Americans for Peace Now condemns the House vote to remove Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee

Speaker McCarthy’s claim that he did so on the basis that Representative Omar is “antisemitic” is both inaccurate and offensive. Criticizing Israeli policies and actions is not antisemitic. Antisemitism is a real and dangerous threat, and misrepresenting Congresswoman Omar’s statements does not advance the fight against antisemitism. Instead, this transparent attempt to weaponize the accusation of antisemitism to score cheap political points damages efforts to isolate and eradicate antisemitic speech. Targeting Omar has wide-ranging repercussions that go beyond congressional committee assignments. Representative Omar has been the target of disturbing and hateful Islamophobic attacks and threats, which could be further fueled by today’s House action against her.

Virginia has become ground zero in the state by state effort to penalize those who wish to exercise their constitutionally-protected freedom of speech by boycotting, or even just maintaining their right to boycott, the state of Israel. Any day now, the State House is expected to consider two more dangerous bills that would infringe on the right to free speech and academic freedom: HB1606 and HB1898. 

HB1606 – “IHRA Anti-Semitism; definition when term used in reference to discrimination”, is the latest in a series of cynical attempts across the country to co-opt the fight against antisemitism and use it instead as a weapon against free speech and to quash legitimate criticism of policies and actions of the Israeli government. Adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is a prime example of how well-meaning attempts to fight antisemitism can be misappropriated. IHRA and its examples, while on the surface seemingly benign, have been used time and again to codify language that would allow for such weaponization.

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.

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.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's terrorist attack on worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue, which left at least seven people dead and several others injured.

APN strongly condemns this attack. We stand with the people of Israel. Our hearts are with the families that have been broken by today's attack. We wish full and rapid recovery to those who were injured.

Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli support for a two-state solution has significantly declined in recent years, according to a new poll published this week.

The poll was conducted last month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the International Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediation at Tel Aviv University.

While in general, Jewish and Arab Israelis and Palestinians prefer two states to other democratic frameworks for resolving the conflict, support for the two-state solution dropped from 43% to 33% among Palestinians and 44% to 34% among Israeli Jews between September 2020 and December 2022. 

For the first time, slightly more Israeli Jews support one undemocratic, unequal state under Israeli rule than the two-state solution.

By Rep Jerrold Nadler, originally in Haaretz

The United States is facing enormous challenges to our democracy. I have seen them firsthand. As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I led two impeachments of former President Donald Trump for his administration’s attacks on our precious democracy. Despite these challenges, I have also witnessed the value of democratic institutions in safeguarding the rule of law; they have no substitute. 

Accordingly, this fight to protect and defend democracy drives my work on every issue about which I am passionate, including the U.S.-Israel relationship.

State by state, across the country there has been a concerted effort to penalize those who wish to exercise their constitutionally-protected freedom of speech by boycotting, or even just maintaining their right to boycott, the state of Israel. Tomorrow, Virginia becomes ground zero in this fight when the state senate will vote on SB 1375, the Virginia Public Procurement Act.