On October 31, 2014, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann and APN Policy and Government Relations
Director Lara Friedman briefed us, from Jerusalem, on the tense situation in the city.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday October 31, 2014
Quote of the day:
"The Swedish government should understand that Middle East relations are more complex than a piece of
self-assembled IKEA furniture..."
--Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, as he announced that Israel would be recalling its ambassador to Sweden after Sweden declared it recognized the state of Palestine. Even better was the his Swedish counterpart's response.**
--Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, as he announced that Israel would be recalling its ambassador to Sweden after Sweden declared it recognized the state of Palestine. Even better was the his Swedish counterpart's response.**
Please join us for a briefing call with Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann, executive director of Terrestrial Jerusalem, and Lara Friedman, Americans for Peace Now's director of policy and government relations. Lara is currently in Jerusalem, and will join Danny for an update on the heightened tensions there. The call will take place tomorrow, Friday, October 31, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday October 30, 2014
Quote of the day:
“I turn to the government of Israel to treat us as citizens with historic rights, and not as a people
that threatens the Jews.”
-- Kufr Kassem Mayor Bayor Adel Badir in his speech at the march in commemoration of 58 years to the IDF massacre of 49 Arab citizens.**
-- Kufr Kassem Mayor Bayor Adel Badir in his speech at the march in commemoration of 58 years to the IDF massacre of 49 Arab citizens.**
Americans for Peace Now joins its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now, in strongly condemning the assassination-attempt of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an extreme right-wing activist who advocates for Jewish prayer in Jerusalem's Temple Mount, and for re-building the Jewish Temple at the site of al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Islam.
This piece will be featured in the Nov. 3 print edition of The Boston Globe.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has come to epitomize the Israeli school of thought that dismisses peace with the Palestinians as being not only impossible but undesirable.
Ya’alon laid out his worldview last week during a four-day visit to the United States. He has become the most salient spokesperson for those in Israel who think that the only way for Israel to conduct its relations with its neighbors is through periodic wars and counterterrorism campaigns, referred to in Israeli security jargon as “mowing the lawn.” In short, he believes in conflict management rather than conflict resolution.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday October 29, 2014
Quote of the day:
“They were overjoyed to know we were from Israel. In situations like that, politics become
unimportant.”
-- An Israeli couple on holiday in Greece, who helped Syrian refugees whom they found at the entrance
to their cottage.**
With tensions in Jerusalem and beyond rising to a boiling point, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of his cabinet have initiated a series of highly inflammatory steps and have been using incendiary language in recent days.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) is angered and alarmed at the brazenness of Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent provocative moves, and joins the Obama administration in warning the Israeli government of the potential consequences of these measures.
APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "During the past few days, in the midst of a violent flare-up of demonstrations in East Jerusalem – one of the longest and most violent waves of riots in recent history – Netanyahu seems to be eager to fuel the fire rather than extinguish it.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday October 28, 2014
Quote of the day:
“Three stops separate between the place where baby Chaya Zissel Braun was run over and killed and the
house of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and between them is a tense space of violence and fear.”
--Maariv features reporter Eyal Levy rides the Jerusalem light-rail.**
--Maariv features reporter Eyal Levy rides the Jerusalem light-rail.**
This week, Alpher discusses the differences between Washington’s approach to combating IS and that of Israel; why was Yaalon (reportedly) shunned by most of the Obama administration, in a rare display of dissatisfaction; Why Egypt just closed its border with Gaza and postponed convening Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks by a month, and what this means for a stable ceasefire; and whether there are emerging parallels between Israeli-Jordanian and Israeli-Egyptian security cooperation.