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Peace Now (Template:Lang-he Shalom Achshav, IPA: [ʃaˈlom (ʔ)aχˈʃav]) is a non-governmental organization in Israel with the aim of promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

History

Following Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel in 1977, 348 Israeli military reserves officers petitioned Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin urging him to continue with the drive for peace. This petition led to the creation of Peace Now, a grassroots movement dedicated to raising public support for the peace process.

At a rally held in Tel-Aviv's Kikar Malkhei Israel, known today as Rabin Square, demonstrators called on Prime Minister Begin to sign a peace treaty with Egypt in exchange for the return of the Sinai peninsula.

Peace Now opposed the 1982 Invasion of Lebanon, holding a massive rally after the Sabra and Shatila Massacre.

On 10 February 1983, at a Peace Now demonstration in Jerusalem, a right-wing militant named Yonah Avrushmi tossed a hand-grenade at demonstrators, killing Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig and injuring several others.

Throughout the years of its activity Peace Now has opposed the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which it perceives as being calculated to undermine the possibility of peace with the Palestinians.

The First Intifada was perceived by Peace Now as a political act, therefore the movement called for negotiations to be held with the Palestinians, aimed at putting an end to the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The signing of the Oslo accords marked a milestone in the activity of Peace Now, which has since strived to support governments that acted according to the "land for peace" formula, and demonstrate against governments that had different approaches to the peace process.

With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000 to 2006), support for the movement has waned, in light of what seems from a present perspective as the collapse of the peace process set into motion at Oslo.

In 2003, new initiatives aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were set into motion, such as the National Census and the Geneva Initiative, both of which are also based on the "land for peace" formula. Neither initiative is officially affiliated to Peace Now, though many of the same players have been involved in the various peace initiatives. The Geneva Initiative is identified with Yossi Beilin and the Yachad party; the National Census is identified with Ami Ayalon, who has deliberately kept this initiative separate from Peace Now in order not to damage support from the general public.

Peace Now's main activities for 2004 are monitoring Israeli settlement expansions and the establishment of illegal outposts by the Hilltop Youth. Peace Now was one of the main organizers of the Mate ha-Rov ("majority camp") demonstration in 2004, in support of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Support for the withdrawal plan faced contention within the Peace Now camp over its unilateral nature. Ultimately, Peace Now decided it was most important to reduce occupied territory.

In 2005, as a response to a Yesha Council orange ribbon campaign, Peace Now launched a parallel blue ribbon effort in support of disengagement. On March 19, 2005, a pro-disengagement rally attracted 10,000 people. Since Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza, Peace Now has not organized any major effort to support any further withdrawals.

Settlement Activity

Peace Now is widely recognized for its Settlement Watch Committee, a group which follows settlement construction in the West Bank and publishes figures reporting the development of these communities. Dror Aktes headed this committee until 2007 when he was replaced by Hagit Ofran. Activities include:

• Updates on settlement expansion by means of aerial photography
• Publication of figures to the public and decision makers in Israel as well as around the world (American government officials often rely on data presented by Peace Now to judge whether Israel adheres to its promise of a settlement freeze)
• Submission of cases to the court to evacuate outposts in the West Bank.

For example, Peace Now brought a case to the court to evacuate Amona (a settlement in the West Bank), among others.

Similarly, the movement continues activity on the ground in support of evacuation through demonstrations, vigils and other campaign activity.

Logo

Peace Now's logo was designed by Israeli graphic designer David Tartakover in 1978. The logo emerged from a poster created by Tartakover for a mass rally, held in what is now Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on April 1, 1978, titled "Peace Now." It became the name of the organization, the first political bumper sticker in Israel and it is still one of Israel's most popular stickers. Tartakover, commenting in 2006, said "The movement activists liked the logo, ut they thought there should also be a symbol. I told them it wasn't needed - this is the symbol. It took time until they understood that this was the first political sticker in Israel."

Criticism and controversy

This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page. (December 2009)

Alleged imbalance

Jerusalem Post has criticised what it describes as Peace Now's exclusive emphasis "on what Israelis should concede, as if our collective craving for peace alone can supernaturally overcome Palestinian intransigence, incitement, internal upheaval and the culture of violence." It says the organization, though it denies it, wants to push Israel back to the 1949 Armistice Lines, since it opposes any construction over the Green Line, including the retention of major settlement blocs such as Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel. It also says that Peace Now "stands squarely outside the consensus" by favoring "joint sovereignty" over Jerusalem's Old City, and that it opposes only the "implementation" of the Palestinian "right of return", but not necessarily its affirmation.

Security Issues

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon offered his view of Peace Now when asked about plans to dismantle the Bnei Adam outpost. "We again are dealing with the issue of the virus, Peace Now - the elitists, if you may - who have incurred great damage." The remark was subjected to much criticism, and Prime Minister Netanyahu distanced himself from it. Ya'alon, however, stood by his words.

A poll sponsored by IMRA found that 41 percent of Israelis felt that Peace Now had caused great damage to Israel, while 19 percent disagreed.

On July 19, 2006, Amos Oz wrote in the Los Angeles Times:

The Israeli peace movement objects to the occupation and colonization of the West Bank. It objected to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 because the invasion was aimed at distracting world attention from the Palestinian problem. This time, Israel is not invading Lebanon. It is defending itself from daily harassment and bombardment of dozens of our towns and villages by attempting to smash Hezbollah wherever it lurks. The Israeli peace movement should support Israel's attempt at self-defense, pure and simple, as long as this operation targets mostly Hezbollah and spares, as much as possible, the lives of Lebanese civilians (not an easy task, as Hezbollah missile launchers are too often using Lebanese civilians as human sandbags).

Financing by foreign governments

Peace Now has received funding from foreign states, especially European Union members for projects including measuring the expansion of disputed Israeli settlements.

In an editorial, the Jerusalem Post said that a lack of transparency marks Peace Now's financial dealings. It is funded through an educational NGO called Sha'al Educational Enterprises, which, according to its general secretary Yariv Oppenheimer, receives most of its funds from American Jews. Its annual budget is not known. Finding that Sha'al misrepresented its aims, the Registrar of Nonprofit Organizations decided to withdraw the certificate of proper administration from it.

The Jerusalem Post editorial also said there is a lack of administrative accountability. "Israelis are asked to believe that a finely tuned machine capable of running airborne surveillance over every nook and cranny of the West Bank operates quite informally, by consensus, under the auspices of university students and aging hippies."

In 2008, the Knesset passed a law requiring Israeli organizations to publicize any foreign funding they receive. This law was aimed specifically at Peace Now. In 2011, the Knesset passed a law which required organizations to report each quarter on any foreign funding they receive.

Disputed information about settlements

In a report, Peace Now said that "a large proportion of the settlements built on the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land," including 86.4 percent of Ma'ale Adumim's land and 35.1 percent of Ariel's. Overall, the report said, "Palestinians privately own nearly 40% of the land on which settlements have been built.". This is disputed by the government, who argue it cannot have been privately owned, as it was "not under the legitimate sovereignty of any state". On the specific issue of Ma'ale Adumim, Peace Now faced criticism for downgrading their estimate of the proportion built on privately owned Palestinian land from 86%, to 0.5%. The group's revision was based on government information which had newly been released to them.

Similarly, an initial figure of 71% of the land on which Revava being private Palestinian land was revised to 22% following the release of additional information, and 'The Fund for Redeeming the Land' sued the group for libel. Peace Now was convicted, ordered to pay the Fund 20,000 NIS, and to make a public apology in the newspapers Haaretz and Maariv.

Alleged infiltration of Knesset building

In October 2009, Peace Now's General Secretary Yariv Oppenheimer was barred from entering the Knesset building after he sent Peace Now activists posing as students there. The activists' goal, according to the Jerusalem Post, was to persuade conservative MKs to make statements that would be used in a documentary film to show the Israeli right in a negative light. Oppenheimer said the decision was an attack on free speech since "everyone who was interviewed knew that he was being interviewed in front of a camera", and Peace Now called it an "attempt to punish the movement in the place which is supposed to guard freedom of movement for all of society".

Wikileaks

According to leaked documents released by WikiLeaks in April 2011, Peace Now has regularly updated both the U.S. government and the Israeli Defense Ministry on ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank. The documents indicate that the Defense Ministry used Peace Now's services to monitor West Bank settlement construction. In 2006, Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer reportedly urged the U.S. to pressure Israel into evacuating West Bank outposts, according to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable. Oppenheimer was quoted as saying that Israel might "evacuate a few outposts to show the U.S. that it is doing something, but in exchange it is trying to co-opt the settlers by retroactively approving some outposts and giving them a freer hand in building in the West Bank."

See also

• Americans for Peace Now
• Israeli peace camp

References

1. ^ "Who We Are". Peacenow. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
2. Peace Now in Hebron: Expel settlers from city - Israel News, Ynetnews
3. "Thousands attend Israeli's funeral". The New York Times. 1983-02-12. Retrieved 2007-08-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. Shipler, David K. (1983-02-16). "A crude shrine rises at spot where bomb halted protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. Shipler, David K. (1984-01-29). "Israel begins to note Jewish terrorism". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
6. ^ Becher, Nir (2006-04-27). "Peace Now". Haaretz. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
7. Bloch, L. R. (2000). "Mobile discourse: political bumper stickers as a communication event in Israel". Journal of Communication. 50 (2): 48–76. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02841.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
8. Salamon, Hagar (2000). "Political Bumper Stickers in Contemporary Israel: Folklore as an Emotional Battleground". The Journal of American Folklore. 114 (453): 277–308. doi:10.1353/jaf.2001.0020. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
9. ^ Peace Now at 30 Jerusalem Post editorial, April 7, 2008.
10. Attila Somfalvi: Netanyahu: Ya'alon remarks unacceptable Ynetnews.com, August 19, 2009.
11. Poll: Majority against Yesha Building Freeze
12. Caught in the crossfire Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2006.
13. Template:He icon
14. Dan Izenberg: Peace Now loses registrar's approval Jerusalem Post, 11 February 2008.
15. Hillel Fendel: 'Peace Now' Will Have to Publicize EU Contributions Israel National News, January 17, 2008.
16. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4031997,00.html
17. Dror Etkes & Hagit Ofran: Breaking the law in the West Bank - One violation leads to another: Israeli Settlement Building on Private Palestinian Property Peace Now, October 2006.
18. Israeli Settlements and International Law Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 20, 2001.
19. Alex Safian: Peace Now’s Blunder: Erred on Ma'ale Adumim Land by 15,900 Percent CAMERA March 16, 2007.
20. Shragai, Nadav (2007-03-14). "Peace Now: 32% of land held for settlements is private Palestinian property". Haaretz. Retrieved 2009-07-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
21. "שלום עכשיו יפצו מתנחלים ב-20 אלף ש'" (in Hebrew). nrg Maariv. 2008-12-14. Retrieved 2009-07-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
22. Oppenheimer banned from Knesset Jerusalem Post, October 26, 2009.
23. ^ Aderet, Ofer (2011-04-07). "Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel's Peace Now updates U.S. on West Bank construction". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 April 2011.

External links

• Official site
• Peace Now: Our views are now mainstream but peace still elusive (Associated Press/Haaretz, April 9, 2008)

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from December 2009
• Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process
• Political organizations in Israel
• Peace organizations
• Israeli–Palestinian peace efforts
• Israel–Lebanon conflict
• Olof Palme Prize laureates
• Organizations established in 1978