Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns vile anti-Semitic statements made by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s ambassador to Chile, in which he denied the existence of a Jewish people, accused the Zionist movement of striving to “dominate life in the entire planet,” and hailed the forged “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” as recommended reading.

APN calls on Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of the PLO and the President of the Palestinian Authority, to repudiate the statements of his ambassador to Santiago, Imad Nabil Jada’, to dismiss him, and to remind Palestinian officials of the terrible impact of hate-speech on the cause of peace.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) today welcomed the Obama Administration’s June 30 rejection of legislative language conflating Israel with West Bank settlements (full text of the State Department statement is copied below).  APN Director of Policy and Government Relations Lara Friedman commented:
 
“We welcome the State Department’s statement that U.S. policy regarding settlements remains unchanged. For months we have been warning of ongoing efforts by some in Congress, led by AIPAC and supported by various right-wing organizations, as well as by some in the current Israeli government, to change U.S. policy on this issue by stealth. These efforts seek to exploit concerns about boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel – concerns APN shares – as cover for legislation the true purpose and effect of which are to protect and promote settlements. 

For the first time, the government is requesting to officially take over private Palestinian land in order to legalize an unauthorized outpost, which is built, in part, on private Palestinian land. The request was presented to the Supreme Court as part of the State's reply to a petition filed by Peace Now and Palestinian land owners, against 17 houses built on private Palestinian lands in the Derech Ha'avot Ouptost, near Bethlehem.  The first hearing of the case will take place next Monday, 22 June at 9:00am.
 

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.