APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday September 13, 2020
You Must Be Kidding:
The Israeli government appointed settlers to examine whether Palestinians are constructing with Israeli
authorization or not.**
1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings &
Markups
3. On the Record
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
Today's announcement of Bahrain's decision to formalize its relations with Israel, while welcome in and of itself, is used by Benjamin Netanyahu's government to distract from the very real challenges that Israel is facing.
Americans for Peace Now will hold a live streamed memorial event on
Tuesday October 20, 2020, marking the 25-year anniversary of the assassination of Israel’s Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
We will honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Yitzhak Rabin with those who knew him, worked with him for peace, and were and remain inspired by him.
The event will be hosted by actor, social activist, and APN Board Member Mandy Patinkin. He will be joined by special guest speakers and musical performers from the US and Israel (already confirmed are Israeli musicians David Broza and Achinoam Nini (“Noa”), videos, and an interactive memorial candle-lighting for those in (virtual) attendance to participate in.
Yitzhak Rabin was a pioneer and fighter in forging the nation-state of Israel. His public life was in service to his country - as a soldier, a diplomat, and a politician – including as Israel’s Prime Minister, first from 1973 to 1977, and again from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. His lasting legacy is of a courageous champion of peace. Rabin led Israel in the historic signing of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinian Liberation Organization - securing mutual recognition and a diplomatic path towards a two-state solution, and in achieving an important peace agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Tragically, at a Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) organized rally in Tel Aviv, Yitzhak Rabin’s life was violently taken by an Israeli zealot, who intended to kill Rabin’s vision of peace by murdering the Prime Minister.
Americans for Peace Now and our Israeli partners Shalom Achshav are proud to have worked with Yitzhak Rabin in life, and to continue advancing his quest for a secure, democratic, Jewish state of Israel through a negotiated two-state resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians, and peace agreements with Israel’s neighboring states.
Go HERE to see an invitation video from event host Mandy Patinkin, and to register to attend!
APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday September 10, 2020
Quote of the day:
"We were trying to save the two-state solution..If we kept going with the status quo… ultimately, Israel
would have eaten up all the land in the West Bank."
--In a phone call with the press, senior advisor and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, admits that the Trump Administration recognizes Israel's wrongdoing in
creating settlements and declares that it accepts that and so must the Palestinians.*
APN's daily news review from Israel - Wednesday September 9, 2020
Quote of the day:
“In a country that claims to be one of the glorious democracies, in a country that prides itself on its
freedom of speech, how can people be afraid to speak as if the thought police are following them, or the KGB was
ambushing them?”
—Miki Levine, Maariv's celebrity gossip columnist, writes about the surprise at the courage of two popular Mizrachi singers to release a protest song.*
You Must Be Kidding:
Some 70 evangelical Americans received Israeli government permission to visit Israel to volunteer
harvesting grapes at settlements, despite ban on entry of foreigners, even Jewish ones.*
APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday September 7, 2020
Quote of the day:
"When the borders in the north and around Gaza are burning, when corona is raging and the epidemic is
taking off, when our money is wildly distributed to bribe sectors of society close to those in rule [the
ultra-Orthodox], when [anti-Netanyahu] demonstrations are gaining momentum, when [Netanyahu's] bribery trial is
imminent and prison is a reasonable option, when the number of unemployed is close to a million - what do you do?
That’s right. You flee. The country of escape this week is Abu Dhabi."
--Maariv commentator Ran Edelist on why Israel and the UAE normalized relations now.*
APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday September 7, 2020
Quote of the day:
"When the borders in the north and around Gaza are burning, when corona is raging and the epidemic is
taking off, when our money is wildly distributed to bribe sectors of society close to those in rule [the
ultra-Orthodox], when [anti-Netanyahu] demonstrations are gaining momentum, when [Netanyahu's] bribery trial is
imminent and prison is a reasonable option, when the number of unemployed is close to a million - what do you do?
That’s right. You flee. The country of escape this week is Abu Dhabi."
--Maariv commentator Ran Edelist on why Israel and the UAE normalized relations now.*
September 2020
Dear Friend,
Twenty-five years ago this November 4th, thousands of Israelis gathered at a Peace Now rally in what was then known
as Kings of Israel Square. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had the courage to shake his enemy’s hand on the White
House lawn just two months earlier, stood in front of the audience of hopeful faces and announced “the path of
peace is preferable to the path of war.” Sadly, we all know what happened next. Minutes later, he was gunned down
by a radical national-religious Israeli, assassinated for his willingness to embrace change, to grow beyond a
military commander and become a champion for peace and a better future for Israel and its Palestinian
neighbors.
Perhaps you were there, holding a candle and singing with thousands of Israelis and Aviv Geffen
as he almost predicted the outcome of the evening with his somber lyrics, “to cry for you.” Yitzhak Rabin
risked and lost his life for a chance to make peace. He did not succeed. But we shall continue until his dream
is realized. Yitzhak Rabin is my hero. And I hope you will join me this fall as we commemorate his life and
his legacy.
There will be more information coming soon regarding APN’s October 20th celebration of Yitzhak
Rabin, which will be hosted by actor, social activist, and APN board member Mandy Patinkin. But in the meantime, I hope you will consider making a gift to APN as we gather for the High Holidays and continue to work towards
the peace that Rabin championed—and all of us—believe in so passionately.