Dear Ziad,

Dear Ziad,

Thank you and your delightful wife for being at the helm of the ATFP, for all of your hard work and specifically for pulling together such a wonderful Gala for American supporters of Palestine this year.

I adored seeing the Palestinian dresses and embroidery and hearing the story of how the Palestinian Heritage Foundation came to be.

The exquisite prints and artwork in the silent auction certainly were worth exploring too- although the main reception room was so totally crowded it was a tad hard to really get a good look at many of them.

My main regret of that night is that I did not bring a bigger handbag so that I could tuck away and take home some of those utterly delectable delicate cheese and spinach pastries- heavens those were soooo good!

Speaking of delectably good- Dean Obeidallah really was a perfect choice for MC for the 2011 Gala. He is so much more than merely a very personable and talented comedian with a very good sense of humor. He is also a very thoughtful and intelligent writer. I have very much admired the articles he has had published in mainstream American publications and media outlets such as CNN.

And what a delight to also be seated at Hussein Ibish's table for the dinner. He is one of the most brilliant - and hard working- people I know... All in all the diversity of the crowd, and the breadth of knowledge of the speakers (and guests) was fascinating and so very informative: Salam Fayyad has certainly done a heroic job of taking Palestine seriously and doing all he can to build the foundations of a real state, as well as gather up serious support for that state.

I very much hope that America continues to support and fund and believe in a real Palestinian state and that Palestine soon becomes a real nation state; a fully sovereign, economically viable, democratic, pluralistic, stable, secular state living in peace and prosperity alongside its neighbors including Israel.

Sincerely,
Annie

In Growing Gardens for Palestine... A Wonderful Gala: ATFP 2011 Honoring Heritage & Embracing Originality

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American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."

The raison d'être of the American Task Force on Palestine