New Jewish Narrative

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The New Jewish Narrative is a progressive Zionist Jewish organization in the United States of America. It was formed in December 2024 as a merger of Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu, the US offshoot of the Israeli Labor Party. [1] [2]

Contents

New Jewish Narrative is a member of the Progressive Israel Network, created in June 2019, a coalition of liberal Zionist organizations that oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. [3]

History

Americans for Peace Now

Americans for Peace Now at Tel Aviv Demonstration TelAvivDemonstration.jpg
Americans for Peace Now at Tel Aviv Demonstration

In 1978, 348 senior Israeli army officers wrote a letter to Prime Minister Menachem Begin calling for peace between Israel and Egypt. The letter stated:

The government policy, perpetuating its rule over a million Arabs, could harm the Jewish-democratic character of the state, and makes it difficult for us to identify with the task. Mindful of Israel's security needs and the difficulties on the path to peace, we nevertheless consider that real security can be achieved only when we achieve peace." [4]

This petition led to the creation of Shalom Achshav (Peace Now in Hebrew).

Americans for Peace Now (APN) was a left-wing [5] [6] [7] nonprofit organization based in the United States founded in 1981 as American Friends of Peace Now. In 1989 it changed its name to “Americas for Peace Now” its present form in 1989. [8] APN described itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, pro-Israel, pro-peace, American Jewish organization. [9]

The organization played only a marginal role in American Jewish life in the 1980s, but grew in significance in the 1990s; around 1992 it reported a membership of 10,000 members, in 21 chapters throughout the United States, and was accepted for membership in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. [8]

The organization opposed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. [10]

Ameinu

Ameinu (Hebrew : עמנו, "our people") was a left-wing American Jewish Zionist organization, established in 2004 in the tradition of the Labor Zionist Alliance [11] [12] in the United States that had begun with the founding of Poale Zion, [13] which came together in 1906, [14] or as an “offshoot” of the Israeli Labor Party. [1] Ameinu was described as left-wing, [15] [16] liberal, [17] and progressive. [18] [16] [19] [20]

Ameinu was the United States affiliate of the World Labor Zionist Movement and a member of umbrella organizations Progressive Israel Network (along with Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America, Hashomer Hatzair World Movement, Jewish Labor Committee, J Street, New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism and T’ruah), [18] the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, [21] and the American Zionist Movement Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. [22]

Ameinu established partnerships with Israeli organizations to foster a deeper connection between American Jews and Israel and to financially support the organization's work. [23] NISPED (the Negev Institute for Strategic of Peace Development) addresses economic development and cooperation between Arabs and Jews living inside Israel as well as between Israelis and Palestinians. [24]

Ameinu provided funding for Habonim Dror North America, a Zionist youth movement. Ameinu co-founded the Union of Progressive Zionists student organization and provided funding for its activities.[ citation needed ]

Ameinu advocated within the American Jewish community around a variety of issues. Ameinu took positions in support of Israeli–Palestinian peace initiatives [25] such as the Geneva Accord and the People's Voice, in support of the Israeli unilateral disengagement from Gaza, [26] opposing divestment from Israel, [27] condemning calls by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the destruction of Israel, in opposition to the destruction of Bedouin villages in Israel, criticising Reverend John Hagee's anti-Catholicism, and on other issues. In 2007 Ameinu took a role in organising a pro-peace rally in Annapolis at the time of the Annapolis Peace Conference convened by President George W. Bush. [28] In 2008, the organization published a booklet entitled "Progressive Zionist Answers to the Anti-Israel Left" for use in communities and on campuses.[ citation needed ]

By 2022, Ameinu had a staff of one-and-a-half people and an annual income of $357,000. [16]

In 2022, Ameinu signed a statement alongside other liberal Jewish groups Americans for Peace Now, Bend the Arc, Habonim Dror North America, New Israel Fund, T'ruah, and the Religious Action Center condemning a plan by Kevin McCarthy to remove Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her comments appearing to compare the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. [17]

After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the group most focused on navigating a left that was increasingly hostile to Israel. [16]

Merger

In February 2024, Ameinu announced plans to merge with Americans for Peace Now (Ameinu). The two groups' leaders stated the merger would enable the groups to complement each other. APN did advocacy in Washington and maintained ties with the Israeli peace movement, while Ameinu liaised with the Jewish left and engaged more closely with national Jewish groups. For 15 years, both groups had generally been overshadowed by more prominent liberal Israel lobby group J Street. They now act as ideological partners to J Street and similar groups. [16]

In 2024 Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu merged to form the New Jewish Narrative. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Judy Maltz: A New Platform Emerges for Progressive Zionists in America. In: Haaretz, 6 December 2024.
  2. ↑ "Pair of progressive Zionist groups in US merge to become 'New Jewish Narrative'". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "Ten Organizations Launch New Progressive Israel Network". New Israel Fund (NIF). June 24, 2019. "Progressive Israel Network: Rescind Deportation Order Against Human Rights Watch Director Omar Shakir Now". J Street: The Political Home for Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans.Sharma, Dinesh. "Partners' Statement on BDS".
  4. ↑ "The officers' letter which founded Peace Now". Americans for Peace Now. peacenow.org. Archived from the original on December 13, 2006.
  5. ↑ Kampeas, Ron (2024-01-08). "Americans for Peace Now becomes first US Zionist group to call for an end to the Gaza war". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  6. ↑ Ravid, Barak (2022-03-16). "U.S. works to maintain calm in Jerusalem as holidays near". Axios . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Halper, Daniel (2011-11-07). "Status Update". Tablet magazine . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 Atkin, Maurice; et al. (2007). "United States of America". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica . Vol. 20 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. pp. 302–404. ISBN   978-0-02-866097-4.
  9. ↑ "About Us: History". Americans for Peace Now. peacenow.org. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  10. ↑ "For Jewish groups, a stand-off between open debate and support of Israel". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  11. ↑ "An Anti-BDS Warrior Finds His Cause". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  12. ↑ "An Anti-BDS Warrior Finds His Cause". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  13. ↑ Deborah Beck, Ameinu Philadelphia Advocacy and Information Organization Founded, The Philadelphia Jewish Voice, PJV #15, September 2006. Accessed 2017-08-02.
  14. ↑ Detroit, Ameinu. "Ameinu Detroit records". quod.lib.umich.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  15. ↑ Waxman, Dov (Summer 2010). "The Israel Lobbies: A Survey of the Pro-Israel Community in the United States". Israel Studies Forum . 25 (1): 5–28. JSTOR   41805051 . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Kampeas, Ron (2024-02-15). "Left-wing Zionist groups Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu to merge". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  17. 1 2 Schnell, Mychael (2022-12-13). "Liberal Jewish groups push back on McCarthy plan to remove Omar from committee". The Hill . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  18. 1 2 Sharon, Jeremy (2021-01-13). "Progressive Jewish groups oppose codification of IHRA antisemitism definition". Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  19. ↑ Rosenfeld, Arno (2021-06-15). "Is J Street unwelcome in the American Zionist movement?". The Forward . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  20. ↑ Goldberg, Elisheva (2023-05-03). "Liberal Zionists Test the Efficacy of the World Zionist Congress". Jewish Currents . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  21. ↑ https://conferenceofpresidents.org/member-organizations/
  22. ↑ https://azm.org/members/
  23. ↑ "Partners". Ameinu. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  24. ↑ "Want To End Israeli Occupation — Without BDS? This New Guide Tells You How. - The Third Narrative" . Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  25. ↑ Ameinu (2007-04-19). "Academics: Sign the Mission Statement of JANIP: The Jewish Academic Network for Israeli-Palestinian Peace". Ameinu. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  26. ↑ Goldberg, Jonathan (January 20, 2023). "The Gatekeepers" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2020.
  27. ↑ Staff, Ameinu (2017-03-07). "Israel Delegitimizes Itself with BDS Ban Law". Ameinu. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  28. ↑ "Annapolis braces for a range of protests". The Jerusalem Post . 22 November 2007. ISSN   0792-822X . Retrieved 2023-03-30.
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