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| Claire Schwartz photo: 2011 Barbed Wire in Jerusalem outside the Jerusalem/Bethlehem Checkpoint. |
RE Beyond Romney’s Olympic troubles By Romney praises Israel’s success, but his failure to mention occupation outrages Palestinians" )
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-raising-campaign-cash-in-israel-before-heading-to-poland-final-leg-of-trip/2012/07/30/gJQAjdveJX_story.html
Dear Editor,
Romney just raised more than a million dollars in Israel by pandering to wealthy Zionist ideologues who actively scorn respect for international law and universal basic human rights... Would Romney be so eager to pander to Zionist ideologues & propagandists if his own home and freedom to travel and his ability to earn a living were at stake?
Would Romney continue to have so little sympathy and compassion for the Palestinian refugees refused their right to return if he was suddenly refused reentry into the United States- and his home and his wealth was usurped by non-Mormons convinced that Mormons are a 'demographic threat'.
Would Romney be so motivated to idolize a foreign country- a foreign country dedicated to building racist laws and walls if he actually believed in America and our ideals of real democracy with full and equal rights for all.
Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is right that Romney "lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people".
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
Demographics should be a research tool, not a national policy shaping institutionalized bigotry and injustice.
Violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year.
Palestinian officials point out that US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is undermining peace... "What this man [Mitt Romney] is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred"
"If you have to modify it, it isn't really a democracy."
'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians
World Bank says Palestinian economy unsustainable, noting that Israeli restrictions remain the biggest impediment to investing, creating high uncertainty and risk
Do you support as a solution to this conflict the emergence of a fully sovereign state of Palestine on the territory occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem? Yes or no?
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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
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."
"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
"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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