Current Actions

  • Secretary Blinken: Please Reconsider Your Support for IHRA Definition

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that “the Biden administration enthusiastically embraces the 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism,” known by its acronym as IHRA.

    Join us in asking Secretary Blinken to curb his enthusiasm.

    IHRA’s definition of antisemitism is too broad. It regards as antisemitic “applying double standards” to Israel or requiring of Israel “behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” This broad definition threatens to quash legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies such as its occupation of the West Bank.

    IHRA’s definition regards as antisemitic “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” While we disagree with those who say that Israel’s very existence is racist, we don’t think that anti-Zionism is necessarily antisemitic.

    We must urge Secretary Blinken to reconsider his support for the IHRA definition.

    The IHRA definition is already being codified into law throughout the United States, threatening free speech and prompting strong opposition from free speech advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

    Join us in urging Secretary Blinken to reconsider his support for the IHRA definition.

     

    Email Secretary Blinken now by completing the form below!

     

  • Sign the Petition to President-elect Biden

    (CLICK or scroll down to read and sign the petition)

    On January 20, when President Joe Biden and his foreign policy team enter the White House, they will have the work of restoring America’s leadership abroad cut out for them.

    The Trump administration is filling its last days by starting fires and laying land mines that Biden’s team will have to remove one-by-one.

    Americans for Peace Now sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, addressed to incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, with some specific recommendations that President Biden should take action on in order to clear some of the wreckage left behind by Trump.

    They heard from us. Now they need to hear from you!

    Please sign this petition urging President-elect Joe Biden to reverse Trump’s course of endorsing occupation, annexation, settlement construction and apartheid, and to instead commit his administration to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace in earnest.

  • Urge Your Elected Officials to Cosponsor Resolution Honoring Yitzhak Rabin

    CLICK or scroll to the bottom to send your email


    On October 1, both the Senate and the House of Representatives introduced resolutions (S. Res. 745 / (H. Res. 1173) honoring the life and legacy of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 25th anniversary of his assassination.

    Urge your Senators and Representatives to cosponsor the resolutions.

    The measures, which are identical, honor Yitzhak Rabin’s distinguished service to the Israeli people and express “strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states — a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, democratic Palestinian state — living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition.”

    Americans for Peace Now, which will honor Rabin’s legacy of peace at its own event on October 20th, is proud to be listed as a supporting organization of these resolutions.

    The bi-cameral and bi-partisan congressional resolutions include an inspiring quote from a speech Rabin gave on October 26, 1994, a year before his assassination, at the signing ceremony of Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan. Rabin said:

    "There is only one radical means of sanctifying human lives. Not armored plating, or tanks, or planes, or concrete fortifications. The one radical solution is peace."

    Please urge your Senators and your Representative to honor Rabin’s courage and legacy of peace by supporting these resolutions.

    And please don’t forget to register to APN’s Rabin commemorative event.

  • Prevent an unjust eviction in East Jerusalem

    CLICK or scroll past the background and letter text to send your email


    BACKGROUND

    The Sumarin family has been living in the same house in East Jerusalem for generations. Yet unless the Israeli Supreme Court rules in their favor, they will soon be evicted, their home and their land taken from them. Please urge your representatives in Congress to speak out against this injustice and sign the letter aimed at stopping this eviction of a Palestinian family from their home.

    This case goes far beyond the struggle of one family to save its home. It is a part of a broader fight against the efforts of Israeli settlers to displace East Jerusalem Palestinians and to create facts on the ground that would block the path for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement on Jerusalem.

    Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) is circulating a Dear Colleague letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging his government “to intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family and halt their eviction from their long-standing home"

    "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER

    Prime Minister Netanyahu
    c/o Embassy of Israel to the United States
    3514 International Dr NW
    Washington, DC 20006

    August, 2020

    Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,

    We write to you regarding the ongoing attempts of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to evict the Sumarin family from their home in East Jerusalem and ask for you to take action to prevent this eviction and ensure the Sumarin family is able to remain in their family home.

    Thirty years ago, the JNF asked the Israeli government to seize the Sumarin family home based on Israel’s Absentee Property Law, even though the family had rightful title and were never absent. On May 23, 1991, without notification to the family that this process had been initiated, the property was subsequently purchased by the JNF from the Development Authority in a land barter. In 1994, Judge Yehudit Tzur ruled that the declaration of the property as absentee property was unlawful and therefore denied the claim for eviction, yet the land and the title to their home were never returned to the Sumarin family. The Israeli Government’s Klugman Commission later noted “grave findings regarding the functioning of the Custodian of Absentee Properties” and pledged to end the use of that law going forward but failed to apply the policy retroactively to past eviction cases.

    On June 30, 2020, the Jerusalem District Court rejected the Sumarin family’s appeal against eviction by the JNF, requiring the family to vacate the home by August 16th. If the family does not comply, the JNF can then ask for removal by force, a potentially explosive act in East Jerusalem. On August 5th, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and issued an order delaying the eviction.

    We believe that the eviction of the Sumarin family and expropriation of their property sets a dangerous precedent that is detrimental to the stability of Jerusalem and further undermines the opportunity for peace. We are highly concerned that, if the government of Israel permits the misapplication of the Absentee Property Law in the case of the Sumarin family, it will further apply it in any area that Israel acquires unilaterally through the proposed annexation of West Bank territories. This could formalize the illegal expropriation of private Palestinian land on a massive scale.

    As strong supporters of Israel as a democratic state, we urgently request that the Government of Israel intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family and halt their eviction from their long-standing home.

    Sincerely,

    Jackie Speier, Member of Congress


    Ask your Representative to sign this Dear Colleague letter, or thank them if they have already signed.

  • TEST Anti-Annexation Congressional Letter

     

  • Americans and Israelis in Solidarity : SAY NO TO ANNEXATION

    TEST

    (scroll down to read and sign the letter)

    Americans for Peace Now and our Israeli sister organization Peace Now (Shalom Achshav) are raising our voices in solidarity and asking Israelis and Americans who care about peace to sign on to this letter.

    The government of Israel, with the encouragement of the Trump administration, intends to begin annexation of the West Bank as soon as July 1st. Annexation would have disastrous repercussions for Israelis and Palestinians and would threaten US national security interests.

    Israeli and American citizens are urging the government of Israel to abandon its unilateral annexation plan and to instead pursue negotiations with the Palestinian leadership to reach a conflict-ending peace accord.

    Please add your name and share with others!

  • Tell Netanyahu: Trump’s Vision and West Bank Annexation Threaten Israel and Peace

    President Trump's vision is not a "peace plan" but rather a scheme, co-authored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, to allow for an immediate annexation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the entire Jordan Valley. If any proof was needed, immediately after the Trump "vision" was unveiled, Benjamin Netanyahu's government announced that it will submit an annexation bill to the Knesset.

    Let Prime Minister Netanyahu hear from us!

  • Tell Congress: Oppose Annexation!

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    Scroll down to Email your Senators
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    On June 19, Americans for Peace Now joined with nine other organizations in a Day of Action to advance resolutions in the Senate and in the House of Representatives that oppose annexation of the West Bank by Israel and support the two-state solution.

    The need for action remailns. Please take part with us and our fellow organizations!

    Our coalition (APN, Ameinu, Hashomer Hatzair, J Street, Jewish Labor Committee, National Council of Jewish Women, New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism, and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights) sent a letter to leaders in the House of Representatives urging them to bring to the House floor H. Res. 326, a resolution that will put on record members of the House of Representatives as endorsing the two-state solution and repudiating Israeli annexation of the West Bank or parts of it. Over half of the House Democratic Caucus have already signed on as co-sponsors. It’s time that our representatives have an opportunity to debate and vote on this resolution.

    In the Senate, a similar measure has recently been introduced. Senate Res. 234 gives the Senate a chance to push back against the Trump administration’s apparent endorsement of unilateral Israeli annexation of West Bank territory. Such annexation could destroy prospects for a two-state solution. By endorsing annexation, the Trump administration is encouraging a future of indefinite occupation and permanent conflict, which will threaten Israel’s character as a democracy and a national home for the Jewish people. Such a future would also deny Palestinians their right to national independence and sovereignty.

    Tell the Senate: Oppose annexation; Support the two-state solution.

    Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) introduced the new Senate resolution, which is co-sponsored by leading pro-Israel, pro-peace senators, including Elizabeth Warren (MA), Bernie Sanders (VT), Diane Feinstein (CA), Dick Durbin (IL), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Tom Udall (NM). The more senators that co-sponsor the measure, the more powerful the message to Trump and Netanyahu will be.

    Tell your senators you support S. Res. 234 and ask them to co-sponsor it (or thank them if they've already signed on).

  • Tell Congress to Halt the Push to War Against Iran

    Scroll down to contact your Senators and Representative


    The Trump administration, at the direction of National Security Advisor John Bolton, is ramping up its provocations against Iran and moving the United States perilously close to an unnecessary war. This crescendo comes one year after Trump’s decision to put the US in violation of the Iran nuclear deal.

    Tell Congress to take a stand against an unauthorized war of choice against Iran.

    It is incumbent upon Congress to constrain the President by invoking its constitutional power of the purse and its sole authority to declare war. To propel Congress to act, we must make clear that the American people – Jewish Americans included – oppose a catastrophic war of choice against Iran.

    Tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor The Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act, which will block funding for an unauthorized war against Iran, and additional legislation making it crystal clear that Congress has not authorized war against Iran. Further, ask your members of Congress to speak up and tell Trump that if he wants war, he must seek authorization from Congress.

    Don’t want a repeat of the 2003 Iraq war? Tell Congress to prevent Bolton from propelling the US into an unauthorized war of choice against Iran.

    The text of the Senate bill is here, and the House bill is here.


  • Tell Your Member of Congress to Co-Sponsor the Lowenthal/Bass/Connolly Resolution Supporting the Two-State Solution

    A new resolution introduced in the House of Representatives makes clear that only a two-state solution can ensure Israel’s future as a liberal democracy and national home for the Jewish people, while also fulfilling Palestinian national aspirations.

    Ask your representative to co-sponsor this measure affirming the need for a two-state solution (scroll to the end to get there directly)

    With the Trump team doing all in its power to put prospects for a two-state solution out of reach, it is imperative that Congress reaffirm loudly and clearly America’s decades-long and historically bipartisan commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security as Israel’s neighbor. This is particularly so given that President Trump and his “peace team” refused to condemn Benjamin Netanyahu’s pre-election pledge to annex West Bank settlements. In fact, Jared Kushner and his lieutenants are poised to release a plan that is practically guaranteed not to bring about anything that would be recognizable as statehood for Palestinians.

    House Resolution 326 – introduced by Reps. Alan Lowenthal, Karen Bass, and Gerry Connolly – makes clear that any US plan for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that does not embrace as its goal a two-state solution will harm the prospects for peace. It reaffirms America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, desire for an end to occupation, and longstanding opposition to settlement expansion and unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory. Help us to rally Congress around this important initiative.

    Take action to thank your Representative if s/he has co-sponsored this bill. If not, ask your Representative to become a co-sponsor now.

    The text of the resolution is HERE

  • Tell Jared - Keep the "Peace Plan" to Yourself

    Scroll down to see and sign the petition.


    KEEP YOUR PLAN TO YOURSELF!

    Jared Kushner, appointed by his father-in-law President Donald Trump to come up with what Trump called “the Ultimate Deal” for Israeli-Palestinian peace, has signaled that his “peace plan” does not aim to achieve a two-state solution. Kushner recently indicated that because past attempts to achieve a two-state solution failed, his plan focuses on “new and different ways to reach peace.” Kushner’s colleague, Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, said the plan is an effort to “think outside the box.”

    A peace initiative that falls short of a two-state solution is not thinking outside the box. Rather, it is boxing Israelis and Palestinians into a state of endless conflict. It is a plan that condemns Israel to becoming either a non-democratic apartheid-like state or a binational state that will lose its character as the homeland of the Jewish people. A plan like this is neither pro-peace nor pro-Israel. Instead of creating a political horizon for Israelis and Palestinians, it blocks realization of Palestinian aspirations for self-determination in a sovereign state.

    Kushner and Friedman’s comments should not surprise anyone. They come after a series of blatant moves by the Trump administration to take the two-state solution off the table and set the stage for an “alternative” to what is the only viable conflict-ending solution. .

    The danger of Kushner’s plan is not that it will be “dead on arrival” due to Palestinian opposition. Kushner’s plan is dangerous because even as it fails, it will move the goalposts and make it more difficult for a future US administration to return to the two-state paradigm. As his administration blames Palestinian obstructionism for the plan’s failure, Trump will have a pretext for recognizing a future Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.

    We can’t let this happen.

    Join us. Tell Kushner: Don’t release this destructive plan! Keep your plan to yourself!

  • ACTION ALERT: Act to Prevent Trump from Launching a War of Choice Against Iran

    A new bill introduced in the Senate would block President Trump from launching an unnecessary war against Iran. Introduced by Senator Tom Udall and enjoying bipartisan support, the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2018 draws on Congressional power of the purse and power to declare war in to constrain the Trump administration. The legislation mandates that no funds may be used for military operations against Iran absent Congressional authorization for such operations or an imminent threat to the United States.

    Thank your Senators for signing the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act, and encourage them to do so if they have not.

    The possibility that the Trump administration may launch an ill-advised American strike against Iran, reminiscent of the 2003 Iraq war, is real and dangerous. Trump has surrounded himself with Iran war hawks like National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. At their counsel, the United States is now violating the Iran nuclear deal, which increases the likelihood of an unnecessary war. And Trump’s Twitter threats against Iran — for example, warning that Iran will “suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” — increase the risk of miscalculation by both sides.

    Take action to thank you Senators if they have co-sponsored this bill. If they haven’t yet signed on, ask them to do so now.

  • ACTION ALERT:Tell Your Senators and Representative Where You Stand on Palestinian Humanitarian Aid

    Thirty-four Senators and 112 House members recently released letters to the Trump administration calling on it to restore humanitarian funding to Palestinians, which President Trump has slashed in order to pressure the Palestinian leadership to acquiesce to his unannounced “peace plan.” As Israeli security officials have indicated, this funding is not only essential for Palestinians, it is also critically important for Israeli security.

    Did your elected officials sign? Tell them where you stand.

     The funding in question was passed by Congress, with bipartisan support, and included aid for:

    •  UNRWA, the UN agency which provides critical assistance to Palestinian refugees;
    •  Humanitarian programs administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the West Bank and Gaza;
    •  The East Jerusalem Hospital Network which provides essential care for many Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza; and
    •  People-to-people conflict mitigation programming which promotes coexistence, particularly among the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians.

     

    Congress allocated this funding because it serves the US national interest in a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the face of Trump’s outrageous decision to cancel all non-security-related funding that benefits Palestinians, Congress must speak out.

     

    Take action to thank your elected representatives if they signed these letters, or take them to task if they did not.

     

  • Tell Your Senators to Vote Against Kenneth Marcus to Head Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights

    If confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights in the Department of Education, Kenneth Marcus will be positioned to carry out his long-time mission to suppress speech critical of Israel on campuses by labeling it anti-Semitic.

    After securing Committee approval on a strictly party-line vote, consideration of the controversial nominee by the full Senate was delayed given the substantial number of Senators opposed to his confirmation. A vote on Marcus is now expected shortly.

    Marcus has a history of pushing the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which he would head if confirmed, to launch investigations of harassment of Jewish students. While all of the ensuing complaints filed by OCR were dismissed, Marcus claimed victory for “creating a very strong disincentive” for criticism of Israel among students. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has expressed concern that Marcus “could push the government to start taking action against students who speak out against Israel.”

    With this record of attempting to deter students from engaging in free speech, Kenneth Marcus is the wrong choice to be the lead official overseeing civil rights on American college campuses. Take action now to demand that your senators vote against his confirmation.

  • Tell Your Senators to Support Humanitarian Relief for Gaza

    Urge your senators to sign the letter, being circulated by Senator Bernie Sanders, that calls for action by the Trump Administration to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The crisis in Gaza not only makes life virtually unlivable for the two million residents of the Gaza Strip; it also endangers Israeli security by creating a breeding ground for the radicalization of Gaza’s residents.

    The letter, addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calls on the Trump Administration to:

    ·         restore US funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)

    ·         encourage easing of restriction on movement of people, goods, and equipment in and out of Gaza, especially for water projects and health essentials

    ·         ensure greater electricity flow into energy-starved Gaza

    ·         pursue proposals to build Gaza’s economy, including the proposed Gaza Seaport

    More than this is needed to address the situation in Gaza. In particular, Secretary Pompeo and the Trump Administration should take steps to bring about a political solution which would facilitate an end to the Israeli and Egyptian siege on Gaza. This letter is, at least, a positive and necessary step – and one that should be entirely uncontroversial.

    The full text of the Sanders letter on humanitarian relief for Gaza is available here.

  • Tell Your Senator: Vote against the confirmation of Mike Pompeo

    Mike PompeoYesterday, President Trump announced his choice of former Republican Congressman and current CIA director Mike Pompeo to be his nominee for Secretary of State. This is a potentially catastrophic decision that could lead the U.S. to go to war against Iran and threaten Israel’s national security.

    Pompeo is an ultra-hawk on Iran and fierce critic of the Iran nuclear deal. After Trump was elected in November 2016, Pompeo tweeted, "I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism." He has used his post as CIA Director to push for the demise of the agreement, and we expect him to continue to do so as Secretary of State. This is despite the continued support for the deal from numerous U.S. and Israeli security figures.

    Pompeo also has a history of expressing disturbing anti-Muslim views, including insinuating in 2015 that former President Obama favored Islam and jihadist radicals over Christianity and the United States. Alongside statements that have accused American Muslims of being a fifth column, Pompeo’s close relationship with Islamophobic organizations like ACT for American and the Center for Security Policy demonstrate that his dangerous anti-Muslim bias runs deep.

    Mike Pompeo must not become the next U.S. Secretary of State. Take action now to demand that your senators vote against his confirmation.

  • Join us in taking a stand against West Bank annexation

    Recent moves by Israel's government are bringing Israel dangerously close to annexing the West Bank and sabotaging a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Last week, Americans for Peace Now called on fellow American Jewish organizations to join us in vocally opposing annexation and pre-judging issues to be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a final-status peace deal.

    Specifically, we condemn the following:

    • Likud Central Committee's unanimous vote to endorse the annexation of West Bank settlements by Israel
    • A new directive by Israel's Attorney General instructing government ministries to apply new Israeli laws to West Bank settlers
    • Knesset legislation on Jerusalem meant to render close to impossible a negotiated settlement with Palestinians

    We need your help to amplify our message. Urge Jewish umbrella organizations to take a stand against these actions that imperil Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state.

  • Tell Congress to Save the Iran Deal

    As we expected, President Trump decertified the Iran nuclear deal on October 17th but declined to kill it outright by imposing new sanctions. Instead, he dropped the fate of the deal in the lap of Congress, hoping to make lawmakers complicit in US violation of the terms of the JCPOA.

    This would give Iran the green light to resume its nuclear program and increase the risk of escalation to an armed conflict with Iran. But that’s not all. It would mean that as the US and Israel seek to combat Iran’s nefarious activities in the Middle East we could be up against a nuclear-armed state. Further, the US would rupture relations with our allies and undermine our credibility, such that North Korea would have no reason to negotiate its nuclear disarmament.

    How could Congress push the US into violating the Iran deal? There are two paths. Under an expedited procedure, a simple majority of legislators could vote to snap back into place nuclear sanctions. Trump, however, seems to prefer an alternative: Congressional legislation that would “fix” the deal by unilaterally imposing new conditions on Iran – and triggering automatic sanctions against Iran if it violates terms to which Tehran never agreed. Senators Tom Cotton (R, Ark.) and Bob Corker (R, Tenn.) are working on such a bill, which would require support from 60 senators to pass.

    We cannot allow Congress to sink a deal that is working, according to top American military officials and Israeli security experts. Regular, intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have confirmed their assessment.

    Join Americans for Peace Now and tell Congress NOT to be complicit in Trump’s plan to kill the Iran deal. Contact your members of Congress today!

  • Action Alert: Tell Trump to fire Ambassador Friedman

    Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was controversial from the get-go. Friedman, in a column he ran at the extremist right-wing Israeli publication Arutz 7, referred to our J Street colleagues as “far worse than kapos,” accused President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry of “blatant anti-Semitism” and called the two-state solution “a scam” and “an illusory solution in search of a non-existent problem.”

    Then, at his confirmation hearing, he promised concerned senators that things will change once he enters the embassy in Tel Aviv.

    That did not happen. In two recent interviews, one with the Jerusalem Post and one with Israel’s Walla news site, Friedman expressed views and positions that are a blatant departure from long-held US policy positions. In his September 28th Walla interview, referring to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Friedman said: “I think that the settlements are a part of Israel.”

    Friedman added that since the United Nations adopted Resolution 242 in 1967, “the expectation” was “that Israel would retain a meaningful portion of the West Bank, and it would return that which it didn’t need for peace and security.” Friedman further asserted that Israel is “only occupying two percent of the West Bank.”

    On September 28th, APN issued a press release urging President Trump to call back his ambassador and replace him with a person who would better serve our national security interests in this sensitive and vital post.

    Please join us and send your own message to the White House asking Trump to tell Friedman what he loves telling others: “You’re fired!”

  • Sign Our Petition

    Please sign our petition calling on President Trump to endorse the two-state solution

  • Thank Reps. Price and Connolly for Leading the Congressional Push for a Two-State Solution

    Price & Connolly

    Last week, any remaining pretense of US leadership in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was dealt a serious blow when State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert declined to recommit the United States to a two-state solution to the conflict. Strikingly, Nauert rejected the vision articulated by successive US administrations since 2002, Republican and Democratic, by suggesting that endorsing a two-state solution would "bias one side over the other."

    Two members of Congress, David Price (D-NC) and Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), released a statement in response calling on the Trump Administration to "stop equivocating on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and imploring it to "reaffirm the United State' support for a viable, lasting, and mutually-agreed upon two-state solution and to make this support clear in public and private statements."

    As Reps. Price and Connolly rightly acknowledged, "a two-state solution is the only viable and just path to achieve peace and security for the Israeli and Palestinian people" and refusing to endorse it "is irresponsible and damaging to the prospects for peace and American leadership in the region."

    Reps. Price and Connolly are leaders in Congress on the issue of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In March, they sent a bipartisan letter signed by 191 members of Congress to President Trump urging the President to reaffirm the US commitment to a two-state solution. This followed the President's press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu in which Trump flippantly remarked that, "I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one both parties like."

    Tell David Price and Gerry Connolly that you appreciate their staunch support of American leadership in pursuing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thank them and to urge them to keep up the fight.

  • Tell Trump to Demand that Netanyahu’s Government Stop Actions that Hinder Peace Efforts

    President Trump is again sending his two Middle East envoys, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, together with Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, to the region.

    The three will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to explore prospects for resuming peace talks.

    In past meetings, Trump and his aides reportedly criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his government for hate speech and incitement. Trump also asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements," but seems to have done very little to get Netanyahu to restrain West Bank settlement activity and other anti-peace actions. Indeed, Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition have scoffed at Trump’s call and plowed ahead with the settlement enterprise.

    If the Trump Administration is serious about facilitating peace, it must call out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for their share in hindering peace efforts.

    Among their anti-peace actions, here are the top ten:

    1. Dramatically increasing settlement planning. There has been an 85% increase in plans that the government of Israel advanced for settlement construction in the first half of 2017, compared to 2016.
    2. Facilitating a major surge in settlement construction. According to data published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, there has been a 70% increase in construction starts in West Bank settlements between April 2016 and March 2017 compared to the parallel period the year before.
    3. Endorsing the construction of Amichai. This is the first new "official" (government-sanctioned) settlement since 1992. Amichai serves the settlers of Amona, an outpost built illegally by West Bank settlers, without government approval, which was dismantled by order of Israel’s Supreme Court because the settlers built it on privately owned Palestinian land.
    4. Allowing construction of new illegal outposts in the West Bank. This violates the Netanyahu government’s own policy of forbidding the creation of new outposts and not retroactively legalizing existing ones.
    5. Launching a major settlement drive in East Jerusalem. This includes expanding existing settlements and building new ones in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods. The plan for a large settlement – 1,800 housing units – in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah is a key part of this effort.
    6. Allowing settlers to dispossess Palestinian families from East Jerusalem homes. This has occurred in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods, as settlers attempt to take over these homes.
    7. Failing to evict settlers in Hebron from the Abu Rajab House. Israeli Civil Administration ruled against settlers’ claim that the settlers had purchased the home (which they call "Beit HaMachpela") from its Palestinian owner. However, the government has yet to force the removal of settlers from the property they hope to convert into a new settlement in this highly volatile city.
    8. Endorsing a Knesset bill that would expand Jerusalem’s municipal borders. The bill purports to include major settlements surrounding the city, including the large settlement of Maale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, Beitar Illit and Efrat. This measure would annex these settlements to Jerusalem, but would not (yet) bring them under full Israeli sovereignty. Netanyahu last month indicated that he endorses this bill.
    9. Making and tolerating public statements that are antithetical to peace or incite hatred. Netanyahu has vowed that "no (settler) will be uprooted from his home" under a future peace agreement. He has also failed to condemn vile and indefensible statements by members of his cabinet or of Likud MKs. These include MK Oren Hazan calling Palestinians "morons" and "nothings" and repeatedly stating, from the podium of the Knesset, that "there is no Palestinian people."
    10. Recklessly alienating Jordan’s government and people. Netanyahu's ostentatious public embrace of an Israeli embassy security officer, who shot dead two Jordanian civilians after one of them allegedly stabbed him with a screwdriver, deeply embarrassed Jordan's King Abdullah and angered Jordanians. The King had defied Jordanian public opinion in allowing the officer to return to Israel. Abdullah and the Jordanian people are key allies for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace.

    Palestinian leaders can definitely do more to advance peace, but Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of his cabinet and coalition need to do their share. We call on the Trump administration to demand that.

  • Action Alert: Urge your representatives to oppose the "Anti-Israel Boycott Act."

    BDS

    The House of Representatives and the Senate are considering The “Anti-Israel Boycott Act,” measures that would criminalize boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel and its occupation of the West Bank.

    Americans for Peace Now (APN) opposes BDS targeting Israel.

    This legislation, however, intentionally burrs the distinction between Israel and the occupation. It clearly states that under this bill, measures targeting West Bank settlements and the occupation would be regarded as targeting Israel. APN opposes the occupation and supports boycotting West Bank settlements, the most visible physical manifestation of the occupation.

    While opposing BDS, APN believes that boycotts are a legitimate non-violent expression of protest, which should not be criminalized.

    These measures do just that: they criminalize free speech, as pointed out by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

    For the Senate version of the bill see here. For the House version see here.

    S.720 and H.1697, if passed, will set a terrible precedent. They must be opposed.

  • Don't Ban Americans Who Peacefully Oppose Israeli Policies

    The Israeli Knesset passed legislation known as the "Entry Law" on March 6, 2017, which will ban entry to Israel of foreigners who support or publicly engage in a blanket boycott of Israel, or who support or engage in boycotts targeting West Bank settlements.

    • This legislation is aimed at a basic civil liberty: the freedom of expression. Boycotting and calling for boycotts are legitimate forms of peaceful political expression, protected in the US and in any democracy.
    • Passage of this legislation sends a message to American supporters of Israel and to the public that legitimate political expression concerning Israel is illegitimate and will literally prevent Americans from being allowed into Israel.
    • Passage of this legislation sends a message to the world that the Israeli government is throwing out basic democratic norms in its effort to quash peaceful opposition and criticism of its policies.

    Whether or not you support a blanket boycott of Israel (APN does not), American Jews should be appalled at Israel adopting a policy that would be more at home in the old Soviet Union or in North Korea than in a liberal democracy.

    Whether or not you support boycotts of settlements (APN does), American Jews should be outraged at the prospect of seeing Israel becoming a nation that bars entry to people - including Jews and other supporters of Israel - for the "crime" of peacefully opposing Israeli policies.

    APN: "We fiercely reject and condemn this outrageous law, which is an ugly stain on Israel. It will add Israel to the club of nations that treat non-violent protest as a crime, and that irrationally believe that closing borders can prevent the spread of ideas.”

  • Tell American Jewish Leaders "The Occupation is as important as Praying at the Wall!"

    The Western Wall

    APN commends and supports the many American Jewish community leaders who expressed outrage over last week’s decision by the Israeli government to suspend the agreement to create a pluralistic prayer space at the Western Wall. Coupled with the government’s decision to further a bill tightening regulations on Jewish conversions (which has now been delayed by six months), these actions sent a powerful message of rejection and disregard to the great majority of American Jews. We extend particular support to the respective heads of the Reform and Conservative movements in the U.S., Rabbi Rick Jacobs and Rabbi Steve Wernick, and offer them an enthusiastic kol hakavod for their leadership.

    To those same leaders, we ask that a similar outspokenness be applied to Israel’s fifty-year occupation and the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Just as the issue of prayer at the Western Wall threatens to divide the Jewish people, settlement expansion and the occupation that it entrenches pose an existential threat to the Zionist dream of a democratic state of Israel as a secure homeland for the Jewish people. This too is a detrimental and ever-more divisive issue, both within the American Jewish community and between the U.S. and Israeli Jewish communities.

    American Jewish leaders, who have now shown a willingness to be harshly critical of the Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government, must recognize this threat to Israel’s future – and must be willing to deliver the same level of criticism. As Michael Siegel, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, said last week, "Support for Israel does not necessarily mean support for the Israeli government."

    Send a letter to Rabbi Rick and Jacobs and Rabbi Steve Wernick wishing them a kol hakavod for their leadership on prayer at the Western Wall – and asking them to do the same on 50 years of occupation and settlements.

  • Tell US Ambassador to Israel Friedman: "American Jews Need Your Help to Repeal Israel's anti-Democratic 'Entry Law'"

    The Israeli Knesset passed legislation known as the "Entry Law" on March 6, 2017, which will ban entry to Israel of foreigners who support or publicly engage in a blanket boycott of Israel, or who support or engage in boycotts targeting West Bank settlements.


    Key points:

    • This legislation is aimed at a basic civil liberty: the freedom of expression. Boycotting and calling for boycotts are legitimate forms of peaceful political expression, protected in the US and in any democracy.
    • Passage of this legislation sends a message to American supporters of Israel and to the public that legitimate political expression concerning Israel is illegitimate and will literally prevent Americans from being allowed into Israel.
    • Passage of this legislation sends a message to the world that the Israeli government is throwing out basic democratic norms in its effort to quash peaceful opposition and criticism of its policies.

    Whether or not you support a blanket boycott of Israel (APN does not), American Jews should be appalled at Israel adopting a policy that would be more at home in the old Soviet Union or in North Korea than in a liberal democracy.

    Whether or not you support boycotts of settlements (APN does), American Jews should be outraged at the prospect of seeing Israel becoming a nation that bars entry to people - including Jews and other supporters of Israel - for the "crime" of peacefully opposing Israeli policies.

    APN: "We fiercely reject and condemn this outrageous law, which is an ugly stain on Israel. It will add Israel to the club of nations that treat non-violent protest as a crime, and that irrationally believe that closing borders can prevent the spread of ideas.”

    Take action! Tell Ambassador Friedman: “American Jews Need Your Help to Repeal Israel’s anti-Democratic ‘Entry Law’”

  • SalsaStaff 179927: Template demo

    President TrumpDonald Trump is preparing for his visit to Israel on May 22nd, his first trip overseas as president.

    On several occasions, President Trump has announced his commitment to brokering a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, the “ultimate deal,” as he called it.

    We take the president at his words.. And as we stated in a recent press release, if Trump takes serious action to pursue a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, APN will leverage its influence and experience to support him.

    In order to be an effective, credible broker, President Trump will have to push both sides – Israelis and Palestinians – to take actions that build trust and that don’t slam the door on a future peace deal.

    Expectations of the Palestinian leadership to foster an environment conducive to peace are imperative and obviously justified, but President Trump must realize that the conflict is asymmetrical, that Israel holds almost all the cards, and most importantly, that Israel has the capacity to create irreversible facts on the ground that could make a two-state solution impossible.. Because the government of Israel is using its control of the West Bank to create such facts on the ground in the form of settlements, it is incumbent upon President Trump to demand a complete halt to settlement construction, both in “distant” settlements and in those adjacent to the pre-1967 Green Line.

    Stopping settlement construction would serve to lower the flames of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, to restore a modicum of much-needed trust for the sake of credible, viable peacemaking effort, and to prevent brick and mortar from jeopardizing a future peace deal.

    Send a letter to President Trump urging him to tell the Netanyahu government to halt West Bank settlement construction.

  • Action Alert: Tell President Trump to take Israeli-Palestinian deal-making seriously

    President TrumpDonald Trump is preparing for his visit to Israel on May 22nd, his first trip overseas as president.

    On several occasions, President Trump has announced his commitment to brokering a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, the “ultimate deal,” as he called it.

    We take the president at his words.. And as we stated in a recent press release, if Trump takes serious action to pursue a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, APN will leverage its influence and experience to support him.

    In order to be an effective, credible broker, President Trump will have to push both sides – Israelis and Palestinians – to take actions that build trust and that don’t slam the door on a future peace deal.

    Expectations of the Palestinian leadership to foster an environment conducive to peace are imperative and obviously justified, but President Trump must realize that the conflict is asymmetrical, that Israel holds almost all the cards, and most importantly, that Israel has the capacity to create irreversible facts on the ground that could make a two-state solution impossible.. Because the government of Israel is using its control of the West Bank to create such facts on the ground in the form of settlements, it is incumbent upon President Trump to demand a complete halt to settlement construction, both in “distant” settlements and in those adjacent to the pre-1967 Green Line.

    Stopping settlement construction would serve to lower the flames of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, to restore a modicum of much-needed trust for the sake of credible, viable peacemaking effort, and to prevent brick and mortar from jeopardizing a future peace deal.

    Send a letter to President Trump urging him to tell the Netanyahu government to halt West Bank settlement construction.

  • Take Action Again: Tell Senate to Oppose Rubio-Cardin Resolution

    Earlier today I asked you to contact your House member and ask him/her to oppose H. Res. 11, a resolution set to be voted on tomorrow, objecting to recent action taken in the UN Security Council regarding settlements. Now, the Senate is poised to pass a similar resolution, just introduced by Senators Rubio (R-FL) and Cardin (D-MD) – and it is critical your senators hear from you on this today.

    Contact your Senators TODAY. Tell them: Support Israel -- vote NO on the Rubio-Cardin resolution!

    Like its House companion, the Rubio-Cardin resolution misrepresents the action taken in the Security Council. It mischaracterizes longstanding U.S. policy both in the Security Council and vis-à-vis settlements. And it misleadingly portrays President Obama’s abstention in the Security Council as a betrayal of Israel and harmful to peace efforts.

    Tell your Senators: Giving cover to self-destructive Israeli policies is not pro-Israel - Reject the Rubio-Cardin resolution!

    While this resolution purports to be about defending Israel and supporting peace, it is really about quashing legitimate criticism of Israeli actions and changing longstanding U.S. policy to support settlements.

    Your Senators need to know this resolution, and the positions it embraces, is not pro-Israel. Rather, it is bad for Israel and bad for the United States. Your Senators need to hear from you TODAY!

    Sincerely,

    Lara Friedman
    Director, Policy & Government Relations
    Americans for Peace Now

  • Supporting Israel Means Opposing H. Res. 11

    Just before the New Year, the Obama Administration took pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-U.S. action in the UN Security Council. It did so by abstaining on a resolution focused on Israeli settlements – a resolution that was wholly consistent with longstanding U.S. policy (upheld by presidents from both parties), and that was consistent with language adopted previously by the UN Security Council (including under past U.S. presidents from both parties).

    Now, the House is poised to pass a resolution TOMORROW – H. Res. 11 – unfairly slamming the Obama Administration’s action.

    Contact your Representative TODAY. Tell him/her: Support Israel -- vote NO on H. Res. 11!

    H. Res. 11 misrepresents the resolution adopted in the Security Council. It mischaracterizes longstanding U.S. policy both in the Security Council and vis-à-vis settlements. And it misleadingly portrays President Obama’s abstention in the Security Council as a betrayal of Israel and harmful to peace efforts.

    While this resolution purports to be about defending Israel and supporting peace, it is really about quashing legitimate criticism of Israeli actions and changing longstanding U.S. policy to support settlements.

    Your elected representative in Washington needs to know that this resolution, and the positions it embraces, is not pro-Israel. Rather, it is bad for Israel and bad for the United States. Your representative in Congress needs to hear from you TODAY!

  • Tell Your Senators: Reject Trump's Dangerous Choice for Ambassador to Israel

    David Friedman is a friend of the settlement movement who backs unlimited settlement expansion, has accused President Obama of being an anti-Semite and says that liberal Zionists are "worse than kapos." Tell your Senators to reject his nomination to be the next US ambassador to Israel.

    Time is short and your Senators need to hear from you TODAY. If you don’t know who your Senators are, you can look them up here. Then call the US Capitol switchboard – (202) 224-3121- and ask to be connected to each of your Senator’s offices. Tell the person who answers the phone in each office:

    David Friedman

    • I am a constituent and I care about Israel and Israeli-Palestinian peace
    • That is why I strongly oppose Donald Trump's choice to be the next US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and urge Senator XXX to reject him.
    • Mr. Friedman poses a threat to longstanding US policies in the Middle East that have been supported by Democratic and Republican presidents alike.
    • He is hostile to the two-state solution - the only way to ensure Israel’s future as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people.
    • He is a friend of the settlement movement and an avid supporter of further settlement expansion.
    • The contempt Mr. Friedman has shown toward liberal American Jews - labeling them worse than Nazi collaborators - makes him a horrible choice to be our representative in Israel.
    • I urge Senator XXX to reject Mr. Friedman's nomination to be the next US ambassador to Israel.

    P.S. Please forward this to your friends and urge them to call.


    APN previously issued the following petition:

  • Thank the Obama Administration for standing up for Israel

    Last week, UNESCO’s  Executive Board ratified a shocking resolution that refers to the Holy Basin in Jerusalem’s Old City only by its Muslim title, the Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), does not mention the Temple Mount, the way Jews refer to the site, mentions the Western Wall Plaza in quotation marks while using its Muslim name, Al-Buraq Plaza without quotation marks, and uses other inflammatory language.  By so doing, UNESCO ignored the Jewish – and Christian – ties to Jerusalem.

    Thank President Obama and his administration for rejecting the anti-Israel bias of UNESCO’s resolution.

    We also applaud the actions of Mexico’s ambassador to UNESCO. We were dismayed to hear that the Mexican diplomat, Andrés Roemer, was fired for taking the unusual step of  walking out of the vote because he disagreed with his government’s  decision to support the resolution.

    Write to President Obama today and let him know you appreciate that the US is standing up for Israel.

  • Urge America’s Jewish organizations to repudiate Netanyahu’s "ethnic cleansing" comments


    Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement in which he claimed that evacuating Israeli settlements from the West Bank in the context of a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is tantamount to “ethnic cleansing.” This statement, trivializing crimes against humanity and genocide, should outrage anyone who cares about international affairs and who cares about Israel.

    Applying terminology borrowed from the darkest days of European history to a scenario in which Israeli settlements would be withdrawn to allow for a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians, reached by the sovereign governments of both peoples, is abhorrent. It merits the US Jewish community’s rejection and repudiation.

    Every U.S. President since 1967, both Republican and Democrat, has accepted that settlements would be removed as part of a peace agreement. Menachem Begin, who evacuated all of Israel’s settlements in Sinai as a part of a peace agreement, and Ariel Sharon, who unilaterally removed all the settlements from the Gaza Strip and a handful in the northern West Bank, made a sovereign decision to do so out of national security considerations. Controversial as these moves may have been at the time, they were not “ethnic cleansing.”

    American Jewish organizations must condemn Prime Minister Netanyahu’s outrageous comments for what they are: Cheap demagoguery, which exploits and minimizes horrible tragedies that Jews and others have suffered throughout history.

    We call upon America’s Jewish organizations, particularly those who focus on fighting bigotry and hatred in the public sphere, to repudiate Netanyahu’s comments.

    Urge America's Chief Jewish organizations to reject Prime Minister Netanyahu's offensive comments.

  • Tell Israel: Stop the land grabs, stop the settlement expansion.

    PN_pic_Setlement_overlook475x680

    Nearly 50 years into the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the current Israeli government continues to exploit a wide range of tactics, laws, and regulations to take control of more Palestinian land and hand it over to the settlers. Here are just the latest examples:

    • In Sussya, located in the south Hebron hills, Israel is seeking to raze Palestinian homes to make way for more settlement.
    • Northeast of Ramallah, near the settlement of Ofra, Israel is working to take over more Palestinian-owned land to give to settler law-breakers from the outpost of Amona.
    • South of Bethlehem, the Netanyahu government is actively seeking to seize land in order to implement an extraordinarily dangerous and destructive new settlement plan which activists have dubbed “E-2,” involving thousands of new units.
    • In the heart of Hebron, the Israeli government is in the process of establishing – by stealth – a new settlement complex: 28 housing units for some 100 settlers, or a 10% increase in the settler population in the area. This is the first new settlement construction in Hebron in more than a decade. The government’s method, this time, is taking properties seized years ago by the Israeli government for military use and handing them over to the settlers – in direct contravention of Israeli law.

    With actions like these, the Israeli government is telling the Palestinians that it is not interested in peace or a two-state solution. It is telling the world that it places greater value on land than on peace, that it prioritizes settlements over security, and that it is more concerned with ensuring permanent control over “Greater Israel” than in ensuring Israel’s relations and reputation with nations around the world, including the United States.

    With no immediate possibility of re-starting peace talks on the horizon, it is critical that world leaders stand firm against Israeli government efforts to further expand and entrench the occupation – the very possibility of the two-state outcome hangs in the balance.

    Sign our petition today (to be sent to addressees and released as an open letter). Join us in calling on the heads of state of the U.S., UK, France, and Germany -- as well as top officials in the European Commission and the UN, and other world leaders -- to individually and collectively stand up to the Netanyahu government’s plans to confiscate or transfer West Bank land for new settlement activity.

    Take Action NOW.

  • Save the Palestinian Village of Sussya

    The campaign to save the Palestinian village of Sussya, which has involved extraordinary efforts by human rights activists both inside and outside Israel, has reached a decisive movement.

    The Israeli government is poised to make a final decision on whether to raze almost half of the village, located in Area C on land long-coveted by settlers. International pressure succeeded in convincing the Israeli government to delay the decision, originally due in early August, until November, but the threat to destroy almost half of the village remains, as does the threat to destroy individual homes before a final decision is made in November.

    Now is the time to take action and add your voice to those of so many other activists working to save Sussya. We know the Israeli government and leaders around the world are listening. Take action now, whether for the first time or for the umpteenth time, and be heard! Never doubt: your voice can make a real difference.

    Send your message to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.

  • Tell Secretary Kerry: Save the Palestinian Village of Sussya

    The campaign to save the Palestinian village of Sussya, which has involved extraordinary efforts by human rights activists both inside and outside Israel, has reached a decisive movement.

    The Israeli government is poised to make a final decision on whether to raze almost half of the village, located in Area C on land long-coveted by settlers. International pressure succeeded in convincing the Israeli government to delay the decision, originally due in early August, until November, but the threat to destroy  almost half of the village remains, as does the threat to destroy individual homes before a final decision is made in November.

    Now is the time to take action and add your voice to those of so many other activists working to save Sussya. We know the Israeli government and leaders around the world are listening. Take action now, whether for the first time or for the umpteenth time, and be heard! Never doubt: your voice can make a real difference.

    Send your message to Secretary of State John Kerry.

  • Save the Palestinian Village of Sussya

     

    The campaign to save the Palestinian village of Sussya, which began in 2012 and has involved extraordinary efforts by human rights activists both inside and outside Israel, has reached a decisive movement.

    The Israeli government is poised to make a final decision on whether to raze the village, located in Area C on land long-coveted by settlers. International pressure succeeded in convincing the Israeli government to delay the decision, originally due in early August, until October, but the threat to destroy the village remains, as does the threat to destroy individual homes before a final decision is made in October.

    Now is the time to take action and add your voice to those of so many other activists working to save Sussya. We know the Israeli government and leaders around the world are listening. Take action now, whether for the first time or for the umpteenth time, and be heard! Never doubt: your voice can make a real difference.

  • Tell Obama and Kerry: Advance two states at the Security Council

    Last Wednesday, the Israeli government announced plans for hundreds of new homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In response, the U.S. Department of State issued a sharply-worded statement pointing out how destructive these new settlement plans are.

    State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said, "…this report would be the latest step in what seems to be a systematic process of land seizures, settlement expansions and legalizations of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution…

    He went on to state, unequivocally: “We oppose steps like these, which we believe are counterproductive to the cause of peace. In general, we’re deeply concerned about settlement construction and expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

    Now is the time for real leadership that can revive and re-accredit the two-state solution as President Obama enters his final months in office. And he can do this - he can lay the groundwork for a two-state agreement in the future by supporting an Israeli-Palestinian two-state resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

    Such a resolution would restore U.S. leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. It would preserve the now-foundering two-state outcome. And it would be a gift to the next president, leaving her or him constructive options for consequential actions in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, in place of the ever-worsening, politically stalemated status quo there is today.

    Thank President Obama and Secretary Kerry for their consistent opposition to settlements, and ask them to pursue a UN Security Council resolution laying out parameters for a two-state agreement.

  • Tell President Obama: Take the Two-State Solution to the UN Security Council

    For years right-wing critics – Israeli and American, inside and outside Congress – have maligned President Obama for supposedly failing to sufficiently defend and support Israel. In particular, they have warned that if President Obama were to allow the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to pass a resolution criticizing objectionable Israeli policies, or a resolution weighing in on the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it would be an unprecedented betrayal of Israel – a betrayal that a true friend of Israel would never consider, let alone permit.

    Now, the truth is finally out – in this op-ed in the New York Times, by APN Director of Policy & Government Relations Lara Friedman. And the truth is: President Obama is the only president since 1967 who has shielded Israel 100% from critical resolutions in the UNSC. 

    As a true friend of Israel, it is time for President Obama to stop shielding Israel in the UNSC, just as his predecessors in the Oval Office – Republican and Democrat alike – did numerous times over the past 48 years.

    It is time for President Obama to allow – and even better, to actively lead and support – action in the UNSC to preserve and support the achievement of a two-state solution in the near future.

    Over the past year, President Obama has achieved historic foreign policy victories on Cuba and Iran, Now, in his final months in office, another historic foreign policy achievement is within reach: passage of a resolution in the UNSC laying out the parameters of a two-state solution, and, with greater clarity than ever before, laying the groundwork for the achievement of such a solution.

    Such a resolution would represent a critically important legacy for President Obama. It would renew U.S. leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. It would preserve the now-foundering two-state outcome. And it would be a gift to the next president, leaving her or him constructive options for consequential bilateral and multilateral policies and actions in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, in place of the ever-worsening, politically stalemated status quo there is today. 


    Tell President Obama that initiating or backing a two-state Israeli-Palestinian resolution in the United Nations Security Council is the real pro-Israel, pro-peace policy.

  • Tell Congress: Pro-Settlements is NOT Pro-Israel

    There are bills pending in both the House and Senate that seek to reverse almost 5 decades of U.S. policy with respect to Israeli settlements.

    Contact your House member tell her/him: pro-settlements is NOT pro-Israel!

    All three of these bills – H. Res. 567, S. Res. 346, and S. 2474 – purport to be about countering BDS against Israel. In reality, all three are really about erasing the distinction between Israel and the occupied territories and legislate U.S. protection and support for Israeli settlements.


    Your Senators need to hear from you today! Tell them: Conflating Israel with settlements is reckless and dangerous, for both the U.S. and Israel.

    These bills did not emerge from a vacuum. They are part of a broader effort – supported by AIPAC and other groups – to exploit legitimate concerns about growing grassroots support for the BDS movement in order to change U.S. policy on settlements.

  • Tell Congress: Tell Knesset to Reject Anti-Democratic NGO Law

    Knesset

    Israel is on the verge of adopting an openly anti-democratic law seeking to stigmatize, delegitimize, and ultimately silence Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Peace Now.

    Tell Congress: Supporting Israel means standing up for Israeli democracy.

    For a comprehensive "explainer" about the law, see here. Briefly, while purporting to be about "transparency," the law would brand Peace Now and other Israeli NGOs working for progressive, democratic values like peace, human rights, and civil rights as "foreign agents," based on the fact that they receive funding from (mainly European) foreign governments. It would do so, despite the fact that under existing Israeli law foreign government funding for NGOs is already transparent. And it would do so despite the fact that NGOs in question, like Peace Now, are founded and run by Israelis, are grounded in missions that are defined by their founders' values as Israelis, and for the most part have been pursuing their progressive agendas for years, irrespective of outside funding.

    Tell Congress: If you care about Israel, take action now to warn your Knesset counterparts against adopting the anti-democratic NGO bill.

    The American Jewish Committee issued a statement noting that the law poses a "risk to Israel's reputation as a confident and open society that has long been true democracy's sole Middle East outpost." A recent lead editorial in the Washington Post warned: "The proposal reflects the kind of tactic that Russia and China have employed to squelch dissent, and it is not in keeping with Israel's core values as a democratic state."

    Tell Congress: Your Knesset counterparts need to understand that U.S. support for Israel does not extend to anti-democratic laws that seek to delegitimize and muzzle civil society.

    Notably, Shaked’s bill only deals with foreign government funding – and for good reason. By refraining from imposing transparency requirements with respect to funding from foreign individuals and foundations, Shaked is permitting right-wing Israeli NGOS – whose pro-settlement, anti-peace, anti-democratic agendas are more in line with the views of the current government – to shield their donors, and their donors’ political agendas, from scrutiny. A new Peace Now report found that 94% of donations to right-wing organizations are non-transparent. Indeed, Israeli right-wing MK and former ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren has come out in opposition to the proposed law, saying that it "could harm Israel’s foreign relations and image… such one-sided exposure, which ignores the funding sources of extreme-right non-profits, might play exactly into the hands of those elements that are trying to boycott us."

  • Don't Let Rabin's Legacy & Memory Be Forgotten!

    Rabin

    Urge your Senators and your Representative to co-sponsor resolutions honoring the life, legacy, and example of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the twentieth anniversary of his death – in the Senate, S.Res.299 (introduced by Sen. Feinstein, D-CA); in the House, H Res. 502 (introduced by Rep. Ellison, D-MN), and H. Res. 513 (introduced by Rep. Engel, D-NY).

  • Living Rabin's Legacy

    logos

    On the 20th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, six progressive American Jewish organizations - Americans for Peace Now, together with J Street, the New Israel Fund, Ameinu, T'ruah, and Partners for Progressive Israel- have joined together to issue this Statement of Principles. 

    Add your name to the statement.

    This is the moment to demonstrate the breadth of our community: We who care about Israel, who believe in the values of liberal democracy, and who want to see Israel live up to those values.

    The list of signers will be delivered to Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer to pass on to the Israeli government. 

  • Tell President Obama: Take the Two-State Solution to the UN Security Council

    Only a negotiated agreement can end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but with Netanyahu leading Israel, there is currently no prospect for any such agreement. The Obama Administration needs to shift its focus from negotiations to action, including action to restore the credibility of its own policies and bolster the credibility of the two-state outcome.

    • For his entire career – including his three previous terms in office as Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu has demonstrated by his own actions that he supports settlements and the “Greater Israel” agenda over Israeli-Palestinian or Israeli-Arab peace.
    • Today, it can no longer be debated: Netanyahu is not a partner for peace – not for the Palestinians, not for supporters of the Arab Peace Initiative, and not for the United States and the broader international community.
    • The Obama Administration must shift focus from restarting negotiations to restoring the credibility of America’s Israel-Palestine policy.
    • It can do this by supporting clear parameters for a future peace agreement and laying the groundwork for consequences that will result from actions that contradict these parameters.
    • The Obama Administration should start by bringing an Israeli-Palestinian two-state resolution – grounded in the Clinton Parameters – to the United Nations Security Council, or by working with other UNSC members in support of such a resolution or some similar initiative.

    Tell President Obama: Stand up to Bibi, Stand up for two states.

    President Obama has long been under tremendous pressure – from Israel, from right-wing American Jews and some evangelical Christians, and from some in Congress – to stand back and let Netanyahu continue his campaign to destroy the two-state solution. President Obama needs to hear from you today! Tell him that initiating or backing a two-state Israeli-Palestinian resolution in the United Nations Security Council is the real pro-Israel, pro-peace policy.

  • Tell Members of Congress Who Voted Against the Agreement: I’m Mad.
    Iran Nuclear Negotiations

    For Members of Congress who are NOT on the list of members supporting the Iran deal but that you (a) vote for, (b) support, or (c) feel some other kind of connection to – let them know you are disappointed in their vote! Check this list to see which Members of Congress did not support the Iran nuclear deal.

    • Email and tell them you are disappointed (this is for constituents only) – enter your zip code below to send your message.
    • Call and talk to their staff.  Call (202) 224-3121, ask for the member’s office, and tell the person who answers the phone:
      • I am calling to express my disappointment that Representative/Senator XXXX voted against the Iran nuclear deal. I am also calling to urge them to reject anyh new back-door legislative efforts to undermine the deal. Successful implementation of this deal is good for America and good for Israel, and Congress should support it!
    • Click here to use Twitter to tell them you’re disappointed.  A list of all the Twitter handles of the House Members who have them can be found here, and those of the Senators here.
      • Sample tweet (you just need to fill in the desired Twitter handle):  Dear @RepXXXXX – I am disappointed you voted against the Iran deal – a deal that is good for America & good for Israel
      • Or write your own – just make sure to include the member’s Twitter handle
  • Thank Members of Congress who Supported the Iran deal!
    Iran Nuclear Negotiations

    Check this list to see which Members of Congress supported the Iran nuclear deal. Find those Members of Congress that you (a) vote for, (b) support, or (c) feel some other kind of connection to.

    Take these steps to thank them for supporting the deal:

    • Email your thanks (this is for constituents only) – enter your zip code below to send your message.
    • Call and talk to their staff. Call (202) 224-3121, ask for the member’s office, and tell the person who answers the phone:
      • I am calling to thank Representative/Senator XXXX for supporting the Iran nuclear deal – a deal that is good for America and good for Israel. Well done!
    • Click here to tweet your thanks. A full list of House Twitter handle is here; Senate Twitter handles are here.
      • Sample tweet (you just need to fill in the desired Twitter handle): Thank you @RepXXXXX for voting for the Iran nuclear deal – a deal that is good for America & good for Israel
      • Or write your own – just make sure to include the member’s Twitter handle

  • Thank Members of Congress (House and Senate) who have come out in support of the Iran deal!
    Iran Nuclear Negotiations

     

    Check this list to see which Members of Congress have come out in support of the Iran nuclear deal.

    Find those Members of Congress that you (a) vote for, (b) support, or (c) feel some other kind of connection to.

    G.W._Bush_delivers_State_of_the_Union_Address-to-congress-wikicommons

    Take these steps to thank them for supporting the deal:

    • Email your thanks (this is for constituents only) – enter your zip code below to send your message.
    • Call and talk to their staff. Call 855-686-6927, ask for the member’s office, and tell the person who answers the phone:
      • I am calling to thank Representative/Senator XXXX for supporting the Iran nuclear deal – a deal that is good for America and good for Israel. Well done!
    • Click here to tweet your thanks to them. Twitter handles for members are included in each entry on our list of members supporting the deal.
      • Sample tweet (you just need to fill in the desired Twitter handle): Thank you @RepXXXXX for supporting the Iran nuclear deal – a deal that is good for America & good for Israel #IranDeal
      • Or write your own – just make sure to include the member’s Twitter handle and the #IranDeal hashtag!
  • Tell Congress: Support the Iran Deal

    On July 14, the Obama Administration, its P5+1 partners, and the government of Iran announced the achievement of an historic agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

    This is a good deal. It is grounded not on trust and goodwill but on far-reaching limitations on Iranian activities and intrusive verification mechanisms. Implementation of this agreement –key elements of which will continue in force for decades – will make Israel, the region and the world more secure. When implemented, this agreement will:

    • Roll back Iran’s nuclear program;
    • Limit Iran’s nuclear activities going forward;
    • Prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon; and
    • Ensure that any effort by Iran to try to “sneak out” towards developing a nuclear weapon will be far more likely to be detected, and the U.S. and international community will be in a far stronger position to respond.

    The achievement of this landmark deal demonstrates that where there is sufficient political will, diplomacy can work – and can walk the world back from the brink of war.

    Opponents of this agreement never ceased trying to kill the diplomacy that brought us to this day. YOUR efforts played a critical role, over and over, in preventing them from doing so. Now that a deal has been reached, these same opponents are doubling down (or tripling and quadrupling down) in their efforts to use Congress to scuttle the agreement and return the U.S. and Iran back to the path of confrontation that leads, ineluctably, to war.

    YOUR efforts – today and in the weeks to come – are critical to ensuring that this historic agreement survives and has the chance to thrive.

    Tell your Senators and Representative: Support the Iran nuclear deal.

  • Tell your representative how disappointed you are that they did not sign the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter

    Recently we asked you to call your Representative and urge them to sign a pro-diplomacy letter being circulated by Representatives Schakowsky (D-IL), Doggett (D-TX), and Price (D-NC) among Democrats in the House. Thousands of you responded – and your representatives took notice!

    In the end, 151 Democrats Members of Congress signed this letter to President Obama asking him to stay on course, build on the recently announced political framework and continue to work toward a strong and verifiable agreement between the P5+1 countries and Iran that will prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

    This would be a huge success for any pro-peace, pro-diplomacy letter. It is an even more significant success today, given the degree to which the debate in Congress has been dominated by voices opposing diplomacy and seeking to undermine or block an agreement. This letter shows that more than one-third of the House supports diplomacy. While in no way committing its signers to any specific position with respect to a final deal, nonetheless this letter signals that there may well be sufficient support for a deal in Congress to sustain a presidential veto of diplomacy-killing legislation.

    Few would have predicted that the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter would attract so many signers. The fact that it did so is in large part a testament to the energetic grassroots activism mobilized in support of the letter. Indeed, the success of the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter demonstrates how important it is that members of Congress hear from you – now and in the future. Never doubt for a minute that your opinion matters to your elected officials, whether with respect to Iran, or Israel-Palestine, or any other issue.

    If your member is one of the 47 members of Congress who did not sign the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter, send them a message letting them know that you, as a constituent, are frustrated and disappointed in them.

  • Thank your representative for signing the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter

    Recently we asked you to call your Representative and urge them to sign a pro-diplomacy letter being circulated by Representatives Schakowsky (D-IL), Doggett (D-TX), and Price (D-NC) among Democrats in the House. Thousands of you responded – and your representatives took notice!

    In the end, 151 Democrats Members of Congress signed this letter to President Obama asking him to stay on course, build on the recently announced political framework and continue to work toward a strong and verifiable agreement between the P5+1 countries and Iran that will prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

    This would be a huge success for any pro-peace, pro-diplomacy letter. It is an even more significant success today, given the degree to which the debate in Congress has been dominated by voices opposing diplomacy and seeking to undermine or block an agreement. This letter shows that more than one-third of the House supports diplomacy. While in no way committing its signers to any specific position with respect to a final deal, nonetheless this letter signals that there may well be sufficient support for a deal in Congress to sustain a presidential veto of diplomacy-killing legislation.

    Few would have predicted that the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter would attract so many signers. The fact that it did so is in large part a testament to the energetic grassroots activism mobilized in support of the letter. Indeed, the success of the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter demonstrates how important it is that members of Congress hear from you – now and in the future. Never doubt for a minute that your opinion matters to your elected officials, whether with respect to Iran, or Israel-Palestine, or any other issue.

    If your member is one of the 151 members of Congress who signed the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price letter, thank them for doing the right thing.

  • Tell Your Senators: Reject Diplomacy-Killing Iran Bills

    On April 2, the Obama Administration and its P5+1 partners announced an historic framework agreement with Iran, aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Since then, opponents of Iran diplomacy and a deal – both in the United States and Israel – have doubled down on efforts to use Congress to scuttle diplomacy and undermine the possibility of getting to, and implementing, a final agreement with Iran.

    Senators are being pressured to support S. 615 – and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to pass this bill on April 14. In its current form, the bill includes a number of poison pill provisions that will undermine diplomacy and likely kill a deal. These include provisions to delay implementation of a deal, legislate a congressional veto of a deal, strip the president of existing waiver authorities, and impose conditions for U.S. adherence to a deal that are unrelated to Iran’s nuclear program.

    Senators are also being urged to support S. 269, which seeks to legislate new Iran sanctions that would be triggered if no deal with Iran is reached.

    Both bills are entirely unnecessary. Passage of either bill risks undermining the ongoing diplomacy with the P5+1 and killing a deal – leaving the U.S. isolated and bringing the U.S. closer to the point where it will be forced to choose between a nuclear-armed Iran and another Middle East war.

  • Tell President Obama: Take the Two-State Solution to the UN Security Council
    • For his entire career – including his three previous terms in office as Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu has demonstrated by his own actions that he supports settlements and the Greater Israel agenda over Israeli-Palestinian or Israeli-Arab peace.
    • Today, it can no longer be debated: Netanyahu is not a partner for peace – not for the Palestinians, not for supporters of the Arab Peace Initiative, and not for the United States and broader international community.
    • The Obama Administration must shift focus from restarting negotiations to restoring the credibility of America’s Israel-Palestine policy – by supporting clear parameters for a future peace agreement and laying the groundwork for consequences that will result from actions that contradict these parameters.
    • The Obama Administration should start by bringing an Israeli-Palestinian two-state resolution – grounded in the Clinton Parameters – to the United Nations Security Council, or by working with other UNSC members in support of such a resolution.

    Tell President Obama: Take the Two-State Solution to the UN Security Council.

    Only a negotiated agreement can end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but with Netanyahu leading Israel, there is for now no prospect for any such agreement. The Obama Administration needs to shift its focus from negotiations to action, including action to restore the credibility of its own policies and bolster the credibility of the two-state outcome.

    Tell President Obama: Stand up to Bibi, don’t stand back.

    President Obama is under tremendous pressure – from Israel, from right-wing American Jews and some evangelical Christians, and from Congress – to stand back and let Netanyahu continue his campaign to destroy the two-state solution. President Obama needs to hear from you today! Tell him that initiating or backing a two-state Israeli-Palestinian resolution in the United Nations Security Council is the real pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-Israel’s security policy.

  • President Obama: Stand Up for Peace, Stand Up to Bibi


    The recent Israeli elections definitively unmasked the real Benjamin Netanyahu.

    • Netanyahu cynically campaigned as an adversary of President Obama
    • Netanyahu brazenly ruled out a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians
    • Netanyahu flagrantly incited racism and intolerance in the Israeli body politic
    • Netanyahu shamelessly stoked divisions within the American Jewish community
    • Netanyahu recklessly turned Israel into a partisan issue in Congress

     

    Tell President Obama:  Stand up to Netanyahu.

    Netanyahu has repeatedly violated the progressive values that we, as Americans and American Jews, hold dear. Real U.S. support for Israel today means holding Netanyahu and his next government accountable for its words and deeds – particularly those that undermine the very foundations of U.S.-Israel relations, contradict longstanding U.S. policy, or threaten the vital interests of the United States and Israel.

    Tell President Obama: I will stand with you as you stand up to Bibi.


    President Obama needs to hear from you today!  Tell him that you will support him as he stands up to Bibi – including at the UN, with respect to a potential nuclear agreement with Iran, with respect to international pressure on settlements, and with respect to the Palestinians. Tell him that standing up to Bibi is the real pro-Israel, pro-peace policy.

  • Tell Your Senators: Oppose AIPAC-backed Iran Bills

    Tomorrow, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress.  His goal?  To scuttle the ongoing diplomacy that seeks to achieve a diplomatic agreement and verifiably curb Iran's nuclear program.   After his speech, AIPAC conference-goers will flood the Hill, meeting with Members of Congress and staff, with the goal of amplifying Netanyahu’s arguments.

    AIPAC supporters will be asking Senators to support and cosponsor two pieces of Iran legislation – S. 269 and S. 615.  Both bills are entirely unnecessary, and both risk undermining the ongoing diplomacy with the P5+1 – leaving the U.S. isolated and bringing the U.S. closer to the point where it will be forced to choose between a nuclear-armed Iran and another Middle East war.


    AIPAC supporters will be telling Senators that S. 269 – which seeks to legislate new Iran sanctions that would be triggered if no deal with Iran is reached – is necessary preparation for the possibility that talks may fail.  They will argue that S. 615 – which seeks to delay implementation of a deal, legislate Congressional approval/disapproval of that deal, and impose Congressional oversight and conditions on any deal’s implementation – is necessary preparation for the possibility that talks may succeed. Neither argument passes the laugh test. 
     

    If Iran negotiations break down due to Iran’s unwillingness to agree to compromises acceptable to the P5+1, Congress can move swiftly to pass new sanctions legislation at that time.  Likewise, Congress does not need new legislation, now or in the future, to assert its right to have oversight over an Iran agreement.  Implementation of any agreement will require Congress to take action to lift sanctions; if Congress opposes an agreement, it can refuse to do so, or place conditions on any lifting of sanctions.  Should Congress so deeply oppose an agreement that it wants to block its implementation, Congress can assert its will through new sanctions and other measures.

    In short, there is no reason for the Senate to be moving either of these pieces of legislation, other than either a naive belief that more pressure from Congress can induce Iran to yield more at the negotiating table – a belief rejected not only by the Obama Administration but by its P5+1 partners – or a reckless desire to deliberately derail negotiations and undermine the very possibility of a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. 

    Tell your Senators: Reject S. 269 & S. 615.

  • Urge your Member of Congress to add their name to the letter urging Boehner to postpone the invitation to Netanyahu.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ohio Republican John Boehner, has issued an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on March 3.
     
    Speaker Boehner issued this invitation without coordinating with the White House, in violation of protocol – but he violated much more than that.
     
    By inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress only two weeks before Israeli general elections in which Netanyahu is a candidate, Boehner violated the unwritten rule that Congress not meddle in a foreign county’s elections.   But that’s not all. 
     
    Speaker Boehner has made clear that his goal in inviting Netanyahu at this time is to try to tip the balance in Congress against the White House in the ongoing debate over Iran nuclear negotiations and new Iran sanctions.  Boehner’s move to use Israel, yet again, as a wedge issue in internal American politics, is inappropriate and irresponsible, violating the cardinal rule that U.S. support for Israel should not be turned into a partisan issue.  Boehner’s invitation also represents a shameless attempt to exploit  support for Israel to manipulate Congress into adopting policies that are potentially deeply harmful to U.S. national security and national interests.
     
    Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu has drawn criticism, bafflement, and outrage from across the spectrum – in the US, in Israel and around the world.  The pro-Israel, pro-U.S., pro-peace in the Middle East position on this mess is clear:  Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu must be rescinded, and if Netanyahu is to be invited to address Congress, it should be on a date after the Israeli elections and after the Iran negotiations/sanctions debate between Congress and the White House has been completed.
     
    We urge you: take action today.  Urge your Member of Congress to add their name to the letter to Boehner being circulated in the House urging Boehner to postpone the invitation to Netanyahu.

  • Tell Speaker Boehner to reschedule Netanyahu's speech before Congress

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ohio Republican John Boehner, has issued an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on March 3.

    Speaker Boehner issued this invitation without coordinating with the White House, in violation of protocol – but he violated much more than that.

    By inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress only two weeks before Israeli general elections in which Netanyahu is a candidate, Boehner violated the unwritten rule that Congress not meddle in a foreign county’s elections. But that’s not all.

    Speaker Boehner has made clear that his goal in inviting Netanyahu at this time is to try to tip the balance in Congress against the White House in the ongoing debate over Iran nuclear negotiations and new Iran sanctions. Boehner’s move to use Israel, yet again, as a wedge issue in internal American politics, is inappropriate and irresponsible, violating the cardinal rule that U.S. support for Israel should not be turned into a partisan issue. Boehner’s invitation also represents a shameless attempt to exploit support for Israel to manipulate Congress into adopting policies that are potentially deeply harmful to U.S. national security and national interests.

    Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu has drawn criticism, bafflement, and outrage from across the spectrum – in the US, in Israel and around the world. The pro-Israel, pro-U.S., pro-peace in the Middle East position on this mess is clear: Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu must be rescinded, and if Netanyahu is to be invited to address Congress, it should be on a date after the Israeli elections and after the Iran negotiations/sanctions debate between Congress and the White House has been completed.

    We urge you: take action today. Contact Speaker Boehner urging him to rescind his invitation to Netanyahu and reschedule any Netanyahu address to Congress for a different date.

    Even if you’re not a constituent, Rep. Boehner, as Speaker of the House, still needs to hear from you

    It is critical that Boehner understand that Americans everywhere object to his action.  Call his office at (202) 225-0600.  Tell Speaker Boehner: “As a supporter of Israel, I want you to re-issue your invitation for the prime minister of Israel to address Congress for a later date – a date that is after negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have concluded and after elections in Israel are complete and a new government is formed.”

  • Take action (AGAIN) to stop diplomacy-killer Iran sanctions bill

    Your activism is working! Last week, we asked you to contact your senators and urge them to oppose new Iran sanctions legislation pending in the Senate. Hundreds of you contacted your senators, and now that same Iran sanctions bill has stalled, in large part, it seems, because it isn’t attracting as much bipartisan support as its backers expected. Last year, activists like you played a critical role in the successful fight against diplomacy-killing sanctions. This year, you are doing it again!

    If you have not yet taken action, please do so now. If you’ve already taken action, please do so again. And urge your friends to do the same.

    Last night, President Obama made the open-and-shut case against any new Iran sanctions legislation at this time. He said,

    “Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran, where, for the first time in a decade, we’ve halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material. Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies – including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails – alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.”

    Nonetheless, the effort to push ahead with new sanctions in the Senate continues, with a key Senate committee scheduled to consider the new Iran sanctions bill – sponsored by Senators Kirk (R-IL) and Menendez (D-NJ) – next week. Between now and then, pressure will mount on your senators to support this reckless, unnecessary legislation, with backers of Kirk-Menendez – like AIPAC and the Israel Project – insisting that President Obama is wrong about the bill and its potential impact. Do they think they know better than the President and U.S. officials directly engaged in negotiations? Or do they simply not care if talks fall apart and the U.S. is brought closer to war?

    Take action now! Tell your senators: “Oppose new Iran sanctions!”

    With your help, this anti-diplomacy sanctions effort is already being slowed. Now, take action to help us – and President Obama – stop it in its tracks. We won this battle last year, and we can do it again now.

    Thanks for your commitment and activism on this critical issue!

  • SUPPORT Iran diplomacy; OPPOSE new Iran sanctions

    The fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive isn’t over. Last year, with your help, efforts by some Senators – backed by groups like AIPAC – to pass new, diplomacy-killing Iran sanctions in the Senate (S. 1881) were stopped in their tracks. Now, the same group is at it again, with new Iran sanctions legislation expected to be introduced in the Senate next week.

    National Security Advisor Susan Rice has predicted that new Iran sanctions would “blow up” negotiations. President Obama has promised to veto the legislation if it makes it to his desk. But this isn’t stopping Senate Iran hawks and their supporters. They appear more determined than ever to move ahead with new sanctions and are working to muster a veto-proof majority.

    Iran negotiations have already demonstrated that diplomacy can deliver results. Now, with the clock ticking down to the end of the extension period, diplomacy must be given every possible chance to produce a deal that verifiably curbs Iran's nuclear program. And should negotiations end without a deal, there is nothing preventing Congress and the Obama Administration from revisiting all the various policy responses, including additional sanctions, at that time.

    So why push ahead with new sanctions now, if not for the express purpose of undermining negotiations and ensuring their failure? Indeed, this new sanctions push only doubles down on the message sent resoundingly by some supporters of S. 1881 last year that they may favor confrontation to diplomacy, and prefer armed conflict to any negotiated deal with Iran. In sending such a message, supporters of the bill are not only once again making common cause with hardliners in Tehran, but also putting themselves at odds with the majority of Americans, who do not want more war.

    With your help, this anti-diplomacy sanction effort can be stopped in its tracks, just as it was last year. The stakes are too high to stay on the sidelines. Please take action now.

  • Tell Secretary Kerry: Yes to a Gaza-Israel ceasefire

    The current devastating round of Gaza-Israel fighting shows no signs of ending, with both Israel and Hamas apparently viewing the conflict in increasingly zero-sum terms.  While there have been fitful attempts at short-term humanitarian “pauses” in the fighting, it is clear that now, more than ever, Israelis and Palestinians alike urgently need outside help to find an off-ramp from the destruction, fear, and anger that has taken over their lives.  Secretary of State Kerry and President Obama understand this, which is why they have been working to achieve a ceasefire.  In doing so, they are acting as true friends of Israel and its citizens.

    Secretary Kerry and President Obama deserve credit, not scorn, for acting as true friends of Israel by trying to find an off-ramp from the current conflict. A mutually-agreed ceasefire will, by definition, have to deliver something to both sides.  Disgustingly, rather than welcoming Secretary Kerry’s efforts, Israel officials and Knesset members have responded with contempt, ridicule, and outrageous assertions that Kerry has “betrayed” Israel or is supporting terrorism.  These attacks – consistent with much of the politically-motivated attacks lobbed at the Obama Administration by the Israeli right – have been amplified by a chorus of attacks in the Israeli media and from critics and cynics inside and outside Israel.

    President Obama has made clear that his Administration’s goal is “ensuring Israel’s security, protecting civilians, alleviating Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, and enacting a sustainable ceasefire that both allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic needs, while strengthening the Palestinian Authority.”  He has also made clear that “ultimately, any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza.”  Even if some concerns about the details of a given ceasefire proposal have merit, publicly suggesting that the Obama Administration has “betrayed” Israel by seeking to craft a ceasefire proposal that takes this fact into account are contemptible and dishonest, and do not serve Israel’s best interests. 

    As a true friend of Israel, it is critical that Secretary Kerry, with President Obama’s continued support, rises above the attacks and continues to work with the parties and partners in the international community both to expedite an end to the immediate crisis and to pave a clear road back to a diplomatic process that can, once and for all, address the causes that are at the root not only of the current round of violence, but of the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Thank Secretary Kerry for his efforts to end the current Israel-Gaza bloodletting, and tell him that as someone who cares about Israel, you want him to keep trying until he succeeds. Tell Secretary Kerry: I Stand With You in Seeking a Gaza-Israel Ceasefire.

  • Tell the Obama Administration: Work for a Ceasefire NOW.

    Having urged a ceasefire for the past week, APN was excited at the news of an agreement Monday night, and then deeply disappointed when Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip rejected it and intensified their rocket fire. Now that the Egyptian ceasefire initiative has collapsed,  We must redouble our efforts to urge for a credible ceasefire agreement to prevent further bloodshed and devastation and to clear the path for leaders to pivot from war to peace talks.   

    We therefore ask once again for our supporters to write to President Obama and ask him to use his influence with other world leaders to continue to work for a ceasefire – one which will lay the groundwork for resumed negotiations leading to an Israeli-Palestinian  peace agreement .

    We are only powerless if we choose to be. I urge you: Do not be powerless – Take action. We can and must tell the Obama Administration: Work for a Ceasefire NOW.

    After taking action, Read the full statement here.

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  • A government of the settlers, by the settlers, and for the settlers

    Write to Israel's Ambassador in Washington. Tell them that Americans who care about Israel will not make excuses for an Israeli government that puts the Greater Israel ideology over Israel’s own best interests.

  • Action Alert: Tell President Obama to stand firm with Netanyahu

    When President Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House on Monday, their conversation will no doubt focus on two issues that are central to the Obama Administration’s foreign policy agenda: Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

    The Obama Administration has expended tremendous energy to achieve an historic diplomatic breakthrough that has a real chance of resolving concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. Simultaneously, Secretary of State John Kerry has in recent months redoubled efforts to achieve a breakthrough on the Israeli-Palestinian track. Seven months of shuttle diplomacy are soon to be crowned by a U.S.-authored “framework” for a future peace agreement, and President Obama is reportedly preparing to intensify his personal involvement in Israeli-Palestinian peace brokering.

    President Obama will undoubtedly get strong push-back from Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu has consistently dismissed and belittled diplomacy with Iran, and has implied that those supporting such diplomacy are undermining Israel’s interests. On the Israeli-Palestinian track, Netanyahu has given lip service to the pursuit of peace and the two-state solution, but has pursued policies on the ground – particularly with respect to settlements – that disclose a very different agenda.

    By making a diplomatic solution with Iran and an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement top priorities of his administration, President Obama is arguably doing more than any U.S. president in history to support Israel and work for a future in which Israel can exist as a Jewish state and a democracy, living in security and peace with its neighbors. Thank him for his efforts and encourage him to continue them – even when it means standing up to an Israeli prime minister whose actions and words reveal an agenda that is inconsistent with peace and security for Israel and the Middle East.

    Thank President Obama for his efforts to secure Israel’s future. Urge him to stand firm with Netanyahu, for the sake of both Israel and U.S. interests.

  • "For Zion's Sake, We Will Not Be Silent"

    As rabbis and cantors, leaders of American Jews, we have a special obligation to speak up for justice. And for too long, the voices of those of us who support Israel and a two-state solution have been silenced.

    Join us and add your voice: "The stakes are too high, and we will not be silent any longer. We will speak up for Israel, against the occupation, and for a two-state solution."

    Read the full letter below, and add your name.

    Once you take the pledge, Americans for Peace Now, J Street, and T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights will provide you with rabbinic and educational resources to help you engage your community.

    Read More

  • Tell Senate: Reject S. 1881, the New Anti-Iran-Diplomacy Bill

    We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn't over - and we were right. Just before the Senate went home for the holidays, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 25 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate - S. 1881, ironically named the "Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013." Over the holiday break, this bill was the focal point of a major lobbying effort, with AIPAC and other groups working intensively to get Senators to cosponsor the measure -- and this effort will pick up additional steam in the coming days.

    • Urge your Senators to refuse to cosponsor S. 1881 and to oppose efforts to bring this outrageous bill to the floor for a vote.
    • If they have already cosponsored it, urge them to recognize their error and retract their sponsorship, and to refrain from pressing Senate leadership to bring the measure to the floor for a vote

  • Tell Your Senators: Reject New Anti-Diplomacy Iran Sanctions Push

    We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn’t over – and we were right. Yesterday, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 24 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate – S. 1881, ironically named the “Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013.” This bill, introduced just before the Senate breaks for the year, will be the focal point of anti-diplomacy efforts for the coming period. The White House has come out firmly against the measure, including issuing a veto threat, and an array of powerful outside groups, both from inside and outside the Jewish community, are already lobbying for its passage.

    The mere act of introducing such a bill at this delicate juncture represents a reckless, provocative and wholly gratuitous step. The Geneva interim agreement with Iran demonstrates that sincere, determined diplomacy can deliver results. Now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to test whether this interim agreement can lead to a final accord that verifiably curbs Iran’s nuclear program. Should Iran prove insincere about achieving such an accord, there is nothing preventing Congress and the Obama Administration from revisiting all it various policy responses, including additional sanctions, at that time.

    If the timing of its introduction weren’t bad enough, the substance of the bill appears designed to undermine the initiative launched last month in Geneva and, bafflingly, to undermine international cooperation on Iran. In this way, it sends a message that some in the Senate, joined by outside organizations promoting this legislation, prefer war to diplomacy and a negotiated final agreement with Iran, regardless of its terms. In sending such a message, supporters of the bill are, ironically, making common cause with hardliners in Tehran, who also prefer confrontation to negotiations and compromise; however, they are putting themselves at odds with the majority of American people, who do not want more war.

    Anyone who is truly concerned about curbing Iran’s nuclear program should be outraged by this latest sanctions effort. For the first time in decades, there is an historic and promising diplomatic engagement with Iran, and the entire world is focused on the importance of resolving concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and nuclear ambitions. Now is the time for the  Senate to stand up to outside pressure, foreswear partisan and political grandstanding, and get behind the efforts of the Obama Administration and the international community to achieve a negotiated final agreement that does just that.

    Urge your Senators to reject this outrageous legislation; if they have already cosponsored it, urge them to recognize their error and retract their sponsorship.

    You can see the list of cosponsors on the online official list, updated daily to show any changes, here.

  • Tell Congress: Give Iran diplomacy time to work

    Only weeks ago we welcomed the achievement in Geneva of an historic agreement with Iran.   This interim agreement opens the door for a final agreement that resolves U.S. and international concerns about Iran's nuclear program and ambitions. Such an agreement holds the promise of a more secure and stable Middle East, as well as positive impacts outside the region. Anyone who cares about U.S. national security, the security of Israel, or stability in the Middle East should do everything possible to ensure the success of this Iran diplomatic effort.  Unfortunately, today there is strong momentum in Congress and outside pressure on Congress to adopt legislation that would threaten such an outcome.

    The Senate wisely held off on new sanctions in advance of the last round of Iran negotiations, despite strong outside pressure. By doing so, the Senate allowed diplomacy to deliver concrete, historic results with the Geneva interim agreement. Today, Congress – the House and Senate – must support efforts to build on that success in order to achieve a final agreement with Iran. This means refraining from pursuing legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran, dictate the terms of a final agreement, or otherwise tie the hands of U.S. negotiators.

    The pressure has not been taken off Iran.  Far-reaching sanctions will remain in place unless and until a final agreement is achieved and implemented.  Acting now to pursue additional Iran sanctions or impose negotiating red lines risks eroding the fragile international consensus that is central to this existing Iran sanctions regime.  Doing so will also discredit diplomacy, isolate the U.S., and undermine Iranian moderates – all while bolstering the conclusion that many in Congress are seeking regime change, not policy change, in Tehran. Such a conclusion could lead Iranian authorities to decide that crossing the red line and obtaining a nuclear weapon is necessary for deterrence and regime survival.

    Congressional efforts to undermine or constrain diplomacy will put the U.S. on the path to a war.  Such a war is far more likely to guarantee, rather than prevent, a nuclear-armed Iran, and would likely have far-reaching negative consequences for the region and the world.  Diplomacy is the only tool that has any chance of coming to grips with the Iranian nuclear challenge. The Geneva interim agreement demonstrates that sincere, determined diplomacy can deliver results. Any efforts to now derail or undermine the continued diplomatic effort that will be needed to get to a final agreement must be rejected.

    Tell Congress: Reject initiatives that would recklessly undermine the Iran interim agreement and the chances for a final agreement.

  • Don’t Undermine Iran Diplomacy with New Sanctions

    Just as a diplomatic solution to the Iran crisis appears potentially within reach, and at a time when the Obama Administration is imploring Congress to give it the space it needs to test this possibility, pressure is mounting for Congress to push ahead with new sanctions against Iran. Some are arguing that putting a gun to Iran’s head during negotiations while tying the hands of Obama Administration negotiators is a way of promoting successful negotiations. In truth, such an approach is probably the fastest way to undermine the U.S. negotiating efforts and, to the extent that there are Iranian officials today who may be serious about negotiating a deal, it is probably the most effective way to discredit them and strengthen Iranian hardliners.

    Going ahead with new sanctions at this time is reckless and irresponsible. Passing legislation that further limits U.S. negotiating options and flexibility is rash and shortsighted. Now is the time for Congress to give diplomacy a chance to work and to give the Obama Administration maximum room to maneuver.

    Pursuing additional sanctions today sends a message that Congress doesn’t want a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear program. Indeed, legislating new sanctions will be understood by many, in Iran and the international community, as a declaration that Congress actively wants to scuttle the ongoing diplomatic effort. Such an approach will also bolster arguments that congressional sanctions and saber-rattling have been driven all along, not by the goal of changing Iran’s policy vis-à-vis its nuclear program, but rather by the goal of changing the Iranian regime.

    Tell your Senators: Now is the time to support diplomacy.  Now is not the time to undermine diplomacy with new sanctions and negotiating red lines.

  • Tell your Senators: Sign the Feinstein letter on diplomacy with Iran

    Last time it was the House; now it’s the Senate. 

    Earlier this month, thousands of APN activists responded to our call to contact their elected members of the House of Representatives and urge them to sign onto a letter supporting reinvigorated U.S. diplomacy with Iran.  The result was an historic letter to President Obama, signed by a bipartisan group of 131 members of Congress.  Now we are reaching out to you, APN’s activists, once again.  This time, we need you to contact your senators and urge them to sign the letter being circulated by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). 

    Like its House counterpart, Senator Feinstein’s letter boils down to a simple message to President Obama, summarized in the letter’s opening paragraph:  “We urge you to seize the opportunity presented by the upcoming inauguration of Iran’s new president, Dr. Hassan Rouhani, by reinvigorating diplomatic efforts to secure a verifiable agreement that ensures that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.”  We couldn’t agree more.

    Tell your Senators to support diplomacy.

  • Follow-Up Action Alert on Price-Dent Iran Diplomacy Letter: Spanks

    Recently we asked you to contact your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign the Dent-Price letter – a letter urging President Obama to seize the opportunity presented by the recent election in Iran to try to re-energize U.S.-Iran diplomacy.

    Thousands of you responded to our call, and your representatives took notice. 

    In the end 131 members of Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, put their names on the Dent-Price letter.  This is a major success for any letter, and an even bigger success given how radioactive (no pun intended) Iran-related issues are on Capitol Hill. 

    Few would have predicted that the Dent-Price letter would attract so many signers or such a diverse group.  The fact that it did so is a testament to the broad support and energetic grassroots activism mobilized in support of the letter.  Indeed, the success of the Dent-Price letter demonstrates how important it is that members of Congress hear from you – now and in the future.  Never doubt for a minute that your opinion matters to your elected officials, whether with respect to Iran, or Israel-Palestine, or any other issue.

    If your member isn’t on the list of signers of the Dent-Price letter,  send them a message letting them know you, as a constituent, are disappointed in them.

  • Follow-Up Action Alert on Iran Diplomacy Letter: Thanks!

    Recently we asked you to contact your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign the Dent-Price letter – a letter urging President Obama to seize the opportunity presented by the recent election in Iran to try to re-energize U.S.-Iran diplomacy.

    Thousands of you responded to our call, and your representatives took notice. 

    In the end 131 members of Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, put their names on the Dent-Price letter.  This is a major success for any letter, and an even bigger success given how radioactive (no pun intended) Iran-related issues are on Capitol Hill. 

    Few would have predicted that the Dent-Price letter would attract so many signers or such a diverse group.  The fact that it did so is a testament to the broad support and energetic grassroots activism mobilized in support of the letter.  Indeed, the success of the Dent-Price letter demonstrates how important it is that members of Congress hear from you – now and in the future.  Never doubt for a minute that your opinion matters to your elected officials, whether with respect to Iran, or Israel-Palestine, or any other issue.

    If your member is one of the 131 members of Congress who signed the Dent-Price letter,  thank them for doing the right thing.

     

  • Tell your member of Congress: Sign the Dent-Price letter to give diplomacy a chance in Iran.

    In the wake of the Iranian elections, Congress is being bombarded with messages telling them that the victory of an avowed Iranian political moderate means nothing, and that rather than seeing this as an opening for diplomacy, the U.S. should respond to the election with additional sanctions and saber-rattling. This is an approach that makes sense only if the goal is to actively undermine the possibility of a diplomatic solution in order to clear the path for war. The Dent-Price letter offers members of Congress a chance to send a very different message, both to President Obama and to the new Iranian president. This message says simply: We want to give diplomacy a chance.

    Please urge your member of Congress to join this sensible call.

  • Heed Kerry's Call

    Earlier this week, Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a powerful speech advocating Israeli-Palestinian peace (you can read the full text of his speech here).  In his speech, he exhorted his audience of prominent American Jews to “send a message...that you are behind this hopeful vision of what can be. Let your leaders and your neighbors alike know that you understand this will be a tough process with tough decisions and that you are ready to back the leaders who make them.”

     

    Tell your rabbis, the editorial boards of your local papers, the leaders of your Jewish community organizations: it is time to stand, publicly and vocally, with the Obama Administration in its efforts to break the deadlock and achieve the two-state solution.

     

    For too long, politicians and members of our own community's leadership have given lip-service to the two-state solution, while failing to appreciate the costs of the status quo or, worse yet, taking refuge in the hollow cliché that states, “we can't want peace more than the parties.” Secretary Kerry’s powerful, heartfelt words remind all of us what is at stake if the two-state is solution is lost: Israel's security and its very future as a democracy and a thriving Jewish state.

     

     

    APN commended Secretary Kerry for addressing head-on the pretexts seized by those who are afraid of peace or opposed to it. We agree with him that it is time to stop making excuses. It is time to stop allowing skepticism and cynicism to trump rational, clear-eyed analysis and policies grounded in the vital interests of both Israel and the United States.  Kerry correctly underscored the urgency of the moment, noting that if progress is not achieved in the near term, the opportunity for peace may be lost, and both peoples will be sentenced to ever-increasing conflict for the coming decades. Perhaps as important, he also laid out a moving vision for a future of Israel living in peace and security with its neighbors, enjoying the economic, political, and diplomatic fruits of peace. APN is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kerry in his efforts to achieve peace. Our colleagues and friends at American Jewish organizations across the political spectrum should do the same, for the sake of both the U.S. and Israel.  


    APN urges you to contact your rabbis, local Jewish community leaders, leaders of U.S. national Jewish organizations, local media, and their members of Congress.  We urge you to ask them to stand up and support President Obama and Secretary Kerry in their efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.  The following draft text provided can be adapted for all of these audiences.

     

  • Tell Secretary Kerry you’ve got his back.

    Friends,


    Yesterday, the news broke that Secretary of State John Kerry personally called Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to protest the Israeli government’s decision to “legalize” four illegal outposts – a decision that, if implemented, will mean the establishment of four new settlements.  Kerry reportedly also asked the Israeli government to delay the move or rethink its decision.  The Israeli decision to legalize the outposts is bad news but par for the course for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has for years pandered to the settlers and their supporters.  The personal intervention of Secretary Kerry, on the other hand, is a welcome development. 

    This high-level démarche to the Israeli government – the first in recent memory – underscores Kerry’s apparent recognition that this Israeli government decision is exactly what Peace Now called it: “A slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new process and [a] blatant reassurance to settler interests."  As Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran notes, the decision to launder illegal settler actions flies in the face of past promises Israel has made to the international community to not create new settlements or expand existing ones. 


    Thank Secretary of State Kerry for stepping up and taking action for peace, and tell him to stay the course! 

  • Tell Your Senators: Stand Up to AIPAC on S. Res. 65

    AIPAC supporters are trying to tell your Senators what is “pro-Israel” when it comes to Iran.  Specifically, they are asking your Senators to co-sponsor and eventually vote for S. Res. 65 – nicknamed by some the “Backdoor to War” resolution, since it effectively gives a green light for Israeli military action against Iran that, if carried out, would almost certainly require the U.S. to join the fight.

    While we share the concerns of AIPAC supporters about Iran’s nuclear program, we also know that Congress has to recognize that, while the intentions of AIPAC supporters are sincere, the policies and positions they are asking Congress to adopt are not pro-Israel.  Rather, they conflict with the best interests of both Israel and the United States, including our shared goals of addressing the critical challenge posed by Iran’s nuclear program and ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.  

    S. Res. 65 is fraught with problems, including the reckless encouragement of Israeli military action and the potential for embroiling the U.S. in another Middle East war.  Given the gravity of the issues at stake, it is vital that your Senators stand up to AIPAC and refuse to cosponsor S. Res. 65 or permit it to be ramrodded through the Senate according to a timetable defined by AIPAC – or any outside group.  

    Tell your Senators to refuse to cosponsor S. Res. 65 and to instead call for a serious deliberation process, including committee hearings and markups during which concerns about S. Res. 65 can be aired and deficiencies in the resolution can be addressed.

    Input your zip code below to write a letter to your Senators urging them to stand up to AIPAC on S. Res. 65.  And when you’re done, don't forget to go back and urge your House representative to likewise stand up to AIPAC on HR 850!


     

  • Tell Your Representative: Stand Up to AIPAC on HR 850

    AIPAC supporters are trying to tell your Representative what is “pro-Israel” when it comes to Iran.  Specifically, they are asking your House member to co-sponsor and eventually vote for HR 850 – the latest in a long line of AIPAC-backed Iran sanctions bills.

    While we share the concerns of AIPAC supporters about Iran’s nuclear program, we also know that Congress has to recognize that, while the intentions of AIPAC supporters are sincere, the policies and positions they are asking Congress to adopt are not pro-Israel.  Rather, they conflict with the best interests of both Israel and the United States, including our shared goals of addressing the critical challenge posed by Iran’s nuclear program and ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.  

     HR 850 is fraught with problems, including the potential undermining of diplomacy and lowering of the bar for war.  Given the gravity of the issues at stake, it is vital that your Representative stand up to AIPAC and refuse to cosponsor HR 850 or to permit it to be ramrodded through Congress according to a timetable defined by AIPAC – or any outside group.  

    Tell your elected officials in Washington to refuse to cosponsor HR 850.  Urge him/her to instead call for a serious deliberation process, including committee hearings and markups during which concerns about HR 850 can be aired and deficiencies in the bill can be addressed.

    Input your zip code below to write a letter to your member of Congress urging him/her to stand up to AIPAC on HR 850.  And when you’re done, don't forget to go back and urge your Senators to likewise stand up to AIPAC on S. Res. 65!


     

  • Don't sign the Ros-Lehtinen/Berman/Engel/Royce letter


    House members are under pressure right now to sign a Congressional letter calling on President Obama to punish the Palestinians for going to the UN.  The letter is being circulated by Reps. Ros-Lehtinen(R-FL), Berman (D-CA), Royce (R-CA), and Engel (D-NY), and is being publicly supported by AIPAC.

    You and I know that this is the wrong approach.  The Palestinian decision to go to the UN wasn’t a rejection of a negotiated, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Rather, it was an unequivocal validation of such a solution in the face of years of stalemate and inaction on the diplomatic track, and in the face of Israeli actions that threaten to destroy the very possibility of such a solution

    The letter calls on President Obama to take the self-defeating steps of closing the PLO’s office in the U.S. and withdrawing the U.S. Consul General from Jerusalem. It also calls for a continuation of the anachronistic policy of blocking all U.S. funding for any UN agency or international forum that grants the Palestinians membership.  U.S. interests are not served by cutting off contacts with the representatives of the PLO which, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has consistently committed itself to a negotiated two-state solution and has rejected violence and terror.  In effect, the letter calls for a policy that makes U.S. relations with the entire international community contingent on this red-herring issue, rather than on vital U.S. national security or strategic policy interests. Such an approach is antithetical to responsible U.S. policy.

    This letter comes at a time when the Netanyahu government is taking concrete steps – like the approval of massive settlement construction and the promotion of the two-state-killing E-1 settlement project – that threaten the very possibility of peace.  AIPAC and its House allies, regrettably, have stayed silent in the face of these provocations.  Instead, they are mobilizing pressure that, if successful, will only further weaken Abbas and strengthen the hand of those Palestinians who have long argued that negotiations and diplomatic actions are worthless, and that Palestinian rights will be achieved only through boycotts and divestment, or, worse yet, violence.

    Sponsors of this letter will be gathering signatures only until the end of the week.
    Write to your Member of Congress TODAY and urge them not to sign. 
     

  • Get Tough Now - Before It's Too Late


    Last week, in a resounding vote of confidence for the two-state solution, the UN voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to that of “non-member observer state.”
     
    Rather than recognize this vote as a huge achievement for Israel – an achievement in which the entire Arab and Muslim worlds voted for a future Middle East that will be home to both Israel and Palestine – the Netanyahu government decided to exploit the vote as an opportunity to take actions that could well close the door on the two state-solution.  These actions include:  the announcement of the approval of 3000 new settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem – an announcement that, on its own, sends a message that Netanyahu is eager to undermine Abbas and pander to his right-wing political base in the run-up to Israeli elections early next year; moving ahead with the E-1 settlement – the construction of which virtually everyone agrees is a potential death blow to the viability of the two-state solution; and announcing that it will withhold tax revenues it owes to the Palestinian Authority – a move that further undermines President Abbas and threatens to collapse the Palestinian Authority.

    Tell Secretary Clinton: Get tough now.  If not now, soon it will be too late.

  • Tell Obama: War with Iran is not a "Pro-Israel" Litmus Test

    With the 2012 election season in high gear, Iran hawks in both parties and their Israeli counterparts, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak, are pressing for war. They are increasing the pressure on President Obama, including with the threat of unilateral Israeli military action. Their apparent goal is to either force Obama to launch a U.S. war against Iran or paint him as not serious about stopping Iran and therefore not truly supportive of Israel. This, despite the Obama Administration’s demonstrated and irrefutable commitment to Israel’s security.

    A war with Iran is neither desirable nor inevitable. The best chance for avoiding such a war is robust diplomacy, in tandem with the extraordinarily far-reaching sanctions that are already being imposed against the Iranian regime. It's not just Americans for Peace Now saying this: a large (and ever-increasing) number of former and current U.S. and Israeli military and intelligence officials and national security experts are saying that such an approach, not military action, is the solution.

    War advocates, however, dismiss the idea that there are still viable options short of military action and insist that the time for exploring any such options has passed. The reality is that the door remains open for determined diplomacy. As the New York Times wrote only a few days ago: “There is still time for intensified diplomacy”.

    Clearly, there is no easy path forward on Iran, but any discourse about war must be a sober one, based on a fact-based assessment of the issues, weighing all options, and taking into account the full range of possible consequences. It must be a discourse in which the voices of reason and wisdom from America's (and Israel's) own military and intelligence communities are not marginalized in favor of the kind of dangerous ideologues and fantasists who made the case for war in Iraq.

    Tell Obama: Don’t Be Pressured Into War with Iran

  • Is it 1984? Reject the Levy Committee Report!


    It seems to be 1984.  George Orwell gave us, in his book by that name, the term “Doublethink,” in which “war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.”   The Levy Committee – an Israeli government Committee- with a straight face expects us to believe that occupation can be erased simply by defining it out of existence.  But no one does believe it.


    The committee’s report states that Israel is not an occupier in the West Bank. It asserts that establishing settlements in the West Bank does not violate international law. It recommends legalizing illegal settlement construction. It suggests facilitating additional settlement in the West Bank. Finally, it recommends permitting Israeli settlers to register land ownership in the West Bank. This is outrageous!


    Prime Minister Netanyahu is preparing the report for government discussion. Right now, some officials are planning to submit a bill to the Knesset that would enshrine the Levy committee's recommendations in Israeli law.  Adopting the recommendations of the report would cause terrible damage to Israel’s international standing. The relationship between Israel and the United States would be deeply undermined. Prospects for peace with the Palestinians and the Arab world would be devastated. Adopting these recommendations would be a definitive statement that the current government has no respect for the rule of law, for the commitments of previous governments to remove illegal outposts, or for the interests of the 96% of Israelis who are not part of the ideological settlement enterprise.


    Tell Ambassador Oren: The Levy report cannot be accepted as law!

  • Follow-Up Action Alert: Urge Members to Sign Price-Dreier Iran Diplomacy Letter

    Reps. David Price (D-NC) and David Dreier (R-CA) are trying to do the right thing on Iran.  We need you to tell other members to join them.  At a time when bipartisanship is rarely seen on Capitol Hill, Reps. Price and Dreier have joined forces to initiate a bipartisan letter to President Obama supporting ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program.   

    Recent actions in the House may have, regrettably, sent a message that House members are not supportive of ongoing diplomatic efforts to deal with Iran.  In addition, with the passage of H. Res. 568, Congress is endorsing a policy of rejecting Iran acquiring “nuclear weapons capability.” However, the text of the resolution nowhere defines what the term “nuclear weapons capability” means.

    The Price-Dreier letter makes clear that the current diplomatic efforts to deal with Iran have strong, bipartisan Congressional backing.   Moreover, it clearly defines “nuclear weapons capability” as “the capability to produce them [nuclear weapons] from stockpiled materials and components,” consistent with a definition articulated by Rep. Berman on May 15th: “Nuclear weapons capability--there are three elements, as defined by the Director of National Intelligence: fissile material production, one. Design, weaponization, and testing of a warhead, two. A delivery vehicle. To be nuclear-capable, you really have to…master all three elements.  While Iran has the delivery system, they have not yet mastered--but they are making progress--on steps one and two. And if one day, when they've mastered all the other elements and they kick out the inspectors and they shut off the cameras, I will consider them nuclear-capable.”


    Tell your member of Congress to support this clearer statement of policy on Iran.

  • Who is delegitimizing Israel?

    This week, we saw the Netanyahu government’s appalling disregard for the rule of law, through its authorization of three illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank – in effect establishing the first new settlements since 1990. This blatant flouting of Israel’s own laws was followed only two days later by another outrageous action of the Israeli government, which today indicated its intention to try to “legalize” yet another outpost (Givat Ha’Ulpana) that the Israeli Supreme Court had previously ruled must be removed within days.

    Previous Israeli governments repeatedly committed to removing illegal outposts, including as part of Israel’s acceptance of the Roadmap.  All Israeli governments, since the end of the government of Yitzhak Shamir, were committed to not establishing new settlements in the West Bank.  The Netanyahu government is blatantly reneging on both of these commitments.

    As Americans and as Jews, we are committed supporters of the state of Israel, defending her existence and right to security. This, however, is indefensible.  “Legalizing” outposts creates additional obstacles to peace.  It makes the two-state solution less feasible.  It threatens Israel from within - sacrificing democracy and the rule of law to placate the most extreme elements of Israeli society, even at the cost of Israel’s future.  And it sends a signal to the world that the current Israeli government supports the settlers over peace, and even over its own laws.  

    Ambassador Oren has been much in the news lately, denouncing efforts to “delegitimize” the state of Israel.  What he and his government fail to grasp, it seems, is that there can be no “delegitimization” worse than what Israel’s current administration is doing to itself. There is no “hasbara” that can hide or gloss over actions so outrageous that they can neither be defended nor explained.

    Tell Ambassador Oren that Israel must dismantle the Ulpana outpost, and all other illegal outposts.

  • Tell Congress to Support Iran Diplomacy, not Iran War

    Recently, we asked you to contact your members of Congress to tell them that AIPAC and its supporters don’t speak for you when they call for ever-more belligerent U.S. policy on Iran.

    Since we sent you that original action alert, there has been an important development: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced HR 4173, the “Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War through Diplomacy Act.”  This extremely constructive legislation calls for sustained, robust U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis with Iran, including calling for the appointment of a high-level United States representative or special envoy for Iran.

    As we noted previously, there is no question that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a serious threat to Israel and U.S. national security interests. Addressing this threat requires a sober, rational approach, not the adoption of reckless positions or support for precipitous military action. Likewise, Israeli-Palestinian peace is a vital U.S. and Israeli interest. Without peace, Israel cannot have real security and cannot survive as a Jewish state and a democracy

    In this election season, members of Congress are under intense pressure. They need to hear from you. You need to let them know that AIPAC and its supporters don’t speak for all Jews or all Americans on these issues. You need to let members of Congress know that they have engaged, active constituents, like you, who want them to do the right thing - not just the politically expedient thing - on Iran and Israel.

    If you haven’t contacted your own members of Congress yet, please do so now!

  • Tell Congress to Support Iran Diplomacy, not Iran War

    Recently, we asked you to contact your members of Congress to tell them that AIPAC and its supporters don’t speak for you when they call for ever-more belligerent U.S. policy on Iran.

    Since we sent you that original action alert, there has been an important development: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced HR 4173, the “Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War through Diplomacy Act.”  This extremely constructive legislation calls for sustained, robust U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis with Iran, including calling for the appointment of a high-level United States representative or special envoy for Iran.

    In this election season, members of Congress are under intense pressure. They need to hear from you. You need to let them know that AIPAC and its supporters don’t speak for all Jews or all Americans on these issues. You need to let members of Congress know that they have engaged, active constituents, like you, who want them to do the right thing - not just the politically expedient thing - on Iran and Israel.

    If you already took action to contact your Members of Congress, THANK YOU.  Now we need you to contact your Representative in the House again to tell them to support HR 4173. 

  • Tell Congress AIPAC doesn’t speak for you in Iran and Israel

    Recently, thousands of activists were on Capitol Hill, brought there by AIPAC.  They told members of Congress and their staff that they speak for all Americans, and especially American Jews, who care about Israel.  These activists told Congress, in effect, to call for war with Iran.  They also sent a message that achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace shouldn't be a priority.  

    There is no question that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a serious threat to Israel and U.S. national security interests.  Addressing this threat requires a sober, rational approach, not the adoption of reckless positions or support for precipitous military action.  Likewise, Israeli-Palestinian peace is a vital U.S. and Israeli interest.  Without peace, Israel cannot have real security and cannot survive as a Jewish state and a democracy.

    In this election season, members of Congress – like the President – are under intense pressure. Let them know that AIPAC doesn’t speak for all Jews or all Americans on these issues.  You need to let members of Congress know that they have engaged, active constituents, like you, who want them to do the right thing – not just the politically expedient thing – on Iran and Israel.

  • Tell President Obama: Stand Firm on Pro-Peace Positions

    President Obama is now under tremendous pressure to “walk back” many of the pro-Israel, pro-peace positions he has staked out over the past three years. Moreover, as the drums of war with Iran beat ever louder in Congress and from AIPAC, Obama is under pressure to lower the bar for U.S. military action against Iran.

    In a few days, President Obama will be speaking in front of thousands of people gathered in Washington for the annual AIPAC policy conference. The day after his speech he will be meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. It is vital that President Obama hear from you before these events, so that he knows that those urging him to back down on his pro-Israel, pro-peace positions do not represent all Americans or American Jews.

    Tell President Obama to stay committed to his pro-Israel, pro-peace positions, and his responsible approach on Iran.

  • Tell your member of Congress: Sign the Ellison-Jones letter on Iran Diplomacy

    We are all concerned about the threat of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons represents an alarming scenario that neither the U.S. nor Israel, nor for that matter, the world, can afford to dismiss, and one that the U.S. and the international community must exert all efforts to avoid.

    A war with Iran is neither desirable nor inevitable. The best chance for avoiding it is engaging in tough, sustained, robust U.S. diplomacy, in tandem with the extraordinarily far-reaching sanctions that have already been imposed against the Iranian regime.

    Unfortunately, a major part of this pro-war campaign is the dismissal of even the idea that diplomacy is an option.

    Ask your Member of Congress to sign the bipartisan Ellison-Jones letter in support of diplomacy to prevent nuclear proliferation and war with Iran.

  • Tell Chabad to Condemn Settler Violence

    On January 4th the national headquarters of Chabad Lubovitch issued a statement condemning the widely publicized attack by ultra-Orthodox Jews on an 8-year-old girl in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh last month.  That attack triggered outrage in Israel, among friends of Israel in the United States and beyond. Chabad’s statement said: “Violent behaviors of individuals or groups who abuse, intimidate and insult others are a flagrant offense to Torah and tzniut (modesty), in both letter and spirit, and deserve to be unequivocally condemned.”

    Chabad is normally an inward-looking movement, and deserves credit for condemning this religiously-motivated violence in Israel.  However, Chabad’s condemnation is too narrow.  Consistent with its own religious values, Chabad also needs to speak out against extremist settlers’ violence.

    Click here to tell Chabad that settler violence must be condemned, too!

  • Don’t play politics with Israel!

    The issue of Israel has a legitimate place in the debate and discourse of a US election. As part of a serious discussion, we expect to see how each candidate would advance Israel-Palestinian peace.

    What we have seen thus far in this election cycle is not engagement on the substance of the issues, but an ever-escalating contest to see who can declare their love for Israel the loudest and the most often, with each candidate striving to outdo his or her opponents on what it means to “support Israel.”  The resulting declarations clearly aren’t about showing love and support for Israel.  Rather, they are about scoring political points and pandering to ideologically-motivated sectors of American society.

    It’s time to tell the campaigns to quit the pandering.

      

  • Knesset attacks on Israeli democracy

    Peace Now is again under attack. Today’s attackers are not rightwing terrorists but rather members of the Israeli Knesset, the very people  entrusted with protecting Israeli democracy

    The latest in an onslaught of anti-democratic bills presented to the Knesset is directed chiefly at Peace Now’s litigation efforts regarding West Bank settlement construction. The bill, made public yesterday, would disallow petitions against the Israeli government to Israel’s High Court by “public petitioners” such as Peace Now, unless they petition alongside a private individual who is harmed by government policies. 

    The bill’s co-sponsors explicitly singled out Peace Now as an organization that their bill is targeting. 

    This new bill is only one example of the efforts that members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s own Likud Party are making not only to crush Israel’s civil society but also to clip the wings of the Supreme Court, the bastion of Israeli democracy.

    Tell Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, that this attack on Peace Now and other pro-peace and pro-democracy Israeli organizations is an outrage.

  • Tell Congress: act rationally on UN and the Palestinians

    Earlier this week, members of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), voted to admit the PLO as “the state of Palestine,” with full member-state status in that organization.

    This action triggers an existing U.S. law, first passed in 1991 and then strengthened in 1994, that compels the U.S. to cut off all funding to UNESCO.  With the Palestinians reportedly poised to seek membership in as many as 16 other UN member organizations, this law could mean the U.S. effective withdrawal from a wide range of international bodies. 

    Doing so recklessly and pointlessly sacrifices vital U.S. interests across every sector and around the globe. In the words of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, withdrawing from UN agencies that admit the Palestinians would be “catastrophic for the U.S.-U.N. relationship.” Sen. Graham said, “I don’t think that’s in our near-term or long-term interest.”

    Tell Congress that cutting America’s nose to spite its own face in the UN is reckless.

  • Peace, Not Punishment

    Efforts to punish the Palestinians for their attempts to gain international recognition at the UN are gaining momentum on Capitol Hill. We need your help to tell Congress that punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority would not serve the cause of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. They would do the opposite.

    Actions such as cutting off aid to the Palestinian Authority, shutting down the PLO office in Washington and cutting off funding for UN bodies that upgrade the Palestinians’ status will only strengthen the forces that are fighting against peace and further isolate the U.S. and Israel at the UN and in the international community.

    Tell Congress that you support peace, not punishment.


  • Don't let Glenn Beck set Jerusalem on fire!

    This petition will show that Americans are outraged by Beck’s Jerusalem gambit.

    Your signature sends a message to Beck -- and to those he is trying to recruit to support this scheme -- that we will not stand idly by as he exploits Israeli-Palestinian peace for his own purposes.

    APN will share this petition with the media, with politicians in Washington, and with Israeli leaders to show that Americans do not support Beck’s Jerusalem rally.

    We’ve had our fill of his polarizing rhetoric and we don’t want to see him exporting it to Israel!

  • Tell Congress to Get Past Blame

    We need your help to tell Congress not to score political points at the expense of Israeli-Palestinian peace. 

    Congress today should be looking for ways to break the deadlock and achieve peace and security for Israel. Congress should not grandstand at the expense of the real interests of Israel and the United States. 



  • Presidential Leadership Needed

    A flurry of diplomatic activity over the next two weeks gives President Obama an opportunity to lead. The president will meet with the King of Jordan on Tuesday and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. The White House is also planning a major address on the Middle East for the near future.

    This is the right moment for the president to grab the bull by the horns and take dramatic action. He should use this moment to present his vision for Israeli-Palestinian peace and to lay out how he plans to turn this vision into the basis for an agreement. 


  • Obama's Israel opportunity

    President Barack Obama is reportedly deciding whether to make a major policy speech on Israeli-Palestinian peace in the coming weeks.

    This could be an important opportunity for the president to (1) make clear that he remains personally invested in Israeli-Palestinian peace, (2) to lay out his vision for peace, and (3) to explain how he plans to move the parties towards this goal.

    A speech is not enough. But it's an opportunity to start turning things around. It must be followed by action and genuine leadership.

    Write President Obama. Show the White House that Americans want our president to reinvigorate his peace efforts.


  • Jerusalem bombing must be a wakeup call

    Remind President Barack Obama that American leadership is integral to stopping this escalation and to pushing ahead on a peace process that offers Israelis and Palestinians the hope of a better future.

     

  • Tell Congress to read this book!

    APN delivered a briefing book to the office of every member of Congress, both in the House and the Senate. The book contains background and recommended actions on issues that relate to peace for Israel.

    We need your help to make sure that Congressional offices take note.

    Getting Congress better informed about the issues at stake is a key investment to support American leadership. APN’s briefing book is an invaluable resource written to help members of Congress and their staff to understand the issues that lie before them.

    Send your letter now.


  • Tell Congress: Cutting this aid could come back to bite us.

    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.


  • Congressional debate must be factual

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

    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.

    The problem is bigger than one Congressman. American leadership is needed to get a real push for peace going. Such leadership will be hard to sustain without open and honest debate in Washington.

    We need your help to send Congress a message. Tell your representative that Americans want and deserve a policy debate that is substantive and based on real facts.