Americans for Peace Now (APN) and the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) are today announcing a new joint summer internship program.

APN will host a Palestinian student and ATFP will host an Israeli student. The two interns are part of a group of students – Israelis and Palestinians – who are participating this summer in the first-ever Middle East program of New Story Leadership, a locally-based organization that offers young adults from both sides of the conflict a transformative leadership experience in Washington.

The APN-ATFP program is not limited to hosting foreign students. The two interns from the Middle East will join APN’s and ATFP’s American interns to take part in joint programming designed to expose the students to Washington’s Mideast policy community. Planned activities include brown-bag lunches, Hill visits, and a speaker series. In addition, the Israeli and Palestinian interns hosted at APN and ATFP will work on a joint project of their choice, with the cooperation of the two organizations’ staff.

“This initiative is a profound expression of the solid common ground that Jewish Americans and Arab Americans share in our joint struggle to promote Middle East peace,” said APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee. “Interns enter our program with a great deal of passion. We look forward to mentoring these students, so that they can return to their communities better equipped to advocate for peace. We are proud to do this in partnership with ATFP”

Dr. Ziad Asali, ATFP’s president said: “A two-state solution can only come about through partnership between Palestinians and Israelis, between Jewish- and Palestinian- Americans. Through this joint program, we are sending a clear message: peace is not a zero-sum game, it is in the interest of both nations, and it is in the interest of the United States. We are looking forward to continuing our close cooperation with our long-standing colleagues at APN towards a historic compromise for viable peace.”

APN and ATFP have previously offered joint summer intern programming. The two organizations cooperate in a range of other programs, including joint speaking events.

APN is America's leading Jewish organization advocating peace for Israel.

ATFP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan Palestinian-American organization that advocates that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement based on two states is in the American national interest.