Dear Friend of APN,
If you enjoyed watching Mandy Patinkin lead our moving and memorable commemoration to Yitzhak Rabin last fall, you’re going to love what I have to offer you today.
How about a chance to meet Mandy and his wife, Kathryn Grody, for lunch in New York City?
Antisemitism: Competing Definitions
The definition of antisemitism, which many consider to be intuitive, has recently become controversial. Now, there are three definitions trending. In addition to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) “working definition of antisemitism,” there is the new Nexus definition, and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA), which offer different perspectives and help generate a deeper, more complex discussion on the nature of antisemitism and proper ways of confronting it.
This discussion was jointly sponsored by Americans for Peace Now and T’ruah, The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. It featured Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the Executive Director of T’ruah, and Lara Friedman, the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), and was moderated by Hadar Susskind, the president and CEO of Americans for Peace Now.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Truah’s Executive Director, holds rabbinic ordination and an MA in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Wexner Fellow, an MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College, and a BA from Columbia University. She is the author of Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community and There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition.
Lara Friedman, FMEP’s President, is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She holds Master’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign and a B.A. from the University of Arizona.
Congress is really into flags. Every member flies an American flag outside their door. Some fly college flags or state flags. I’m sure you’ve seen the controversy as some bigoted Reps (space laser lady) posted hate-filled signs outside of their offices in response to a colleague flying a trans rights flag.
March 2021
Dear Friend of APN,
One of the first lessons imparted by the Haggadah, the telling of the story of Passover, is that the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years before they could reach the promised land. The other lesson imparted is that this legacy commands Jews the world over to tell this story, every year, as they gather around the seder table.
We are storytellers.
This year, Americans for Peace Now is marking 40 years of working towards securing a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and we are going to use this celebration as a chance to tell our story.
Washington, DC -- A day after the fourth round of general Israeli elections in two years, with most of the votes counted, Israel seems still stuck in an ongoing, almost endemic political crisis.
But the real crisis is not the absurd cycle of elections. The real destructive crisis threatening Israel's security and democracy is its 53 years of occupation and de-facto annexation of the West Bank that pushes Israelis and Palestinians farther still from an eventual settlement to their conflict.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that “the Biden administration enthusiastically embraces the 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism,” known by its acronym as IHRA.
Join us in asking Secretary Blinken to curb his enthusiasm.
Twelve Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the Biden administration to embrace policy that supports the human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. The letter lists past letters sent to the Trump administration regarding such matters. Following is the full text of the letter:
Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin
Following an election campaign that pundits depict as the sleepiest in Israel’s history, Israelis went to the polls for the fourth time in two years. Election fatigue notwithstanding, the results of this round could be more consequential than the past three. Will Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc win the coveted 61 MK majority for him to form a coalition? Will the opposition gain enough votes to foil such a government? Will the Kahanist extremists cross the threshold to make it into the Knesset? Will Meretz? And how are the Arab parties going to fair?
Dr. Scheindlin is a public opinion expert and an international political and strategic consultant, as well
as a scholar and a writer. She has advised and conducted research on seven 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.
Seventeen Democratic members of the House of Representatives on March 15, 2021 sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urging him to take additional action to ensure that the Israeli government provide COVID-19 vaccines and facilitate vaccination programs for Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Following is the text of the letter and the list of signatories:
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on March 12th 2021 sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking the Biden administration to urge the Israeli government to do more to help the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip receive adequate supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Following is the full text of the letter: