On Purim, which begins this Wednesday evening, Jews retell the story of a world turned upside down. Haman’s plan to kill the Jews of Persia is thwarted by Esther, the Jewish orphan who became Queen. Haman is hanged on the gallows he had planned to use to kill Esther’s cousin Mordechai. The king is foolish, the advisers wicked, the heroes weak, and the powerful defeated.

We don’t need Purim to remind us that the world is topsy-turvy.

A TV reality show personality is President of the United States. He and his Administration avoid saying “two-state solution,” let alone leading serious efforts to help bring it to fruition. President Trump unilaterally changes the US position on Jerusalem and declares he has solved this complex issue for the Israelis and Palestinians. Ardent US supporters of Israeli settlements are responsible for brokering Middle East peace. One of them, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, publicly contradicts US policy.

The Purim story encourages us to flip the script.

APN does this by fighting for a world in which our leaders are responsible, strategic, and bold in moving forward toward peace and security for Israel via a two-state solution. In partnership with Shalom Achshav in Israel, APN works every day to make that world a reality by fighting the occupation and the settlement enterprise - a catastrophe for Israel in moral, political, security, legal, and economic terms.

APN illustrates how settlements corrupt Israeli society while obstructing peace with Palestinians. We shine a spotlight on how the Trump Administration is allowing Netanyahu’s right-wing government to gradually annex the West Bank and create a one-state reality, in contravention of international law and the national interests of both the US and Israel.

Please support the work of Americans for Peace Now in righting this topsy-turvy world.

Veteran Israeli journalist Akiva Eldar of Al-Monitor spoke at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC on February 20, in discussion with APN’s Debra Shushan. The focus of the event was recent steps towards annexation of the West Bank and the state of the settlement enterprise in the Trump-Netanyahu era.

This is the reality of Palestinian life in East Jerusalem today.

76% of all Palestinians in East Jerusalem live below the poverty line, including 83% of Palestinian children. Only 41% of Palestinian children are enrolled in official municipal schools, with 33% dropping out before 12th grade. And over a third of residents are not connected to Jerusalem's water infrastructure.*

Beyond those grim statistics lies the additional threat of home eviction – the fate that befell Mohammad Shamasneh and his family. After 45 years, through no fault of their own, the Shamasneh family was thrown out of their own house. They were forced to watch helplessly as right-wing settler ideologues occupied the home in which multiple generations of their family has been raised. Their lives have been upended ever since.

Reports have shown that at least 180 Palestinian families are at risk of eviction, with most of these cases initiated by settler organizations.

Through our "Shelter for the Shamasnehs" campaign, Americans for Peace Now is working to right this injustice. With over $4,000 raised so far, we're well on our way to achieving this goal – but we need your help. Join us and help make a real difference on the ground by finding a new home for the Shamasneh family.

(*Association for Civil Rights in Israel)

(**UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

ABC News: February 19, 2018
"Israeli settler leader says settlements grew rapidly in 2017," Brian Reeves, spokesman for Peace Now, an anti-settlement monitoring group, said it could not corroborate Katz's figures but that they are in the "ballpark" of its own estimates.

Haaretz: February 19, 2018
"Netanyahu eyes paying settlers millions for leaving illegal outpost built on private Palestinian land," the High Court ordered the structures in the outpost to be pulled down, following a petition from Peace Now and some Palestinian residents of the Palestinian town of al-Khader.

Times of Israel: February 19, 2018
"Government scrambles to ease pain of illegal outpost evacuation," Peace Now slammed news of a compensation plan for the residents, calling it “political bribery for building offenders.”

Times of Israel: February 13, 2018
"Israel okays temporary homes for residents of outpost slated to be razed," Peace Now slammed approvals, saying that the government had actually authorized the establishment of several new settlements, claiming that projects, such as the one for the Netiv Ha’avot residents are located well beyond the borders of the settlements they’re adjacent to.

Jerusalem Post: February 13, 2018
"New housing site approved for 15 Netiv Ha'avot families," Peace Now and Yesh Din have filed multiple cases on behalf of the Palestinian village of El-Khader, which claims the land falls under their jurisdiction.