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Iran's Elections - Good News, Many Questions
There is rare good news on the Iran front. Last Friday, Iran held elections for its next president - the person who would replace the infamous Mahmoud Ahmedinijad. Million of Iranians - more than 70% of Iran's 50 million registered voters - cast a ballot in this election, and they voted for Hassan Rouhani to be their next president. While these elections were by no standard fully free and fair, starting with the fact that Iran's ruling mullahs disqualified all but a handful of candidates, it is indisputable that something else is also clear: this election was an upset. The winner of these elections was not the candidate of choice of these same mullahs and, comparatively speaking, he is a political and ideological moderate who ran on pro-change, anti-extremism platform.
Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher: June 17, 2013
Today Alpher offers:
- An assessment of the Rowhani victory in Iran's presidential election.
- How the Rowhani victory will affect Israel.
- How it will affect Israel if the current trend continues and Bashar Assad, supported by Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, defeats the rebellion in Syria.
- Commentary on British documents purporting to show Israel selling arms to a strange list of buyers.
Yes, Virginia, There is Good News!
For years, APN and Peace Now have argued that our pro-peace, pro-two-state views are reflective of the majority of Israelis. Now, a new opinion poll officially released yesterday, by - of all sources - the "University" located in the West Bank settlement of Ariel - bolsters that argument. That poll, the fifth in a series conducted by the settler institution examining the attitudes of non-settler Israelis about settlements and the future of the West Bank, shows a sharp decline in Israeli public support for the settlement enterprise.
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Who's Got "No Partner" for Peace? Over 3 days, Plans Advanced for 1225 Settlement Units
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that he is serious about peace and continues to call on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, the actions of his government send a message that fruitful negotiations, peace, and the two-state solution are not on his agenda. Indeed, these actions seem more in line with the views articulated by hardliners in Netanyahu's coalition who openly scorn the idea of any two-state solution.
More...- Peace News:
- Articles
- Press Releases
- Recommended Reading
Stop Ignoring How Routine the Occupation Has Become
By Ori Nir
Israel TV Channel 2 recently ran a lengthy report of pre-dawn arrests of Palestinian children -- rock-throwing
suspects -- at a West Bank Palestinian refugee camp. The TV crew was embedded with an Israeli unit that raided the
camp.
Clinging to a Virtual Reality
by Lara Friedman, Daniel Seidemann
At the crux of the ongoing controversy over Google's decision to
recognize "Palestine" on its google.ps landing page is an emphatic refusal by some
in Israel (and abroad) to accept empirical reality. That reality is pretty uncomplicated. Most of the world today
recognizes the Palestinians as a people. Most countries have voted at the U.N. to recognize Palestine as a
theoretical state that must one day come into being in areas currently controlled by Israel. No nation on earth
endorses Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem; Israeli actions to further entrench the
occupation continue to provoke global condemnation.
Bibi's Settlement Restraint
by Lara Friedman
People keep asking me: "Have you seen the news? Has Bibi actually frozen settlements? What does this mean?"
Press Release: APN to US Jewish Leaders: Publicly Support Obama and Kerry's Mideast Peace Efforts
Americans for Peace Now (APN) today commended Secretary of State John Kerry for his powerful speech advocating Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Press Release: Peace Now: Israel has not Announced New Settlement Construction Since Obama Visit
According to an Israeli radio report earlier today, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered Minister of Housing Uri Ariel not to issue new tenders for construction in settlements.
Press Release: APN Welcomes Softening of Arab League's Peace Initiative
Washington, DC - Americans for Peace Now (APN) warmly welcomes the Arab League's decision to soften its peace initiative to accommodate future land-swaps between Israel and the Palestinians, as a part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. APN is gratified to see that this positive development does not go unnoticed by Israel's leaders.
Ha'aretz: Israel's spectacular suicide
New construction in Judea and Samaria is now proceeding at the highest pace in seven years. If this continues, the
Netanyahu-Lapid-Bennett government will put an end to the two-state solution, the Jewish democratic entity, and the
Zionist dream.
by Ari Shavit
Few people paid attention to the news that during the first quarter of 2013, there were 865 housing starts in the
settlements. That was a 176 percent increase over the parallel quarter last year and a 355 percent increase over
the fourth quarter of 2012. Although settlers are only four out of every 100 Israelis, of every 100 housing starts
this year, 8.5 were in the settlements. While in sovereign Israel the scope of new construction is slowing, new
construction in Judea and Samaria is now proceeding at the highest pace in seven years.
The trend is clear: Within a short time the number of settlers will increase dramatically, as will their ability to
block any attempt to divide the land. If it continues this way, the Netanyahu-Lapid-Bennett government will put an
end to the two-state solution, the Jewish democratic entity, and the Zionist dream.
Ha'aretz: Israel's West Bank settlements grew by twice the size of New York's Central Park in 2012
Legally controlled land grew from 530,931 to 538,303 dunams over the course of the year, a total increase of
7,372 dunams.
By Chaim Levinson
Israeli settlements in the West Bank legally expanded by nearly 8,000 dunams (1977 acres) in 2012 - land equaling
the entire city of Bat Yam and twice as big as Manhattan's Central Park.
Times of Israel - Houses, fences and fruit trees: A decade of watching settlements grow
A trip through the West Bank with Dror Etkes, who tracks how Israel's settlements are altering the physical,
political and human landscape in one of the world's most complicated pieces of land
By Matti Friedman
It has been just over a decade since Dror Etkes began criss-crossing the West Bank in a long war of unstinting
dedication and uncertain efficacy against the spread of Israeli settlements...
APN's direct connection to Israel
twitter
facebook- 6/18 12:25pm YNet: 'Price tag' epidemic: 788 cases, 154 indictments | http://t.co/H58HmTMmfH
- 6/17 11:16am My friend Etai Mizrav has a new blog. Mazal Tov, Etai. Read his first post here: http://t.co/6ZbHf6Q5fZ
- 6/13 11:17am Fun, one minute video promoting Tel Aviv's "White Nights". Huffpo writer says best use of moon in a video, ever! http://t.co/NDbW4iMtJJ
- 6/18 9:09pm Israeli Public Veers Left http://t.co/7XZdDEjO5m
feed- 6/18 4:16pm @Jerusalem_Post @LahavHarkov so 68% believe that US Jews SHOULD be involved in the peace process (or have no opinion/don't know)?