My letter to the LATimes RE Jonah Goldberg: Taken in by 'Gay Girl' The 'Gay Girl in Damascus' hoax is worse than a lie. It's propaganda.

RE: Jonah Goldberg: Taken in by 'Gay Girl' The 'Gay Girl in Damascus' hoax is worse than a lie. It's propaganda.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-gaygirl-20110614,0,2835433.column

Dear Editor,

Foolishly, I too got taken in by the compassionate calls to care about Amina, who turned out to be nothing but a sock puppet for a misguided writer. HOWEVER I very much believe that Jonah Goldberg is totally in the wrong to use this well publicized blogsphere incident as an opportunity to do what he can to discredit and dismiss the Palestinian refugees very real right to return to original homes and lands. UN Resolution 194 from 1948 clearly affirming the Palestinian refugees inalienable right to return is not a figment of anyone's imagination- and the official photographic records and documents following the very real plight of the Palestinians for the past sixty some years are about very real oppressed, impoverished and displaced men, women and children.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

"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

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.

UNWRA: Nearly surrounded by the Israeli Barrier, this small refugee community is finding it increasingly difficult to support itself, physically and economically. The effect is increased hardship and uncertainty for the people of Aida. Aida camp, near the West Bank town of Bethlehem was established in 1950 by refugees from the Jerusalem and Hebron areas. Today Aida hosts more than 4,700 people. The camp has not grown along with the refugee population, and is severely overcrowded.