Palestinian American Voices Deserve to be Heard

From Hadar Susskind, on August 22nd (midway through the Democratic National Convention, on August 22nd, 2024). Hadar also recorded a video on this topic with our board member Mandy Patinkin, which you can view HERE.

Seeing Rachel and Jon Goldberg Polin on stage last night at the DNC was powerful and heartbreaking. It was important because it was not about politics, it was about empathy and humanity. I cried as they shared their story and their grief with the world.

But grief and humanity are not limited to Israelis, and neither should empathy be so. I stand with my Palestinian friends in their call to have their voices and their humanity recognized and valued in the same way.
It is a mistake, not just a political one, but a moral one, to ignore that grief and their humanity. It and they should be represented on the stage at the convention.

As a Jewish, Israeli-American, I hope that the DNC  will reconsider and put a Palestinian-American on the stage tonight.
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Statement- New Sanctions on Extremist Settlers

August 28 2024- Americans for Peace Now strongly supports the Biden Administration’s imposition of new sanctions on extremist West Bank settlers and the institutions of Occupation. 

The sanctions on “farm outpost” Hashomer Yosh are long overdue: as our sister organization Peace Now reported in 2021, “the association supports at least 28 illegal outposts across the West Bank…Thus, with a relatively small investment (one family and a few young boys who herd sheep or cows upon a hill), settlers are able to take over huge amounts of land and dispossess Palestinian farmers from that same land.” The organization receives Israeli government funding and has been involved in violence against Palestinians.

Yitzhak Filant, “security officer” for the Yitzhar settlement, has played a major role in coordinating similar violent attacks against the residents of Palestinian villages.

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Statement- Rescuing Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi

August 27, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the successful rescue of Israeli citizen Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi by the IDF from Hamas captivity. As his brother said, “May all the hostages return, and may all the families feel this feeling.”

For that to happen, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas leader Sinwar must stop stonewalling a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Despite intensive efforts by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and the international community, the Israeli government and Hamas are apparently still insisting on conditions that delay or forestall an agreement. Many hostages remain alive in captivity under terrible circumstances; conditions in Gaza are desperate and more aid shipments and rebuilding must commence; and both Palestinians and Israelis are still dying and living in the terror and misery of an ongoing war.

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Legislative Round-Up- August 23, 2024

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

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The Latest Developments- Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin (August 27, 2024)

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, a scholar and writer, is an international political and strategic consultant. She has advised and conducted research on nine national campaigns in Israel over the past twenty years, and has provided research and advising for elections, referendums, and civil society campaigns in fifteen different countries. She is the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel

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Statement- Trump and Netanyahu Delaying Ceasefire Agreement

August 21, 2024- Americans for Peace Now strongly condemns the apparent plan by former President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to delay a ceasefire agreement, as reported by many news outlets. In addition to violating the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from influencing official US government negotiations, the cynical pact to deny peace, the return of the hostages and desperately-needed aid to rebuild Gaza substantiates the claim that ceasefire negotiations are hampered by Netanyahu’s and Trump’s personal political objectives.

“Donald Trump was terrible for Israel and Palestine when he was President,” said Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of APN. “Now, if as a private citizen he is impeding a ceasefire solution, he is violating the Logan Act and endangering the innocent lives of Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians.

“As many top Israeli officials have said on the record, it is clear that Netanyahu is delaying a ceasefire to placate his far-right coalition partners who only support continued war and destruction. The latest reports confirm that he continues to sabotage an agreement. Trump should remove himself from the process, and Netanyahu should take the deal, bring the hostages home and end the war – now.”

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Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

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Legislative Round-Up- August 15, 2024

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

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Statement- Israel Government Approval of New West Bank Settlement

August 14, 2024- Americans for Peace Now strongly condemns the Israeli government’s announcement of approval for a new settlement, Nahal Heletz, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The settlement is deliberately designed to disrupt the contiguity of an eventual Palestinian state, as acknowledged by Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich.

In formally approving the first new settlement to be announced since 2017, the Israeli government is defying the Biden Administration and the international community, who rightfully insist that new settlements are an obstacle to a resolution of the conflict. The location of this settlement also encroaches on the Palestinian village of Battir, home to ancient hillside agricultural terraces that have been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.

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It is clear that people around the world– and the mediators sent to the table in Doha– want an agreement to stop the violence in Gaza and to bring the Israeli hostages home. But the general understanding of how to get from point A (calling for a deal) to point B (getting the Israeli government and Hamas to agree to a deal) remains murky. To shed some light on the circumstances surrounding this round of negotiations, we sat down with Dr. Gershon Baskin, a veteran peace activist and longtime researcher of the Israel/Palestine conflict and peace process.

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