In response to a series of actions taken by the Netanyahu-Gantz government in recent weeks, including home demolitions, forced evictions and new settlement approvals in Givat Hamatos and E-1 meant to secure “facts on the ground” and prevent the successful pursuit of a two-state future for Israelis and Palestinians, the Progressive Israel Network, in which APN is a member, issued the following statement:

We are alarmed by the recent set of moves by the government of Israel to initiate settlement projects and take other provocative and harmful actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including home demolitions and forced evictions, which further damage the possibility of a negotiated future two-state solution. It is clear that the Netanyahu government is trying to exploit the outgoing Trump Administration’s wholehearted embrace of Israel’s settlement enterprise in order to further erase the distinction between Israel and the territory it occupies. The recent announcement of the Israeli government’s approval of tenders for new construction in the planned settlement of Givat Hamatos and statutory approval for the construction of E-1 are particularly harmful. These settlement projects have the strategic objective of cutting off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, seriously undermining the prospects of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

We are at an inflection point in the U.S.-Israel relationship.

With our elections over and Israel’s once again looming in the near future, there is an opportunity for a shift. Not just because elections always offer a chance for change, but because we have an incoming U.S. President who understands the nuances and challenges of the relationship we have with Israel. Moreover, he sees the American role not as an advocate for the settler’s movement and a Greater Israel, but as an honest broker helping Israelis and Palestinians walk the path toward peace.

On and off for nearly 25 years, we have been faced with an Israeli leader who has shown himself to be neither a friend to democracy nor a partner for peace. We have struggled to keep our hope alive, to believe that there is a road to negotiations and a better future despite the fact that Israel has maintained its 50+ year occupation, vastly expanded settlements, passed laws to codify discrimination against non-Jewish citizens, and done its best to marginalize and even criminalize the peace movement.

Americans for Peace Now – comprised of tens of thousands of Americans who, like you and me, believe in a peaceful future, has been envisioning that better future for nearly 40 years. Forty years of standing up for the very essence of what makes a successful democracy and a thriving society. Forty years of struggling through botched negotiations, hopes rising and dashed, over and over again. Forty years of dreaming of a life of dignity and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

We may be the dreamers, but, as John Lennon once reminded us, we’re not the only ones. Our friends and family in Israel and Palestine dream of peace, as well. And, while it has been a long 40 years, we cannot step away. Peace may be another decade down the road. Or, it may be around the corner. It is up to us to keep the flame burning, should the moment arrive.

U.S. Jewish nonprofit says the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition is ‘already being abused to quash legitimate criticism and activism directed at Israeli government policies’

The following is the text of a letter that APN sent to the leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in response to a request to sign on to the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (with the accompanying examples).

25 November, 2020

Dear Arthur, William, and Malcolm,

We are writing to inform you that Americans for Peace Now will not adopt the full version of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (with the accompanying examples) and to explain why.

First, it is important for us to clarify that we are alarmed by the recent rise in antisemitic acts and antisemitic speech. Of particular concern is the horrifying trend we have all been witnessing in the past several years of violent antisemitic acts by neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other right-wing extremists.

Americans for Peace Now congratulates Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the incoming Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

APN is pleased to be a Partner Organization for the Other Israel Film Festival - this year presented virtually December 3-10. The festival presents films that provide an in-depth look into Israeli and Palestinian societies, as well as other underrepresented populations in Israel.

Go HERE for more on the films and to get tickets (including for related Q&A's) - use the code 'APNOI20' for a 20% discount!

When progressive American Jews, including our organization, protested the anti-democratic, discriminatory Nation State Law passed by the Knesset two years ago, Israeli officials and members of their US echo-chamber said we were overreacting to legislation that merely stated the obvious.

When we warned that this law would serve as a platform for deeper discrimination of non-Jewish Israelis and for further anti-peace policies, they reassured us that the law is declarative in nature, that it merely reiterates Israel’s being the national homeland of the Jewish people.

Join Americans for Peace Now for a webinar featuring Hagit Ofran of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Project.

Monday, December 7^th 2020, 3:00 pm (EST)

REGISTER HERE

One of the world’s leading experts on the subject, Hagit will examine the Trump administration’s legacy regarding settlements and what the Biden administration will need to do to reverse Trump’s radical shift from America’s traditional policy on this issue.

The discussion will focus on current developments in East Jerusalem, illegal outposts, Area C of the West Bank, and other Israeli efforts – backed by the outgoing Trump administration – to normalize the settlements and to advance West Bank annexation.

This webinar is part of our series on the Israel-Palestine implications of the transition from the Trump administration to president-elect Biden’s administration.    

Dear Fellow APN Supporters,

To paraphrase the great Congressman John Lewis, peace is not a state; it is an act. Please read the letter from Kathryn and me -- read about Hebron, read about the moral bankruptcy the occupation has wrought, read and respond because we all want peace now, not peace later.

Thanks to the generosity of the Board of Directors of APN, of which I am a proud member, both new donations and increased donations from last year will be matched up to $20,000.

Kathryn and I wish you and your family health and strength as our nation continues to fight this brutal pandemic. I deeply appreciate the encouragement you continually give us.

Mandy Patinkin

November 2020

Dear Friend,

Thirty-eight years ago, when my wife Kathryn and I were expecting our first child, we went to Israel to research the movie Yentl. I stayed at an Orthodox Yeshiva, and Kathryn at The American Colony Hotel. The next day we spent a beautiful day in Hebron, surrounded by curious children happy to meet visiting Americans, and went on a tour of a vibrant neighborhood, guided spontaneously by a sweet stranger at the Cave Of The Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Our baby boy moved fiercely when visiting this tomb, and we decided that was a sign that he should be named Isaac. Fast forward almost 40 years, when I was filming an episode of Homeland, and I traveled to Israel and Palestine. Once again, I visited Hebron. But this time, traveling with Israeli peace activists from Shalom Achshav, those thriving streets Kathryn and I had seen were no longer.

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