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RE: It’s Not Just About Us By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/opinion/friedman-what-romney-didnt-say.html?ref=global
Dear Editor,
We do indeed need to stick to our principles. Kudos to Friedman for pointing that out and carefully explaining some basic good advice to any country (and every individual) interested in nurturing peace and progress- and American support.
Dr. Ziad Asali, a Palestinian American with a better understanding of the situation than most, wrote earlier this year that "The Arab world is heterogeneous, diverse, multiethnic and multi-religious. This often both is seen and serves as a source of division and tensions. This diversity can be turned into a source of political, cultural and economic strength if Arab societies empower and protect the rights and responsibilities of individual citizens, including ethnic and religious minorities and women." http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/in_print/2012/01/16/1326690000
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Notes
ATFP's Hussein Ibish: Where Settler Terrorism Comes From
Israel's Jewish extremists used chain saws to cut down over 120 olive trees on private Palestinian land in Nablus on Tuesday
Songs and Pictures from Palestine: Najat El-Taji El-Khairy ... the wall
William Hague intervenes over West Bank barrier: Foreign secretary shares concern with Archbishop of Westminster in private letter about Israeli-built wall
Jordan, Palestine sign free trade agreement: Fayez Tarawneh, the prime minister said the Kingdom will continue to support the Palestinians politically and help them confront Israel’s attempts to Judaise Jerusalem.
Ariel
Devout Israeli Jews moving to Arab-Jewish cities
''The Life of a Palestinian''
Muslims who would restrict speech to "protect Islam" have no greater allies than Jews who would do so to "protect Israel."
King Abdullah II of Jordan: The reason behind Tehran’s nuclear programme is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Palestine's Abbas: "Despite our feelings of disappointment and loss of hope, we continue to sincerely extend our hands to the Israeli people to make peace." [Full text: Abbas address to UN General Assembly]
The Rule of Law "The real rule of law is substantive and encompasses many human-rights requirements. It reflects the idea of equality in a substantive way: not just that no one is above the law, but that everyone is equal before and under the law, and is entitled to its equal protection and equal benefit..." Louise Arbour, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights & president of the International Crisis Group.
OBAMA: "It is time to marginalize those who, even when not resorting to violence, use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as the central organizing principle of politics," Obama said. "For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes an excuse, for those who resort to violence." U.S. President Barack Obama challenged world leaders to tackle the recent violence rippling across the Muslim world, calling it “not simply an assault on America” but an attack “on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded.”
Ambassadorship is no longer reserved for elites. In this era of digital interconnectedness, we are all called upon to use free speech to foster peace, not violence. To honor Ambassador Stevens, let us uphold that responsibility in our online – and offline – interactions.
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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
"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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