"Peace Now claims that the entire outpost is built on private Palestinian land"

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Touring the Netiv Ha'avot outpost in Gush Etzion along with other members of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday, MK Yuli Tamir (Labor) confronted the settlers and reprimanded them for what she said was their illegal presence at the site.

After Obama calls to 'restrain' settlement activity, Ynet learns defense minister authorized additional construction in Karnei Shomron. Peace Now: Barak has become settlers' contractor

by Efrat Weiss 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the construction of 37 additional housing units in the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron, Ynet learned on Wednesday.

"It's not normal or natural growth, it's a dramatic expansion for a new kind of population," says Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli group Peace Now, which campaigns against settlements.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As Israeli, Palestinian and US leaders meet again in the long-running saga of Middle East peace talks, the BBC's Martin Asser examines one of the thorniest issues on the agenda. In the first of two articles, he visits an Israeli settlement in the West Bank undergoing a major expansion.

"The difference is in using a magnifying glass to look at this situation in a more detailed, nuanced, studied fashion," said APN spokesman Ori Nir of the group's Iran policy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, jpost correspondent in Washington

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enters the United Nations to give his General Assembly address in New York this week, he will face an unprecedented coalition of Jewish, Iranian, labor, African-American and other activists demonstrating against his regime.

By Kevin Peraino | NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Sep 28, 2009

Washington and Jerusalem look closer today to a deal on freezing Israel's West Bank settlement construction than they've been in years. Last week, George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy, suggested that an agreement was imminent, and most observers expect at least a nine-month hiatus to start soon. Even the Israeli government's recent decision to approve 455 new housing units may be a sign that it knows a deal is coming and wants to get a few more buildings in before the deadline.

APN's CEO and President Debra DeLee said that "now is the time to look for ways to signal positive U.S. support for the Iranian people, not to create suffering in order to use that suffering as a weapon against the Iranian leadership."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Nathan Guttman

Washington -- As world leaders converge on New York for the annual opening of the United Nations' new session, advocates and Jewish groups are seeking to broaden the coalition that has in years past protested the Tehran regime to include many additional groups that share grievances against Iran.

"Crippling sanctions" could give "the Iranian authorities a pretext to discredit and further persecute critics and protesters," APN warned, "and make the lives of the Iranian people more difficult."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day of unity yields lawmakers' pledges on Iran sanction

by Robert Wiener, NJJN Staff Writer

Local Jewish leaders joined an intense lobbying effort in Washington last week, joining some 300 colleagues in winning bipartisan congressional support for strengthening sanctions against Iran.

"...Americans of Peace Now (has) criticized the sanctions strategy, saying it would undermine the Obama administration's diplomatic efforts."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Eric Fingerhut · September 15, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- As they prepare to protest the appearance of Iran's president at the United Nations General Assembly, Jewish groups are working to decipher the impact of the Obama administration's decision to hold talks with the Islamic Republic.

Americans for Peace Now (APN), for instance, issued a statement arguing that "arbitrary deadlines are a mistake" and that "pursuing sanctions that target the Iranian people, rather than their leaders, is a morally and strategically perilous path that the Obama Administration must reject".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Sep 11 (IPS) - As nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West continue to move slowly, U.S. President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure from what appears to be a concerted lobbying and media campaign urging him to act more aggressively to stop Iran's nuclear programme.

APN President and CEO Debra DeLee: "...additional sanctions aimed squarely at the ruling regime and its members may make sense, but that the US must not make the mistake of pursuing sanctions that target the Iranian people - like the 'crippling' sanctions currently under consideration."  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, jpost correspondent in washington , THE JERUSALEM POST

Several hundred Jewish leaders and activists are planning to arrive here Thursday to urge top Obama administration officials and US congressmen to take action on Iran.

"Protesters from Peace Now and the right-wing Hatikva party demonstrated outside the event. Peace Now activists handed out ice pops to celebrate the settlement freeze."

by Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Hundreds of activists attended a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for a new neighborhood connecting the West Bank city of Maaleh Adumim with Jerusalem.

A government minister from each of the Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu and Habayit Hayehudi parties attended Monday's ceremony in the controversial E-1 area, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Hundreds of people, including ministers, MKs and Yesha Council heads attend symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for 'Mevaseret Adumim' neighborhood in disputed area outside Jerusalem. 'We won't be the world's sucker anymore,' Deputy Minister Porush says, 'This is our answer to international pressure on settlements'