APN Welcomes Obama's Commitment to Middle East Peace and Engagement with Iran

President Obama recognizes a Palestinian State as integral to peace.

"Mother Palestine" by Carlos Latuff 2009

(Washington, D.C.) - Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes President Barack Obama’s commitment to continue pursuing Arab-Israeli peace and to continue focusing on peacefully preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

In particular, APN endorses President Obama’s focus at the United Nation’s General Assembly on engagement with Iran. APN also joins the President’s call on friends of Israel in the US and worldwide to “recognize that Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends on the realization of a Palestinian state.”

APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee commented, “In his UN speech, President Obama said that resolving Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict will be the focus of America’s diplomatic efforts in the near term.

"As an organization that has long advocated for a diplomatic resolution of both the Arab-Israeli conflict and the threat of a nuclear Iran, we welcome the President’s focus on diplomacy, and his renewed commitment to pursue these goals, two chief US national security issues and the two chief items on Israel’s national security agenda.

"We commend the President for urging friends of Israel in the US to support his administration’s peace efforts, and his appeal to members the international community to do their part.

"In the words of president Obama, ‘let’s emerge from the familiar corners of blame and prejudice; let’s support Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are prepared to walk the difficult road to peace.’"

Americans for Peace Now is the sister organization of Shalom Achshav, Israel's preeminent peace movement. APN's mission is to educate and persuade the American public and its leadership to support and adopt policies that will lead to comprehensive, durable, Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace, based on a two-state solution, guaranteeing both peoples security, and consistent with U.S. national interests.