Shifting tactics, Israel’s Peace Now movement last weekend used nonviolent civil disobedience practices during an innovative protest against the Israeli government’s refusal to enforce the law and dismantle illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
Turning the tables on the settlement enterprise, Peace Now and its partner organizations hired a bulldozer – one of the symbols of the occupation and the settlement project – to dismantle the outpost of Homesh in the northern West Bank.
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.
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.
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.
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 strongly condemns the Israeli government’s decision to approve construction of 4,427 new homes in West Bank settlements.
Last week, APN urged the Biden administration to act to block the approval. The White House expressed its displeasure with the settlement announcement, but the Government of Israel went ahead with the plan.
Outraged by the killing of journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh during an IDF incursion in the West Bank town of Jenin, Americans for Peace Now (APN) urges a swift and independent investigation of the circumstances that caused her death. APN conveys its deepest condolences to Abu-Akleh’s family.
At the Anti-Defamation League’s national summit last week, ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt unequivocally stated that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” No ifs ands or buts. No reservations. No nuance. He repeated his statement, explaining that he does so “because words have power. Words have meaning.”
He’s right about one thing: words do matter. And that’s why it’s so disheartening to see a well-respected leader from an organization as important as the ADL make a statement that is so clearly false.