Today marks 100 days since the Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh was killed. 100 days that
her loved ones have been grieving the loss of their beloved aunt, sister, friend and colleague. 100 days in which
the Israeli government has obscured the truth and attempted to shift blame. 100 days of which the United States
avoided conducting its own independent investigation into her killing. 100 days and no justice.
Action Alerts
APN is a leading source of pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy and activism. Through our Action Network, we mobilize tens of thousands of actions every year in support of peace, with actions targeting the U.S. government, Congress, Jewish organizations, the media, the Israeli embassy, and others. Join us in taking action to fight anti-peace policies and actions, and to urge elected officials to adopt policies that support the two-state solution. Join our Action Network and check this page regularly (actions are listed in chronological order, with the most recent at the top). Add your voice to the chorus of pro-Israel, pro-peace voices fighting to end the occupation and to secure a two-state solution!
Last fall, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared that six prominent Palestinian rights groups were “terrorist organizations.” These civil society groups, Al Haq; Addameer; Defense For Children International-Palestine; Bisan; the Union of Agricultural Work Committees; and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, work directly with Palestinian women and girls, children, low-income families, prisoners, and civil society activists, providing direct services and monitoring human rights abuses by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Last fall we wrote to you warning of Israel’s plans to build in the area known as E-1. These plans have been called “doomsday settlements” because they pose an irreconcilable challenge to a lasting peaceful solution between Israel and the Palestinians by threatening the territorial contiguity necessary for a viable Palestinian state. We asked you to contact your member of Congress to urge them to push the Biden administration to weigh in and use diplomatic pressure to halt Israel’s approval process of E-1 settlements. With your help, we bolstered congressional support for United States opposition to E-1 settlement construction and the Biden administration successfully pressured the Israeli government. In a rare move, the Israeli government publicly acknowledged the United States’ message and indefinitely postponed these plans.
Unfortunately, Israel has recently announced plans to move ahead with E-1 settlements once again, scheduling
the final hearing on the objections to the project for July 18th, just days after the President’s planned
visit.
We need your help again, and we’re running out of time. Congress must reiterate its opposition to settlement construction in E-1. The Biden administration must use every diplomatic tool at its disposal to prevent these devastating plans and ensure that this time, the message sticks.
Click here to ask your member of Congress to join Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
in urging the State Department to say no to settlement construction in E-1:
Past Action: Urge your Member of Congress to push for a US-led investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh
For those of us who care about peace between Israel and Palestine, last week was incredibly hard. We are outraged – first by the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh during an IDF incursion in the West Bank town of Jenin, then by the violent attack by Israeli police on her funeral on Friday.
Freedom of the press is of paramount importance, particularly when conflicting narratives and biases often obscure the truth, as is the case in Israel-Palestine. The State Department has called Ms. Abu Akleh’s death “an affront to media freedom.” And while the State Department has made statements supporting a thorough investigation by the Israeli government, this is not enough. Americans for Peace Now has called for a swift and independent investigation of the circumstances that caused her death and now members of Congress, led by Representatives Andre’ Carson and Lou Correa, are requesting the State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) launch an investigation into Ms. Abu Akleh’s death as well.
It is important that the United States protect Americans reporting abroad and that includes conducting independent investigations when a journalist is harmed.
Read the full text of the letter here.
The anti-boycott laws pushed by right wing Jewish and evangelical organizations have resulted in a multi-state patchwork of anti-free speech laws that intentionally erase the (green) line between Israel and the occupied territories. While we continue to fight back in the states against these laws, it is vital that we work to prevent similar laws from being enacted at a federal level.
Whether it is in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, or Givat Hamatos, efforts to expel Palestinians from their homes are often painted as mere real estate disputes. The reality is that they are part of a larger effort to change the demographics of Jerusalem as a way to prevent Palestinian claims to a capital in East Jerusalem and to undermine the future of a negotiated two-state solution.
We at Americans for Peace Now know that fighting against intolerance is an intersectional issue: the struggles against antisemitism and Islamophobia must be fought in unison. Just as other communities show up for us, it is our duty to stand as allies alongside our Muslim friends and neighbors.
We are seeing a rise in Islamophobia in nearly every corner of the globe. Anti-Muslim rhetoric, bigotry and acts of violence have increased as white supremacist and Islamophobic hate group networks have grown in strength and inspired acts of anti-Muslim violence and terrorism, including the murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario over the summer and the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings.
This anti-Muslim bigotry must end.
That's why Americans for Peace Now is proud to support the Combating International Islamophobia Act, which will require the State Department to create a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Muslim Bigotry. Sponsored by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and modeled on the already existing position of Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, this vital legislation passed the House of Representatives this week. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Senate companion to the bill on Tuesday.
Sadly yet unsurprisingly, the debate around this bill has been vitriolic. Opponents of the bill have lobbed horrific and false accusations of terrorism and have tried to use unrelated claims about Israel’s security and the threat of antisemitism to push back against this legislation.
We will not let detractors divide or distract us from the real issue at hand.
To see the full text of the legislation, click here.
Urge your Member of Congress to Call on the Biden Administration to Prevent Settlement Construction in E-1
Israel’s plans to build in the area known as E-1 are putting a future where a secure and democratic Israel lives next to a viable independent Palestine at grave risk.
Israel’s Civil Administration is currently holding hearings to review objections to settlement plans in E-1. This is one of the few remaining stages before settlement construction will be allowed to commence.
There’s a reason the proposed settlements in E-1 have been called “doomsday settlements.” If Israel allows the plans to be enacted it would threaten the territorial contiguity necessary for a viable independent Palestinian state by dividing the north of the West Bank from the south, as well as the West Bank from East Jerusalem. E-1 is a vital corridor for Palestinian communal life, connecting Ramallah and the northern West Bank to Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.
Our colleagues at Peace Now have filed objections to the plans in Israel, and now it is our turn to back them up. Representative Mark Pocan is leading a letter urging the Biden Administration to weigh in and use diplomatic pressure to halt Israel’s approval process of E-1 settlements.
This action closed on Friday, November 19.
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared that six prominent Palestinian rights groups — Al Haq; Addameer; Defense For Children International-Palestine; Bisan; the Union of Agricultural Work Committees; and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees — were “terrorist organizations.”
As the Association of Civil Rights in Israel notes, “neither evidence nor proof of the serious charge have been provided.” Unfortunately, Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations have long faced such spurious accusations from certain Israeli politicians and right-wing commentators. But the consequences of these designations from the Defense Ministry are much more severe and alarming. Employees, activists, donors, and others affiliated with these organizations are now potentially subject to prosecution.
We, the undersigned, support the two-state solution. We want to see a safe, secure, and democratic Israel living side-by-side with a viable and independent Palestine. While we believe that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian leadership remain the best possible path to ending the occupation, we also state unequivocally that Palestinians have a right to nonviolently resist and oppose the occupation.
The organizations targeted by the Defense Ministry are doing just that. While we may not agree with every single statement and objective of these groups, we cannot afford to be silent in light of this naked attempt at suppression. Supporters of a liberal and democratic Israel have an obligation to speak out against this decision.
We call on the Israeli government to reverse the designations, and for Israel’s friends and allies in the world to actively encourage it to do so.
For too long politicians on both sides of the aisle have paid lip service to two-states instead of implementing policies that would actually bring us closer to a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the wake of the violent escalation in Gaza, accelerating demolitions and evictions and settlement construction, and disastrous Trump administration policies that emboldened Israel to the brink of annexing Area C, bold US action is well overdue.
That is why it is vital that Members of Congress co-sponsor the Two-State Solution Act. This comprehensive piece of legislation re-defines the United States’ role as a catalyst for Israeli-Palestinian peace by implementing tangible steps that would accelerate progress toward peace and discourage steps that push it further out of reach.
Take action below to urge your Member of Congress to support this historic legislation.
Read the full text of the bill here.