Sunday, July 22, 2012

My letter to the New York Times RE "Israel’s Embattled Democracy "

RE: Israel’s Embattled Democracy
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/israels-embattled-democracy.html?_r=1&ref=global

Dear Editor,

The basic truth of modern Israel is that despite all the pretty propaganda generated to attract American support and sympathy Israel has never ever been "a democratic state committed to liberal values and human rights." Israel might become such a thing- but only if it stops demonizing, oppressing and displacing Palestinians. 

Full respect for international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees right to return- clearly called for in 1948 & every year since) would go a long way towards righting a horrible wrong... and defusing the religious extremism, bigotry and violence that the Israel-Palestine conflict inspires.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
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."

Islamophobia Threatens American Values and National Security

[Israeli] Settlers uproot [Palestinian] trees in Beit Ummar

Thrill-seeking tourists take aim at West Bank range

Land and Freedom... a map showing Jewish/Israeli and Arab/Palestinian control of land over time

Latitude: A Palestinian in Jerusalem By Raja Shehadeh

Poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941 – 2008)

Palestine: Beyond The Occupation

Daoud Kuttab: Three Countries, Two Weddings and One Couple

Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned?

Washington Post: Premier Palestinian medical school graduates struggle to work in Jerusalem

Palestinians celebrate nonviolence Hebron 2012

Mideast peace slips to second billing for US

Adventures in Conflict

Israeli settlements dates violate US laws and defraud consumers

Provocative Palestine-Israel ads at New York train stations rile critics

2012 Stream ATFP's Middle East News: World Press Round up and stay up to date with the latest news concerning the Isareli-Palestinian issue.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.." Nelson Mandela

The returning issue of Palestine's refugees... When negotiations resume once again, the world must not abandon the refugees of Palestine, nor attempt to coerce their representatives to do so either.


"It is in Israel's vital interest to come to a complete resolution of the conflict between it and the Palestinian people sooner rather than later, relieving the weight of this tragic conflict from both of our peoples' shoulders. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to the world." Maen Rashid Areikat: The Time for a Palestinian State Is Now

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/ )  Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:
  • Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

"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



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