June, 2008: See the Rabbis' thoughtful letter...
March 2008 Archives
Settlement Freeze a Farce; Missing an Opportunity; No Unity for Palestinians; Arab League Recommits to Peace
Initiative; A New Saudi Peace Initiative
Continue reading March 31, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 30.
Peace Now said Israel was undermining negotiations by repeating one of its "worst mistakes" -- building on disputed
land while holding peace talks.
Continue reading AP: "Rice: Mideast peace talks moving 'in right direction'".
Go HERE to watch the March 31, 2008, headline news from Israel's infolive.tv which begins with a feature on settlement building.
On Peace Now's report...
"The Settlement Freeze is Dead" -- See all the details -- including photos, charts, and more -- on the current building
and planning
Continue reading NEW - Peace Now Settlement Report (3/31/08).
Peace Now spokesman Yariv Oppenheimer called the U.S. pressure on Israel "very positive."
Q. ...Why is it so difficult for Israel to dismantle checkpoints? Q. ...how can we justify allocation of resources in
unproven technologies designed to neutralize weapons that do relatively little damage?
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher - March 31, 2008.
Peace Now: "The Settlement Freeze is dead" - Coverage in Jerusalem Post, Israel Channel 10, Ha'aretz, JTA
Continue reading Articles on Peace Now Settlement Report released March 31, 2008.
Cover feature story on the status of the peace process...
Continue reading National Journal: "The Fatal Embrance".
Acting as Peace Now's one-person "Settlement Watch," Hagit Ofran chronicles the growth of the Israeli settlements and
illegal outposts that dot the occupied territories, and their effect on the Palestinians living there.
Continue reading National Journal: "Riding Herd On The Wild West Bank".
Discussing recent polls that indicate the hardening of Palestinian public opinion is the Director General of an
independent Ramallah-based polling firm.
Continue reading AUDIO: APN Interview with Palestinian Pollster Dr. Nader Said.
Every Mideast peace plan acknowledges that the actual cost of resettling a substantial number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank will be very high. That is so whether they are resettled in pre-1967 Israel or in settlement blocs that may remain intact according to agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It is generally assumed that those costs will in large measure be picked up by America and the EU.
Continue reading "Un-settling Cost" - A Proposal to Fund Evacuation and Resettlement.
APN to honor Al Stern at March 27th event...
Renewed Promises to Back Fayyad; Little Progress Since Annapolis; Bibi's Boondoggles; Israeli-sanctioned Settlement
Construction Continues
Continue reading March 24, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 29.
Q's on first trilateral US-Israel-Palestinian Authority meeting on the Road Map, which was initiated by Condoleezza
Rice, and Merkel visit re: Israel's security...
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher - March 24, 2008.
APN provides a special reading to include in your Passover Seder...
Continue reading This Passover -- Reject Hate, Embrace Hope.
...ultra-Orthodox, who constitute the fastest-growing portion of the West Bank settler population, according to figures
from Peace Now and Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's speech at Harvard University on the policy of settlement expansion points more than
anything to the increasing gap between the government's public stance on the matter and the reality on the ground.
American Involvement Now; Hamas on the Rise; Rethinking Rocket Science; Incitement in Israel; Property Rights;
Continue reading March 17, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 28.
Gershon Baskin and Hanna Siniora of IPCRI, the respected, Jerusalem-based, joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank aimed
at resolving the conflict.
Q. What is the fate of the ceasefire in Gaza?... Q. What are Israel's possible responses to the threat of rockets fired
by non-state actors...?
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher - March 17, 2008.
Ask them to raise their voices against incitement, violence, revenge; in favor of responsible, law abiding behavior
I. Bills, Resolutions, and Dear Colleagues; II. Rice Testifies at ForOps Subcommittee; III. ALLMEP on the Hill; IV.
Ackerman on the Gaza Situation; V. Reps. Lee, Capuano and Kucinich on the Record on H. Res. 951;
Continue reading APN Legislative Round-Up - March 14, 2008.
APN called on U.S. rabbis to "raise your voices, loud and clear, against incitement and violence...and revenge, in
favor of responsible, law abiding behavior."
Continue reading APN Letter to America's Chief Rabbinical Associations.
Mourning, again.
And then: Want to unite the Jewish people? Lots of luck. Below, you will find some - just some - of the currently 24,300 items that come up when you Google "reactions to yeshiva killings." The blogosphere careens all over the place, and I begin with some reasonably (if largely unreasonable) examples, most neither requiring nor deserving comment. I turn then to a few of the more substantial responses and consider their meaning and import.
Continue reading Mourning, Again.
Distinguishing fantasy from the often dismal reality of the Middle East takes clear eyes and a sober commitment to
pragmatism. That's exactly what Americans for Peace Now (APN), the American counterpart to Israel's Peace Now movement,
possesses.on Purim, and every day of the year.
Continue reading APN - Purim: A Time for Reason.
More settlements - or, heaven forbid, more terrorism - is the wrong response to terrorists, who seek to derail the
peace process. The right answer is to fight harder for peace
Continue reading Bring Israelis and Palestinians together.
Top Labor officials have been quiet on the issue until now, with the only criticism from within the party coming from
Peace Now general-secretary Yariv Openheimer, who ran for a Knesset seat with the party in the last election.
Initial plans exist to link the West Bank settlement of Adam with an expansion project of 400 units in east Jerusalem's
Neveh Ya'akov neighborhood, according to Peace Now.
Continue reading Jerusalem Post: "Peace Now: Plans to link J'lem with Adam".
Why do so many American Jews demand unwavering commitment to Israel from their politicians?
Continue reading LA Times: "The Israel litmus test" by Aaron David Miller.
The former member of Israel's negotiating team, suggests a regional approach accompanied by stronger peacemaking
efforts, says a ceasefire is a possibility, and urges a more active U.S. role.
Includes: Reflections on Israel at 60, News Shorts, Book Reviews, and Photo Gallery
Continue reading APN Newsletter - Spring 2008.
Exposition on settlements using Peace Now Settlement Watch Report data
The head of Israel's main anti-settlement group Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, said "This is a scandalous decision that
will affect the negotiations with the Palestinians," he told AFP. "This government, which has pledged to dismantle
settlements, has done nothing but reinforce them."
Continue reading AFP: "Israel okays expansion of West Bank settlement".
Ori Nir, a spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, said that ATFP's "moderate, pragmatic views" have opened "exciting
opportunities" for partnership.
Continue reading Forward: "Palestinians Question Own Advocacy Group".
Articles covering APN co-sponsored exhibit from local and national media outlets, including the Forward, Nation,
Harvard Crimson, and the Boston and Philly Jewish newspapers
Continue reading Press Coverage of "Breaking The Silence" Exhibit.
THIRD INTIFADA?; SETTLEMENT THAW; OUTPOST SHELL GAME; SO PRO-ISRAEL IT HURTS
Continue reading March 10, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 27.
Zohar, a former member of Israels negotiating team, suggests a regional approach accompanied by stronger peacemaking
efforts, says a ceasefire is a possibility, urges a more active U.S. role.
Q's re: strategic significance of terrorist attack on Merkaz HaRav yeshiva, and the dawn of a new era in Israel-Hamas
relations?
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher - March 10, 2008.
I. Bills, Resolutions, and Dear Colleagues, II. Congress Condemns Gaza Rockets, III. Schiff, Wolf Take Aim at U.S.
Military Aid to Egypt, IV. APN on the Gaza Escalation, V. On the Record on H. Res. 951, VI. H. Res. 951-- Text
Continue reading APN Legislative Round-Up - March 7, 2008.
Ori Nir, a spokesperson for Americans for Peace Now, said such steps are essential to a longer-term solution. "If the
chief objective is to go on with the peace process, then an approach of escalation, isolation, belligerence, does not
serve that goal,"
Continue reading People's Weekly: "Calls grow for Israel-Hamas truce".
The APN statement was published as an op-ed
Continue reading Middle East Times: "The Gaza Escalation".
APN strongly denounced the terrorist attack at the Merkaz Ha-Rav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
A robust discussion over the question of engaging Hamas and the desirability of reaching a ceasefire is occurring in
Israel...
APN encourages discussions in Washington that are happening in Israel on engaging Hamas for the purposes of a
cease-fire
Continue reading APN Letter Sent to Capitol Hill re: Southern Israel/Gaza Crisis.
"The... more realistic solution, although not without its own problems, is a dialogue and agreement with Hamas for a
long-term cease-fire."
Continue reading Ma'ariv: "Talk Now" op-ed by Avraham Tirosh.
Please call on the Bush Administration to support efforts to reach a ceasefire, stabilize Gaza, and re-build
Palestinian national unity.
Article references APN's statement urging the Bush administration and Israel to engage with Hamas toward the cease-fire
that a majority of Israelis favor...
Continue reading JTA: "For Rice, it always comes back to Gaza".
Isaacson is chief executive of the Aspen Institute and chairs the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership.
APN was represented at a meeting with King Abdullah and Jewish leaders
Continue reading JTA: "Abdullah presses for U.S. engagement".
A Hamas-Israel ceasefire is needed to stop the violent escalation, save innocent lives both in Israel and in the Gaza
Strip, and save the Annapolis peace process from collapse.
Continue reading On Eve of Rice Visit, APN Calls on Bush to Back Ceasefire Efforts.
Brym of the U. of Toronto found the main motivation is revenge, not religious zeal, sheer madness or a grand strategic
scheme.
On the "Breaking The Silence" exhibition in the U.S., co-sponsored by APN
Continue reading The Nation: "Israeli Army Vets Speak Out".
Peace Now's demo was held outside the Israel Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv proclaiming "there is no military solution
to the Qassams"
Continue reading "Ceasefire Now" Demonstration Held on Sunday, March 2nd.
May 7th event features a memorial service and star-studded cultural performance at Radio City Music Hall
Continue reading NEW YORK - APN Joins "New York Celebrates Israel at 60".
Former Israeli intelligence chief Efraim Halevy explains why he advocates talks with Hamas
Continue reading Mother Jones: "Israel's Mossad, Out of the Shadows".
Operation Hot Winter; Talking to Hamas; Diplomacy Now; What Happens in Gaza, Doesn't Stay in Gaza
Continue reading March 3, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 26.
Q's relate to Olmert's strategy, objectives, and impact on Israeli communities due to escalation of IDF's operations in
Gaza
Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher - March 3, 2008.