Yesterday's bus bombing in Jerusalem -- the first bombing inside Jerusalem in four years -- needs to be a wakeup call for us and for the Obama administration: Unless there is progress towards peace, violence will fill the void.

Click here to read APN's statement condemning the Jerusalem bombing.

Indeed, this bombing is one more sign of a dangerous escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Rockets fired from the Gaza strip this week struck Ashkelon and Beer Sheva, far deeper into Israeli territory than any rocket fired since the end of the 2009 Gaza War. Israel has stepped up military strikes in Gaza. One such strike unintentionally killed 4 Palestinian civilians (3 of them teenagers) on Monday.

Congressman Anthony Weiner said last week that there was "no Israeli occupation" in the West Bank and that there were no Israeli troops there.

Click here to see what he said.

His comments reveal either a lack of knowledge about the situation on the ground or a disregard for the facts in order to appeal to a constituency that is not willing to hear the whole story.

Either way, it's unacceptable.

An effort is underway in the House of Representatives to cut U.S. funding for a UN group that provides key humanitarian support for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Cutting U.S. funding risks destabilizing an already rocky situation in the West Bank and Gaza.

Tell your Representative to support President Barack Obama's request to continue U.S. funding for UNRWA at last year's level.