My letter to the Guardian RE Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return

RE: Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/26/palestinian-refugees-middle-east-conflict

Dear Sir,

Memories and maps are here to stay- as are passports and many other forms of IDs. A one-state solution pretending to end the Israel/Palestine conflict does not guarantee respect for the Palestinian refugees right of return, nor does a one-state solution guarantee freedom or justice for the persecuted and oppressed people of historic Palestine.

Negotiating a secular two state solution to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict really is the best way forward. International law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights need to be the guidelines. Please do not dismiss, distort, politicize or diminish the importance of the Palestinian refugees inalienable right of return to original homes and lands. It simply is- was- and always will be.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem...

• "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

Refugees and the Right of Return

Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed upon them. http://www.plomission.us/index.php?page=core-issues-3

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt

Growing Gardens for Palestine