My letter to the Washington Post RE What about Israel’s nuclear weapons? by ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton

Media freedom entails the right of any person to freedom of opinion and expression on a public basis, which includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, as stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

RE: What about Israel’s nuclear weapons? by Patrick B. Pexton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/patrick-pexton-what-about-israels-nuclear-weapons/2012/08/31/390e486a-f389-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html

Dear Editor

KUDOS to your brave ombudsman, Patrick B. Pexton, for carefully but honestly exploring the subject of Israel's nuclear weapons AND for pointing out that criticizing Israel can hurt your career.

Fact is for decades Israeli propagandists playing left right and center have been freely waging a psychological war on America, seriously undermining our democracy, our fourth estate- and the marketplace of ideas... AND Middle East peace.

Tax payers here and there should not be coerced into subsidizing state funded religious 'scholars' and schemes:  Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a secular two state solution based on complete respect for international law and universal basic human rights would go a long way towards stopping the arms race, religious extremism, bigotry, injustice, despair, corruption and crimes inspired by the conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

Carter Center Calls for Accountability After Corrie Verdict

Artists Against Apartheid

Israel's Ongoing Policy of Destroying Homes & Displacing Palestinians

Bulldozing the Special Relationship: The Rachel Corrie verdict should be a wakeup call to America.

The Truth is Stranger than Fiction in Palestine

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

Rachel Corrie

ALERTNET: Gaza not "liveable" by 2020 barring urgent action - U.N.

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.

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,"

We Palestinian are locked in a fierce struggle for our independence....to make the matter straight and simple this is not a clash of religions...

Israel, Iran and the Nuclear Challenge... Since Israel has nuclear weapons, other countries in the region want them, too.

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."

Demographics should be a research tool, not a national policy shaping institutionalized bigotry and injustice.

********

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

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

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."



The Arab Peace Initiative

"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

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