Today, the Ramallah-based Palestinian daily al-Ayyam is publishing an article I have written as a guest writer for the column of my friend Hassan al-Batal, a leading Palestinian analyst and an outstanding writer.  

APN Associate Director of Communications Aaron Mann in The Forward: May 31, 2018
"Roseanne Came For Me About Israel. She Was Racist Then, Too"

For much of this week, the actress and rabid Israel-supporter Roseanne Barr has dominated headlines. After making a hugely successful comeback this year with the return of her show “Roseanne” after a decades-long hiatus, ABC canceled the show and fired Barr after she posted a racist tweet comparing former Barack Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to a monkey. Read More >

Al-Jazeera: May 31, 2018
"Israel approves more than 2,000 settlement units in West Bank," Peace Now: 14,454 settlement units in the West Bank have been approved since US President Donald Trump took office.

Times of Israel: May 30, 2018
"Israel green-lights 2,000 settlement homes; half are outside blocs," Peace Now considers new uncontiguous settlement "neighborhoods" as new settlements.

Haaretz: May 30, 2018
"Israel to build 92 new settlement homes near Bedouin village slated for demolition," Peace Now's Hagit Ofran blasts plan to approve building homes in a settlement adjacent to Khan al-Ahmar.

Florida Jewish Journal (JNS story): May 30, 2018
"Report monitors uptick in population throughout Judea, Samaria," Peace Now: despite increase in settlement population, two-state agreement is still possible.

Wafa: May 30, 2018
"Israel approves 2070 new illegal settler units in occupied West Bank," Peace Now: since President Trump took office some 14,454 units in West Bank settlements have been approved.

From Barbara Green, long-time APN supporter and activist:

Every morning, like many of you, I open my e-mail and groan: so much spam, so many unwanted messages and advertisements. It makes you want to kick the computer. But there's one item I never skip. In fact, I welcome it every day in my Inbox -- and that's APN's News Nosh. It's the very best available source of information about Israel/Palestine.

Orly Halpern, a brilliant journalist in Jerusalem, excerpts the news from an array of Israeli newspapers from left to right and gives it to us in a concise readable format. I don't read every article, but those of special interest to me are right there in my inbox every morning.

Orly is on the scene,­­ so by the time I get to my computer in the morning she has already posted News Nosh and I start the day with information that hasn't even made it to the daily newspapers here in the States.

Washington, DC - Touted as a means to stem the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college campuses, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (ASAA) would imperil free speech on American college campuses in order to quash constitutionally protected criticism of Israel. 

With white supremacists emboldened on campus and off, rising anti-Semitism in the United States is indeed a concern. The chief focus of the ASAA, however, is Israel-related criticism and activism on campuses – including but not limited to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The bill would cynically exploit claims of anti-Semitism to delegitimize and silence such Israel-related free speech.

Update: this action, now closed, ran from May-June 2018. 

If confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights in the Department of Education, Kenneth Marcus will be positioned to carry out his long-time mission to suppress speech critical of Israel on campuses by labeling it anti-Semitic.

After securing Committee approval on a strictly party-line vote, consideration of the controversial nominee by the full Senate was delayed given the substantial number of Senators opposed to his confirmation. A vote on Marcus is now expected shortly. 

Marcus has a history of pushing the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which he would head if confirmed, to launch investigations of harassment of Jewish students. While all of the ensuing complaints filed by OCR were dismissed, Marcus claimed victory for “creating a very strong disincentive” for criticism of Israel among students. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has expressed concern that Marcus “could push the government to start taking action against students who speak out against Israel.”

With this record of attempting to deter students from engaging in free speech, Kenneth Marcus is the wrong choice to be the lead official overseeing civil rights on American college campuses. Take action now to demand that your senators vote against his confirmation.