 |
| We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial: U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle walk down the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial January 18, 2009 at the National Mall in Washington, DC. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) |
RE: Romney's visit demonstrates problems in U.S.-Israel relations by Thomas L. Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/opinion/friedman-why-not-in-vegas.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Dear Editor,
Thomas L. Friedman is getting much much better at recognizing that Americans should not be bamboozled into idolizing Israel, but his recent scathing column on Romney's fundraising there feels more like damage control for Israel than a fully honest appraisal of the situation. Friedman falls into the trap of thinking that peace efforts, arguments, and agreements need to be shaped to empower Israel as a "Jewish Democracy".
Fact is violent attacks by Israelis on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year : How many more Palestinian homes will Israel destroy, how many more Palestinian families will Israel fragment, and how many more Palestinian refugees will Israel create in its demented quest to be demographically "Jewish"... & how many more armed and angry religious extremists will Israel fund and/or inspire?
Fact is modern man made Israel's obsession with being demographically Jewish primarily perpetuates a huge refugee crisis as the vast majority of native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine have been pushed into poverty, forced exile and despair. It is an ongoing crisis and catastrophe with widespread negative ramifications.
Fact is a two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict for everyone's sake must be geared to stop bigotry and injustice, not exasperate it.
Fact is democracy is democracy- of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people. The moment you try to modify democracy with race or religion you replace equal rights with institutionalized bigotry bound to grow worse.
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
Songs and Pictures from Palestine: Thyme & a poem
Tales from the West Bank: Palestinian Raja Shehadeh chronicles life during occupation
Palestinian villages face demolition to create IDF training ground
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"
'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians
"If you have to modify it, it isn't really a democracy."
Romney Versus the World Bank
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?
********
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
No comments:
Post a Comment