Americans for Peace Now joins its Israeli sister-organization, Peace Now, in strongly condemning the Israeli government's approval of constructing hundreds of new housing units in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. APN welcomes the Obama administration's statement, issued last night, which states that settlement expansion threatens the two-state solution and calls into question Israel's commitment to a negotiated resolution to the conflict.
Dror Moreh wrote this letter for Americans for Peace Now, because the only reasonable way to resolve the conflict is a two-state solution. And that's the message former Shin Bet directors make in his documentary The Gatekeepers.
On Friday, 24 July 2015, Peace Now held it's annual conference in Tel Aviv under the title: Israel Now - Building an Alternative." With 1,200 participants, many of them youth, this was Peace Now's largest conference of all time. Some 60 speakers - including Members of Knesset, journalists, civil society leaders, experts and activists - participated in different panels focusing on the two state solution; international pressure; identity politics; the parliamentary opposition; and the struggle against silencing and de-legitimization of peace organizations. Another issue highlighted at the conference was the struggle against the demolition of Palestinian village of Susya, which is taking place these very days.
Watch highlights of the conference here:
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This week, Alpher discusses ramifications of the Iran nuclear deal for US-Israel relations, as well as regionally; Israel’s relations with Jordan and Saudi Arabia; how Turkey has exploited the momentum of the Iran nuclear deal; and at this time, two weeks past the conclusion in Vienna of the Iran nuclear agreement with the international community, who is gaining and who is losing in the Middle East.
The sub-committee for settlements of the higher planning committee of the military’s Civil Administration met
yesterday to discuss 15 plans, at various planning stages and in different settlements. In total, the committee
discussed plans that regard 1,065 housing units. Of these housing units, the plan approved 541 new housing units,
retroactively legalized 228 existing housing units, and approved the development of infrastructure for a plan that
consists of 296 housing units, while further approval will be needed before construction of the housing units can
begin.
We mourn the passing of APN friend Theodore Bikel.
The world renowned stage and film actor and singer was also a leading peace activist for Israel, and was currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Partners for Progressive Israel. He publicly refused to perform in Israeli settlements, and in 2010 led a settlement boycott effort by 120 artists which he wrote about in the Huffington Post's "Legitimizing an Obstacle to Peace"
As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is our aim: to make people think and to act for peace.
This week, we bring you a new cartoon, asking what troubles the Prime Minister most: “Existential Threat”
Rabbi Seth Goldstein has served as the rabbi of Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, WA since 2003,
after graduating from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia. He is a member of the board of
the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, served as a co-chair of an RRA task force examining issues of
Jewish status and identity, is a participant in the Clergy Leadership Program of the Institute for Jewish
Spirituality and a fellow of CLAL's Rabbis Without Borders.
Tisha B’Av (“the ninth of Av”) is a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem, and is observed this year beginning the evening of July 25. Like Yom Kippur, it is a full day fast (The fast is being observed on the 10th of Av this year because the 9th falls on Shabbat, and thus the fast is postponed.)
The Temple holds an important place in the collective spiritual consciousness of the Jewish people. It is seen as the place where the community was in deep and close connection to God. The destruction of the Temple led to the separation from the land, the dispersion of the community and a need to rebuild the ritual infrastructure of Judaism, so its loss is remembered as a great tragedy. In addition to setting aside this one day to mourn, prayers for the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem punctuate our liturgy.
Interview with Iran expert Meir Javedanfar. An Iranian-born Israeli who co-authored a book on Iran's leadership and teaches courses on contemporary Iranian politics at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Javedanfar is well-positioned to analyze attitudes toward the agreement both in Israel and in Iran. The interview is about 10 minutes long.