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Thursday, May 24, 2012

My letter to the NYTimes RE Not All Israeli Citizens Are Equal by Yousef Manayyer (& Power With Purpose by Thomas L. Friedman)


RE:  Not All Israeli Citizens Are Equal by Yousef Manayyer http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/opinion/not-all-israeli-citizens-are-equal.html?_r=1 (& Power With Purpose by  Thomas L. Friedman   http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/05/22/power_purpose )
 Dear Editor,

Earlier this week (in the NYTIMES) Thomas Friedman wrote of power. In his opinion Israel is already Jewish, and should make peace with Palestine in order to secure Israel's future as a Jewish democracy. Today Yousef Munayyer wisely points out (in the NYTIMES) the horrifying fact that  "Palestinian babies in Israel are considered “demographic threats” by a state constantly battling to keep a Jewish majority.

So far Israel's supposed Jewishness is and has been a dangerous delusion.  It could have played out very differently had Israel welcomed home the Palestinian refugees sixty years ago, shaping a Jewish state out of the rule of fair and just laws: Israel could have and should have chosen to nurture freedom, justice and real democracy. 

Despite sovereign Israel's past failures to respect international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights a fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict really is the best way forward for everyone's sake: Tax payers here and there should not be coerced into funding institutionalized bigotry and apartheid walls that fragment families and impoverish communities. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
The task before us is to make sure that no further nakbas, no more pogroms or unspeakable horrors, ever occur again

ATFP notes that, as the occupying power, Israel is responsible for protecting Palestinian civilians from attacks by settlers, which is an increasing and highly destabilizing phenomenon.

Open Zion....Hussein Ibish: Beware "Creative Alternatives"

Wasim Salfiti: My Family's History with Nakba

Palestinian Beauty... traditional costumes

Palestinian author Ibtisam Barakat "...and the world is at heart playful..."

Nakba and Memories (1967 War) By Mike Odetalla

Randa Jarrar: Imagining Myself in Palestine

Hanan Ashrawi: Recognizing Nakba, Reaching Peace

Haaretz Editorial: Nakba is part of Israel's history

Qalqiliya unveils 'train of return' to mark Nakba & Abbas applauds steadfastness on Nakba Day

The Key

Exodus 1948 التهجيرعام (19 photos)


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




"It's a simple dictum, but one that many still have trouble accepting: Israelis and Palestinians have to talk to each other if they're going to get anywhere." Hussein Ibish: We Need To Talk

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.

UN Resolution 194 Article 11: [The General Assembly]
Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest possible 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; instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations.



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