Taming the Settlements

Hagit Ofran

Early this week, the Washington Post ran a piece titled, “In the settlement of Kiryat Arba, the demand is to expand.” If you just read the title, you might think it was about the continuing growth of Israel’s settlements. If you only read the first few paragraphs, you might think that it was about the shocking murder of Hallel Ariel and the cynical use of her death to promote settlement growth.

But read to the end and you find that Kiryat Arba – one of the most iconic and radical of the ideological settlements, the settlement home to Baruch Goldstein (y”sh), who murdered Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in 1994 – is shrinking. Settlers there are given to lament that “political considerations and outside pressure means nothing changes.”

Donate TodayWho is helping lead the charge to bring this “outside pressure”? Peace Now.

So it is no surprise that in the same article, when the Washington Post wanted to learn the facts about Israeli settlements from an authoritative source, they turned to Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran.

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News Nosh 07.28.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday July 28, 2016 
 
NOTE: News Nosh will be published in a truncated version beginning tomorrow, July 29th through August 17th. 

Quote of the day:
“All the building will be done by the Defense Ministry and will be presented as construction for the IDF’s needs.”
--Document revealed that confirms the system of confiscating Palestinian land by military order, which is allowed by international law, as a cover for the purpose of establishing settlements, which is not.*
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Peace Now Settlement Watch: Tenders Published for 323 Housing Units in East Jerusalem

News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:

This morning, tenders for 323 housing units in East Jerusalem were published:

89 units in Gilo
36 units in Neve Yaacov
68 units in Pisgat Zeev 
130 units in Har Homa
 
These tenders are for housing units that have been tendered in the past but were never built (the tender in Gilo was published without dates and details so we cannot tell if these are new units or units that were tendered before). Although the government tried to build these units in the past, it never did so and thus the government is now initiating entirely new construction.
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News Nosh 07.27.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday July 27, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"As a bereaved father, I will not let you harm democracy. I didn't pay such a heavy price for this."
--Yoram Tal, the father of Omri Tal, who was killed in Operation Protective Edge, shouted at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a memorial ceremony for the soldiers who fell in that 2014 war.*
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Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now: July 26, 2016


"Inshallah, we will meet in Riyadh."

Saudi Arabian Gen. (ret.) Anwar Eshki to a group of Jewish members of Knesset he met with in East Jerusalem. Read more from APN's News Nosh.


Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher

 

Yossi Alpher is an independent Israeli security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

July 25, 2016 - Annexing a settlement? Saudis in Israel? Turkish purge? Netanyahu taking on the media?

Q. Netanyahu's ruling coalition has initiated a move in the Knesset to apply Israeli law to the settlement of Maaleh Adumim. What will this mean if the law is approved?

A. this would be the first territory in the West Bank (leaving aside greater Jerusalem) that is annexed by Israel (annexation being the international legal equivalent of applying Israeli law)...almost certainly be understood by the PLO as a final blow to the legitimacy of the Oslo accords, thereby generating an instant crisis in Israeli-Palestinian relations and in Israel's international standing...(the pro-settler right-wing advocates) openly acknowledge that applying Israeli law to Maaleh Adumim is a trial balloon designed to accustom the Israeli public and the world to further Israeli annexations...

Q. Indeed, last week a Saudi delegation visited Israel, led by a retired general. A breakthrough?

A. ...this must be understood as something of a breakthrough...

Q. Apropos another Muslim neighbor that just patched up relations with Israel, in the aftermath of the abortive military coup in Turkey President Erdogan appears intent on purging tens of thousands of ostensibly disloyal officers, educators and civil servants. Is this an Islamist counter-revolution?

A. Islamist counter-revolution is increasingly the only way we can describe what is emerging in Turkey...

Q. How could this development affect Turkey domestically? How could it affect Israel and the region?

A. The ramifications are potentially far-reaching...

Q. Erdogan, as noted, is clamping down on Turkish media. Is Netanyahu trying to do something similar in Israel?

A. Netanyahu is legendarily paranoid about the way the Israeli media treats him...

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Government Relations

APN Legislative Round-Up: July 9-20

  1. JCPOA Bday Week: Iran-Focused Bills Passed by the House
  2. JCPOA Bday Week: New Iran-Focused Bills & Resolutions
  3. JCPOA Bday Week: Action on Existing Iran-Focused Bills & Resolutions
  4. JCPOA Bday Week: Iran-Focused Letters
  5. Other Bills, Resolutions & Letters (Not Focused Solely on Iran)
  6. Hearings (more Iran here, too!)
  7. On the Record: Slamming the JCPOA, Supporting Iran bills, etc.
  8. On the Record: Defending the JCPOA, Opposing Iran bills, etc.
  9. On the Record: About Everything Other Than Iran

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Settlement Watch

Peace Now Settlement Watch Director in Washington Post article

Hagit Ofran, director of Peace Now Settlement Watch: "Every new construction in any settlement will make reaching a peace deal much, much harder...We are already in a situation that when we get to a peace agreement for two states, Israel will have to pay a high price removing thousands of Israelis from their homes in settlements."

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APN now on Instagram!

 

Adding to its already prominent place in social media, APN is now on Instagram.

Go HERE to see and follow APN.

 

The fifth in a series of security validators for APN features the former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice

"The United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state and of a two-state solution as absolutely essential for the future, not just for Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and, indeed, American interests."

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APN Events

Debra DeLee, APN President and CEO, on panel in Philadelphia in connection to Democratic National Convention

The discussion in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention features APN President and CEO Debra DeLee, Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy Chairman Sam Bahour, Columnist and Author Peter Beinart, and Arab American Institute Founder and President James Zogby.

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APN Israel Study Tour

Note from APN's Ori Nir in Jerusalem

Greetings from Jerusalem! I'm here to prepare APN's 2016 Israel Study Tour, which will be November 12-17. I've met with Israelis and Palestinians, and discussed plans for the tour with my friends at Israel's Peace Now movement. This will be an engaging, fascinating tour, and I hope you will join us.

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Go HERE for the Study Tour Schedule, and how to secure your spot on it.

Contact us at IsraelTour@peacenow.org or 202-408-9898 with any questions.


APN receives "Narrative Leadership" award

Accepting the award and speaking at the New Story Leadership event: (from L to R) APN's Aaron Mann, APN Interns Mohammed Manasrah (Palestine), Chen Attar (Israel)

APN was honored in Washington, DC for its key role and partnership in the New Story Leadership program that trains young emerging leaders from Palestine and Israel. APN has hosted interns and programs for the past eight years.


Peace Now at Jerusalem's March for Pride and Tolerance

Pictured are some of the Peace Now activists who participated in the July 21 March for Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem, which drew estimates of 25,000 people.

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The fifth in a series of security validators for APN is Condoleezza Rice, an American political scientist and diplomat. Rice served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the first female African-American to hold that position, as well as the second African American secretary of state, and the second female secretary of state. Rice was President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term, making her the first woman to serve in that position. Before joining the Bush administration, she was a professor of political science at Stanford University where she served as Provost from 1993 to 1999. Rice also served on the National Security Council as the Soviet and Eastern Europe Affairs Advisor to President George H.W. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.

 

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News Nosh 07.26.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday July 26, 2016 


NOTE: News Nosh will be published in a truncated version from July 31 through August 17th. 
 
Quote of the day:
"If you saw the slight shaking of the video clip it's because the cameraperson was laughing his head off."
--MK Ahmed Tibi commenting on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's video clip message to Arab citizens.*
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Note from Jerusalem Re: 2016 APN Israel Study Tour

Greetings from Jerusalem! I’m here to prepare APN’s Israel Study Tour, which will be November 12-17, 2016. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve met with Israelis and Palestinians, and discussed plans for the tour with my friends at Israel’s Peace Now movement. 

I grew up in Jerusalem, spent most of my life in Israel, and usually travel here twice a year. Still, I’m always amazed at how much I learn each time I come here, particularly when I accompany an APN Study Tour group. Israel is incredibly dynamic. It’s full of contradictions. It’s ever-changing. It’s both exhausting and comforting. It’s troubling and inspiring. It's both emotionally and intellectually provoking. At APN, we try to pack this complexity into five overloaded days of tours and meetings with Israelis and Palestinians throughout Israel and the West Bank.

Our tours typically end with a meeting with Peace Now’s young activists. I had a chance to meet with seven student activists at Peace Now’s Tel Aviv office. They came in for a briefing and left with “activist kits” – t-shirts, flags, stickers and more -- to use on campus (I snapped a photo of a couple of them on their way out). Some will march today, Thursday, in Jerusalem to show solidarity with participants at Jerusalem’s Pride and Tolerance Parade, to protest the homophobic violence that led last year to the murder of 16-year-old Shira Banki, a Jerusalemite high-schooler, who marched in solidarity with her gay friends and was stabbed to death by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish zealot.

I spent several hours with Peace Now’s young activists. There’s nothing better if you’re looking for a dose of inspiration and hope for Israel’s future. 

I can’t wait for our November 12th-17th tour. I hope you’ll join us. We know that, as usual, it will be an engaging, fascinating tour. And as you'll see below, our home base, the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, offers the chance to unwind in the heart of this unique city.

Please feel free to write to me or to my colleague David Pine with any questions you may have about the tour. Below are links for more information and how to reserve your spot. We’d love to see you in Jerusalem in November.

Ori Nir
APN Director of Communications and Public Engagements

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Go HERE for more about the Study Tour, and HERE for a working schedule of this year's trip.

To secure your place on this unique, small-group tour experience, print out and complete this FORM and return to APN by mail or email with the deposit (payable by check or credit card). Deposit deadline is August 31, 2016, after which we will be able to accept participants if space allows.

 

 

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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 it will mean if Netanyahu’s ruling coalition's move in the Knesset to apply Israeli law to the settlement of Maaleh Adumim is approved; if last week's Saudi delegation visiting Israel, led by a retired general, was a breakthrough; whether, in the aftermath of the abortive military coup in Turkey, President Erdogan's purging of tens of thousands of ostensibly disloyal officers, educators and civil servants is an Islamist counter-revolution; how this development could affect Turkey domestically and how it could affect Israel and the region; and if Netanyahu, similar to what Erdogan is doing in Turkey, is attempting to clamp down on media.

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News Nosh 07.25.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday July 25, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"No good can come out of this trial."
--Yedioth military affairs commentator Yossi Yehoshua attended the trial where Sgt. Elor Azariya, 'the Shooting Soldier from Hebron' testified for the first time and left with mixed feelings.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
Sgt. Elor Azaria also alleged in his trial that the B'tselem videotape that captured his execution of the incapacitated Palestinian assailant and which led to his prosecution, "was a violation of human rights, it shows only what he (the photographer) wanted to show."**
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