--Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he was not opposed to speaking with Hamas to solve the situation in Gaza.**
Rabbi Suskin spoke about the prospects for peace following the installation of Israel's new
government, the work of Peace Now in Israel and what the challenges are at this time, and what, as American
Jews, our role can be in helping Israel achieve peace and security with her neighbors.
Ori Nir will be speaking at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University, on Thursday, June 4, 10am
Although the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is today a matter of consensus worldwide, it seems increasingly difficult to attain. What are the main obstacles for achieving it, and how can they be overcome?
Americans for Peace Now today called on the Obama Administration to reject Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's cynical call for negotiations over settlement blocs and to instead prepare itself to lead or co-lead a resolution in the United Nations Security Council laying out clear parameters for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, consistent with longstanding U.S. policy. APN President and CEO Debra DeLee issued the following statement:
New Jersey Jewish News - May 20, 2015
APN's Ori Nir op-ed: Progressive American Jews: Fight for the Israel you believe in
http://njjewishnews.com/article/27277/progressive-american-jews-fight-for-the-israel-you-believe-in#.VVz01k9Vikp
SFgate.com - May 15, 2015
APN's Lara Friedman criticizes legislation that fails to distinguish between Israel and WB settlements
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2015/05/15/trade-measures-could-shift-u-s-policy-on-israeli-settlements/
i24.com (AFP story) - May 14, 2015
Peace Now: Israeli government issues tenders for 85 new homes in WB settlement
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/71177-150514-israel-re-invites-bids-for-85-w-bank-settler-homes-ngo
Ynet (AFP story) - May 15, 2015
Peace Now: Israeli government issues tenders for more homes in WB settlement
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4657673,00.html
Ynet.com (AFP story) - May 20, 2015
Peace Now welcomes Israeli government decision to suspend segregated public transportation pilot in West Bank
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4659396,00.html
AFP - May 21, 2015
Peace Now: Settlements are leading Israel into an apartheid regime and to moral bankruptcy
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-suspends-w-bank-palestinian-bus-ban-085303579.html
This week, Alpher discusses what was the new Netanyahu government thinking, trying to introduce segregated buses in the West Bank; President Obama’s critical remarks to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg and at a DC synagogue regarding Netanyahu’s attitude toward Israeli Arabs and his signaling that there would be no peace process initiative in the near future, as well as the US taking Israel’s side at a UN nuclear treaty review conference; whether we should categorize the Pope’s Middle East diplomacy as a form of Europe-based pressures; and US and UK proposals to deploy western ground forces to augment weak and fragmented Iraqi forces against IS - are there alternatives?
Americans for Peace Now (APN) commends President Obama for eloquently articulating the strong bond
between core American values and progressive Jewish values, and for expressing his frustration with the growing
gap between these values and those that are increasingly manifesting themselves in Israeli public life.
In an interview, the U.S. president ties his legacy to a pact with Tehran, argues ISIS is not winning, warns Saudi Arabia not to pursue a nuclear-weapons program, and anguishes about Israel.
On Tuesday afternoon, as President Obama was bringing an occasionally contentious but often illuminating hour-long conversation about the Middle East to an end, I brought up a persistent worry. “A majority of American Jews want to support the Iran deal,” I said, “but a lot of people are anxiety-ridden about this, as am I.” Like many Jews—and also, by the way, many non-Jews—I believe that it is prudent to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of anti-Semitic regimes. Obama, who earlier in the discussion had explicitly labeled the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an anti-Semite, responded with an argument I had not heard him make before.
“Look, 20 years from now, I’m still going to be around, God willing. If Iran has a nuclear weapon, it’s my name on this,” he said, referring to the apparently almost-finished nuclear agreement between Iran and a group of world powers led by the United States. “I think it’s fair to say that in addition to our profound national-security interests, I have a personal interest in locking this down.”