Americans for Peace Now

News Nosh 07.25.16

by APN 07/25/16

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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."**

Pinchas: When the head is unworthy, the people are punished

by APN 07/25/16

Peace_Parsha_Logo185 Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW serves as Rabbinic Director of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City, working with individuals who are ill, bereaved, or survivors of trauma, through Jewish spiritual counseling, support groups, workshops and printed materials. He has been deeply involved in human rights advocacy, Jewish-Muslim relations, interfaith exchanges, and the nexus of spiritual resources and mental health for over thirty years.

This week’s Torah portion is named for a man –Pinhas- who represents both heroism and horror in our tradition. It is, to say the least, complicated in terms of role models for leadership. In contrast, Moshe, recognized as the greatest of the Jewish people’s leaders, and who in this week’s portion is engaged in the search for his impending replacement, ‘advises’ the Almighty regarding his successor and in so doing, offers a prescription for a good leader.

And Moshe spoke to God, saying, Let the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of God be not as sheep that have no shepherd. (Numbers 27:15-17)

Moshe’s counsel as set out in these three verses and elucidated by a number of Torah commentaries, points to the leadership challenges the state of Israel faces at present, with a current leadership that has failed to take the actions that would result in the much desired goal of security and peace for Israel, and for the Palestinians as well.

News Nosh 07.24.16

by APN 07/24/16

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday July 24, 2016

Quote of the day:

"Inshallah, we will meet in Riyadh."
--Saudi Arabian Gen. (ret.) Anwar Eshki told a group of Jewish members of Knesset he met with in E. Jerusalem.*

You Must Be Kidding:
Israeli forces detained Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat at the weekly protest in Bilin on Friday. Burnat’s 2011 Oscar-nominated documentary, "5 Broken Cameras," showed his first-hand account of the protests in Bilin that began in 2005 against the expansion of nearby Israeli settlements and the construction of Israel's separation wall, which separated Bilin residents from their privately owned lands.**

APN Receives Narrative Champion Award form New Story Leadership

by APN 07/22/16

On Thursday, July 21st, Americans for Peace Now received one of two inaugural Narrative Champion Awards from New Story Leadership. NSL brings together young emerging Palestinian and Israeli leaders in order to train them into a team ready to help build a better future for their two communities by giving them an experience of living, working and learning together over a summer in Washington DC using the transformative power of stories.

News Nosh 07.22.16

by APN 07/22/16

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Friday July 22, 2016

Quote of the day:

“Up till now, we've known that the defense minister was racist and violent. Now, it turns out that he is also a Holocaust denier.”
--MK Ahmad Tibi reacts to Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement that an Army Radio program about the poetry of national Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish is like a program “glorifying the literary marvels of Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf.'"

News Nosh 07.21.16

by APN 07/21/16

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday July 21, 2016

Quote of the day:

"[Mahmoud] Darwish is like the [Chaim Nahum] Bialik of the Palestinians. He is a figure that the Arab-Israelis really identify with. At our high school I did a project where I taught both about the poet [Darwish] and about other Arab and Palestinian writers. But that is unusual and it is not easy to teach Jewish pupils about Arab writers. My students initially objected to learn about the identity of the Other and to learn the works of non-Jews. But they went through a process of getting to know that there is another narrative and other quality poets and authors, Arabs.”
--A Jewish Israeli literature teacher at a high school in Holon tells Maariv about the importance of teaching Mamoud Darwish's works to Jewish students.*

APN Legislative Round-Up: July 9-20, 2016

by admin_as_editor 07/20/16

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

As expected, last week – which marked the one-year anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA – was for Iran deal opponents in Congress an opportunity for unremitting grandstanding, including with the introduction, promotion, and passage of various pieces of legislation designed to undermine or effectively cancel the agreement (see Washington Post 7/11: House GOP to tackle new Iran sanctions before leaving town). Those efforts were also unapologetically and overtly partisan (see Foreign Policy 7/12: House Dems Rebel Against GOP’s Iran Sanctions Push). For its part (and probably reflecting this partisan problem), AIPAC appears for now to be keeping its powder dry: it sent a memo to the Hill last week (Taking Stock: The Iran Deal One Year Later) acknowledging that the JCPOA has worked in reducing the threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon and calling on Congress to take a range of actions to get tougher on Iran (a list well worth keeping around for future reference); however, as of this writing the AIPAC “legislative agenda” page does not endorse any of the pending Iran-related measures.

Also: APN on the JCPOA at One Year: A Clear Win for Both the U.S. & Israel; APN resources on the anniversary of the JCPOA are here.

Who is Threatening Democracy in Israel

by APN 07/20/16

Yedioth Ahronoth
by Nahum Barnea

The failed coup in Turkey holds many lessons for Israel. One of them, and not the least of them, is that we do not sufficiently appreciate the regime bequeathed to us by the state’s founders, and mainly—we are not doing enough to preserve it.

The Turkish Air Force officers who were involved in the attempted coup spoke in the name of democracy; their enemy, Erdogan, also speaks in the name of democracy, and both sides bear the name of democracy in vain. Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, imposed a secular dictatorship on the Turks, in which the army is the supreme source of authority and the guardian of the constitution; Erdogan posed his alternative to this legacy, an Islamic and Ottoman dictatorship. He is photographed with the picture of Ataturk in the background because officially he is still the father of the nation, but his life’s mission is to destroy Ataturk’s legacy. This week’s events bring him another step, an important step, closer to fulfilling his goal.

News Nosh 07.20.16

by APN 07/20/16

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday July 20, 2016

Quotes of the day:

"Through dirty tricks, the coalition unanimously passed one of the basest laws in its history. This is one of the most embarrassing moments of the humiliation of the Knesset. This law is designed to remove the Arab MKs from the Knesset. I am ashamed for the Knesset."
--Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On said at stormy Knesset session in which the impeachment bill was approved.**

"Democracy is not a stable building. There are shocks and you (the opposition) pulled out a brick. This time, it’s against the Arabs, the second time it will be against women, and the next time you will harm some other group, until in the end they get to you. And there will be no one to protect you. When you...allow the Israeli parliament to oust its own members, that is where the trouble starts.”
--MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Camp) said at the same stormy Knesset session.**

APN Weekly Update - Bresler calls out the occupation, Alpher calls out the new NGO law, Iran deal a year later, and more

by APN 07/19/16

Americans for Peace Now: July 19, 2016

"...the law's purpose is to encourage popular hostility against Israeli advocates of human and minority rights. "

Yossi Alpher, in his discussion about Israel's newly enacted "NGO Law" in Hard Questions, Tough Answers (see below).

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 18, 2016 - Deterring human rights advocacy in Israel; terror in Nice; coup in Turkey

Q. On July 11, the Knesset passed a bill that stigmatizes human rights NGOs (non-governmental organizations, or non-profits) in Israel by obliging them to constantly and blatantly publicize funding they receive from foreign governments. What’s wrong with this measure?

A. ...A multitude of important matters of principle and of ethics that bear directly upon the dangerous course the mainstream right has set for the state of Israel...

Q. The truck attack in Nice on Bastille Day, July 14 no longer appears unusual. Can you add anything of relevance to the multitude of commentary we have heard and read already?

A. Two comments made in the aftermath by France's political leadership are worthy of our attention...

Q. And what was relevant about the failed military coup in Turkey?

A. From Israel's standpoint, a lot. Israel just reached a rapprochement with President Erdogan, Turkish aid to Gaza has begun to flow, the countries plan to exchange ambassadors within weeks, and PM Netanyahu successfully "cleared" the deal with the Russians and the Egyptians...

APN to receive "Narrative Leadership" award

APN will be honored this Thursday for its key role and partnership in the NSL program that trains young emerging leaders from Palestine and Israel. APN has hosted interns and programs for the past eight years.

The APN Weekly Update can now be
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In The News

The "Iran Deal" at One Year: A Clear Win for the US and Israel

APN celebrates the achievement of the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which after one year is already proving itself by radically rolling back and limiting Iran's nuclear program.

Go HERE for APN's resource page that includes links to statements from President Obama and recommended analyses and news commentary on the one-year anniversary.

Go HERE for a letter in praise of the Iran nuclear deal from 75 US national security leaders, and HERE to share it on Facebook.

The fourth in a series of security validators for APN features an American Statesman, General and former National Security Advisor

General Colin Powell: "Israeli settlement activity has seriously undermined Palestinian trust and hope. It pre-empts and prejudices the outcome of negotiations and, in does so, cripples chances for real peace and security."

News Nosh 07.25.16

Pinchas: When the head is unworthy, the people are punished

News Nosh 07.24.16

APN Receives Narrative Champion Award form New Story Leadership

News Nosh 07.22.16

News Nosh 07.21.16

APN Legislative Round-Up: July 9-20, 2016

Who is Threatening Democracy in Israel

News Nosh 07.20.16

APN Weekly Update - Bresler calls out the occupation, Alpher calls out the new NGO law, Iran deal a year later, and more

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