Thursday, August 30, 2012

My letters RE Rachel Corrie & American Elections

To be clear: Return... a poem by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine



RE: GOP foreign policy shows it's easy to talk tough
 http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/trudy_rubin/20120830_Worldview__GOP_foreign_policy_shows_it_s_easy_to_talk_tough.html

Dear Editor,

Trudy Rubin hits the nail on the head regarding GOP foreign-policy dreams and the political realities..."And as for Israel - for which the Republican platform pledges "unequivocal support" - a Romney White House would also be faced with the tragic realities that Obama confronted." 

Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fair and just negotiated settlement based on full respect for international law and universal human rights will not erase the tragic realities and all the many negative ramifications created by that conflict but it will help disarm the religious extremism and bigotry inspired by that conflict.

Sincerely
Anne Selden Annab

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RE: Israeli court rules military not at fault in U.S. activist Rachel Corrie’s death
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-court-rules-military-not-at-fault-in-activist-rachel-corries-death/2012/08/28/35d3ccbc-f116-11e1-892d-bc92fee603a7_story.html

Dear Editor,

Thank you for publishing news concerning Rachel Corrie and her family's ongoing quest for a thorough, credible and transparent investigation by Israel.  It is indeed a bad day for human rights, for humanity, for the rule of law and also for the country of Israel.... and for Palestine as Israel continues to demolish Palestinian homes and usurp Palestinian land. 

It is a bad day for America too as candidates are rewarded for idolizing Israel and punished if they don't, essentially pressuring our politicians and pundits to become Israeli agents sabotaging fair and just negotiations to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Sincerely
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"Corrie's story has become a case study of the impunity with which the Israeli political and legal system treats its adversaries."  Hussein Ibish

Guardian: Nick Hayes on the Rachel Corrie court verdict – cartoon

"What’s interesting about Jayous and the occupation’s effect on it is how the occupation doesn’t have its ABCs. The rules are random, inconsistent, unpredictable and bizarre. What works today at one gate, with one soldier may not work tomorrow, at the same gate and with the same soldier. Here, you can’t take anything for granted; everything depends on everything else." The Truth is Stranger than Fiction in Palestine

"The Palestinian youths, from Ras el-Amud in East Jerusalem, were out for an evening walk in West Jerusalem’s Zion Square when they heard “Death to the Arabs” and were set upon by a crowd. Julani’s friends escaped, but he fell and was beaten unconscious." CSM: Severe attack on Palestinian teen spotlights conflict's impact on Israeli youths

Breaking the Silence: More than 30 former Israeli soldiers have disclosed their experiences of the treatment of Palestinian children during military operations and arrests, pointing to a pattern of abuse.

Rachel Corrie

Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict: "It is the view of the United Nations that there is a responsibility not only on the parties themselves but on all member states to consider their action and their language in light of the goal,"


Hanan Ashrawi: Israeli incitement creating culture of impunity

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: "As a result, stability is conflated with peace and it is used to justify maintaining the status quo in the pretext of maintaining “peace”."


The Palestinian Authority thanks South Africa for the decision to label settlement products as "Occupied Palestinian Territory" rather than "Israel."

Violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year.

'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

"If you have to modify it, it isn't really a democracy."




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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

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



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