Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) today released the following statement on extending negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear quest: The fact that all parties to the current Iran diplomatic effort wish to extend negotiations underscores the important progress that has been made in talks so far as well as the shared understanding of the very serious risks failure will entail, for everyone.

This week, Alpher discusses the strategic ramifications of last Tuesday's murderous attack on men praying in a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem - in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, the security sphere, the political arena, and whether here are any additional levels.

Americans for Peace Now, together with eight other
organizations mobilizing in support of a diplomatic solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program

invite you to our

National Grassroots Call on Diplomacy with Iran

Violence, incitement and racist hatred don’t just increasingly plague Israel. Palestinian society is just as sick – and unlike Israel, lacks a leader voicing genuine self-criticism.

The despicable violence, incitement, racism and hatred that are plaguing Israelis and Palestinians these days demonstrate just how sick both societies are - yes, both – and how desperately they need to separate from each other into two independent states.

Four ultra-Orthodox Jews at prayer and one Druze policeman, murdered by two Palestinian young men armed with knives, axes and a gun. The heart grieves for the families of the victims and the suffering of the injured.

This past week’s slaughter was the latest development in an escalation of violence in Jerusalem that dates back to the summer, with the kidnapping and murder of three Israel youth in the West Bank, followed by the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teen in East Jerusalem. Most of the world ignored the fires burning in East Jerusalem until the flames spread across the Green Line. Two terrorist attacks on the city’s light rail, one attempted assassination of a right-wing activist, several attacks outside Jerusalem, and a horrific synagogue massacre later, the world has woken up to what is turning into a conflagration that threatens to engulf the entire city and beyond.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's savage terrorist attack on Jewish worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue, which left four innocent civilians dead and others injured. APN strongly condemns this attack. We stand with the people of Israel. Our hearts are with the families that have been broken by today's attack. We wish full and rapid recovery to those who were injured.

Jerusalem is bleeding. At this time, Israeli and Palestinian leaders bear a heavy responsibility. They must put an end to inflammatory actions and rhetoric that would further intensify the bloodshed. They must fight terrorism and incitement. At the same time, they must also seek ways to engage diplomatically to reach a political settlement for the conflict – the only way to avoid perpetual bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians.

The following post by Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann of Rabbis for Human Rights was originally posted on RHR's web site on November 14, 2014, and is reprinted here by permission from the author.

 A mosque was badly arsoned, presumably by Jewish extremists, in the early hours of November 12 2014 in the village of Al Mughayir. About a month prior, another mosque, in a different Palestinian village in the Occupied Territories, was also burned. Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann of RHR visited the mosque in Al Mughayir and writes of his shock at the severity of the arson.

"The children struggled in her womb, and she said, 'If this is so, then why am I?'" -- Genesis 25:22

We read in this week's Torah portion that even in the womb, Rebecca's children Jacob and Esau quarreled. And their perennial struggle brought her to an existential outcry: if this is so, then why am I? If this is the only possibility for my sons, she seems to be saying, then my motherhood -- even my whole existence -- feels called into question. If fighting is all there is, then what's the point?