Palestine & the Arab Peace Initiative

Palestinian Sun bird by Ismail Shammout

Comment I left online regarding "Good Riddance, Abbas" by Saree Makdisi

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/06/good_riddance_abbas#comment-89620

I find it mind boggling that right now, with a huge international push to take negotiations for a two state solution seriously - including "Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194." The Arab Peace Initiative http://www.al-bab.com/Arab/docs/league/peace02.htm that pro-Palestinian academics here in America opt to bash Abbas and swat away support for a two state solution.

Yes Israel continues to expropriate Palestinian land, bulldoze Palestinian homes, and build exclusively Jewish settlements in violation of international law... so how exactly is a one state solution which erases the illegal occupation aspect of Israel's Jews-preferred settlement projects and investments going to play out ?

Will a one state solution dominated by Zionists who know how to empower their leadership and how to play every story to get international support for their Jews-preferred plans really welcome home the Palestinians refugees? According to reports I've read many elderly Holocaust survivors in Israel live in dire poverty- and yet magical thinking convinces us that Palestinian refugees returning to what is now Israel will be better off?

Yes, I really do believe with every fiber of my being that the Palestinian refugees right of return to original homes and lands is an inalienable legal, moral and natural right- but I also believe in the importance of supporting an option called Palestine with all the positive energy and support we can muster: Not all Palestinian refugees will want to live as second class citizens in Israel and it simply is not fair to force them to become Israelis.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Spring in Palestine by Ismail Shammout