APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Quote of the day:
"We saw the stares we were getting, the fear of speaking to us and mostly the fear of playing
soccer together. But as soon as they realized we speak Arabic, respect our Palestinian friends, and
play and work together under the two flags—the Israeli flag and the Palestinian flag—the barriers
dropped and we quickly became best friends with the Iraqi team. We even taught them a few words in
Hebrew."
--Lior Shalom, who led a delegation of Arab and Jewish Israeli teenagers from the Peres Center for Peace, which traveled to Russia for the World Cup to hold workshops and soccer training for teens from all over the world, including from Muslim nations.*
You Must Be Kidding:
"You built a (settlement) house - it's as if you wiped out a hundred Arabs. You build a settlement - it's as if you killed ten thousand gentiles."
--Prominent settler land dealer and Jewish terrorist, Moshe Zar, received a roaring applause for his words at the Education Ministry's 'Education Leaders Conference,' where Zar received a Certificate of Appreciation.**
--Lior Shalom, who led a delegation of Arab and Jewish Israeli teenagers from the Peres Center for Peace, which traveled to Russia for the World Cup to hold workshops and soccer training for teens from all over the world, including from Muslim nations.*
You Must Be Kidding:
"You built a (settlement) house - it's as if you wiped out a hundred Arabs. You build a settlement - it's as if you killed ten thousand gentiles."
--Prominent settler land dealer and Jewish terrorist, Moshe Zar, received a roaring applause for his words at the Education Ministry's 'Education Leaders Conference,' where Zar received a Certificate of Appreciation.**
Information obtained by Peace Now indicates that the Binyamin Regional Council concealed tens of millions of
shekels in funding for Amana, an organization that stands behind the establishment of most of the illegal outposts
in the West Bank and is involved wide scale illegal construction in settlements. Many more millions were granted to
political organizations, striving to affect public opinion and government bodies to support the settlements and to
help the right-wing ideas.
Every local authority in Israel, including those in the West Bank, is allowed to allocate funds to non-government organizations for the benefit of its residence, in the framework of transparent criteria, and to limited list of causes regulated by the Israeli Ministry of Interior. The funding for all of the West Bank local authorities is coming from the Israeli government in addition to local taxation, collected by the localities from their residence.
Following a Peace Now petition under the Freedom of Information Act, the Binyamin Regional Council was forced to disclose detailed information about the funds it provides to non-governmental organizations. The information shows that between 2013 and 2015, the Council distributed over NIS 65 million to various organizations. 85% of the support funds (more than NIS 55 million) were transferred to political NGOs striving to affect public opinion and government bodies to support the settlements, and to Amana, which engages in illegal activity. Only 15% of the funds were transferred to other non-profit organizations that deal with welfare, education, sports, etc., in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Interior.
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.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday, June 29, 2018
Quote of the day:
“#Birthright wouldn’t show us the occupation so we are going to see it for
ourselves.”
—Katie Anne, live-streamed on Facebook herself announcing the reason she and four others were walking off the bus of a Birthright trip to join a Breaking the Silence anti-occupation tour - while the Birthright tour guide slammed them for it. Anne later told Haaretz: "Birthright gave us a map of Israel that does not denote the West Bank [even though] the director of our Birthright organization admitted that the majority of maps in Israel do include [it]. They keep saying they're apolitical but this is clearly to the right."
You Must Be Kidding:
An Israeli official declared a plot of land in the West Bank 'state land,' then turned it into a legal outpost with a farm and a guesthouse, whose profits go to a company established by the official, who has since left his government job.
—Katie Anne, live-streamed on Facebook herself announcing the reason she and four others were walking off the bus of a Birthright trip to join a Breaking the Silence anti-occupation tour - while the Birthright tour guide slammed them for it. Anne later told Haaretz: "Birthright gave us a map of Israel that does not denote the West Bank [even though] the director of our Birthright organization admitted that the majority of maps in Israel do include [it]. They keep saying they're apolitical but this is clearly to the right."
You Must Be Kidding:
An Israeli official declared a plot of land in the West Bank 'state land,' then turned it into a legal outpost with a farm and a guesthouse, whose profits go to a company established by the official, who has since left his government job.
For at least 30 years I've been traveling to Israel twice a
year to visit my family who lives there. I know the terrain; I speak the language,
though rudimentary. I move around with confidence and would never consider going with a tour group
because I don't need to -- except that four times now I've traveled to Israel with Americans for Peace Now on
their Study Tour and barring anything unforeseen I expect to do it again in early 2019.
Why the exception for APN? Because APN gives me access to people and places I would never encounter on my own or on a synagogue tour. I know of a Reform Temple that takes its members to Masada to commemorate Jews' heroism of 2,000 years ago. APN has taken us to Hebron to see first-hand the shameful effect of 50 years of occupying the West Bank.....and then to meet with activists who are pushing back against a seemingly intractrable conflict which in fact does have a solution. This is the real Israel which we as American Jews need to see if we're to fight for the country we care deeply about.
APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, June 28, 2018
You Must Be Kidding:
The average income of a Jewish family is 20,595 shekels - some 70% more than an Arab family, according to statistics released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.**
The average income of a Jewish family is 20,595 shekels - some 70% more than an Arab family, according to statistics released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.**
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Note: There will be no Round-Up this Friday. This special mid-week edition is devoted to a detailed analysis of the Senate version of the FY19 ForOps bill, S. 3108, introduced 6/21 by Graham (R-SC). Committee report is here. Full Middle East-related details in both are included below.
Shaqued Morag is the newly appointed executive director of Israel’s peace movement Shalom Achshav (Peace Now). We at Shalom Acshav’s American sister organization are thrilled to welcome Shaqued into Peace Now’s extended family, and are wishing her b’hatzlakha, good luck and success in this important leadership role.
Go HERE for an archive of past versions featuring Israelis such as Shabtai Shavit, Yuval Diskin, Yitzhak Rabin, Meir Dagan, Tzipi Livni, Shlomo Gazit, Rabbi Michael Melchior, and more....
