Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns the murder of Dani Gonen, an Israeli citizen, in the West Bank near the settlement of Dolev, north west of Ramallah. Another Israeli was injured in the attack. APN sends its condolences to Gonen’s family and wishes quick and full recovery to the young man who was injured.
Today, as we join our fellow Americans in mourning the victims of the hate-crime in Charleston, South Carolina, and as we re-commit to fighting political violence, racism, and bigotry, Americans for Peace Now (APN) also condemns the torching and vandalizing of the Church of Loaves and Fishes in Israel.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes the Supreme Court ruling rejecting efforts by Congress and
outside groups to wrest control from the Executive Branch over foreign policy-making by legislating the status
of Jerusalem in isolation of the context of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
As an American Jewish, Zionist, pro-peace organization, APN was alone in the Jewish organizational world weighing in against the law in question, going so far as to submit an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court when it considered the case for the first time in 2011.
Americans for Peace Now today called on the Obama Administration to reject Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's cynical call for negotiations over settlement blocs and to instead prepare itself to lead or co-lead a resolution in the United Nations Security Council laying out clear parameters for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, consistent with longstanding U.S. policy. APN President and CEO Debra DeLee issued the following statement:
Americans for Peace Now (APN) commends President Obama for eloquently articulating the strong bond
between core American values and progressive Jewish values, and for expressing his frustration with the growing
gap between these values and those that are increasingly manifesting themselves in Israeli public life.
The coalition agreement between the Likud and the Jewish Home party (Bayit Yehudi) reveals the
plans of the new government and indicates its intentions, including:
1. Granting the settlers control over the construction of settlements and
over Israel's authority in the West Bank, while allocating more funds to the settlements.
2. Passing legislation and reforms that change the democratic rules of
the game.
3. Allocating public funds to bolster the political power of the
Israeli Right.
This agreement, which includes a Jewish Home stronghold on a variety of
positions directly related to settlement development, constitutes a clear danger to the possibility of
arriving at a two state solution and illustrates the true intention of the current government - massive
settlement expansion and the silencing of opposition to the occupation.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) applauds the letter sent today to President Obama, signed by 150 House Democrats, in support of ongoing diplomacy with Iran. APN congratulates Representatives Schakowsky (D-IL), Doggett (D-TX), and Price (D-NC) for their leadership in spearheading this effort and commends all House members who co-signed this critically important letter, which APN backed strongly.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced tonight the formation of a narrow government coalition that brings together Israel's right-wing and religious parties, Americans for Peace Now (APN) is expressing deep concern for the new government's impact on Israel's future as a democracy and a Jewish state.
APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "This government, based on the ideology of its members, is bound to act to further hinder the viability of a two-state solution, to further exacerbate Israel's isolation internationally, to intensify West Bank settlement construction, promote undemocratic legislation and act to stifle dissent.
Shalom Achshav, APN's sister organization in Israel, reported:
The Jerusalem District committee for Construction and Planning will convene on Wednesday, 6/5/15, to approve Plan
no. 11085 for the construction of 1,531 housing units in Ramat Shlomo. The plan was called "The Biden Plan" when
during the visit of Vice President Biden in Jerusalem, on March 2010, the plan was approved for depositing by the planning committee.
Washington, DC – APN Today released the following statement regarding pro-settlements legislation in the House and Senate:
“As a pro-Israel, pro-peace organization and the sister organization to Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Israel’s veteran grassroots, Zionist peace movement, Americans for Peace Now (APN) rejects and condemns efforts in Congress, backed by AIPAC, to legislate U.S. support for Israeli settlements. We urge Congress to recognize the danger and folly of this approach and to hold firm in its well-established support for Israel and its equally well-established refusal to endorse Israeli settlements – and to reject HR 825 and efforts to pass similar language in the Senate.