My letter to the Washington Post RE "Abbas punts on the Mideast peace process, again" By Jackson Diehl

RE Abbas punts on the Mideast peace process, again By Jackson Diehl
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/abbas-punts-on-the-mideast-peace-process-again/2012/02/23/gIQAc6rAWR_blog.html

Dear Editor,

I have to agree that Abbas insisting that "there can be no peace negotiations unless Israel first freezes all Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem" has not been helpful, for obviously a fair and just negotiated settlement to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict would end the Israeli practice of usurping Palestinian land, rights and peace.

However I do not think Abbas has punted on the Mideast peace process. I think his advisers gave him some bad advice on how best to respond to Israel's ongoing violations of international law and the Palestinians basic human rights.

I think it is obvious that Abbas, recognizing the importance of peace for everyone's sake, has stayed true to the basics, and to the Arab Peace Initiative.

The same cannot be said for Islamists and their misguided apologists, as well as the many Zionist ideologues who seek to sabotage negotiations and secular resistance to pernicious Israeli bigotry and injustice. Islamists worldwide like to say they support Palestine but fact is they choose to empower religious tyranny exasperating sectarian squabbling and terrorism rather than promoting the rule of fair and just laws, real justice, diplomacy, peace and progress for both Israel and Palestine. There really is a huge difference between being an honorable and noble Muslim individual who believes in Palestine and being an Islamist who believes that Islam should be armed and funded with tax payer's money.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet

NOTES

MOST RECENT POLL: A majority of Palestinian youth express their support for a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine within the 1967 boarders).

Setting Our Moral Compass Straight by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy

"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

The Arab Peace Initiative requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well

Break Away from the Echo Chamber....

"Religious conservatism invariably focuses on social and sexual control. Women are the most immediate targets and primary focus of the authoritarianism of the religious right, wherever they may be. As Islamists seem to be finally getting their chance at gaining a share of power in the Arab world, the greatest and most immediate danger they pose is to women’s rights. That is why it is up to everyone else, including both secularists and religious moderates, to insist on the introduction of inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women and minorities." Hussein Ibish: Islamism and misogyny

Islamic Jihad and the international campaign to sabotage support for a secular two state solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict

Hamza Kashgari is a test... in jail and possibly facing a death sentence for a tweet

Arab American Institute's Omar Baddar: In Defense of Hamza Kashgari

Muslims must speak up against the Kashgari scandal

Hamas & The Arab Spring

RSA Animate - 21st century enlightenment

PEEKS... The cool new Palestinians: geeks... The West Bank and Gaza Strip is home to hundreds of tech companies, creating everything from websites to smart phone apps.

Over 40 years after his first exhibition, artist Mahmoud Taha’s work continues to be driven and inspired by the Palestinian people’s quest for freedom

Jordan's king blames Israel for deadlocked peace

Ibtisam Barakat's Valentine

GROWING GARDENS FOR PALESTINE

a personal blog

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab

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

To Rise to the Challenge