Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes today's action in the United Nations Security Council in support of Israeli-Palestinian peace and the two-state solution.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) urges the Obama administration to support or abstain on today's UN Security Council resolution in support of Israeli-Palestinian peace and the two-state solution.
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You Must Be Kidding:
"It is permitted to speak Arabic without fear."
--Israel’s Second (Broadcasting) Authority said that that sentence, said by Mira Awad, an Israeli Arab singer and actress, in a TV ad for civil rights was problematic. The Authority prevented the ad from being aired.**
Rabbi Jonah Rank is the Maskil ("Teacher of tradition") at Shaar Shalom Synagogue in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. Rabbi Rank was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2015.
When the humorist Dave Barry released his book Dave Barry’s Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book in 1987, he might not have foreseen that, just three decades later, the United States would have become such a major player in promoting fact-free political discourse. The low bar of entry that permits most Americans access to the internet and the only slightly higher bar that permits most Americans to create web content of any kind have helped bring us to where we are today. When reading articles shared on digital media, if the facts don’t sound like the facts we’ve previously heard, we might ask if this news is real or not: Was it perhaps created from a fake-news website? Is this article actually based on found facts? Is this publication the eloquence of a gullible writer mistaking The Onion for news? Is this piece of journalism simply a collection of conspiracy theories all rooted in a series of truth-contorting tweets?
--Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to show empathy towards Amona residents (who anyway are getting 1 million shekels per family to move off other people's land), according to a Yedioth report.*
--Adv. Michael Sfard of Yesh Din, legal rights organization.*
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TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Tell Your Senators: Reject Trump's Dangerous Choice for Ambassador to Israel
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APN explainer 2/15: Top 5 Questionable Claims Senators Are Likely to Hear From U.S. Ambassador to Israel-nominee David Friedman At His Confirmation Hearing
APN's Lara Friedman in The Hill newspaper 1/26: David Friedman is the wrong choice for US ambassador to Israel
Ambassador-nominee David Friedman, In His Own Words [compilation of quotes with links to original sources]
Yossi Alpher weighs in, in his Hard Questions, Tough Answers: US-Israel in the Trump era: Ambassador Friedman and a US embassy in Jerusalem
APN Press release: APN Opposes David Friedman's Nomination as US Ambassador to Israel
Haaretz 2/7: 10 Questions U.S. Senators Should Ask David Friedman, Trump's Pick for Israel Envoy
To facilitate the confirmation process, Haaretz has prepared a list of 10 questions those participating in the confirmation hearings might consider asking Friedman:
1. You serve as president of an organization that fundraises for the settlement of Beit El. How much of your own money have you donated over the years to Beit El and does your personal investment in the settlement movement explain your opposition to a two-state solution?
2. It has been reported that you own at least one apartment in Jerusalem. Is that the only real estate you own in Israel, and if not, could you provide us with a list of all your properties in the country and tell us if you own any real estate over the Green Line?
3. Do you have any children who live in Israel, and if so, have any of them served or intend to serve in the Israeli army? If the answer is yes, are you not in conflict of interest as a representative of the U.S. government?
4. Have you ever contributed to the campaigns of Israeli political leaders or political parties? If so, could you specify which leaders and which parties and how much you gave them?
5. Do you believe it is important for Israel to remain a Jewish and democratic state?
6. Do you favor Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, and if so, do you believe that Israel can remain a Jewish and democratic state if that happens?
7. As a real estate lawyer, how do you view the new Israeli law that legalizes the expropriation of Palestinian land in the West Bank?
8. President Donald Trump has said that making peace between Israelis and Palestinians is a top priority for him and has even referred to this as “the ultimate deal.” What would be your basic principles for such a deal?
9. Palestinians have voiced serious concerns that with your views, you cannot serve as an honest broker in any future peace talks. How do you hope to reassure them otherwise, if at all?
10. Your use of terms like “kapos” and “morons” to berate respected Jewish organizations has raised serious questions about your suitability for a diplomatic role. Do you truly believe you are cut out to serve as an ambassador?
--Jewish American writer and feminist activist, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, told Haaretz+ why she made a personal call to 120 friends to donate to Americans for Peace Now after far-right-winger David Friedman was appointed the next US ambassador to Israel. Donations to pro-peace American organizations have risen sharply since the appointment.*
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.
This week, Alpher discusses whether President-elect Trump's selection of David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel will be the "game-changer from hell;" what happens if the embassy is really moved to Jerusalem; what should Trump be doing about the embassy; and how the ambassadorial appointment and the Jerusalem embassy issues factor into the existing divides and conflicts within world Jewry.