Breaking News:
Jordanian, Two Palestinians Shot After Attempting Attacks in Jerusalem, West Bank, Israeli Forces Say
According to the police, the Jordanian charged at Border Policemen at Damascus Gate with a knife in each hand before being shot and killed; shortly after, a Palestinian was killed and another was wounded after attempting a car-ramming attack in Kiryat Arba settlement, the IDF says. (Haaretz and Ynet)
On a trip to Israel last month, I visited a friend who runs a small store in downtown Jerusalem,
my hometown. Outside, on the street, there were dozens of young American Birthright tourists. “Business must be
hopping, with all these Birthrighters,” I said. “Not quite,” my friend replied. “Their parents send them here
with pocket money, but stay home in the U.S., with their credit cards.”
To my dismay, he said that as he saw it, American Jews don’t care enough about Israel’s future. They see Israel as a Jewish Disneyland of sorts, a place where they go for its history, but they don’t do enough to secure Israel’s future as a liberal democracy. This is not an unusual view among Israelis.
Albeit blunt, over-generalizing and overstated, my Israeli storeowner friend has a point. Sure, American Jews don’t vote in Israel. They don’t serve in the IDF and don’t pay taxes. They don’t have as much of a stake and as much of a say in Israel’s future as Israeli citizens do. But they definitely could do more to advance peace, reconciliation and tolerance in Israel, particularly when upsetting things are being done in Israel in their name.
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-- Peace Now group responded after data was released showing that housing starts increased 17% over the Green Line while falling 7% across Israel.*
APN Weekly Update - Challenging Bibi on "ethnic cleansing", taking action, Camp David anniversary, and more
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News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) published its data on construction starts earlier today. The Data
shows that in the first six months of 2016, 1,195 housing units started to be constructed in the settlements. This
is an increase of 40% in comparison to the previous six month (July-December 2015), during which 850 housing units
began to be constructed. In contrast, a 3% decrease in construction starts was noted in Israel proper (23,691
housing units in the first half of 2016 as opposed to 22,898 housing units in the second half of 2015).
Peace Now: "Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of one sector only - the settler sector, which comprises of less
than 5% of the Israeli population. His investments in the settlements do not only come on the expense of the Negev,
the Galilee and the rest of Israel but also lead towards a one state reality.
Earlier this week, we called on Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, to speak out against Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that demanding a future Palestinian state free of Israeli settlements is supporting “ethnic cleansing.” We called on our activists to urge these groups to speak up. The ADL’s CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt did just that in an excellent article in today’s digital edition of foreign policy.
We commend Greenblatt and the ADL for speaking up, and thank our activists for taking action. To urge other national Jewish groups to follow ADL’s suit click here.
--Stanley K. Sheinbaum, a former economics professor whose drive for Mideast peace had him mingling with presidents, royalty and movie stars, said in 2011. He died Monday at age 96.*
The latest in APN's series of security validators is President Jimmy Carter. The thirty-ninth president of the United States, he is, unusually, perhaps known best for his extraordinary post-presidency humanitarian work, including the Carter Center, founded in 1982 as his base for advancing human rights, extensive travel to conduct peace negotiations, observe elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations.
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