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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Palestinian bookshop owner celebrates Jerusalem residency ruling Munther Fahmi's campaign to be allowed to stay in his birth city

was backed by eminent literary figures
Inside the American Colony hotel in Jerusalem where Munther Fahmi has his bookshop. Photograph: Dan Balilty/AP
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/27/palestinian-bookshop-owner-jerusalem-residency
in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk,

The Palestinian owner of an celebrated Jerusalem bookshop patronised by politicians, diplomats, authors and activists has won a rare victory in a six-year battle to be allowed to remain in the city of his birth.

Munther Fahmi, the proprietor of the small but well-stocked bookshop at the legendary American Colony hotel, said he was overjoyed at the news, received on Thursday, that he had been granted a temporary residency permit by the Israeli authorities. He and his lawyer are optimistic it will be made permanent after two years.

Fahmi's campaign to be allowed to remain in Jerusalem is backed by eminent literary figures including the Israeli authors Amos Oz and David Grossman and British and Irish writers including Ian McEwan, Roddy Doyle, John Banville and Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Following the reprieve, his immediate plan was to book a trip to the London Book Fair in April, he told the Guardian, confident he would be admitted back into Israel. "This has been a huge strain. I have been living with uncertainty for 15 years, unable to plan my life. Every time I left the country, I didn't know if I could come back."

The threat stemmed from Fahmi's absence from Jerusalem for almost 20 years, which resulted in him losing his residency permit. Despite having been born and brought up in Jerusalem, he had been forced to rely on a series of tourist visas since returning in 1997.

Thousands of Palestinians have lost the right of residency in the city under similar circumstances. According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, in 2006 there were more than 1,300 revocations...READ MORE

Friday, January 27, 2012

My letter to CSMonitor RE "As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction"


RE: As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0126/As-Israeli-Palestinian-talks-sink-fringe-ideas-gain-traction

Dear Editor,

Regarding "As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction" the warning is wise- but this is not new news. This has been the trend for decades, with the disenfranchised and disconnected following any lead they can find that might help give voice to the very real plight of the Palestinians.

It is totally tempting and frankly quite easy to get caught up into the one state fantasies which are packaged to look compassionate, intelligent, pro-human rights and totally pro-Palestine, but really are nothing but a call to endorse a terrible status quo that enables Israel to easily continue to usurp more and more Palestinian land, rights and peace.

Building support for a real Palestinian state in order to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict with a fair and just negotiated settlement is not an easy task, but there are many good and decent people on both sides who have been dedicating all their best efforts towards that goal.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"...
there are analysts, both in the Arab world and outside it, with a solid grounding in the region who try to act as a compass on the path to a better understanding of events.... For a lively and challenging take on events in the region, there is a regular blog by Hussein Ibish, Senior Research Fellow at the Washington-based American Task Force on Palestine and a tireless Tweeter." NYTimes blogs Harvey Morris Attempting to Answer the Arab Question
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/attempting-to-answer-the-arab-question/

"Understanding individuals as citizens, and not subjects or wards of states, reframes the state as the guarantor of the individual and collective rights of the citizenry rather than the solution to all social challenges. The idea that governance requires legitimacy that can only be achieved through the consent of the governed has become widespread in the Arab world." Ziad Asali, founder of The American Task Force on Palestine: Arabs deserve a party of the citizen
http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/01/16/1326690000_0

"The grass isn’t much greener on the other side of the wall, though. Israel is supposedly the sole democracy in the Middle East (even if this seems to be changing), and yet gender segregated streets and buses is becoming more and more common. It has been estimated that 500 bus journeys in Israel are segregated daily, which means that women are expected to sit in the back." Julie Holm for MIFTAH: Gender Divides on Both Sides of the Green Line http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=24363&CategoryId=13

"
This year at Davos, I want to talk about social and economic equity. I want to see the needs and aspirations of women, young people, our poorest and most marginalised brothers and sisters on the global agenda. It is the responsibility of each one of us to make their voices heard and to build a world that is worthy of them - a world worthy of all of us." Elders blog: Time to close the gap
http://theelders.org/article/time-close-gap


Israeli demolitions leave 1100 Palestinians homeless in 2011

Palestinian refugees
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There’s been a dramatic rise in the number of Palestinians who have been made homeless following demolitions by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

The UN’s humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) says almost 1,100 Palestinians were displaced in 2011, that’s 80 per cent more than the previous year.

Half of those people were children.

Reem Abaza asked Ramesh Rajasingham Head of OCHA in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for more details about the demolitions.

Duration: 3’09″

Listen / Download

PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks

A protester holds a Palestinian flag next to extreme right wing Jewish settlers during a weekly protest in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Dec. 30, 2011. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=455762

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PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO meetings with Israeli envoys have not been able to restart negotiations, a Palestinian presidential spokesman said Friday, after Israel said it had fulfilled its obligation to the Quartet-sponsored talks.

Israel did not provide anything to build upon, while the issue of borders and security is still pending, Nabil Abu Rdeineh told Ma'an.

PLO officials held five exploratory meetings with Israeli negotiators in the Jordanian capital during January. The diplomatic Quartet had called for the sides to give their positions on the borders and security by Jan. 26.

At the first summit on Jan. 3, the PLO gave Israel a proposal for resolving border and security issues, and Israel promised to respond in future meetings, Jordanian Foreign Minster Nasser Judeh said at the time.

Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said negotiators handed a 21 point proposal to the meetings, which PLO official Nabil Shaath said lacked any detail and was "rather a composition about peace done by a high school student."

In the final meeting before the Quartet deadline, Israeli delegate Yitzhak Molcho on Wednesday gave a verbal presentation on borders and security, which an Israeli official said was to meet the Quartet request.

But a PLO official told Reuters that no maps were presented at the meeting and the presentation "killed the two-state solution, set aside previous agreements and international law."

The idea presented by Molcho "does not include Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and includes almost all (Israeli) settlements", he said.

"Basically, the Israeli idea of a Palestinian state is made up of a wall and settlements," he said.

The Jordan valley makes up around 30 percent of the West Bank, and occupied East Jerusalem is roundly considered as the capital of a future Palestinian state...READ MORE

Fayyad: Building Palestinian state requires cooperation from Israel

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/fayyad-building-palestinian-state-requires-cooperation-from-israel
Frank Kane
Jan 27, 2012

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND // A lasting peace deal between Israel and Palestine "might happen very quickly," Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"We are sorry it has taken so long but we are nearer, at the final stage," Mr Peres said during a debate with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, at Davos, the Swiss town hosting the annual gathering of the world's leading decision-makers.

Mr Fayyad said: "There must be a hope for peace but it has to be a product of conscious decision-making."

Both politicians were critical of the actions of the Middle East Quartet of powers - the US, European Union, Russia and the United Nations - which have been mediating peace negotiations between the two sides since 2002.

The Quarter "are putting the parties in a position where they have to respond under pressure," said Mr Fayyad.

"They keep setting dates which are too arbitrary and we might make mistakes under pressure," said Mr Peres.

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the Davos forum, posed the question: "Is there still reason for hope we will have reconciliation between Israel and Palestine?"

Mr Peres answered: "I am convinced there will be peace based on a two-state solution. We have not been standing still. At the same time as carrying on with diplomacy, the Palesinians have done a good job in two ways: they have started to build a state, they are building a modern city in Ramallah. And they have built a security force, with 15,000 people trained in Jordan by the US. For the first time, [the Palestinians] can provide for their own security."...READ MORE

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

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


To be clear: Return


How many ways
can analysts & experts
(& echo chambers)
misinterpret- misconstrue-
misrepresent
and mangle
a refugee's inalienable
natural, legal, moral
and necessary
right to return...
and the right to live
free of religious tyranny
and institutionalized bigotry
wherever the individual
might chose to go

How many ways
can the idea of return be bullied
into a bellicose demand on both sides
with idiots itching to impoverish
and erase 'the other'

To be clear: Return
to original homes and lands
or resettle elsewhere.

It really is totally civilized
and right: Return
or relocate...

End the plight and impoverishment
of Palestinians... stop disenfranchising
yet another generation.

End the largest,
longest running refugee crisis
in the world today

Stop the Israel/Palestine conflict

To be clear: Return
or relocate, resettle elsewhere

People need passports
and job opportunities
People need peace
and security

People need the protection
of fair and just laws
and true equality
with the ability to earn respect
and a decent living
no matter what their name
no matter what their religion.

To be clear: Return
or resettle elsewhere
one by one in turn

Return and rebuild a new life
or relocate and rebuild a new life
a private life- a personal life
not as a pawn for war
but as a vital seed for peace
and progress... growing gardens
for Palestine...
A person with roots
and rights- and responsibilities:
One by one, family by family
Man and wife
Return to be Israeli
or relocate to be Palestinian
or move on and away: End the conflict
accept two states and many choices
of nationality.

To be clear: Return...
Return or relocate
to help build a Golden Rule Peace
worldwide where do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle and goal
for our parents, for ourselves
for our neighbors
for civilization itself
and for all our children
no matter what their name.


poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Desmond Tutu: "It is time to talk about making real changes so that the world becomes a more equitable place."

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights. They were brought together in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, who is not an active member of the group but remains an Honorary Elder.
Elders blog

Time to close the gap

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http://theelders.org/article/time-close-gap

.... We can no longer ignore this growing distance between rich and poor – we risk undoing all the progress we’ve made, and making the world even more uncertain and volatile. It is time to close the gap. It is time to talk about making real changes so that the world becomes a more equitable place.

Putting equity on the agenda

What does ‘equity’ mean? It means fairness. It doesn’t mean that everyone lives equally - after all, we all choose different paths and our rich diversity is to be treasured. But it does mean equal opportunity - equal access to healthcare, to education, decent work, and a fair wage.

I know I will meet many powerful men and women in Davos. They have worked hard, put their God-given talents to good use, and become some of the most successful entrepreneurs, politicians and change-makers in the world. But when we consider the world we have created for our children, we do not look to these illustrious figures. No, when we judge our success, we must look to the least of us.

The world as seen from Davos seems very far away from the suffering and degradation in the poorest countries and communities. It may be hard to see how the concerns of those people who struggle to survive directly affect the lives of the rich and powerful gathered here. But not one of us lives or acts in a vacuum. The concept of ubuntu teaches that my humanity is bound up in yours - that we are all connected. In this era of globalisation, this interdependence is more evident than ever before.

When there are millions of educated young people out of work; when the poorest among us are the worst-hit by the effects of climate change; when millions of children every day are denied their right to the basic necessities of life, food and water - what does this say about the world we have built? Can anyone really claim ‘success’, when the great rift between the haves and the have-nots is causing even greater stress, unhappiness and violence in our societies? A more equitable world means a more stable and prosperous world - for everyone.

This year at Davos, I want to talk about social and economic equity. I want to see the needs and aspirations of women, young people, our poorest and most marginalised brothers and sisters on the global agenda. It is the responsibility of each one of us to make their voices heard and to build a world that is worthy of them - a world worthy of all of us.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

PALESTINE: "We will continue the dialog and we will continue the (peace) talks because we consider this to be the only way to a peaceful resolution,"

Palestine ready to continue talks with Israel: Abbas Xinhua e
January 23, 2012 - 12:00am
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/23/c_131373594.htm


MOSCOW, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas said here on Sunday that the Palestinian authorities are ready to continue peace talks with Israel.

"We will continue the dialog and we will continue the (peace) talks because we consider this to be the only way to a peaceful resolution," Abbas told reporters after his meeting with Russia's chief Mufti Ravil Gainutdin.

Meanwhile, he blamed unconstructive policies adopted by the Israeli authorities, saying they are hindering the peace talks between the two sides.

"As ever, obstacles are made by the Israeli part and their policies," Abbas said. "If the talks fail, this will happen through Israel's fault," he added.

Abbas arrived in Moscow on Thursday for a six-day visit to Russia. He had held talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, when the two sides discussed ways of restarting the stalled Middle East peace process.

Direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel were suspended in Oct. 2010, after Israel failed to renew a ban on settlement building in the West Bank, which prompted Palestine to leave the talks.

ATFP
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UN official urges Israelis and Palestinians to intensify efforts to resolve conflict

Neither the international community nor the parties can afford to let this opportunity pass by. The Secretary-General continues to call on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to show vision, courage and determination to reach a historical peace agreement that would meet the legitimate aspirations of the people on both sides,” said Mr. Fernandez-Taranco."

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco. UN Photo/Evan Schneider
24 January 2012 –
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A senior United Nations political official today urged Israel and the Palestinians to redouble efforts to resolve all their permanent status issues, end the conflict and establish an independent and democratic Palestinian state that will exist peacefully alongside Israel.

“Leadership is needed to ensure that the process moves forward with the support of the regional and international partners,” said Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, as he briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

He told the Council’s open debate, which heard from over 40 speakers, that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had started meeting on 3 January under the facilitation of King Abdullah of Jordan and the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, in the presence of envoys of the so-called Quartet – the diplomatic grouping bringing together the UN with the European Union, Russia and the United States. It was the first time both parties had held direct talks in 15 months.

“The parties began discussing important issues related to territory and security,” said Mr. Fernandez-Taranco. “They are also discussing ways to build confidence and create a positive environment for these talks to succeed,” he added.

“Neither the international community nor the parties can afford to let this opportunity pass by. The Secretary-General continues to call on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to show vision, courage and determination to reach a historical peace agreement that would meet the legitimate aspirations of the people on both sides,” said Mr. Fernandez-Taranco.

Actions on the ground, however, continue to contribute to tensions, he told the Council. Settlement activity, including in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, continued during the reporting period. Violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians also remain troubling.

On the continuing bloody unrest in Syria, Mr. Fernandez-Taranco told the Council that the bloodshed and human rights violations must stop for a credible, inclusive and Syrian-led political process to start in that country.

“We hope that the international community will act in a concerted and coherent manner in support of ongoing efforts for a peaceful resolution of the crisis,” he said.

The UN also continues to monitor the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, he said, adding that both the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Lebanese Government had registered 5,660 Syrian refugees. The significant increase in number is largely due to intensified refugee registration, he added.


News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Ban welcomes meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators

It can be done... giving peace a chance

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http://jordantimes.com/giving-peace-a-chance
THE JORDAN TIMES

Giving peace a chance

by Peter Millett | Jan 24,2012 | 22:39

As has been widely reported, His Majesty King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together for the first time in 16 months. They have held three meetings in Amman, choreographed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

Comments in the international press have seen a wide range of optimism, pessimism and cynicism. It is easy to be pessimistic and say that nothing will come of it. I prefer realism: no one should pretend that reaching a deal is easy. It has eluded negotiators for years. But as the King himself has said, it is better to talk than not to.

Conflict resolution is both a science and an art. There are certain obvious principles that should be followed. But they need to be adapted to circumstances. What is important is that the end goal is kept in sight.

The Palestinians have a right to a state. And Israel has a right to security. The two objectives are inter-linked: the best guarantee of Israel’s security is through peace with a Palestinian state.

What are the basic factors for resolving conflict? Here are my top five:

— Mutual respect and trust. Unless the negotiators trust each other, progress will not be made. I cannot count how many times the two sides proclaimed that “it takes two to tango”. That is no doubt true, but the only way you’ll find out is by getting onto the dance floor.

— Compromise. Any gain for one side is seen as a loss for the other. This is completely counterproductive. Any solution will require a balanced set of compromises. Give and take by both sides is essential.

— No threats or violent actions. As Gandhi said: “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”

— Avoid the blame game. Playing to the international gallery is attractive, but it holds back constructive compromise. It is good news that the two sides have agreed to radio silence with the media. They should stick to it.

— People-to-people contact. Top-level representatives can negotiate, but it has to be underpinned by trust between people. If people are not permitted or discouraged from meeting each other, then it will be very hard to convince them that the risk is worth it. That is the theory. And of course it has been tried before. The history of the Middle East peace process is full of special envoys, initiatives and agreements. Little has been achieved on the ground. The reasons are well-known. So why try again now?

The fact is that the current situation is stark and deeply worrying. If settlement building continues, a two-state solution will be impossible.

The international community regularly condemns settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. The British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last week called settlement building “deliberate vandalism”. And settler violence against Palestinian villages and mosques is growing.

Peace is not an easy option — it requires greater bravery than war. Perhaps the most important quality needed at all levels is courage and determination.

I recall a quote: “Conflict is inevitable; combat is optional.”

We all know that compromise is hard. For political leaders it means courting unpopularity and sparking accusations of betrayal and treason. It is easy to camp out on nationalistic slogans and pander to extremists. It is much harder to live up to your own rhetoric and make the hard decisions to reach the objective that the silent majority probably favour.

Many of these principles were deployed with success in Northern Ireland in the last 10 years. Of course, the circumstances are different, but the fact is that leaders and communities whose positions were miles apart are now sharing power. To achieve that result both sides had to realise that violence does not work and that a solution would bring peace and economic benefits all around.

It can be done.


The writer is British ambassador to Amman. This article is reprinted [in The Jordan Times] with permission from the British embassy

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

To create the textiles, spiders are collected each morning and harnessed in specially conceived silking contraptions. Trained handlers extract the silk from 24 spiders at a time. The spiders are returned to the wild at the end of each day Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

If humankind
can conceive of
and make
a spider silk cape...

A million times
lithe Golden Orb spiders
living in the forest in the highlands
of Madagascar carefully-gently caught
for a day, harnessed to spin
their bright golden threads
then released alive
as evening falls...
year after year
eventually
a glorious golden
brocade embroidered.

If humankind can cherish art
and build museums for all to enjoy

If humankind
can sow and harvest wheat
make bread, grow grapes-
make wine

If humankind can remember goodness
and create jobs each with a living wage

If humankind can carefully, conscientiously craft
a Universal Declaration of Human Rights

If humankind can raise our children
to nurture their gifts and good relationships

If humankind can envision
and invest in environmentally friendly cities
with greenbelts and rooftop gardens

Surely we can also somehow shape
a just and lasting peace
in and for the Middle East



PART II
Two States: One Israel, One Palestine

Two states
One Israel, One Palestine
to be a modern marriage
making dreams come true:
Two individuals able to each
speak their own language
pursue their own dreams
build their own sanctuaries
and museums and news...

Two states
to be the Golden Rule
whereas do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle
and cherished goal.

Two states to explore the compelling wisdom
of we, and the pivotal importance of us (and them)
working side by side each in our own sphere
to lovingly parent a future together... or weave a spider silk cape...
or repair a stairway... or build a car... or harvest an orchard...
empowering full and equal citizens and progress as civic rights
and responsibilities become more and more inclusive
and important.

Two states sovereign
each in their own realms
each in their own spheres

Two states to respect
the need for borders
the need for compromise
the need for language
the need for kindness
the need for compassion
the need for diplomacy
the need for honesty
the need for civilized conversations
the need for decent jobs
and the need for the rule of law
fair and just laws... the need for peace
and security
for every home and family.

Let the refugees return
to either be Israeli
or Palestinian
or Israeli-Palestinian or Palestinian-Israeli
or Palestinian-American...etc...
each in turn choosing
who they want to be
and where they want to build a life
for life moves on continuously changing
and our parents' choices
can make all the difference.


PART III
A Golden Rule Peace

In an interconnected
global world
we are the spider silk cape
we are the golden glow
of good intentions
and careful craftsmanship
appreciated...

Art and history and math and science
in dialog- to be synergy
and dedication
as glorious dreams are caught
and recreated
for today's world
with today's tools
sharing bits of light
and shadow
to reveal
the best that we can find
in our own memories
fingering a fabric
and recalling a mood

The forest is in the weave
and the airlines it took
to transport, the sunrises and rainbows
and oceans and streets, the accents
and languages and all
and all earth's beauty caught
strand by strand
woven
and embroidered
to entrance
an audience
willing to believe.

Our parents' choices
(and our own)
can make all the difference.




poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

Monday, January 23, 2012

"From Homer to Chaucer, Primo Levi to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, literature has constantly taught us this: life goes on...."

A general view of Jerusalem's Old City. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP

The Arab-Israeli Book Review: Common ground in contested territory

In focusing on the shared culture straddling the Middle East's great divide, this new journal is a hopeful step towards mutual understanding

The Israel-Palestine struggle has not prospered from scrutiny. Few modern conflicts have caused more columns to be written, solutions proffered, hands wrung, bile spent or vengeance waged – and vengeance it so often is, even when dressed up as justice. (In the words of the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti, "start your story with 'secondly', and the world will be turned upside-down".)

Amid the denunciations and counter-denunciations, counsel and complaint, from the Middle East to the west and beyond – not to mention the televised grief of Israeli occupation, Hezbollah rockets and the like – what tends to get bypassed is daily life, common culture, the actual stuff that comprises the societies the commentators spend so much of their energy trying to bring together (or keep apart). This normality is usually more important to the people who experience it than anything the rest of us witness in the news. From Homer to Chaucer, Primo Levi to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, literature has constantly taught us this: life goes on.

I was talking about this to the London-based Palestinian author Samir El-youssef last week, just before the official launch of his new online literary magazine, the Arab-Israeli Book Review. "I grew up in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon," he told me. "Do you think we talked about politics every minute of the day? My grandmother was more interested in whether I had brushed my teeth!"

Samir's new project helps to redress the narrative imbalance, away from policy and nationhood, towards people....READ MORE

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"The new conversation about Israel has yet to make its way into Congress and the executive branch, but that day may be coming...."

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http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article565012.ece
or http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/01/19/1326949200_21

By JORDAN MICHAEL SMITH

The media consensus on Israel is collapsing

Across the political spectrum, once-taboo criticism is now common

With Hamas and Fatah meeting in Cairo, reconciliation between the rival Palestinian political parties is likely only a matter of time. Official US policy holds that Hamas is only a terrorist entity, and any agreement between the two factions jeopardizes continued US aid. There is reason to believe, however, that more flexible, productive positions will be expressed in the US media. Slowly but unmistakably, space is opening up among the commentariat for new, critical ideas about Israel and its relationship to the United States.

Freedom of this sort was visible in the pages of the New York Times last week. Thomas Friedman, the paper's foreign affairs columnist, wrote that American leaders were betraying the country by outsourcing their foreign policy to Israel. A standing ovation given to the Israeli prime minister by the US Congress this year was "bought and paid for by the Israel lobby," he wrote. Phrased bluntly as it was, Friedman's sentence was startling. As the quintessential establishment columnist, Bill Clinton's favorite pundit and a thrice Pulitzer Prize-winner, Friedman is often seen in the US as authoritative on the Middle East and rivaled only perhaps by the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg in the influence of his writing on popular discussion.

Not surprisingly, Friedman's piece elicited furor from those policing the conversation about Israel. The Israeli ambassador, American Jewish Committee, Jerusalem Post and even members of Congress gang-swarmed Friedman, accusing him of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. It was not the first time in recent months Friedman has been critical of Israel policy. In September, he wrote of the Obama government that the "powerful pro-Israel lobby in an election season can force the administration to defend Israel at the UN, even when it knows Israel is pursuing policies not in its own interest or America's." A more damning critique of Israel and the lobby would be difficult to make.

Even so, Friedman is not the only Times-man to let go the pro-Netanyahu line. Columnist Roger Cohen is even more critical of Israel than is Friedman, and like Friedman he is notable for being a liberal supporter of the Iraq War - not exactly a radical, in other words. Cohen now regularly writes about Israel's "illiberalism," says US foreign policy has been "Likudnized," and calls opposing Israeli oppression of the Palestinians the most important task currently facing diaspora Jews.

Cohen believes the new conversations he has contributed to represent "changes going on in the US Jewish community," he said in a phone interview. "Jewish identity in postwar America was built very much on the Holocaust and support for Israel, and for younger American Jews that may have less resonance. There may be a rethinking of that form of attachment to Israel."

J Street, the organization devoted to lobbying for Israel from a liberal perspective, is both reflective of, and a stimulant to, a more balanced conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Cohen says. If he is right, J Street is performing its job well. Public discussion about the Mideast conflict is still nowhere near evenhanded in the United States, but it is more so than it used to be.

Three academics, Tony Judt, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, deserve a lot of credit for expanding the permissible. Whatever one thinks of their analyses or prescriptions, they endured opprobrium and ostracism, to state the obvious: The unconditional US-Israeli relationship is good for neither the US nor Israel. Walt has an important perch at Foreign Policy's website, which he uses to regularly espouse his once-radical views on Israel.

Criticism of the special relationship, once rare, is now frequent. Newsweek/Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan has become a regular source of attacks on the unqualified US support for Israeli policy. Time magazine's Joe Klein has been similarly outspoken. "If you don't think that the Israel Lobby has an enormous influence on the Congress, you're deluding yourself," he wrote recently.

Peter Beinart, also of Newsweek/Daily Beast, inspired headlines with his critique of the "Failure of the American Jewish Establishment." He has a forthcoming book sure to get a lot of attention called "The Crisis of Zionism." Former New York Observer writer Philip Weiss has created a one-stop shop for critics of Israel and US policy. And, of course, Salon's own Glenn Greenwald regularly questions the bipartisan consensus on Israel.

As one would expect, these developments are causing a great deal of consternation from those determined that views favorable to the Palestinians never get a hearing. In 2006, the American Jewish Committee released its infamous report accusing these new critics of Israel of being simply anti-Semitic. Last year, Lee Smith of Tablet magazine made the odd charge that publications like the Atlantic and Salon encourage Jew-hating writers in the hopes of increasing page views. Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol has lamented that charging Israel's critics with "anti-Semitism" doesn't effectively silence them any longer. And last week Iran-Contra convict Elliott Abrams criticized Friedman and Klein because they exemplify the mainstreaming of Walt and Mearsheimer's ideas.

But it isn't only pundits and academics. Diplomats and the people who would be on the center-right of American politics (if such a thing still existed) have been vocal about their alienation from US discussion of Israel. Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, an adviser to three presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues, told me in an e-mail that "Fear of angering extreme evangelicals and the old lobby still inhibit real debate about Israel in American politics."

Paul Pillar, former CIA bigwig, has become a stark critic of Israel for the National Interest. He has defended the comparison of Israel's occupation policies with apartheid South Africa, and says that he agrees with all of Walt and Mearsheimer's analysis, including the most incendiary charge - that the Israel lobby was instrumental in pushing the US to invade Iraq.

Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for Colin Powell, has been similarly outspoken about the power of what he calls "the Jewish lobby." Jack Matlock, Ronald Reagan's ambassador to the Soviet Union, has written that by far the greatest threat to Israel's security and well-being is the policies of its own government. And in 2009 longtime diplomat Chas Freeman blasted the Israel lobby for successfully ending his nomination to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

For all the discussion-widening in the chattering classes, official US foreign policy has changed little, if at all. Obama has overseen unprecedented military deals between Israel and the United States, and all but abandoned the Palestinians in the international diplomatic arena. Newt Gingrich's historically discredited claim that the Palestinians are an "invented people" shows that American politicians still take some of the most extreme positions in the Israeli polity as gospel.

Still, at the outset of his term Obama made the biggest rhetorical push against Israeli settlement policy that any US president ever has, only to back down in the face of Israeli objections. The resulting animosity between Netanyahu and the administration is no secret. Democratic rank-and-file voters are also less supportive of Israel than they used to be, and less so than Republicans are now. The new conversation about Israel has yet to make its way into Congress and the executive branch, but that day may be coming.

- Jordan Michael Smith is a writer living in Washington, D.C. He has written and blogged for numerous print and online publications, including the Huffington Post, the New Republic, the American Prospect, the American Conservative, In These Times and the Columbia Journalism Review. He has written for the New York Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post.

(Courtesy: MY CATBIRD SEAT)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The only escape is to the interrogation room where children are shackled, by hands and feet, to a chair while being questioned, sometimes for hours...

"Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, mostly accused of throwing stones. Since 2008, Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected sworn testimonies from 426 minors detained in Israel's military justice system.

Their statements show a pattern of night-time arrests, hands bound with plastic ties, blindfolding, physical and verbal abuse, and threats. About 9% of all those giving affidavits say they were kept in solitary confinement, although there has been a marked increase to 22% in the past six months.

Few parents are told where their children have been taken. Minors are rarely questioned in the presence of a parent, and rarely see a lawyer before or during initial interrogation. Most are detained inside Israel, making family visits very difficult.

Human rights organisations say these patterns of treatment – which are corroborated by a separate study, No Minor Matter, conducted by an Israeli group, B'Tselem – violate the international convention on the rights of the child, which Israel has ratified, and the fourth Geneva convention.

Most children maintain they are innocent of the crimes of which they are accused, despite confessions and guilty pleas, said Gerard Horton of DCI. But, he added, guilt or innocence was not an issue with regard to their treatment.

"We're not saying offences aren't committed – we're saying children have legal rights. Regardless of what they're accused of, they should not be arrested in the middle of the night in terrifying raids...READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

Israeli soldiers with arrested Palestinian youths. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/22/palestinian-children-detained-jail-israel

The Palestinian children – alone and bewildered – in Israel's Al Jalame jail

Special report: Israel's military justice system is accused of mistreating Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones

in the West Bank

guardian.co.uk,


In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
The Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, is seen from the Mount of Olives, Tuesday. An Israeli government plan to create parks around Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, is seen by Palestinians as a land grab. Ammar Awad/Reuters


In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

Seven existing and planned parks in sensitive East Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, would expand areas of Jewish control where Palestinians envision a future capital.

By Ben Lynfield, Correspondent / January 20, 2012

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0120/In-Jerusalem-national-parks-seen-by-Palestinians-as-a-land-grab

Jerusalem

An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem, preserving the ancient city's natural beauty and archaeological wealth, is fueling opposition among Palestinians and their supporters as the project moves into a critical stage.

Israel says the parks plan is necessary for the public's benefit. It also fits into Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's vision for bolstering tourism in Jerusalem, which, despite its storied history, gets only a fraction of the visitors of Paris or New York.

But critics say the parks amount to a land grab that consolidates Israel's grip on disputed East Jerusalem. The territory was annexed by Israel after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and declared part of its "eternal, undivided capital." But it is envisioned by Palestinians as the capital of their future state.

"People say, 'It's just a park,' but these parks change totally the political scope of Jerusalem and have a direct impact on the lives of Palestinians," says Hagit Ofran, who monitors Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas for the dovish Peace Now movement.

Efrat Cohen Bar, an architect at the progressive Israeli planning group Bimkom, which recently conducted a study of national parks in East Jerusalem, terms them "green settlements," which have the same effect of keeping Palestinians off the land and expanding Israeli control. Israel denies that as a motive behind the project.

The battle for East Jerusalem

The national parks strike at the heart of the battle over East Jerusalem because they are on or near territory with nationalistic, religious, or strategic resonance. Together, they could link and expand areas under Jewish control, from the old city through the heart of East Jerusalem to the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim.

The next phase of the parks plan would turn East Jerusalem's largest remaining open area into Mount Scopus Slopes National Park, overriding Palestinian objections that the land is vital to relieve a housing crunch. It is to be created on what residents say is the only land available for the expansion of the crowded Palestinian neighborhood of Isawiya.

"This park will choke the people of Isawiya into a given area and prevent them from having a natural life," says Isawiya leader Darwish Darwish....READ MORE