Update: this action, now closed, ran in September 2016. 

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement in which he claimed that evacuating Israeli settlements from the West Bank in the context of a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is tantamount to “ethnic cleansing.” This statement, trivializing crimes against humanity and genocide, should outrage anyone who cares about international affairs and who cares about Israel.

Applying terminology borrowed from the darkest days of European history to a scenario in which Israeli settlements would be withdrawn to allow for a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians, reached by the sovereign governments of both peoples, is abhorrent. It merits the US Jewish community’s rejection and repudiation.

Every U.S. President since 1967, both Republican and Democrat, has accepted that settlements would be removed as part of a peace agreement. Menachem Begin, who evacuated all of Israel’s settlements in Sinai as a part of a peace agreement, and Ariel Sharon, who unilaterally removed all the settlements from the Gaza Strip and a handful in the northern West Bank, made a sovereign decision to do so out of national security considerations. Controversial as these moves may have been at the time, they were not “ethnic cleansing.”

It seems there is no line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t cross to defend settlements. Israeli law says settlers can’t steal Israeli-recognized Palestinian private land for their own purposes? Netanyahu leaves no principle of rule of law unchallenged in the effort to “legalize” the settlers’ actions. The boycott-divestment-sanctions (BDS) movement challenges Israel’s legitimacy? Netanyahu jumps on the chance to exploit the BDS threat to legitimize settlements, accusing anyone who differentiates between Israel and settlements of embracing BDS (and accusing Israel’s closest allies of adopting policies similar to those of the Nazis). The Palestinians – and virtually the entire world – argue that settlements are an obstacle to peace and will need to be removed? Last week, Netanyahu releases a video accusing them of supporting ethnic cleansing.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: the idea that Jews may not live in a given place, for no reason other than because they are Jewish, is abhorrent. But that isn’t what objecting to settlements is about, and Netanyahu knows it. The demand for the removal of Israeli settlements from the West Bank has nothing to do with where Jews, as Jews, can or cannot live. It has to do with whether Israel will be a permanent occupier or will accept a two-state solution.

And let’s make another thing clear: Defending settlements by appealing to Jewish historical trauma at the hands of the Nazis — which is what Jews think of when we hear the words “ethnic cleansing” or worse yet, the Nazi term often invoked Netanyahu and the settlers, “Judenrein” — is morally despicable, politically inflammatory and factually misleading.

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 three new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives that are reportedly being incubated: a set of “Obama principles”, a Moscow summit, and an Israeli referendum in terms of potential content and advantages and disadvantages; what would he recommend for an Obama peace formula as part of his legacy; PM Netanyahu seemingly contemplating steps to dissuade Obama from any peace initiatives, including a possible Moscow summit with Palestinian leader Abbas; allegations that Abbas had been recruited sometime before 1983 by the KGB; and the campaign to hold a national referendum on the two-state solution, “Decision at 50.”

The campaign to save the Palestinian village of Sussya, which has involved extraordinary efforts by human rights activists both inside and outside Israel, has reached a decisive movement. The Israeli government is poised to make a final decision on whether to raze almost half of the village, located in Area C on land long-coveted by settlers. International pressure succeeded in convincing the Israeli government to delay the decision, originally due in early August, until later this fall, but the threat to destroy almost half of the village remains, as does the threat to destroy individual homes before a final decision is made later this year.

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Write to Secretary of State John Kerry & to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer
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APN Briefing Call with Peace Now Settlement Watch Director Hagit Ofran (August 25, 2016)
Backgrounder from Rabbis for Human Rights: The struggle against the forced displacement of Susya to Area A
Backgrounder from Btselem: Khirbet Susiya – a village under threat of demolition
View this & other settlement-related developments on APN’s Map App

US OFFICIAL REACTION

State Department press briefing 7/16/16: “…we strongly urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out any demolitions in the village. Demolition of this Palestinian village or of parts of it, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes would be harmful and provocative…”

IN THE MEDIA

The Washington Post 8/28/16: Israel wants to bulldoze this ramshackle village, but Europe is providing life support
Jerusalem Post 8/19/16: In disputed Sussiya, old Ottoman law still casts a shadow over the land
Times of Israel 7/26/15: 1881 document suggests Palestinian ownership of Susya
David Shulman in New York Review of Books 6/28/12: ‘I Am an Illegal Alien on My Own Land’
Moriel Rothman oped in the Daily Beast 6/20/12: Why Susya is "Illegal"

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 what we can learn from the exchange in late August between late August a UN envoy who called Israeli settlement construction an impediment to peace and a Netanyahu spokesperson who retorted that the envoy was “distorting history and international law;” who are the winners and losers in this round of the seemingly endless Syrian civil war and what is the strategic significance of Turkey's invasion of northern Syria with the blessing of the US; and whether Washington wins or loses and Where this leaves US and Israeli strategic interests regarding the Syria issue and its regional and international ramifications.

On Monday, September 5th, Decision at 50,  a new organization composed of Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Israel’s preeminent peace movement, in cooperation with other Israeli civil society organizations, issued the following press release:

Today (Monday, September 5^th) "Decision at 50" launched a campaign demanding a referendum on the future of the Territories and the future of Israel during the 50^th year of Israel's control over the West Bank and Gaza. Under the slogan "It's time to decide," the movement will promote a large scale media campaign, accompanied by public events and direct action throughout the country meant to collect signatures of Israeli citizens in support of a Knesset referendum bill.

"Decision at 50" was initiated by a group of organizations and individuals, including "Peace Now," "Blue White Future," as well as former security officials, former politicians, artists and social activists.

The founders of "Decision at 50" believe that after 50 years of Israeli control over the Palestinian Territories, and after 50 years of indecision by Israeli governments, it is time to bring the decision to the Israeli public and let the people decide on their own fate: a bi-national state or two states, 50 more years of military rule or a diplomatic resolution. "This is the most sensitive and explosive issue in Israeli society today, and we demand that after 50 years we will get the right to decide on our own future. We cannot allow ourselves another 50 years of governments' indecision, during which decisions are made every day on the ground," the founders of the initiatives say.

The New York Times today published the following letter by APN's Chair of the Board Jim Klutznick and its President and CEO Debra DeLee:

To the Editor:

“Israel Legalizes Outposts in the West Bank, Step by Quiet Step” (front page, Aug. 31) highlights a central truth about illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank: Extremist settlers are not rogue actors. Rather, they work hand in glove with the Israeli government in flouting Israel’s own laws in order to build more settlements.

Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Israel’s preeminent peace movement, in cooperation with other Israeli civil society organizations, today launched a new initiative demanding a referendum on the future of Israel’s rule over the West Bank and on peace with the Palestinians.

Americans for Peace Now, the U.S. sister organization of Shalom Achshav, supports the initiative. APN calls on all Americans who care about Israel’s future to support the call for a referendum on the occupation, which is now entering its fiftieth year.

Amona is the largest illegal outpost in the West Bank, home to some fifty families, located near the settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah. Built on some 100 acres of land registered as privately-owned by Palestinians, the outpost was built without permits from the Israeli government, but with the direct and indirect support of Israeli authorities. In 2006, following a decision of the Israeli High Court of Justice, nine structures in the outpost were demolished – but in the years since, the outpost has grown and flourished. Now, the High Court is forcing the Israeli government to take action once again to remove the illegal construction – but rather than simply removing the outpost, the Israeli government has decided to re-locate it – to another area of privately-owned Palestinian land.

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Write to the State Department
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LEARN MORE

APN Q&A on Amona
APN Briefing Call with Peace Now Settlement Watch Director Hagit Ofran (August 25, 2016)
APN to Obama 8/11/16: Act to Reverse Israeli Government Taking Over Palestinian Land for West Bank Settlement
Peace Now Report, August 2016: The Legal Opinion Submitted to the Attorney General on Amona: A Crossing of a Red Line
APN report 8/8: Peace Now Settlement Watch: AG Mandelblit Considers Relocating Amona to Lands Owned by Absentees (with translation of AG’s opinion)
Peace Now report 8/11/16: The Israeli Government is Taking Over Absentees' Property Near Amona
Comprehensive report on the original battle over Amona and the destruction of 9 units there: APN Settlements in Focus 2/17/06 and APN Settlements in Focus 7/29/05
View this & other settlement-related developments on APN’s Map App