Israeli society bid farewell this week to one of its giants, Mordechai (Morale) Bar-On, a person who helped build the state and was among the icons of its peace movement and its progressive camp. Morale was among the leaders of APN’s Israeli sister-organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), and wrote a book that documented Israel’s peace movement. Bar-On passed away at 92.
Americans for Peace Now is one of more than 30 progressive organizations who signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to make good, promptly, on his commitment to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear agreement.
A month ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that it has jurisdiction over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip -- territories under Israeli occupation since 1967. Today, as expected, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed her intention to open a criminal investigation into actions of Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are suspected as war crimes. The actions that will be investigated include Israel’s policy of constructing settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Co-authors of the recent New York Times article, "Want
Israeli-Palestinian Peace? Try Confederation"
As physical separation between Israel and a future Palestinian state seems increasingly difficult to accomplish, the confederation model is gaining momentum among scholars. Co-authors of a recent New York Times article on the topic, Bernard Avishai and Sam Bahour, discussed the confederation idea on an APN webinar on March 4th, in a conversation with APN Board member Geoffrey Lewis.
Sam Bahour is an American-Palestinian writer and management consultant living in Ramallah. Bernard Avishai is an American-Israeli university professor, author and business consultant living in Jerusalem.
Americans for Peace Now, together with five other progressive American Jewish organizations, sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on February 23rd urging him to revoke a Trump administration order, which requires marking products made in Area C of the West Bank (where Israeli settlements are located) as “Made in Israel.”
MK Merav Michaeli
Israeli citizens will go to the polls in a month to elect a new Knesset. It’s the fourth round in two years, but it’s not déjà vu. There are several new developments. One of them is Merav Michaeli’s fresh leadership at the Labor Party. As the newly elected chair of a party, Michaeli is working to revive it and remake it as a relevant, powerful force in Israeli politics.
What do these elections mean for Israel’s left? What alliances is Israel’s Zionist left willing to create to deny Benjamin Netanyahu another term in office? Can Israeli-Palestinian peace be on the electoral agenda when the elections are first and foremost a referendum on Netanyahu? What are the prospects of a stronger alliance between Israel’s Zionist left and the Arab minority?
Knesset Member Michaeli addressed these and other questions on our briefing call, in conversation with APN Board member Jo Ann Mort and APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind. The webinar, another in a series on the coming elections took place on Thursday, February 25th, at 12:00 noon (EST)
In her nine years in Israeli politics, following a successful career in television and print journalism, MK Michaeli has established herself as a clear, courageous progressive voice, focusing on peace, social justice, women’s rights, and LGBT rights. One of Israel’s leading feminists, Michaeli has been socially active since the late 1990s, when she established a lobbying organization to assist and promote sexual violence victim centers across Israel. As a Knesset member, she consistently speaks out against the occupation and against the Israeli government’s inaction in pursuit of an end to the occupation.
Michael Sfard
The international Criminal Court (ICC) recently ruled that it has jurisdiction over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — territories under Israeli occupation since 1967. This opens the path for the ICC to launch formal investigations against war crimes suspects, whether Israelis or Palestinians.
What does the ICC’s decision mean for Israel? How is it going to conduct investigations? Are charges against the Israeli individual Israelis imminent? What is the nature of the judicial procedure? Is the threat of ICC proceedings likely to influencing the conduct of the IDF in the occupied territories, or the Israeli government’s West Bank settlement policy? Is it likely to encourage Israel to engage diplomatically with the Palestinians?
Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard addressed these and other questions in this webinar on Tuesday, February 23rd.
Sfard is an Israeli attorney who represents various Israeli and Palestinian human rights and peace organizations, movements, and activists, including Israel’s Peace Now movement. He is an expert in international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He was educated at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at University College in London.
Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns the decision by the Jewish National Fund's Executive Board to start officially purchasing land in the West Bank to expand Israeli settlements.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) is alarmed by reports that the Jewish National Fund intends to start officially purchasing land in the West Bank to expand Israeli settlements. Such a step would be a dramatic change in the JNF's policy, with potentially dramatic repercussions. It could significantly bolster the Israeli settlement enterprise, which is aimed at thwarting a future two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thirty Eight years ago, on February 10th 1983, Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig was murdered by an extreme right Jewish terrorist at a Peace Now demonstration in Jerusalem.
Not far from the Prime Minister’s Office, the terrorist, Yona Avrushmi, lobbed a hand grenade at the front row of the Peace Now marchers. It killed Emil and injured nine of his friends.