Americans for Peace Now is appalled and alarmed by President Trump’s shocking statements yesterday, equating neo-Nazis and white supremacists to progressive demonstrators and equating Robert E. Lee to George Washington. He is completely blurring the lines between right and wrong as he dabbles in the politics of moral equivalence and coddles his racist supporters whose cause is anathema to American values and civil rights.
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 China's proposal for Israeli-Palestinian peace; why Beijing bothered with the proposal; Kushner and Greenblatt's upcoming trip to the region; their visits to Egypt and Jordan; and Netanyahu's frequent employment of Orthodox American Jewish immigrants to Israel in trusted senior positions.
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 whether with Ari Harow, a former Netanyahu aide who will implicate him in corruption allegations, the clock is finally ticking on Netanyahu's premiership; Mahmoud Abbas's health and political future; where the Taylor Force act comes into play; and how Netanyahu and Abbas exiting office would affect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prospects for peace initiatives.
Daoud Kuttab a veteran Palestinian journalist, now lives and works in Amman as the director-general of the Community Media Network a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing independent media in the Arab world. In a conversation with APN's Ori Nir and Debra Shushan, he lays out Jordan's perspective on the recent Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif crisis and the deteriorating relations between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel.
On August 1 2017, APN hosted Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann for a briefing call on the impact of the recent crisis surrounding Jerusalem’s Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif.
Americans for Peace Now is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Debra Shushan as its Director of Policy and Government Relations, effective August 1, 2017.
Dr. Shushan will be responsible for developing and formulating APN’s policy positions. She will also direct and run APN’s relations with the US government’s executive branch, as well as with Congress.
Barbara Green has been a volunteer for Americans for Peace Now for many years. She lives in
Washington, DC.
Commemorating as it does the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem, Tisha b'Av is problematic for secular American Jews. The destruction of the central institution of pre-rabbinic Judaism, first by the Babylonians in 587 BCE, and then by the Romans in 70 CE, both followed by exile from the land, were indeed terrible events in our history. Among observant Jews, Tisha B’Av has also been, and remains, a Jewish day of mourning, not only for these events, but also for a number of other historic tragedies which happened to fall during the late summer.
But it does make me wonder, what does the recitation of this litany do to our sense of self? Does it tell us we're victims and must always stay strong? We must behave toward our enemies the way they treated us?
News from Peace Now:
The Shamasne family, who resides in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, recently received an
eviction order from the Execution Office of Israel's Enforcement and Collection Authority. The order states
that the family must evict its home by August 9th 2017, or else it will be forcibly evicted.
This order follows a
High Court verdict from August 2013, in which the court rejected the Shamasne family appeal, and ruled that
family members are not considered protected tenants and that therefore, their landlords are allowed to evict them.
The landlords are settlers who had managed to gain ownership over the property on the basis of the right of return
to Jews only (see more information below).
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 aftermath of the Temple Mount and Jordanian crises, the resulting tension, and Netanyahu's territorial exchange proposal.