In recent years, the phenomenon of settler violence against Palestinians throughout the West Bank has accelerated.

In their new Settler Violence Report, Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team reviews the documentation of 1200 violent incidents from 2012 until July 2021, collected by Yesh Din, and examines the location of the incidents and their proximity to the various settlements. The conclusions are unequivocal: most of the documented violent attacks on Palestinians (63%) occurred near outposts considered illegal by the state of Israel, where less than 5% of Israeli settlers reside.

Our colleagues at Peace Now joined us on Thursday, December 16 for an exclusive webinar on the findings of this new report.

Listen to the recording of that webinar here.

Watch the video recording 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.

Sari Bashi, an Israeli human rights lawyer and the co-founder of Gisha, recently published a Hebrew-language book, “Maqluba: Upside-Down Love,” about her relationship with her partner, a Palestinian professor from Gaza. The book is a personal and political memoir: a romance, a historical record, a political critique, and an adventure story of navigating Israeli checkpoints.

This summer, Ben & Jerry’s announced its intention to cease sales of its products in the occupied territories. Despite repeatedly stating that the company’s policy is limited to territory that is under Israeli military occupation, and it would not impact sales of Ben & Jerry’s products within the state of Israel, the decision triggered enormous backlash from conservative voices within the American Jewish community and from politicians at both the state and federal level.

APN strongly supports Ben & Jerry’s and has repeatedly pushed back against efforts to paint their decision as anything other than a targeted and principled response to the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

Americans for Peace Now sent a letter on Monday signed by leading New York Jewish activists to Governor Kathy Hochul, protesting New York's conflation of the sovereign state of Israel and West Bank settlements.

The letter, signed by 150 leading pro-Israel pro-peace New York-based Jewish activists objects to a recent determination by the Commissioner of the Office of General Services of New York State that Ben & Jerry's boycott of West Bank settlements constitutes BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) against the state of Israel.

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.

Congressman Andy Levin recently (D-MI) introduced groundbreaking legislation intended to re-define 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, Congressman Levin’s Two-State Solution Act injects new hope into the moribund  Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

On Monday, November 29 Americans for Peace Now hosted special webinar featuring Congressman Andy Levin to hear directly from him about the significance of his legislation.

Watch the video recording here.

Listen to the recording here.

Read the transcript here.

Israel’s Knesset hosted a rare conference on Monday, November 22, to discuss the surge in violent anti-Palestinian attacks by West Bank Israeli settlers.  The conference was organized by MKs Mossi Raz (Meretz), Osama Saadi (Joint List) and Ibtisam Mara’ana (Labor) as well as the nongovernmental organizations Peace Now, Breaking the Silence and Yesh Din.

This week, Congressman Mark Pocan (D-W1) led 26 House Democrats in sending a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urging him to act to prevent the advancement of plans to build settlements in the E-1 area of the 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.