Washington, Jerusalem -- Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its Israeli sister organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), in strongly condemning the Israeli government’s decision to take over a large swath of West Bank land to expand Gva’ot, a settlement-in-the-making west of Bethlehem, as well as neighboring settlements.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday September 01, 2014
 

Quote of the day:

"How will Abbas explain to his people the disregard and aggression of the Netanyahu government towards him?"
--Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer slams the Israeli decision to appropriate almost 1000 acres of land in the West Bank.** 

The Civil Administration declared 4,000 dunams (990 acres) as State Land near the settlement of Gva'ot west of Bethlehem. As far as we know, this declaration is unprecedented in its scope since the 1980's and can dramatically change the reality in the Gush Etzion and the Bethlehem area. For an explanation about state land declaration see here.

Gva'ot was established in 1984 as a Military Base between the Palestinian villages of Al Jab'a and Nahhalin. During the 90’s, the soldiers were replaced by Yeshiva students that occupied the 30 caravans on site, and in 1998 the site was included within the official Municipal Borders of the settlement of Alon Shvut, which is located 3 km away. Recently, some 10 families moved in Gvaot and established an education institution on site.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday August 31, 2014
 

Quote of the day:

“(We discussed) what to do when students say ‘Death to Arabs’– which they do frequently – and we gave each other the benefit of our experience."
--Rani Hazon Weiss, a teacher at the Givat Gonen High School in Jerusalem, met with other teachers to talk about how to battle anti-Arab racism in Jewish Israeli schools, post Gaza war.**

Settlements haven’t been in the news of late — and not simply because war pushed them off the media’s radar. They haven’t been in the news because since the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli yeshiva students back in June, there hasn’t been much settlement news to report.

True, already-approved settlement construction continued unabated (and there’s plenty of it). And settlers established several new illegal outposts. And tenders were awarded for new construction in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo. So clearly we’re not in the midst of a full-fledged settlement freeze. However, with respect to both the West Bank and East Jerusalem, there is undoubtedly a semi-freeze: no major new settlement plans promoted through planning committees, very few new approvals granted and then for only a tiny number of units, and no new tenders issued.

On Wednesday, September 10, 2014, J Street U at Georgetown will host Lara Friedman (Director of Policy and Government Relations, APN) and Ghaith al-Omari (Executive Director, ATFP) for a talk on the recent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the current status of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the prospects for peace.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) today issued the following statement:

APN welcomes the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was implemented yesterday. We hope fervently that this ceasefire holds, sparing both Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip further terror and bloodshed. We know, however, that unless the underlying causes of this conflict are addressed, this ceasefire will be nothing more than a prelude to the next round of fighting and misery.

Haim Oron, former leader of the left-wing Meretz party, fears that continued control of the territories will spell the end of Zionism, but isn't yet ready to give up hope.

On a recent Saturday, former leader of the left-wing Meretz party Haim Oron and his wife, Nili, spent hours at Sheba Medical Center, in Ramat Gan. They sat by the bedside of their grandson, Adi Zimri, from an elite unit of the Engineering Corps, who was seriously wounded in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Hit in the leg by a rocket-propelled grenade while searching for Hamas tunnels, he saved his own life by applying an arterial tourniquet to staunch the blood.

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APN Publications

• Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher on the absence of a viable Israeli strategy (September 2, 2014)
• Lara Friedman in the Forward: Did Hamas Get Bibi to Freeze Settlements? (August 29, 2014)
• Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher on military stagnation, war of attrition, Hamas power grab, and new proposal from Abbas? (August 25, 2014)
• APN Calls on Obama Administration to Engage UNSC to End Hamas-Israel Conflict (August 21, 2014)
• Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher on ceasefire talks (August 18, 2014)
• Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher (August 11, 2014)
• APN Press Release: APN Urges Israel, US: Peace Talks Now with Legitimate Palestinian Interlocutors (August 6, 2014)
• APN: Ceasefire, Pivot to Diplomacy -- Now! (July 29, 2014)
  TAKE ACTION: Tell Secretary Kerry: Yes to a Gaza-Israel ceasefire (July 29, 2014)
• Yossi Alpher's Hard Questions, Tough Answers: The Gaza war, as of late Monday afternoon Israel time. (July 28, 2014)
• Yossi Alpher's Hard Questions, Tough Answers (July 21, 2014)
• APN Welcomes US Ceasefire Efforts; Urges Peace Talks: (July 21, 2014)
• APN podcast: Jerusalem-based spokesperson of UNRWA, Christopher Gunness on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. (July 18, 2014)
• APN podcast: Arnon Avni on living in a war zone (July 18, 2014)
• APN Disappointed at Ceasefire Collapse; Urges Immediate Ceasefire, Harnessed to a Diplomatic Process that Leads to Peace. (July 15, 2014)
• Press Release: APN Welcomes Ceasefire Agreement; Urges Peace Talks. (July 14, 2014)
• Take Action - Tell the Obama Administration: Work for a Ceasefire NOW (July 11, 2014)
• Peace Parsha: In Search of an Unbroken Peace (Parshat Pinchas, July 11, 2014)
• Press Release: APN Condemns Gaza Rocket Fire; Supports Israeli Self-Defense; Urges Israel to Avoid Harming Civilians (July 8, 2014)

Recommended Readings on the Israel-Gaza Crisis - from other sources.

Today's News Nosh - Special Section: The Israel-Gaza Crisis

From the Archives: Below is background reading from previous rounds of Gaza-Israel fighting:

APN Publications

• APN welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire agreement; thanks President Obama and Secretary Clinton for helping achieve it (11/21/12)
• APN Condemns Tel Aviv Bus Bombing, Calls Again for Ceasefire (11/21/12)
• APN on Gaza Crisis, Obama's Role, and a New Approach (11/20/12)
• Lara Friedman in the NYT: Only the U.S. Can Broker Peace (11/20/12)
• Peace Now/Shalom Achshav on Gaza - A Political Resolution is the Key (11/18/12)
• APN Concerned about Israel-Gaza Escalation; Urges Diplomacy (11/14/12)
• Peace Now Statement on Cast Lead 2 (11/15/12)
• Open Zion: APN's Lara Friedman - The Senate On Gaza (11/16/12)
• Special Edition: Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher (11/18/12)
• Interview with Israeli Peace Activist Gershon Baskin (11/19/12)
• Interview with Mossi Raz (11/19/20)
• Briefing Call with Yossi Alpher on the Gaza Escalation (11/16/12)
• Lara Friedman for APN: Top 10 Reasons for Reassessing the Gaza Blockade Strategy (6/3/2010)
• The Gaza war one year later: strategic lessons learned -a special edition of APN's weekly publication, Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher (1/15/2010)
• Board member Leonard Fein for APN: Where does it end? (1/15/2010)
• APN Statement: A Year after the Gaza War (1/15/2010)
• Lara Friedman for APN: A Year of Israel Rebuffing the US on Gaza Crossings (1/11/2010)

News Nosh Special Section: The Israel-Gaza Crisis
During this exciting time, News Nosh, our free, daily news roundup, will cover the latest news and analysis. Click HERE to get the News Nosh email delivered to you.