Will UN sanctions bring down the Gaddafi regime in Libya?
A. While the sanctions approved last week by the Security Council are unprecedented in scope and real-time urgency, they are unlikely to have any short-term effect on the Libyan leader, his family and supporters.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND REBECCA ANN STOIL
"We are currently in a very difficult international situation," Netanyahu tells Likud members in response to settler complaints...and the American veto in the Security Council was only achieved with great effort. We could ignore everything and say 'no problem,' but as a prime minister who is responsible for this country I have general responsibility."
APN delivered this briefing book to every Congressional office during the week of February 25th.Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reportedly
decided to appoint an ultra-hawk, one of Israel's leading national-religious
icons, as his new national security adviser.
If media reports are correct, Netanyahu's new pick for the important position is Major-General (res.) Yaakov Amidror, who in the past advocated for reoccupying the Gaza Strip and staying there "for many years." Earlier this month, Amidror wrote that "negotiations with the Palestinians and even an agreement with the Palestinians (...) will not benefit Israel in any way as it faces the threats that might emerge in the future."
How would you describe the past week's revolutionary developments and regime responses to them in the Middle East, in terms of Israeli and American interests?
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18,
2011
CONTACT:
Ori Nir
(202) 408-9898
onir@peacenow.org
Settlements Resolution Veto: Missed Opportunity for U.S. Leadership
Washington,
DC - Americans for Peace Now (APN) today expressed disappointment at the Obama
administration's veto of a UN Security Council resolution supporting the peace
process and the two-state solution and condemning Israeli settlement activity
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Reacting to the US veto, APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "President
Barack Obama missed a key opportunity today to demonstrate U.S. leadership on
peace. America's failure to hold both sides accountable for their actions is a
contributing factor to the state of the peace process today. When America
doesn't lead, developments take on a momentum of their own.
"We are dismayed that America, Israel, the Palestinians, and all stakeholders in Mideast peace have reached this painful and utterly avoidable moment. We would not be here today if Israel's Netanyahu government had stopped settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as the Obama Administration begged Israel to do. And we would not be here today if President Obama had matched his policy to his rhetoric during his first two years in office.
"What happened today is not just about an American veto of a resolution that is consistent with longstanding U.S. policy. The fact that the Palestinians went ahead and brought the resolution to a vote demonstrates the degree to which the Palestinians and the international community have lost faith in the peace process, and in U.S. leadership of that process.
"This should be a wake-up call to the administration. For the sake of Israel and for the sake of U.S. interests in the region and beyond, President Obama must take dramatic action to restore faith in the peace process and in America's leadership of that process. It is not too late for the Obama administration to show real leadership, to push both sides to negotiate peace in earnest, to show the parties that intransigence comes at a price, and to submit bridging proposals or even its own plan for a final settlement of the conflict.
Court ruled in the past that the wishes of the owners should be taken into account in deciding the use of the properties, but rejected compensating owners of property from before establishment of Israel.
By Chaim Levinson
My name is David Pine. I represent APN on the West Coast. Like you, I am dedicated to doing all I can to help Israel achieve peace with its neighbors, including a two-state solution with the Palestinians.Following the vote, which came out 14-1-0, APN expressed its disappointment in a statement.
Washington Jewish Week: "UPDATE: U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution chiding Israel"
IPS: "Mideast: U.S. Vetoes Settlement Freeze"
JTA: "UN resolution hysteria: how to make enemies, not friends"
JTA: "Palestinians say U.N. resolution will get vote"
Ori Nir, a spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, said the turmoil in the region only "underscores one of the reasons we insist that time is of the essence and that the right thing to do is to redouble our efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians."
by Stewart Ain, Staff Writer
Egypt: the aftermath
Alpher discusses the possibilities, role of intelligence, declaration of new elections in the West Bank, and whether there is a broader, "civilizational" meaning to what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt.
APN's Israel study tour group concluded its week-long visit to Israel Friday after an exciting meeting with Peace Now's young activists. The activists, ranging in age between 16 and 36, shared with us their experiences as patriotic Israeli Zionists who fight for peace as the only way to secure Israel's Jewish and democratic future.The latest project could mean more evictions in Sheik Jarrah, which has become a battleground between Palestinian residents and right-wing Jewish groups.
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times
In any case, meddling is counterproductive, said Lara Friedman, the legislative director for Americans for Peace Now, writing in an op-ed for JTA.
"Denying the reality of change in Egypt does not help Israel; it only guarantees that Israel's future relationship with Egypt will be more difficult," she said.
See more excerpts and links to the articles.
In addition to questions related to the ongoing Egyptian unrest, Alpher discusses the appointment of General Benny Gantz as the IDF's twentieth chief of staff after months of tumult and controversy.
On our first two days in Israel and West Bank, APN's study tour group saw East Jerusalem and Hebron, the two holiest towns to Judaism and, not coincidentally, the two predominantly Palestinian urban areas in which Israelis choose to settle.
APN's Ori Nir writes from Jerusalem as he prepares for APN's Israel Study Tour: