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Saturday, July 28, 2012

My letter to the Economist 7-28-2012 RE Not so easy

In photos: Team Palestine at Olympic stadium: Members of the Palestinian contingent wave as they take part in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium, in London on July 27, 2012. Five Palestinian athletes are participating in this year's games.

RE:  Not so easy
http://www.economist.com/node/21559663

Dear Sir,

Optimism is not what motivates advocates of a two state solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. Nor is it pessimism. The motivation to end the conflict is quite simply a carefully considered reality based conclusion that the Israel-Palestine conflict has been cruel enough and is bound to only get worse- and so will the very real plight of the Palestinians.

A totally secular two state solution based on fully respecting international law and universal basic human rights creates the best way forward by giving all people including all refugees, regardless of supposed race or religion, the ability to break free from the various tyrants & crooks & religious extremists & hate mongers & cynics & idiots...etc... who thrive on the continuation of the conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Notes
'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

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

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?

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

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


'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

"Israeli moderates and American officials will one day look back at this time period and wonder why Israeli leaders did not seize the moment, freeze settlement activity, and strike a deal with the Palestinian people. Hubris and a zealot’s certainty are likely causes of the Israeli leadership’s inability to see with clear eyes what should be done." 
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians
By Mustafa Barghouthi, member, Palestinian Parliament
July 27, 2012
When presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives in Israel Saturday and travels to occupied East Jerusalem to see the holy sites there he will be entering a city I am no longer allowed to visit – privately or as a medical doctor or as a presidential candidate. He somehow possesses more rights to the city than I do despite the fact that I was born in Jerusalem and worked as a medical doctor in Makassed hospital for several years. During my presidential campaign I was arrested and deported four times for entering the city to meet Palestinian voters....READ MORE

Friday, July 27, 2012

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


"U.S. policymakers (and the Europeans and a growing number of other countries) don't have the luxury of being academic about their work if they expect to clearly articulate that our interests include a world with more real democracies and prospering free peoples."  Paul Bonicelli, Foriegn Policy Magazine

True democracy doesn't need any modifiers

World Bank says Palestinian economy unsustainable

In this April 28, 2009 file photo, a Palestinian sells plants and flowers next to a section of Israel's separation barrier near Pisgat Zeev just outside Jerusalem. In a report published Wednesday, July 25, 2012 the World Bank says the Palestinian economy's recent growth is unsustainable because of its heavy reliance on foreign aid. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
World Bank says Palestinian economy unsustainable
July 26, 2012


The bank noted that Israeli restrictions remain the biggest impediment to investing, creating high uncertainty and risk
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

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?

“What the EU, indeed the whole world should do…. is to ask the government of Israel - any government of Israel a straightforward question: ‘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?’”“If they answer yes it is going to be very hard for them to explain how they continue to accept settlement expansion, settler extremism, violence that in certain instances cannot be described other than as outright terrorism.”
Donald MacIntyre
The Independent (Opinion)
July 26, 2012 - 12:00am
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/salam-fayyad-we-have-never-bee...


The cause of the Palestinians has never been more "marginalised" than it is today, according to a warning by their internationally respected Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Citing the international focus on the Arab spring, the eurozone crisis and the US electoral cycle, Mr Fayyad yesterday said that Palestinian leaders were facing a “path of growing untenability” while the world largely focused its attention elsewhere.

In an interview with The Independent, the Palestinian Prime Minister was strongly critical of the West’s failure to tackle Israel more “seriously” over its violations of international law and its obligations under the nine year old Road Map.

He declared that this “marginalisation” was now the “biggest obstacle” to progress towards a Palestinian state. “Our cause has never been this marginalized,” he said. “Ever. This is our greatest challenge.”

And he warned that the Palestinian Authority itself was being undermined because of factors ranging from its acute financial crisis to a potential loss of faith by Palestinians that it would able to end to an occupation that is “entrenching itself by the day.”...READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

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

"... All settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. US state department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said recently: "We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity and we oppose any effort to legalise settlement outposts."

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said on Thursday that violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year." 

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Thursday, July 26, 2012

My letter to the NYTimes 7-26-2012 RE Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay By Dani Dayan

Songs and Pictures from Palestine photo by Mostafa Al Kharoof
 RE Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay By Dani Dayan
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/israels-settlers-are-here-to-stay.html?_r=1&ref=global

Dear Editor,

"Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay" is an interesting peek into how some of Israel's ardent one-state ideologues think. Palestine has its ardent one-state ideologues too. One staters on both sides selectively hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see and are free to convince their fans and followers to scorn and sabotage serious efforts to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Transitioning away from perpetual war into a just and lasting peace will not be an easy adjustment for many people, but neither was the end of slavery, nor the repealing of Jim Crow laws. Not easy but an important step forward for civilization itself.  Empowering decency, diplomacy, and a two state solution totally in line with international law and fully respecting basic human rights in order to end the Israel-Palestine conflict really is the best way forward.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Notes
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


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Ashrawi calls on EU to review economic relations with Israel... the EU should use its economic influence to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Tuesday called on the European Union to review its relations with Israel in light of its persistent violations of international law.

The EU-Israeli Association's annual meeting, held in Brussels on Tuesday, is an opportunity for the EU to ensure any economic relations with Israel are contingent on its compliance with international obligations, Ashrawi said in a statement.

"Rather than rewarding Israel by giving it preferential treatment,the EU should use its economic influence to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine."

"As the market for 60 percent of Israel’s exports, the EU has the ability to prevent Israel from destroying the chances for peace. All it needs is the political will," Ashrawi said.

By expanding cooperation between government agencies and within business sectors, Ashrawi said the EU was separating issues of international law from issues of trade and economy, "allowing the EU to ignore Israel's ongoing violations" against Palestinians.

She urged the EU to revoke any preferential treatment Israel receives in view of its "willful and persistent violations of its agreements and obligations."

Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean agreement conditions Israel's membership on respect for human rights and democratic principles, she noted, while Article 83 precludes applicability to all the occupied territories and so excludes settlement produce.

The executive director of international aid agency Oxfam Jeremy Hobbs also called Tuesday on the EU "to step up and take a leadership role" and to match its condemnations of settlement expansion "with urgent and concrete measures."

"Europe's condemnation of Israel's settlement expansion is welcome but words alone mean nothing when people's lives keep worsening," Hobbs said in a statement.

At the 2011 EU-Israeli Association meeting, statements condemning Israeli settlement expansion were issued "yet we've seen a sharp rise in new settlement construction across the West Bank," he added.

"Meanwhile, Palestinian displacement and Israeli-led demolition of Palestinian homes and water cisterns, many of which were funded by EU taxpayers, has increased."

The World Should Start Asking 'Why'

 Date posted: 23/07/2012
By: Joharah Baker from MIFTAH

It seems a bit odd that so many countries consume Israel’s general discourse hook, line and sinker. But today, more than ever, it is about time the question to be asked is not what is happening to Israel but why? 

Last week a suicide bombing on a bus at the Burgas Airport in Bulgaria killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian. Israel was quick to point accusatory fingers at Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hizbullah. The United States spared nothing in immediately following suit, saying the operation had “all the hallmarks” of Hizbullah. Never mind that the operation was not even remotely close to Hizbullah’s modus operandi, it was more important to pump up the already incendiary rhetoric against Israel’s “enemies”. 

For months now, Israel has busied the world with the “will it won’t it?” question as to whether it will attack Iran. Israel easily diverts the world’s attention away from its own oppressive measures against the Palestinians by posing an even bigger dilemma – that of a nuclear threat from the most dangerous prong of the ‘axis of evil.’ Instead of asking why Israel needs to create such an exaggerated threat, the world coddles it, reasserting its paranoia – and in the US’s case – partnering up with it in its incitement. 

The latest frenzy is Syria, of course. Yesterday, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak beat the drums of war yet again, saying "the State of Israel cannot accept the transfer of advanced weapons systems from Syria to Lebanon," and added that Israel was facing "a worldwide campaign of increased terror," led by Hezbollah.

The advanced weapons system he is referring to is Syrian President Bashaar Al Assad’s purported stash of chemical weapons which Israel says it fears will be snatched up once Assad’s regime falls and transported to the evil hands of Hizbullah. From there, they say, it’s straight to the peaceful towns and cities of Israel. 

The question here is not whether Bashaar Al Assad has chemical weapons or not, or even if they would be used against Israel should they fall into someone else’s hands. The question is: why does Israel always either exaggerate an already existing situation or fabricate one out of nothing? The answer is simple. Because that is the only way to divert attention away from the real reason Israel is a pariah state in the eyes of many. 

It is no coincidence that horrific bombings such as the one in Burgas take place; or that arrest warrants are issued against Israeli officials for war crimes; or that Israel is boycotted by companies, churches and universities. There is rhyme and reason behind this hostility towards Israel and it has absolutely nothing to do with ‘anti-Semitism’ like Israel would love for the world to believe. It has nothing to do with the Holocaust either. What it is all about is the one thing Israel works so hard to conceal: its oppression and occupation of the Palestinians. Israel cannot afford to have the world see it unmasked and the brutality of a decades-long military occupation rise to the surface – an occupation that has bred oppression, injustice and violence since its inception. Proof of this is that when a tiny corner of Israel’s tightly sealed wrapper folds back and the ugly truth sees the light, it lashes out in an attempt to push back the cover before anyone has gotten a peek. 

The end result is that Iran – and by proxy – Hibzullah, has become the biggest so-called “threat” to the world since Communism. Save for the occasional inane ranting of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran does not seem to be a threat to anyone. Israel on the other hand, refuses to allow any international agency to examine its stockpile of nuclear weapons, which by the way it denies it even has. It bars UN committees from entering the occupied territories on a fact-finding mission on its illegal settlements in the West Bank and it continues to threaten, occupy and oppress a nation with diplomatic immunity unprecedented in world history. 

The only ray of hope is those who have pulled back that deceptive wrapper, even if only a little. The threats against Israel, whether real or contrived, are not random. If the world wants to know why Israel is seen in such an undesirable light, it’s going to have to start asking different questions. 

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

My Letter to the Washington Post RE Israel confronts a flood of African refugees by Ruth Marcus

Palestinian refugees Nahr al Barid, Lebanon, 1952
RE: Israel confronts a flood of African refugees by Ruth Marcus
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-israel-confronts-a-flood-of-african-refugees/2012/07/24/gJQA5ebZ7W_story.html

Dear Editor,

Demographics should be a research tool, not a national policy shaping institutionalized bigotry and injustice. Israel's obsession with being demographically Jewish perpetuates and exasperates a horrible conflict and 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:  Just this week Israel decided to destroy eight West Bank Palestinian villages in the southern Hebron hills to make way for an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) training ground." Palestinian villages face demolition to create IDF training ground

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"? 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Notes

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 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.

"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


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Guardian letters: The EU, Israel and occupied territories

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/24/eu-israel-occupied-territories

Tuesday 24 July 2012
It is wholly inappropriate that the EU should be announcing a strengthening of economic ties with Israel at a time when that country is expanding its illegal settlements in the West Bank and carrying out evictions and demolitions of Palestinian property (EU move to upgrade relations with Israel, 23 July).

The announcement of 60 new areas of co-operation is in stark contrast with EU rhetoric against Israeli settlement policy. It also clashes with the EU's stated policy of linking enhancement of relations with neighbouring countries to respect for democratic principles and human rights. The quote from an Israeli official at the end of your piece perfectly sums up what the Europeans try to deny: "Both parties are finding ways to increase co-operation when it suits them."

Christian Aid believes that illegal settlements will continue to expand unless action, such as excluding settlement trade from EU markets, is taken that backs statements of condemnation from the EU. Any consolidation or strengthening of ties should be conditional upon an end to settlement expansion.
William Bell
Policy and advocacy officer, Christian Aid

•  I was outraged to read your article. The commission-proposed protocol to the Euro-Med Agreement with Israel would give Israel easier access to the EU market for exporting pharmaceutical products. Before the vote in the international trade committee, of which I am a member, the parliament asked the commission for guarantees that products from the occupied territories would not benefit from this scheme, and Labour MEPs warned the commission that any upgrade to trade relations with Israel is unacceptable while Israel continues to flout international law.

While many parliamentary groupings considered this a "technical upgrade", it is not; it is a clear upgrade of trade relations with Israel and incompatible with international law and recent European parliament declarations denouncing the abuse of human rights in the occupied territories. It would be especially galling to allow easier access to the EU market for Israeli pharmaceutical products when Palestinians struggle for medical supplies under the Israeli-imposed blockade.
David Martin MEP
Labour, Scotland

*****************************
 NEWS

Monday, July 23, 2012

Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster."

Activists join Palestinians as they rebuild their houses that were demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank village of Anata, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, on July 2. Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster." (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-seeks-court-ok-raze-west-bank-villages-210817663.html

Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster."

In a written response to Israel's High Court which had requested an explanation, the state said the demolition orders pertained to permanent structures built by Palestinians on military firing ranges, contrary to orders barring civilians from the area while exercises are in progress.

"The respondent is prepared to allow the petitioners to enter the firing zone for the purposes of tending farmland and grazing livestock when there are no exercises under way (on weekends and Israeli holidays)," the response said.

It said it would also offer farmers access to the land for another two months each year, to be agreed between the sides.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which together with residents of the villages of Majaz, Tabban, Sfai, Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, and Kharuba, is asking the court to block the demolitions and says the villagers have been in the area longer than the Israeli military.

"Most of them were born and raised in these villages to families that have been living in the area for several decades -- long before 1967," it said, referring to Israel's occupation of the West Bank during the Six-Day War of that year.

It says the move was likely to cause "an immediate humanitarian disaster for almost 2,000 souls, the destruction of villages, and the eradication of a remarkable way of life that has endured for centuries."

Sunday, July 22, 2012

My letter to the New York Times RE "Israel’s Embattled Democracy "

RE: Israel’s Embattled Democracy
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/israels-embattled-democracy.html?_r=1&ref=global

Dear Editor,

The basic truth of modern Israel is that despite all the pretty propaganda generated to attract American support and sympathy Israel has never ever been "a democratic state committed to liberal values and human rights." Israel might become such a thing- but only if it stops demonizing, oppressing and displacing Palestinians. 

Full respect for international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees right to return- clearly called for in 1948 & every year since) would go a long way towards righting a horrible wrong... and defusing the religious extremism, bigotry and violence that the Israel-Palestine conflict inspires.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
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."

Islamophobia Threatens American Values and National Security

[Israeli] Settlers uproot [Palestinian] trees in Beit Ummar

Thrill-seeking tourists take aim at West Bank range

Land and Freedom... a map showing Jewish/Israeli and Arab/Palestinian control of land over time

Latitude: A Palestinian in Jerusalem By Raja Shehadeh

Poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941 – 2008)

Palestine: Beyond The Occupation

Daoud Kuttab: Three Countries, Two Weddings and One Couple

Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned?

Washington Post: Premier Palestinian medical school graduates struggle to work in Jerusalem

Palestinians celebrate nonviolence Hebron 2012

Mideast peace slips to second billing for US

Adventures in Conflict

Israeli settlements dates violate US laws and defraud consumers

Provocative Palestine-Israel ads at New York train stations rile critics

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

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.." Nelson Mandela

The returning issue of Palestine's refugees... When negotiations resume once again, the world must not abandon the refugees of Palestine, nor attempt to coerce their representatives to do so either.


"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

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