Americans for Peace Now: Blog: April 2012 Archives

Book Review: Anthony Shadid's House of Stone

By APN on April 30, 2012 1:06 PM

This is the second in a series of reviews of new books on Middle Eastern affairs. We asked Dr. Gail Weigl, an APN volunteer and a professor of art history, to review the late Anthony Shadid's book on his Southern Lebanese family roots. Following is Gail's review.

Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), $26.00

This haunting memoir, deeply poignant in its own right, is made yet more poignant by the untimely death of its author, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Middle East correspondent for The New York Times, Anthony Shadid.

Continue reading Book Review: Anthony Shadid's House of Stone.

Who's Responsibile for the Diplomatic Stalemate?

By Ori Nir on April 30, 2012 12:23 PM

The next time people tell you that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the only one responsible for the of Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic stalemate, send them to Shimon Peres and Yuval Diskin.

Everyone knows President Peres, who has been in Israeli politics longer than any living soul, and who knows Israeli politicians better than anyone. Peres urged the international community, after Binyamin Netanyahu became prime minister three years ago to trust Netanyahu's commitment to peace with the Palestinians.

Continue reading Who's Responsibile for the Diplomatic Stalemate? .

Israeli Security Establishment Storming Out of the Closet on Iran

By Lara Friedman on April 30, 2012 12:03 PM

This weekend the world got a close-up view of the growing rift between Israel's own security experts and its politicians. The venue was a conference in New York organized by the Jerusalem Post. During the conference a public argument over Iran broke out between former Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Israeli Minister of Environment Gilad Erdan, a career Likud politician whose resume does not include any significant military/security experience.

Continue reading Israeli Security Establishment Storming Out of the Closet on Iran.

Who is Delegitimizing Israel?

By asuskin on April 27, 2012 5:02 PM

This week, we remembered. We remembered, with the people of Israel, their losses in war, their sorrow, and their struggle to build a just and democratic society. This week, we celebrated. We celebrated 64 years of the independence of a young nation, a nation that was born from the tears of generations, a nation based, in the words of David Ben Gurion, on "freedom, justice and peace." From sorrow to joy, we remembered and we celebrated with the people of Israel, knowing that we yet have a long road to walk together until we reach the goal of a nation of equal justice for all, of peace with its neighbors. But with hope, we remembered the past, and looked to the future.

We believe that Israel can and must coexist peacefully with a future Palestinian state if it is to survive as a democracy and a Jewish state. It is still possible. It is within reach. Unless.

Continue reading Who is Delegitimizing Israel?.

APN Condemns Israeli Government Policy of "Legalizing" Illegal Outposts

By APN on April 27, 2012 1:34 PM

Washington, DC - The Israeli government today announced its determination to once again flout Israeli law in order to protect another illegal settler outpost in the West Bank. The outpost is called "Givat Ha'Ulpana" and is located deep inside the West Bank, near Ramallah, and far to the east of Israel's "separation barrier." The Israeli government had previously promised the Israeli High Court of Justice that it would remove the illegal construction but today announced that it had changed its mind.

Continue reading APN Condemns Israeli Government Policy of "Legalizing" Illegal Outposts.

Bibi Govt Establishes 3 New Settlements: What You Need to Know

By Lara Friedman on April 26, 2012 4:43 PM

On April 24th the Israeli Government issued a brief press release (Hebrew) stating: "The Ministerial Team that was nominated by the Government, decided to legalize the settlement points of Sansana, Rechelim and Bruchin, which were established during the 90's based on previous governments' decisions."

With this decision, these three outposts become new "legal" settlements in the West Bank, with all the benefits that entails, including the right to plan and expand.

This is the first time a government of Israel has formally established even a single new settlement since the Shamir Government in 1990. Moreover, all Israeli governments have promised to remove the illegal outposts (as required, for example, under the he Roadmap). However, until now, no real outpost has been ever removed.

Continue reading Bibi Govt Establishes 3 New Settlements: What You Need to Know.

'Crying terrorism': Israel's political use cheapens the term (LFriedman at +972)

By Lara Friedman on April 26, 2012 1:58 PM

In characterizing all non-violent Palestinian measures as terrorism, Israel insults the memory of victims of real acts of terror.

Yesterday was Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Remembrance Day. Every year on this day Israelis stop to remember their fellow citizens who have given their lives for the sake of Israel, whether in wars or at the hands of terrorists.

Continue reading 'Crying terrorism': Israel's political use cheapens the term (LFriedman at +972).

Political Will - the Common Denominator in Solving Israel-Palestine & Iran (LFriedman at the Daily Beast)

By Lara Friedman on April 26, 2012 1:32 PM

At a recent briefing in Washington, a prominent scholar observed that the crisis over Iran's nuclear program is similar to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in that the contours of a negotiated solution are well-known--what is lacking is the political will and leadership to get there.

With new Iran talks underway, this is an important insight. And it's a corollary to something that my friend and colleague, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann, often says about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The challenge is to bridge between the politically impossible and the historically inevitable.

Continue reading Political Will - the Common Denominator in Solving Israel-Palestine & Iran (LFriedman at the Daily Beast).

Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - April 16, 2012

By APN on April 16, 2012 11:26 AM

Alpher discusses the ceasefire in Syria, the "fly-in" of Palestinian supporters to Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday and ensuing commotion, and why Israel and the US can't agree on freeing Jonathan Pollard.

Continue reading Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - April 16, 2012.

Lara Friedman at the Daily Beast: Israel's Less-Than-Resilient Democracy

By Lara Friedman on April 10, 2012 2:51 PM

According to the latest article by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, Israeli democracy is "more robust and effervescent than ever." Reading his lengthy piece, a variation on Queen Gertrude's quip comes to mind: "The Ambassador doth protest too much, methinks."

Continue reading Lara Friedman at the Daily Beast: Israel's Less-Than-Resilient Democracy.

SPECIAL EDITION: Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher, Israeli Security Expert

By APN on April 4, 2012 2:01 PM

Alpher 320x265.jpg Q. What do people mean when they say that time is running out on the two-state solution?

Q. How does the absence of a Palestinian state threaten Israel?

Q. Why is solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the U.S. interest?

Q. Is Fateh-Hamas reconciliation a threat to the two-state solution?

Q. The Arab world is currently in the throes of a revolutionary "Arab spring". Does this leave any room for an Israel-Arab peace process?

Q. Why are Israeli peace and human rights advocacy organizations being vilified, threatened with punitive legislative and even physically attacked by the right?

Continue reading SPECIAL EDITION: Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher, Israeli Security Expert.

Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher - April 2, 2012

By APN on April 2, 2012 1:33 PM

Alpher discusses Mofaz's upset over Livni in the Kadima leadership primary, whether Marwan Barghouti's appeal for Palestinians to launch a third, "popular" intifada and to boycott all contact with Israel and all Israeli products resonates with Palestinians, and, a decade later, what is the legacy of the conflict of the launching of Israel's massive military response to the second intifada, following the worst Palestinian suicide bombing ever.

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Lara Friedman at the Daily Beast: Yes, Israel's Thriving, but All's Not Well

By Lara Friedman on April 2, 2012 11:37 AM

protest against ultra-orthodox186x140.jpg

Elliott Abrams says J Street (and along with J Street, no doubt, all Americans and Israelis who define themselves as the pro-Israel, pro-peace Left) isn't really worried about Israel's fate as a Jewish state and a democracy.

No, says Abrams, "the gloom and doom is absurd... As to internal matters in Israel, we've heard all that before: a couple of decades ago people said the Sephardi-Ashkenazi splits would deepen and threaten national unity.... J Street's real problem is that Israel is thriving under [conservative] Likud leadership and it drives them crazy."

Abrams' statement raises the question: is the doom and gloom really absurd, and how does he define "thriving"?

Continue reading Lara Friedman at the Daily Beast: Yes, Israel's Thriving, but All's Not Well.

A Noble Gesture of Peace

By Ori Nir on April 2, 2012 8:54 AM

During many years of covering and following Israeli-Palestinian relations, I have repeatedly observed Palestinians being pushed to the frustrating corner in which the political wall of Israeli occupation meets the wall of Israeli law. I have seldom seen Palestinians, with their back to these walls, extending their hand in peace and reconciliation.

Continue reading A Noble Gesture of Peace.

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Blog: April 2012 Archives