Times of Israel: August 26

“Netanyahu’s Mixed Messages on Temple Mount Incitement”
by Lara Friedman, Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now

In 2009, Israel arrested the head of the northern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement for incitement, for saying that Israel “seeks to build a synagogue on Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Since then – and especially over the past two years, as unrest has rocked Jerusalem – Netanyahu has regularly argued that Palestinian Authority incitement over the Temple Mount is a chief cause of violence, and has called Palestinian officials’ statements about Israel’s intentions on the Temple Mount “gross lies.”

Earlier this month, on August 14-15, Jews observed the fast day of Tisha B’Av, commemorating various catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people, including the destruction of the first and second temples. Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister, Eli Ben-Dahan, marked this solemn occasion by telling a crowd gathered for a march around the Old City: “We aren’t embarrassed to say it: We want to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount.”

Continue Reading

Al-Monitor: August 25
“Will 50 years of occupation unite Israel’s peace camp?” highlights the “Deciding at 50” campaign – “the only initiative by the peace camp on the horizon ahead of the 50^th anniversary of the occupation is coalescing around Peace Now.”

Israel National News: August 24
“Peace Now ‘slanders’ activists over Hevron construction,” discusses Peace Now’s campaign against Jewish construction in Hebron, which features “MK Orit Strok (Jewish Home) and right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Bentzy Gopstein in cartoon profiles accompanied by the tagline: "He who established 28 housing units in the heart of Hevron wants to perpetuate the conflict and fan the flames in the most sensitive and explosive area of the West Bank."

Maan News: August 23
“Peace Now: New settlement will add 100 more Israeli settlers in Hebron,” details Peace Now’s response to the announcement of settlement expansion in Hebron. “While Peace Now reported on Monday that the renovations for the housing units were already underway, the statement on Tuesday said the planning process for the new settlement had not yet begun in the Israeli Civil Administration's High Planning Committee.”

Haaretz: August 22
“For first time in decade, Israel plans to expand Jewish settlement in Hebron,” Settlement Watch’s Hagit Ofran says “there is an attempt here to overturn a High Court decision that forbade building settlements on land seized for military use.”

Times of Israel: August 22
“Israel said planning to build several Jewish homes in Hebron,” Peace Now is quoted saying the expansion plan contravenes a High Court ruling, and their 2008 and 2010 petitions to the High Court are referenced.

Associated Press: August 22
“Israel takes steps toward new settlement in volatile city,” Settlement Watch’s Hagit Ofran says the approval of settlement expansion in Hebron is “the first approval in the area in more than a decade,” and is an example of Israel “using legal acrobatics, allocating the land to settlers instead of turning it over to the Palestinian-run municipality.”

Washington Jewish Week: August 17
“Closed doors for Israel aid package,” Yossi Alpher’s weekly Q&A column for APN is quoted in a story about the US aid package to Israel. Alpher says that Netanyahu cut Lieberman out of the process in reaction to the Defense Minister’s comparison of the Iran deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement as a way to coalition tensions and reaffirm the US-Israel security relationship.

Recommended Readings on the new initiative from Peace Now and its allies, Decision at 50

The Forward 9/6/2016: Israeli Leaders Call for Referendum as 50th Anniversary of Occupation Looms
Radio Tel Aviv, Tzali Reshef 9/6/16 Peace Now on the people's Referendum on the settlements (Hebrew Only)
The New York Times, 9/5/16: Israeli Groups Seeks Referendum on Palestinians
The Washington Post 9/5/16: Israeli groups seeks referendum on Palestinians
Jerusalem Post 9/5/16: Most Israelis support referendum on two states
Haaretz, 9/5/16: Israeli Public Figures, Former Politicians Call for Referendum on Future of West Bank Territories, Hebrew here
YNet, 9/5/16: Israeli groups seeks referendum on disputed territories
Maariv 9/5/16: Referendum Initiative: Public Campaign to Establish a Referendum on the Future of the Settlements (Hebrew only)
Arutz Sheva, 9/5/16: New Radical Left Initiative: Deciding at 50 (Hebrew only)
Al-Monitor, Ben Caspit, 8/29/16: Will Israel hold referendum over two-state solution?
Al-Monitor, Akiva Eldar, 8/25/16: Will 50 years of occupation unite Israel's peace camp?

Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Israel’s preeminent peace movement, in cooperation with other Israeli civil society organizations, has launched a new initiative demanding a referendum on the future of Israel’s rule over the West Bank and on peace with the Palestinians. Americans for Peace Now, the U.S. sister organization of Shalom Achshav, supports the initiative. APN calls on all Americans who care about Israel’s future to support the call for a referendum on the occupation, which is now entering its fiftieth year.

Decision at 50 press release 9/5/16: A New Movement Demanding a Referendum on the Fate of Israeli Control over the Palestinian Territories and on the Future of Israel
Decision at 50 letter to Netanyahu 9/5/16: Letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on the "Referendum at 50" (Hebrew)
APN Statement on the launch of Decision at 50 (September 5, 2016): APN to Support New Israeli Initiative for Referendum on the Occupation

Take Action:
If you are an Israeli Citizen, click here to learn more and sign your name in support of the Decision at 50 Referendum
Learn more about Decision at 50 in English at http://www.mishal50.org.il/en/

Media coverage (news and analysis) on Decision at 50

5 בספטמבר 2016

לכבוד
ראש ממשלת ישראל
בנימין נתניהו
משרד ראש הממשלה
הקריה
ירושלים

כבוד ראש הממשלה,

הנדון: יוזמה לעריכת משאל עם על עתיד השטחים

1. בחודש יוני 2017 נציין חמישים שנה למלחמת ששת הימים. באותו מועד ימלאו חמישים שנה לשליטתנו בשטחים שנכבשו במלחמת ששת הימים. שטחים אלו ממשיכים להוות שטח כבוש על פי המשפט הבינלאומי, וישראל נמנעה במשך יובל שנים מלקבל הכרעה לעתיד השטחים הללו.
2. במהלך חמישה עשורים מאז 1967 נקבעו עובדות בשטח, הוקמו התנחלויות, יישובים ומאחזים, הושקעו סכומי עתק בתשתית הנדרשת לישובים הללו, כל זאת תוך הימנעות מהכרעה בדבר עתיד השטחים.
3. להחלטה בעניין עתיד השטחים, יש כידוע השלכות משמעותיות ביותר על עתידה של מדינת ישראל, על הרכב האוכלוסיה בה, על ביטחונה הלאומי ועל קיומה של הדמוקרטיה הישראלית.
4. החתומים מטה היו והינם בדעה כי למען עתידה של מדינת ישראל, שלומה ובטחונה, יש לחתור לחלוקת הארץ לשתי  מדינות לאום, ישראל ופלסטין. החלטה כזאת היא היחידה שיכולה לאפשר קיומה של ישראל בשלום ובביטחון כמדינה יהודית ודמוקרטית, מדינת הלאום של העם היהודי.
5. אין זה סוד, שרבים בציבור הישראלי סוברים אחרת. רבים מעדיפים מסיבות שונות בהמשך השליטה הישראלית על ארץ ישראל כולה, ומעדיפים להימנע מהקמת מדינה פלסטינית לצידה.

1. לאחר חמישים שנה הגיע הזמן שנכריע בשאלה זאת ונבהיר לעצמנו, ולעולם כולו, לאן פניה של מדינת ישראל, ואיזו דמות אנו מציעים שתהיה לה בעשורים הקרובים.
2. כידוע, ברחבי העולם נערכים יותר ויותר משאלי עם, ומשאל עם הפך לכלי מאד משמעותי במדינות דמוקרטיות רבות, כשבאים להכריע בשאלות מהותיות לגורלם של עם ומדינה.
3. אנחנו פונים אליך בדרישה שממשלת ישראל בראשותך תיזום את קיומו של משאל עם שיכריע בשאלה האם ישראל צריכה לחתור לכך שבין הים לירדן יתקיימו שתי מדינות בגבולות של הסכמה בין שני העמים, או שישראל צריכה לחתור לקיומה של מדינה אחת על השטח כולו.
4. הכרעה במשאל עם בשאלה הקריטית ביותר לעתידה של מדינת ישראל, תהיה הצהרה כלפי העולם כולו לאן פניה של ישראל, ותהווה הנחייה לממשלות ישראל הנבחרות לפעול כדי לממש את ההחלטה, ועד למימוש ההחלטה לנקוט מדיניות בכל התחומים כולל קביעת הגבול ואזורי ההתיישבות, בהתאם להכרעה שתיפול. בהנחה שההכרעה תחייב מו"מ עם הפלסטינים, ניתן יהיה לעשות זאת על סמך הכרעה לאומית, ותוך הימנעות מקונפליקט אלים בתוך החברה הישראלית.
5. נודה לך אם תואיל לזמן אותנו לפגישה שבה נשמח לפרט עוד על היוזמה, את הרקע לה, ואת הפרטים שאנו מציעים לגבי חקיקה שמן הראוי לבצע אותה, אם אכן תתקבל החלטה לקיים משאל עם.

 בכבוד רב, ובשם עמותת "מחליטים ב-50":

עמי איילון

עמרם מצנע

גיורא ענבר

הרב מיכאל מלכיאור

אורני פטרושקה

גלעד שר

ירום אריאב

צלי רשף

ג׳נט אביעד 

אבי בוסקילה

מיקי מור

אריק רייכמן

אופיר פינס

יולי תמיר

דניאל בן סימון

אליק רון

שאול אריאלי

נסים קלדרון

נועה רוטמן

ריקי בליך

אלון אולארצ'יק

Update: this action, now closed, ran in September 2016. 

The Israeli government is in the process of establishing – by stealth –the first new settlement complex (28 units, providing housing for some 100 settlers, or a 10% increase in the settler population in the area) in Hebron in more than a decade. It is doing so by taking properties seized years ago by the Israeli government for military use and handing them over to the settlers. This action directly contravenes Israeli law, which prohibits seizing lands for military needs and then using them for the purpose of settlements. It also contradicts the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants and constitutes a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law. In addition, allocating these properties to the settlers based on the argument that they belonged to Jews before 1948 in essence constitutes implementation of a “right of return” for Jews, at the expense of protected Palestinians tenants – even as Palestinians are denied any parallel “right of return” to properties they left or were expelled from before 1948.

On August 24^th, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said that if reports about what is happening in Hebron are true, “…it would represent a deeply concerning step of settlement expansions…”

At the same time, the Israeli government is moving ahead with plans to “relocate” the illegal outpost of Amona. It plans to move the settlers off the privately-owned Palestinian land where the outpost it currently located – land that after years of trying, the Government was forced to admit it could find no “legal” way to expropriate and give to the settlers – and on to a nearby plot of privately-owned Palestinian land that it has now found a pretext to seize. In short, this case involves Israel taking new land from the Palestinians for the sole benefit of settlers. And it involves Israel acting not to punish and deter settler law-breaking, but instead rewarding and incentivizing such illegal actions. And it contributes to the growth of the settlement foothold deep in the West Bank, via the direct support and collusion of the Israeli government.

On August 11^th, the Director of the State Department’s Press Office, Elizabeth Trudeau, said that the State Department was “deeply concerned by reports that the Israeli Government has begun the process to take over privately owned Palestinian land to relocate the illegal Israeli outpost of Amona.”

Take Action Today!

The campaign to save the Palestinian village of Sussya, which has involved extraordinary efforts by human rights activists both inside and outside Israel, has reached a decisive movement. The Israeli government is poised to make a final decision on whether to raze almost half of the village, located in Area C on land long-coveted by settlers. International pressure succeeded in convincing the Israeli government to delay the decision, originally due in early August, until later this fall, but the threat to destroy almost half of the village remains, as does the threat to destroy individual homes before a final decision is made later this year.

TAKE ACTION

Write to Secretary of State John Kerry & to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer
Sign our petition
Forward this page
Tweet this page
Share this page on Facebook
Sign up for APN’s News Nosh & Weekly Update
Donate to support our work

LEARN MORE

APN Briefing Call with Peace Now Settlement Watch Director Hagit Ofran (August 25, 2016)
Backgrounder from Rabbis for Human Rights: The struggle against the forced displacement of Susya to Area A
Backgrounder from Btselem: Khirbet Susiya – a village under threat of demolition
View this & other settlement-related developments on APN’s Map App

US OFFICIAL REACTION

State Department press briefing 7/16/16: “…we strongly urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out any demolitions in the village. Demolition of this Palestinian village or of parts of it, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes would be harmful and provocative…”

IN THE MEDIA

The Washington Post 8/28/16: Israel wants to bulldoze this ramshackle village, but Europe is providing life support
Jerusalem Post 8/19/16: In disputed Sussiya, old Ottoman law still casts a shadow over the land
Times of Israel 7/26/15: 1881 document suggests Palestinian ownership of Susya
David Shulman in New York Review of Books 6/28/12: ‘I Am an Illegal Alien on My Own Land’
Moriel Rothman oped in the Daily Beast 6/20/12: Why Susya is "Illegal"

Update: this action, now closed, ran in September 2016. 

Nearly 50 years into the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the current Israeli government continues to exploit a wide range of tactics, laws, and regulations to take control of more Palestinian land and hand it over to the settlers. Here are just the latest examples:

• In Sussya, located in the south Hebron hills, Israel is seeking to raze Palestinian homes to make way for more settlement.
• Northeast of Ramallah, near the settlement of Ofra, Israel is working to take over more Palestinian-owned land to give to settler law-breakers from the outpost of Amona.
• South of Bethlehem, the Netanyahu government is actively seeking to seize land in order to implement an extraordinarily dangerous and destructive new settlement plan which activists have dubbed “E-2,” involving thousands of new units.
• In the heart of Hebron, the Israeli government is in the process of establishing – by stealth – a new settlement complex: 28 housing units for some 100 settlers, or a 10% increase in the settler population in the area. This is the first new settlement construction in Hebron in more than a decade. The government’s method, this time, is taking properties seized years ago by the Israeli government for military use and handing them over to the settlers – in direct contravention of Israeli law.

With actions like these, the Israeli government is telling the Palestinians that it is not interested in peace or a two-state solution. It is telling the world that it places greater value on land than on peace, that it prioritizes settlements over security, and that it is more concerned with ensuring permanent control over “Greater Israel” than in ensuring Israel’s relations and reputation with nations around the world, including the United States.

With no immediate possibility of re-starting peace talks on the horizon, it is critical that world leaders stand firm against Israeli government efforts to further expand and entrench the occupation – the very possibility of the two-state outcome hangs in the balance.

Sign our petition today (to be sent to addressees and released as an open letter). Join us in calling on the heads of state of the U.S., UK, France, and Germany -- as well as top officials in the European Commission and the UN, and other world leaders -- to individually and collectively stand up to the Netanyahu government’s plans to confiscate or transfer West Bank land for new settlement activity.

Take action NOW.

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 what we can learn from the exchange in late August between late August a UN envoy who called Israeli settlement construction an impediment to peace and a Netanyahu spokesperson who retorted that the envoy was “distorting history and international law;” who are the winners and losers in this round of the seemingly endless Syrian civil war and what is the strategic significance of Turkey's invasion of northern Syria with the blessing of the US; and whether Washington wins or loses and Where this leaves US and Israeli strategic interests regarding the Syria issue and its regional and international ramifications.