Thursday, April 7, 2011

My letter to the LATimes RE Israel and Palestinians have conflicting visions for village's future.

Lifta - لفتا : Lifta Homes. Summer 2006. Photo: Annemarie Jacir PALESTINE REMEMBERED

RE: Israel and Palestinians have conflicting visions for village's future. Lifta is the last intact pre-1948 Palestinian village in Israel. The Israelis want to put apartments there, but Palestinians want the area preserved as an open-air museum.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-palestinian-village-20110407,0,5408261.story

Dear Editor,

I very much hope that Lifta, the last intact pre-1948 Palestinian village in Israel, is preserved as an open air museum for future generations of more compassionate and aware Israelis and Palestinians: I also very much hope that the ongoing Nakba stops- that Israel stops demolishing Palestinian homes, stops usurping Palestinian land, stops impoverishing Palestinians, stops subsidizing religious extremism... and stops pushing the native non-Jewish Palestinians into forced exile & despair.

Fully respecting the Palestinian refugees' very real right to return is reasonable- and the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab, American homemaker & poet

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.

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