here.
Peace Now: In 2018, the government advanced thousands of housing units,
including most which can be found in isolated settlements deep inside the West Bank that Israel will eventually
have to evacuate. Those who build these places have no intention of achieving peace and a two-state solution. The
latest announcement, which as an aside was cynically passed on Christmas while most Western governments are on
holiday, shows that Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice Israeli interests in favor of an election gift to the
settlers in an attempt to attract a few more votes from his right-wing flank.
Significant Plans
Regulating the outpost of Ibei Hanahal (Plan No. 413/4/1) for the construction of 98 housing units
in the outpost of Ibei Hanahal was approved. The outpost was established in 1999 without permission or building
permits in a remote area southeast of Bethlehem. The plan defines the settlement as a "neighborhood" of the Ma'ale
Amos settlement, enabling the government to avoid having to formally declare the establishment of a new
settlement.
"I sometimes feel like I’m consulting with the management of Peace Now"
- Reportedly said to Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot by Avigdor Lieberman upon his
resignation as Israel Defense Minister.
Americans for Peace Now is validated by Israel's top security officials, who consistently agree with solutions that we and our Israeli Peace Now partners offer -- namely resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution that secures Israel's future as a liberal democracy and as the homeland of the Jewish people.
Our Brochure "Why Two States" demonstrates why
this solution is so crucial for Israel's future, and provides quotes from many of Israel's leading
security chiefs in support of this position.
Please help us advance our mission
with a tax-deductible donation.
As part of a group of non-Israeli academics assembled by Tel Aviv University, I visited
the Temple Mount in July 2017. On the next day, two Israeli border police officers were shot there in a
terror attack. I had the opportunity to make a condolence visit to Hurfeish, the Druze village in the
Galilee from which the two policemen (who were cousins) hailed. In the intimate setting of the room in which
female relatives were mourning, I told an aunt of the slain men that I was coming to work for the American
sister organization of Shalom Achshav and wanted to help in any way I could.
She looked at me, grief-stricken and weary, and said, "Make peace."
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Ynet: "Settlers rebuild at evacuated outpost in wake of attacks" (12/19/18)Peace Now: "There is no limit to the cynicism of the hilltop criminals who exploit the events of recent days to trample the law and ignite disturbances, all with public funds... These pyromaniacs are backed by Knesset members and local politicians. Read > |
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Fathom Journal: "Israel's land policy | Khan al-Ahmar and 'state land' allocations in the West Bank" by Hagit Ofran, Peace Now Settlement Watch Director (December 2018)New information obtained by Peace Now reveals that since 1967, 99.8 per cent of the 'state land' Israel allocated in the West Bank was for the needs of Israeli settlers, while the Palestinians, who constitute 87 per cent of the West Bank population, were allocated at most only 0.24 per cent... Read > |
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The Intercept: "A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States - so She Lost Her Job" by Glenn Greenwald (12/17/18)...boycotting Israeli companies in the occupied territories has long been advocated in mainstream venues by Jewish Zionist groups such as Peace Now and the Jewish-American Zionist writer Peter Beinart. Read > |
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Times of Israel: "Trump administration mum as Israel mulls legalizing 66 outposts" (12/17/18)Following the bill's approval, it was immediately castigated by the settlement watchdog Peace Now and the attorney general's office, which said the proposal "raises significant legal problems, which may even lead to international repercussions and expose Israel to significant risks in this respect." Read > |
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Jerusalem Post: "After Terror Attacks, Bill Legalizing Settler Outposts Passes First Hurdle" (12/16/18)"...Such bills that actually tell the settlers: You are above the law, and if you break the law not only will you not be punished, but we will legalize your actions," Peace Now stated. Read > |
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The Intercept: "Messianic Jewish Lobbying Group Builds Support for U.S.-Funded Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Palestine" (12/16/18)Debra Shushan, the director of policy at the group Americans for Peace Now, said that under normal circumstances, any such proposal would never gain traction and would be viewed as comically extreme. But in the Trump era, once unthinkable demands have quickly become policy on Israel and Palestine... Read > |
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Jerusalem Post: "Settlers Rebuild the Amona Outpost to Protest Terror Attacks" (12/14/18)Hagit Ofran of the left-wing group Peace Now said, "It does not matter if the land was purchased legally or not" because the placement of the modular structures on the hilltop without approval was illegal... Peace Now plans to demand that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit investigate the settlers' actions, she said. Read > |
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
There are times when my sheer frustration borders
on the overwhelming, but the people of Shalom Achshav (Peace Now in Israel) and Americans for Peace Now
(APN) are compelling sources of inspiration. I cannot abandon them. My name is Shaqued Morag and I am the
new Executive Director of Peace Now.
