Lag B’omer is coming – the 33rd day between Pesach and Shavuot, a day traditionally for throwing off mourning and instead celebrating with music, weddings and bonfires. Lag B’omer is a minor holiday that not many American Jews are aware of. Paradoxically, Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron have it circled on their calendars.

It has become a Lag B'omer custom of some Jewish settlers in Hebron to vandalize and loot Palestinian property for wood with which to build bonfires. And unlike the Israeli military authority, which regularly shuts down the West Bank during Jewish holidays to minimize the possibility of a terrorist attack, the Palestinians don’t have the means to protect their communities come Lag B'omer.

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As Jews and friends of Israel, we recognize the dread of an approaching holiday. Those closures during Passover and other holidays are Israel’s response to horrific terrorist attacks like the suicide bombing by Hamas of a seder at a Netanya hotel in 2002. The attack killed 30 Jews and wounded 140. A similar attack was perpetrated in 2006, killing 11 and wounding 60 at another Passover seder. A number of years have passed since an attack like this has occurred, but the threat remains.

Still, we can’t leave unremarked this twisted Lag B'omer practice of terrorizing Palestinians on a day dedicated to joy and relief. Preying on Palestinians has become so routine that it is no longer newsworthy. But this can’t be the way of Jewish “celebration”: breaking into Palestinian shops and homes, damaging and looting them. And these can’t be the actions of God-fearing Jews – terrorizing Palestinian and Israel Arab towns by torching cars, slashing tires, and spray painting Stars of David and racist slogans, as was done as recently as a week ago.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now is deeply disappointed in the decision of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to recommend favorably Mike Pompeo to become Secretary of State in a narrow party-line vote.

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.

This week, Alpher discusses the main challenges Israel faces on its seventieth birthday: war, Gaza, peace, and the nature of the state.

In April 2018, the six living former directors of the Mossad -- Israel's spy agency -- were interviewed by Yedioth Achronoth.  A key theme was their belief in the imperative of the two-state solution for Israel, and their call for diplomacy with the Palestinians. 

Debra DeLee, Debra Shushan, MK Merav Michaeli, Nidal Fuqaha, and Lara Friedman discuss the formalization of annexation.  Americans for Peace Now's panel discussion at J Street's National Conference April 15, 2018.

Israeli author David Grossman was the keynote speaker at the April 17th 2018  joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial service sponsored by the Parents Circle-Families Forum and Combatants for Peace. Following is a translation of his speech: 

Dear friends, good evening.

There has been a lot of noise and commotion surrounding our ceremony, but we do not forget that more than anything, this is a ceremony of memory and communing. The noise, even if it is present, is outside us now, because at the heart of this evening there is a profound quiet, the quiet of the void created by loss.

My family and I lost Uri in the war, a sweet, smart and funny young man. Even now, nearly twelve years later, it is difficult for me to speak about him publicly.

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.

This week, Alpher discusses the US-led attack against chemical warfare targets in Syria.

As organizations within the Jewish community, we stand together to reject Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s baseless and ugly attack on the New Israel Fund (NIF).

Nearly two months after the Boston Marathon bombing, Mike Pompeo, then a congressman from Kansas, took to the floor of the House to denounce American Muslim leaders for what he called their “silence” in response to the heinous terrorist attack.

“Silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts,” Mr. Pompeo said, reading from prepared remarks.

In fact, more than half a dozen American Muslim organizations had issued statements condemning the bombing within hours of the attack. In the days following, Muslim groups organized news conferences, blood drives and prayer vigils. Mr. Pompeo was immediately informed that he was wrong, but did not apologize or respond to Muslim groups stung by his remarks.

Mr. Pompeo, now the C.I.A. director, has been chosen by President Trump to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. He faces what is expected to be a relatively smooth confirmation hearing in the Senate. But an array of voices are raising alarm over what they say is Mr. Pompeo’s record of anti-Muslim remarks and ties to anti-Islam groups. American Muslims, Jews, civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and former State Department officials are among those pushing senators on the Foreign Relations Committee to take a closer look.

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PROGRESSIVE GROUPS URGE SENATE TO REJECT POMPEO -- Dozens of national progressive groups are calling on the Senate to reject CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination to be secretary of state. Roughly 70 groups signed onto a letter obtained by Huddle expressing opposition to Pompeo, warning that he “promotes principles and policies that are antithetical to American values.” “His repeated advocacy for war, Islamophobia, climate change denial, hostility to human rights, including reproductive and LGBT rights, and support for torture make him dangerous and unfit to be a chief architect of U.S. foreign policy,” they write.

Pompeo’s confirmation faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow 51-49 majority. Fourteen Senate Democrats voted for him to be CIA director. But with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) publicly opposed and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) recovering from cancer treatment, Democrats could sink Pompeo’s confirmation bid with united opposition. Republicans, however, could find support from vulnerable red-state Democrats running for reelection this year. But progressive groups are arguing that a Secretary of State Pompeo would be the leader of Trump’s “War Cabinet.” “Pompeo is unfit to serve as Secretary of State,” the groups conclude. “We urge you to oppose and reject his nomination.”