Dear Friends,

By this point in the year, living through 2020 has practically become an Olympic event. COVID has changed how we live our lives, where we go, and who we can be with. It has impacted our work, our economy and the health of millions of Americans. And of course the 2020 election has been the most expensive political circus (complete with orange painted clowns) that our nation has ever experienced. I’m sure that, like me, you too could draft a long list of 2020 complaints.

And yet, I am thankful.

I am thankful that this year I was welcomed into the Americans for Peace Now family. Certainly I am thankful to the board and staff, whose hard work and dedication to the cause has kept the hope for peace moving forward through many hard and unknowing moments. I am thankful to our friends and donors who have kept APN’s work and mission in the forefront of their support each year, and to each and every person who is a part of this movement that we are building.

It has been a challenging time to be in the peace business. Here in the US we had “leaders” who threw aside already insufficient policies in favor of cronyism and right-wing talking points, without even a perfunctory nod toward the ideals of peace and justice.

And yet, I am thankful.

I am thankful because today we have a new opportunity. Today we can speak up, and know that someone will listen. We can raise our voices together. We can call on our leaders to strive for peace and to prioritize justice. We can show them that we are tens of thousands strong, a movement of Americans, who, with our Israeli partners by our side, demand a reckoning and a recognition that the time for peace is now.

As we near year’s end I have been thinking about the fact that 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Americans for Peace Now. Some will say that it has been 40 years spent wandering in the desert, with no end in sight.

And yet, I am thankful.

I am thankful, because you and I know what happened after the 40 years spent wandering in the desert. I cannot pledge to you that we are entering the promised land. But I do know that as we continue our march, we are stronger together. Our movement – comprised of tens of thousands of activists and supporters – will succeed because we believe in the basic good of humanity and the prospect of a peaceful future. We are elders, having lived through many dreams dashed, and youth, taking to the streets for the first time with newly-found vigor. We are grandparents, children and grandchildren, multiple generations working towards the same goal. And I am thankful that wherever this next year will take us, whatever shape our peace plans take, we will be going there together.

As we continue living through our pandemic struggle, I encourage us to take time to be grateful for each other, and to envision our work together with new strength and hope.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving.

Hadar Susskind
President and CEO
Americans for Peace Now