Peace Now
 |
|
| Founded | 1978 |
|---|---|
| Founders |
Amos Oz Amir Peretz Yuli Tamir Tzaly Reshef Janet Aviad Gavri Bargil Galia Golan Avshalom Vilan |
| Type |
Non-profit NGO |
| Focus | Two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Location | |
|
Area served
|
Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories |
| Method | "public campaigns, advertisements, petitions, distribution of educational materials, conferences, lectures, surveys, dialogue groups, street activities, vigils, and demonstrations." |
|
Members
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over 10,000 |
|
Key people
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Avi Buskila (Director) Yariv Oppenheimer (Secretary) Hagit Ofran (Settlement Watch Director) |
| Mission | "to promote peace and democracy through education of the Israeli public and concerned citizens worldwide." "to inspire the public to take part in developing initiatives that will both support long-term peace promotion and remove existing obstacles to a politically negotiated two-state solution." |
| Website | peacenow |
Peace Now (Hebrew: שלום עכשיו Shalom Achshav, IPA: [ʃaˈlom (ʔ)aχˈʃav]) is a non-governmental organization, "liberal advocacy" and activist group in Israel with the aim of promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Peace Now was formed during the 1978 Israeli-Egyptian peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at a time when the talks looked close to collapse.
348 reserve officers and soldiers from Israeli army combat units published an open letter to the Prime Minister of Israel in which they called for the Israeli government not to squander the historic opportunity for peace between the two nations. The officers realised that Israel could not retain its Jewish-democratic nature whilst it continued to perpetuate its rule over one million Arabs. They concluded that Israel's security needs could only be met by the attainment of peace between Israel and its neighbours via a negotiated agreement. Subsequently tens of thousands of Israelis petitioned the Israeli government in support of the letter, and as a result the movement known as Peace Now was born.
Peace Now again came to prominence following Israel's 1982 Invasion of Lebanon, and in particular the massacre of Palestinian refugees by Christian Lebanese Phalangists at the Israeli controlled Sabra and the Shatila refugee camp. On 25 September 1982 Peace Now held a mass protest in Tel Aviv in order to pressure the government to establish a national inquiry commission to investigate the massacres, as well as calling for the resignation of the Defence Minister Ariel Sharon. Peace Now's 1982 demonstration was attended by 400,000 people, approximately 10% of Israel's population at the time.
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Wikipedia