Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
For the Right To Return
For the Right To Return
People diedfor the right to return
died then... died now
Through the decades
year after year people-Palestinians- refugees
risked their lives
for the right to return
risked all for the right to remember Palestine
Historic Palestine...The right to remember
homes and land usurped...
People died for the right to be free
and equal- for the right to have a home
and family (and a garden) and a future
respected by the powers that be
The right to expect fair and just laws...
But our newspapers only talk of protest
no context- no clue... framing the story
to exclude the real reasons
for the Palestinian refugees.
Even our churches drop the ball
calling the Palestinian refugees right of return "controversial"
Why is it "controversial" to object to being constantly
discriminated against- and impoverished
pushed into forced exile- trapped by racist laws and walls
harassed, insulted & played by Zionists left right and center worldwide.
Why exactly is it controversial to want to return
to your own actual home & heritage
and the living loving memory of life
in the Holy Land.
Anne Selden Annab
poem copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Israeli Troops Fire at [Unarmed Palestinian] Protesters, At Least 14 Killed
"We want to prove to the whole world who is using violence. It is obvious. You know who is using violence right now. Look at me. Do I have anything on me? No. We are trained on methods like (those of) Ghandi, like Martin Luther King, Mandela. We believe in that and we are going to stay using our nonviolent methods until the world sees who is the real oppressor," said Sari, a [Palestinian] student from Ramalla VOA News
Palestinians are people, too - The Hill's Congress Blog
- 06/03/11 04:19 PM ET
Every June 5 for the past 44 years of my life has brought back memories of being a 13-year-old facing life under Israeli occupation. Forty-four years ago I saw Israelis for the first time. It took my generation a very long and difficult time to come to terms with accepting the need for peace and compromise with our occupier. That compromise was the two-state solution. Our goal was to end occupation and achieve freedom, dignity, and self-determination... READ MORESaturday, June 4, 2011
The book of a shell -- author: The sea. -- Ibtisam Barakat 2011
كتاب الصُّدَف: تأليف البَحر -- ابتسام بركات 2011 The book of a shell -- author: The sea.
-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011
“Ibtisam Barakat is not only a luminous writer and thinker, she is a wondrous healer, too. In this exquisite, tender account of her Palestinian childhood, nothing is missing—love, attachment, struggle, fear, humor, resilience. The child in this story carries more wisdom and a keener sense of justice and injustice than do most people in seats of power. Tasting the Sky should be read by everyone with a humane interest in the story of Palestine.” —Naomi Shihab Nye, author of HabibiTens of Thousands of dollars in legal fees/lawyers/ court battles later....
Spring 2011 "Mike Hanini Odetalla (Abu Odeh)
Mike Hanini Odetalla
1979 Palestinians: Musa (Mike's brother), Um Suleiman (Mike's mom), Mike Hanini Odetalla(Abu Odeh), Suleiman (Mike's brother)
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?
Mike's LIFTA Album: Ethnically Cleansed 1948
Mike Hanini Odetalla1979 Palestinians: Musa (Mike's brother), Um Suleiman (Mike's mom), Mike Hanini Odetalla(Abu Odeh), Suleiman (Mike's brother)"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?Mike's LIFTA Album: Ethnically Cleansed 1948UN Resolution 194 from 1948 "The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so..."
UN Resolution 194 from 1948 "The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible..."
from IMEU: All refugees have an internationally recognized right to return to areas from which they have fled or were forced, to receive compensation for damages, and to either regain their properties or receive compensation and support for voluntary resettlement. This right derives from a number of legal sources, including customary international law, international humanitarian law (governing rights of civilians during war), and human rights law. The United States government has forcefully supported this right in recent years for refugees from Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and elsewhere.
from IMEU: All refugees have an internationally recognized right to return to areas from which they have fled or were forced, to receive compensation for damages, and to either regain their properties or receive compensation and support for voluntary resettlement. This right derives from a number of legal sources, including customary international law, international humanitarian law (governing rights of civilians during war), and human rights law. The United States government has forcefully supported this right in recent years for refugees from Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and elsewhere.In the specific case of the Palestinians, this right was affirmed by the United Nations Resolution 194 of 1948, and has been reaffirmed repeatedly by that same body, and has also been recognized by independent organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The U.S. government supported Resolution 194, and voted repeatedly to affirm it until 1993. At that time, the Clinton administration began to refer to Palestinian refugee rights as matters to be negotiated between the parties to the conflict. http://imeu.net/news/article0040.shtml
Sands of Sorrow (1950 film) Council for the Relief of Palestine Arab Refugees
On the plight of Arab refugees from the Arab-Israeli war. Dorothy Thompson speaks on the refugee problem. Refugees live in tents in the Gaza Strip, are given blankets and food by Egyptian soldiers, and receive flour from UNICEF. A Lebanese priest conducts services. Refugees work as plumbers, carpenters, tailors, and shoemakers in the city of Jerusalem. Doctors vaccinate refugees against disease. Shows the squalid living conditions in refugee camps, starving children, and emphasizes the hopeless condition of the refugees. http://www.archive.org/details/sands_of_sorrow
Friday, June 3, 2011
From one writer to anouther.... Diana Abu-Jaber
"My Palestinian grandmother, who was most decidedly the master of her house, amassed a great library: She collected books, some written in Arabic, many in English. But she told me that one of the best authors she knew of was a poet, a Bedouin woman named Hanan. Hanan recited her poetry: she didn't know how to read and write, but she knew how to observe, detail and describe her experience. She knew how to feel deeply and then how to convey those feelings so they kindled within the minds of the listeners." Diana Abu-Jaber
From One Writer To Another
Lilies Know ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
Lilies KnowEven when wanting
to wander away
you can't
Palestine pulls
What is life
but loyalties
of different types
lilies know
to bloom
birds to sing
and time
time holds truth
in a key
unlocking
the future
with
resplendent
Possibility
poem & photo copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab
Tinkerings... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
Tinkerings
Many might be inspired by Ernesto as in Che
but for me
It's Bell every time....as in
Second Star To The Right, And Straight On 'Til Morning
Reality is today mortally wounded Palestine needs us to believe-
needs us to clap- needs us to sing out ... needs us to want to believe
in Palestine.
Needs us to look at the darting beam of focused light playing the stage-
willing to visualize the beauty of wings and life and laughter
Needs us to love Palestine home
the same way fairies can be found
in every garden....
poem copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Ever Reaching... a series of poems concerning Palestine by Anne Selden Annab
2002
Ever Reaching... Al Nakba, 53 years
Ever Reaching... Al Nakba, 53 years
A series of poems by Anne Selden Annab
Commemorating the Palestinians and their 53 years of suffering [as of 2011 it is now 63 years] and their never ending struggle to live and prosper, despite thehorrific and demoralizing circumstances under which they mustlive.
Commemorating the Palestinians and their 53 years of suffering [as of 2011 it is now 63 years] and their never ending struggle to live and prosper, despite thehorrific and demoralizing circumstances under which they mustlive.Ever Reaching... Al Nakba-
53 Years
In Israel- ever reaching
the land lays fallow
weeds of concrete blocks
and bitter minds
displace the fragrant herbs.
Cities rise
full of excuses
for all they're not.
In Israel- ever reaching
a child's ethnicity
determines
education
or lack there of.
In Israel- ever reaching
borders are but another
war to rage
another zone
to raze
another village
remapped
renamed
refilled
with foreign eyes
who have never seen
the beauty of the hills.
********
Eyewitnesses.... Al Nakba-
53 years
Eyewitnesses
still live,
looking on
as lush lawns
are layered over
a land once grazed
by woolly lambs
and scampering
goats
A land once
fragrant
with stories
and laughter,
bubbling
and flowing
like water in a brook.
Generation to generation
shifting and blooming
like spring flowers
bursting forth
every where
and every one
knew of a cousin nearby
falling deeply in love
or cooking
or sewing
or tending to an orchard
of ancient olive trees.
*********
Black Flags... Al Nakba
53 Years
Black flags
flap and flutter
and dance on the desert breeze
all the wounds
and the deaths
and imprisonments
all the homes lost
and sons destroyed
and daughters maimed
All the dark reflections
of storm clouds
collecting in a well
and all the inked shadows
of a moonless night
that swirl
in the splash
and sweet draught
of cupped water
splashed on thirsty lips:
All the hope
that these dark dark memories
will be answered by justice-
The truth kept safe
by a mother's constant love.
**************
Blood to Ink... Al- Nakba
53 years
Luscious gardens are grown
from a trickle of water
and a handful of seeds:
Papyrus grows tall
full of wild birds
eared owls and egrets
and insects
and fish. Time passes.
Things change
Vellum is carefully scraped
worked with berries and ore
Words lovingly copied
even as
Trees turn to paper
blood to ink
And the paper
is painstakingly
stained
with
the cherished
names
of Palestinian
villages
depopulated by gunpoint in 1948.
*****************
A Mother's Hand... Al Nakba
53 Years
Bless all those
who love
and linger in their love
A mother's hand
on a child's heart
gently, ever so gently,
reminding her child
of his sacred place
in the hearts of all.
Bless all those
who know and understand
and keep safe
every child
of any age
and race.
poem & photo copyright ©2002 Anne Selden Annab
Israel’s Narcissism Shines Bright in Jerusalem
"Netanyahu, just like his predecessors, are insulting the very essence of Jerusalem. It is not Jewish, but it is not solely Muslim or Christian either. That would be selfish and intolerant. Jerusalem and its layers of history, humanity and religious significance cannot be claimed by one. To do so is offending the significance of its walls, its mosques, its churches and its historic stones. Jerusalem, quite frankly should be an open city. This is really the only solution that would do justice to all those who wish to worship in it, to relive its history and to appreciate its beauty. Jews claim they are finally able to return to the Western Wall to pray. That would be fine if that were the case for other religions as well. Palestinian Muslims from the West Bank and Gaza cannot pray in Al Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam and Palestinian Christians just kilometers away cannot worship in the church where Jesus was crucified. If anything, Jerusalem has been increasingly isolated from its Palestinian surroundings through Israel’s system of exclusion, manifested in the separation wall, the checkpoints and the permit system firmly in place for Palestinians.
To put it plain and simple, Israel cannot claim for itself what it denies to others and still call itself a democracy. Neither can it hold a monopoly over a city of such significance to all peoples and faiths such as Jerusalem." Joharah Baker
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