"Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if
Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, (and if)
Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian
land."
President Barack Obama, speaking Tuesday before the General
Assembly of the United Nations.
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.
September 19, 2016 - SPECIAL EDITION: Books of note
Q. The past five years of Middle East turmoil must have produced some
interesting expert writing. What's the best book you’ve read lately on the Arab
revolutionary wave?
A. Probably Jean-Pierre Filiu's From Deep State to Islamic
State: the Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihad Legacy...
Q. Books which analyze additional causes for the current chaos in the
Arab world...
A. Emma Sky's The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed
Opportunities in Iraq, a riveting and entertaining hands-on description of the
failure of the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation...US military
role historical depth is offered by Andrew Bacevich in America's War for the
Greater Middle East: A Military History...
Q. And books on the Arab revolutions that add a more human
dimension?
A. Another panoramic view, this time of the entire geography of
the Arab Middle East, is provided by Robert F. Worth, a distinguished NY Times
correspondent, in A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir
square to ISIS...
Q. Anything else to recommend on the US role in the Middle East before
the Arab revolutions?
A. Bruce Riedel's What We Won: America's Secret War in
Afghanistan 1979-89...
Q. To round off the list, something on Israel and the
Palestinians?
A. Something quite unique: Zionism in Arab Discourses, by
Uriya Shavit and Ophir Winter, both of Tel Aviv University...
The Jewish
People's Dual Narrative: Parshat Ki Tavo
Rabbi Susan P. Fendrick, editor, writer, teacher, and spiritual director, writes
...We carry the memory of victimization, which should keep us vigilant, and of
eons of wandering, which should stoke our empathy.
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Words Matter,
Actions Matter More
Aviva Meyer, APN Vice Chair, has written the publication "Words Matter, Actions
Matter More" which reflects the realities and opportunities that would, could, and
should make a difference.
See a reproduction of the publication HERE
Thank you to
the thousands of you who took action so far!
APN's Stephanie Breitsman delivers a stack of your letters to a State Department
official urging a stronger response to settlement activities in Hebron and Amona.
The emails and letters you sent, and continue to send, have had a demonstrative
impact. As an example, the Anti-Defamation League has now publicly renounced Prime
Minister Netanyahu "ethnic cleansing" comments, and re-tweeted APN's support of
them.
Urge America's Jewish organizations to repudiate
Netanyahu's "ethnic cleansing" comments.
Sign our Petition: Tell Israel - Stop the land
grabs, stop the settlement expansion.
Save the West Bank Palestinian village of
Sussya.
APN's Ori Nir
in J Weekly: "American Jewish progressives must act to defend their values in
Israel"
...it's hard to argue that real tolerance and open-mindedness are not an
Israeli national security interest.
40% Increase
in Construction Starts in the Settlements in the First Half of
2016
Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics shows that 1,195 housing units
started to be constructed in the settlements in the first six months of 2016. Peace
Now: Investments in the settlements do not only come on the expense of the
Negev, the Galilee and the rest of Israel but also lead towards a one state
reality.
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