Action Alerts
APN is a leading source of pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy and activism. Through our Action Network, we mobilize tens of thousands of actions every year in support of peace, with actions targeting the U.S. government, Congress, Jewish organizations, the media, the Israeli embassy, and others. Join us in taking action to fight anti-peace policies and actions, and to urge elected officials to adopt policies that support the two-state solution. Join our Action Network and check this page regularly (actions are listed in chronological order, with the most recent at the top). Add your voice to the chorus of pro-Israel, pro-peace voices fighting to end the occupation and to secure a two-state solution!
Just over a week ago, the Biden Administration released the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, demonstrating its dedication to combating antisemitism in all its forms while protecting free speech and safeguarding individual rights.
We support this approach, including the decision not to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Instead, the National Strategy allows for a more inclusive and effective response to antisemitism while protecting free speech. This comprehensive approach should serve as a model for combating antisemitism worldwide.
Now, as the United Nations formulates its own plan, we have an important opportunity to advance this pragmatic and nuanced approach to combating antisemitism on a global scale. It is crucial that we push for the UN to adopt a framework that protects speech rather than a definition that weaponizes antisemitism to quash legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies and practices.
Please join us by urging your Member of Congress to sign on to a letter led by Congresswoman Janice
Schakowsky that encourages US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield to advocate for a comprehensive,
nuanced, and action-based approach to combating antisemitism within the United Nations.
Read the full text of the letter here.
Israel’s protest movement needs our support.
While Prime Minister Netanyahu has delayed the so-called “judicial reform” until the Knesset reconvenes in May, the fight to save Israel’s democracy is far from over. If enacted, this overhaul would destroy Israel’s independent judiciary and change the very nature of Israel’s government, away from a liberal democracy and toward a dictatorship of the corrupt.
Like you, we watched the footage of Huwara burning in complete horror. The disturbing images of this pogrom are reminiscent of some of the darkest moments of Jewish history. In the ashes of what remains of Huwara, no decent human being would look at the carnage and think: “let’s finish the job.”
The fight against the weaponization of antisemitism and for free speech continues in the Senate. The second bill we wrote to you about, HB1606 – the State House bill intended to codify the IHRA definition is still in play. The State House has sent it over to the Senate where the Rules Committee will be considering it tomorrow.
As we’ve previously mentioned, HB1606 is the latest in a series of cynical attempts across the country to co-opt the fight against antisemitism and use it instead as a weapon against free speech and to quash legitimate criticism of policies and actions of the Israeli government. Adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is a prime example of how well-meaning attempts to fight antisemitism can be misappropriated. IHRA and its examples, while on the surface seemingly benign, have been used time and again to codify language that would allow for such weaponization.
Criticizing the policies and actions of the Israeli government is not antisemitic. We must not allow the effort to combat antisemitism to be co-opted by those who wish to stifle this critical speech. Ask your Senator to Oppose HB1606.
Virginia has become ground zero in the state by state effort to penalize those who wish to exercise their
constitutionally-protected freedom of speech by boycotting, or even just maintaining their right to boycott, the
state of Israel. Any day now, the State House is expected to consider two more dangerous bills that would infringe
on the right to free speech and academic freedom: HB1606 and HB1898.
HB1606 – “IHRA Anti-Semitism; definition when term used in reference to discrimination”, is the latest in a series of cynical attempts across the country to co-opt the fight against antisemitism and use it instead as a weapon against free speech and to quash legitimate criticism of policies and actions of the Israeli government. Adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is a prime example of how well-meaning attempts to fight antisemitism can be misappropriated. IHRA and its examples, while on the surface seemingly benign, have been used time and again to codify language that would allow for such weaponization.
State by state, across the country there has been a concerted effort to penalize those who wish to exercise their constitutionally-protected freedom of speech by boycotting, or even just maintaining their right to boycott, the state of Israel. Tomorrow, Virginia becomes ground zero in this fight when the state senate will vote on SB 1375, the Virginia Public Procurement Act.
Today marks 100 days since the Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh was killed. 100 days that
her loved ones have been grieving the loss of their beloved aunt, sister, friend and colleague. 100 days in which
the Israeli government has obscured the truth and attempted to shift blame. 100 days of which the United States
avoided conducting its own independent investigation into her killing. 100 days and no justice.
Last fall, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared that six prominent Palestinian rights groups were “terrorist organizations.” These civil society groups, Al Haq; Addameer; Defense For Children International-Palestine; Bisan; the Union of Agricultural Work Committees; and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, work directly with Palestinian women and girls, children, low-income families, prisoners, and civil society activists, providing direct services and monitoring human rights abuses by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.