Americans for Peace Now, Middle East Institute and Foundation for Middle East Peace

present

A Conversation With Rafa Anabtwai and Norbert Goldfield

Please join us for a conversation with Rafa Anabtawi, Director of Kayan, and Norbert Goldfield, founder and president of Healing Across the Divides.

Read They Say, We Say from beginning to end.

Latest Information
L. Friedman & D. Seidemann in JPost: A divided city
Rabbi Suskin in DC Jewish Week: On the Temple Mount…
Briefing call with Lara Friedman & Danny Seidemann
Reclaiming Israel's Future: Jerusalem
Jerusalem: Learn More
The Jerusalem chapter from APN’s publication, “They Say, We Say”.

Contemporary Jerusalem is an "undivided" city only in slogans. On the ground, it is a visibly divided city. It is a city where one-third of the population is Palestinian, in addition to large Palestinian urban areas lying just beyond the municipal border. It is a city where the patterns of life reflect two distinct populations - Israelis and Palestinians - living separate and rarely overlapping existences. It is a city that has deep political, historical, economic, and cultural significance to Palestinians, and deep religious meaning not only for Jews, but also for Christians and Muslims everywhere. (Excerpt from APN’s “They Say, We Say” entry on this topic.)

Jerusalem Burning: Briefing call with Lara Friedman & Danny Seidemann
Reclaiming Israel's Future: Jerusalem
The Jerusalem chapter from APN’s publication, “They Say, We Say”.

APN Articles

Lara Friedman & Daniel Seidemann in the Jerusalem Post: A divided city (November 11, 2014)
R. Alana Suskin in the Washington Jewish Week: On the Temple Mount…(November 6, 2014)
"Jerusalem: Learn More!" A round-up of APN articles from 2005 through June 2014.
Lara Friedman on the APN Blog:  Sacrificing Israel’s Friendships – and Future— at the Altar of Elad (October 15, 2014)

Recommended Readings

APN Board member Jo-Ann Mort in Haaretz - Shattering a Jewish American myth: Jerusalem is no Disneyland (November 13, 2014)
An Interview with Daniel Seidemann: Coming To Terms With ‘Reality’ Of Jerusalem.  Stewart Ain in The New York Jewish Week (November 12, 2014)
Asher Schechter in Haaretz The Temple Mount is a powder keg, and arsonists have the upper hand.  (November 12, 2014)
Middle East Monitor: Rabbi David Yosef writes to Netanyahu on closing the area of the Temple Mount to Jewish visitors (November 11, 2014)
International Crisis Group:  Mounting Tensions: Jerusalem’s Holy Esplanade (November 10, 2014)
Jerusalem Post: Ya'alon: Israeli politicians' visits to Temple Mount provoked Jerusalem terror attacks (November 8, 2014)
Times of Israel: Jews must stop Temple Mount visits, Sephardi chief rabbi says (November 7, 2014)
Haaretz+: 'Netanyahu was repeatedly warned of dangers on Temple Mount' (November 7, 2014)
Haaretz+: Israel's ties with Jordan put to test in face of Jerusalem crisis (Zvi Bar'el) (November 6, 2014)
+972: The 'Jerusalem Intifada,' the president and the cliff (November 6, 2014)
Haaretz: FM Lieberman: Politicians visiting Temple Mount - headline-chasing idiocy (November 6, 2014)
Jerusalem Post: Liberman slams MKs for Temple Mount visits as PM says Jerusalem status quo won't change  (November 6, 2014)
Jerusalem Post: Haredi daily: Close Temple Mount to Jews (November 6, 2014)
NPR: Why Jerusalem's Real Estate Market Is Part Of The Mideast Conflict (November 6, 2014)
Btselem: Draconian measures against deprived population not a solution (November 5, 2014)
The Nation:Jerusalem’s Palestinian Neighborhoods Are Under Economic Siege (November 4, 2014)
Haaretz+: Israel's right-wing fanatics don't speak for the people (November 4, 2014)
+972: How Likud became the Almighty's contractor at the Temple Mount (November 4, 2014)
Akiva Eldar in Al-Monitor: Netanyahu government threatens Temple Mount (November 3, 2014)
Danny Seidemann at Terrestrial Jerusalem: Attempted Assassination Raises the Stakes at the Temple Mount (November 3, 2014)
Danny Seidemann at Terrestrial Jerusalem: Reasons Behind Escalating Temple Mount Crisis (November 3, 2014)
Haaretz+: O Jerusalem, Israelis have already forgotten thee (November 2, 2014)
+972: The only way to stop stone throwing is to end the occupation (November 3, 2014)
+972: The fraud that is the Temple Mount movement (October 31, 2014)
New York Times: Friction Grows Between Israel and Jordan Over Revered Location (October 31, 2014)
Times of Israel:  With no local leadership, East Jerusalem violence roils (October 29, 2014)
Washington Post: Jerusalem train line destined to connect Jews and Arabs has widened bitter divide (October 26, 2014)

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's savage terrorist attack on Jewish worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue, which left four innocent civilians dead and 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.

Jerusalem is bleeding. At this time, Israeli and Palestinian leaders bear a heavy responsibility. They must put an end to inflammatory actions and rhetoric that would further intensify the bloodshed. They must fight terrorism and incitement. At the same time, they must also seek ways to engage diplomatically to reach a political settlement for the conflict – the only way to avoid perpetual bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians.

The following post by Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann of Rabbis for Human Rights was originally posted on RHR's web site on November 14, 2014, and is reprinted here by permission from the author.

 A mosque was badly arsoned, presumably by Jewish extremists, in the early hours of November 12 2014 in the village of Al Mughayir. About a month prior, another mosque, in a different Palestinian village in the Occupied Territories, was also burned. Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann of RHR visited the mosque in Al Mughayir and writes of his shock at the severity of the arson.

"The children struggled in her womb, and she said, 'If this is so, then why am I?'" -- Genesis 25:22

We read in this week's Torah portion that even in the womb, Rebecca's children Jacob and Esau quarreled. And their perennial struggle brought her to an existential outcry: if this is so, then why am I? If this is the only possibility for my sons, she seems to be saying, then my motherhood -- even my whole existence -- feels called into question. If fighting is all there is, then what's the point?