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...

it's justice against injustice, truth against lies, freedom against colonization and occupation, right against wrong..........we need the support of all just and righteous men and women, those who cannot support physically can at least convey our story, our message to the world that we Palestinians are struggling for righteousness, truth and a people's right to their lands, lives, livelihood and freedom......under such circumstances will you continue to stand on the sidelines and just watch? dear page fans help us as active supporters by letting all those who still are unaware about the epic struggle of your Palestinian friends.............

A very happy Eid to all of you.
Team Songs and pictures from Palestine

My letter to the Washington Post RE Jim Hoagland Rethinking the Middle East

The Arab Peace Initiative

RE:  Rethinking the Middle East
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rethinking-the-middle-east/2012/08/17/183c7c88-e894-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html

Dear Editor,

Jim Hoagland in "Rethinking the Middle East" makes a huge and obvious mistake. He ignores Israel and all the many negative ramifications of Israel's ongoing violations of international law and universal basic human rights.

Rather than invigorating real democracy, justice and compassion modern Israel coerces insiders as well as outsiders to invest in its pervasive institutionalized bigotry and growing religious extremism- and continued flagrant violations of international law and the Palestinians basic human rights.

Israel has responded to the Arab Peace Initiative and the push for a fair and just end to the Israel-Palestine conflict by ramping up anti-Iran rhetoric, inspiring Iran to be even more bellicose. Israel is itching to pull the region into even more war. 

In hindsight perhaps America was too quick to accept the "territorial breakup" that created Israel in 1948.  That is not to say Israel should be erased, but that America should wary about trusting any modern nation state that seeks to define itself by religion rather than the rule of fair and just laws.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

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

"Unfortunately, Mr. Cohen minimized the corrosive effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian economic life...."

Shaping the world in which we live...

Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed

This should be obvious

Hamza Kanaan Art

"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane...(for Palestine)

Zahi Khouri: The Palestine Romney doesn’t know

Another Look at Palestinian Culture:"Palestinians deserve the opportunity they've been denied for so long, to build their own state and develop their culture in independence and freedom"

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

Palestinian officials point out that US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is undermining peace... "What this man [Mitt Romney] is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred"

'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

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

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?

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."

"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.

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/opinion/israel-iran-and-the-nuclear-challenge.html?ref=global

Letters

Israel, Iran and the Nuclear Challenge

Published: August 16, 2012

To the Editor:

Your editorial states with impeccable logic: “If Iran gets a weapon, other countries in the region may want one, too.” The New York Times should apply that logic to Israel and state the obvious: Since Israel has nuclear weapons, other countries in the region want them, too. 

DANIEL C. MAGUIRE

The writer is a professor of theology at Marquette University.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Cohen minimized the corrosive effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian economic life...."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-making-of-palestinian-culture/2012/08/14/44f2dca8-e246-11e1-89f7-76e23a982d06_story.html

Letter to the Editor

The making of Palestinian culture

Published: August 15

Richard Cohen [“Yes, culture matters,” op-ed, Aug. 6] rightfully celebrated the many artistic, scientific and business achievements of Jews in Europe and modern Israel in his attempt to defend the recent comments of presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Unfortunately, Mr. Cohen minimized the corrosive effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian economic life. This summer I took part in an interfaith delegation to Israel and the occupied territories and was greatly disturbed to see the pervasive system of ethnic segregation practiced in the land under Israel’s control since 1967.

The separation wall, the system of color-coded license plates, the identity papers and the thick maze of regulations serve to restrict and deny Palestinian Arab movement, economic opportunity and civil rights.

Mr. Cohen’s (and Mr. Romney’s) explanation that the Palestinian Arabs’ economic plight is due to cultural differences makes as much sense as blaming African American culture for black poverty in the Jim Crow South.

William F. Simonds, Potomac

Shaping the world in which we live...

Late professor Edward Said (born in Jerusalem (then in the British Mandate of Palestine) on November 1, 1935) was one of the most significant public intellectuals of our time. (AFP photo)

 "No concept was more central to Said's thought than that of agency and intentionality. In championing secularism as an ethical model for intellectual activity, Said was emphasizing agency and the essential question of intention and affiliation. Intellectuals must not be detached "professionals," hiding behind academic method and intellectual rigor to avoid responsibility and decline solidarity with constituencies that shape the world in which we live." Hussein Ibish

What Edward Really Said

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=427954

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]

My letter to the New York Times RE Aaron David Miller Preserving Israel's Uncertain Status Quo

The Lady of Oranges by Palestinian painter Ismail Shammout (1930 – 2006)

RE:  Aaron David Miller Preserving Israel's Uncertain Status Quo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/opinion/preserving-israels-uncertain-status-quo.html?ref=global

Dear Editor,

Aaron David Miller is part of preserving Israel's status quo, naively and foolishly crafting excuses that buy time for more of the same rather than really noticing the very dire plight of the Palestinians: Every day that goes by adds up into more Israeli violations of international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights.

Analysts, think tanks, newspapers and politicians that depend on Israeli Hasbara for facts and figures and opinions and economic forecasts miss the big picture. Out in the real world there are many individuals and organizations that keep a careful tally of Israeli crimes, and there is also a creative revolution for Palestine worldwide as artists and writers and forward thinkers find ways to express their compassion and respect for Palestinians past, present and future. 

Palestinian refugee camps now have rooftop gardens.... and MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy continues to explain how "Palestinians must endure an occupation that robs them of their land and water resources but most of all their freedom and individual potentials to be who they want to be or who they are meant to be."

Meanwhile half a world away Hanan K. Munayyer, President of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation and a board member of the American Task Force on Palestine will be giving a speech at the Library of Congress on Traditional Palestinian Costumes and Embroidery.... Palestine Food أكل فلسطيني shares scrumptious photos and recipes... Songs and Pictures from Palestine &  Hamza Kanaan Art  & Palestinian Surprises & many other online efforts delight a growing and loyal audience... Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed. To name only a few of the many various and valiant public efforts being made for Palestine.

Golden Rule thinking frees hearts and minds- and adds into the momentum that makes a tipping point to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict.  Negotiations need to start with full compliance with international law and full respect for universal basic human rights.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed

This should be obvious ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Hamza Kanaan Art

"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane...(for Palestine)

2012 International Youth Day: Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth

Karima Aboud the First Photographer in Palestine

Zahi Khouri: The Palestine Romney doesn’t know
 
Another Look at Palestinian Culture:"Palestinians deserve the opportunity they've been denied for so long, to build their own state and develop their culture in independence and freedom"

International Day of Peace... Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day: September 21, annually

Dr. Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister: Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage List... This Week in Palestine

Talal Siam- Palestinian Calligrapher... in This Week in Palestine

Abbas says going to UN even if it conflicts with others' interests

When Israeli bulldozers arrived to demolish her home, 14-year-old Palestine refugee Salha Hamadin called on her pet Hantush to take her somewhere far away until they finished.

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

Palestinian officials point out that US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is undermining peace... "What this man [Mitt Romney] is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred"

'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

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

Romney Versus the World Bank

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?

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."

"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.

Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed

Larissa Sansour

Dear all,

I am extremely pleased to announce that my Nation Estate project is now finally completed. The project consists of a 9-minute sci-fi short film, 7 photos and a poster. It is scheduled to launch at two upcoming solo shows – at the Photographic Center in Copenhagen opening on August 17 and at Galerie Anne de Villepoix in Paris opening on September 8.

Should you happen to be in either Copenhagen or Paris, it would be great to see you for the opening.

 http://www.larissasansour.com/nation_estate.html

This should be obvious ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Madonna and Child in a landscape by Giovanni Bellini

    This should be obvious

Newly born babies
are not interchangeable
nor are refugees.

Laws and policies
-and arguments-
shaped to dismiss
or misconstrue
to demonize
or diminish
and destroy
a Palestinian refugee's
inalienable individual
right to return
are wrong.... and cruel.

Laws and policies
-and arguments-
that legalize fragmenting families
pulverizing homes and
crippling communities-
poisoning wells
uprooting orchards
impoverishing even more parents
terrorizing even more children
inspiring bigotry, injustice
religious idiocy & militancy are
wrong... and cruel.

This should be obvious.

Newly born babies
are not interchangeable
nor are refugees.

Hamza Kanaan Art

Watercolors

 

Belle

Olive Tree 2012

 Hamza Kanaan Art

"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane...(for Palestine)

Mike Hanini Odetalla's beloved mother & her namesake, his daughter Fatima

"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again" ~ Allah Yirhamik ya Oumi

"Of all the aromas etched into my memory bank, there is absolutely nothing as comforting as that of my mother's freshly baked bread...The aroma of fresh baked bread transports me back in time to a much simpler, innocent place, that fills me with a warmth and comfort that is indescribable... Whether is was my mother, my mother in-law, or my aunt Jamila (May Allah have mercy on their souls), they baked bread that leaves me at a loss for the proper words to describe it...I will just say that if one wanted to actually smell or taste love, they would have to look no further than the bread their blessed hands baked..."  Mike Hanini Odetalla

Mike & his mother

"On July 5th, 2012, I flew back home to Palestine to be with my ailing mother...I spent the best 20 days of my life taking care of her and enjoying her presence...Just before I left her on July 22, as I was saying goodbye to her with a hug and as I kissed her hand, she grabbed me close and said "Promise me that you will come back and help your brother bury me"...I was taken aback by this and told her "After a long life", but that statement had me crying the entire trip back to the USA and haunted me...On July 30th, my brother called and said her health had taken a turn for the worse...I flew back that same day and arrived at her hospital bedside directly from the airport at 6:30 pm on July 31st...At exactly 7:24 pm July 31st, 2012, less than an hour after I arrived, my mom passed away while my brother and I were at her side...I wish I had never left to begin with...Allah Yirhamik Ya Oumi!"

http://www.hanini.org/

Come! I'll tell you about Palestine

First Love
The Olive Harvest
Desecrating the Memory of Babe Ruth
Olive trees, Oum Kalthoum, and Jasmine Blossoms
A House, A Home
Olive Oil
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Nakba & Memories
Being Palestinian
Of Caves & Moonlight
Eid Al-Fitr
Of Apricots & Palestine
Life is Beautiful
Of Zatar, Olive Oil, & Mint Tea
"Balady" (Homegrown)
Thanksgiving
Thinking of Spring in Palestine

2012 International Youth Day: Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth

Welcome to the United Nations. It's your world

 

Partnering with Youth. Credit: UNICEF/Pirozzi

2012 International Youth Day: Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth

On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.

The theme of International Youth Day 2012 is "Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth" — a global call to action to develop and engage in partnerships with and for youth.

Young people today face pressing global challenges such as high levels of unemployment, vulnerable working conditions and marginalization from decision making processes. Partnerships — with the United Nations, governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and philanthropists —– can help increase opportunities for success by leveraging comparative advantages, resources and shared interests.

  world map of events

 UNRWA and Palestine refugees “building a better world”

Up to 600 young Palestinians will take part in an olive tree planting and farm cleanup today as part of a community development campaign: “Building a better world: partnering with youth”. The event is organised by UNRWA’s educational support and young women’s leadership teams with support from a local agricultural NGO.

The activities will also include discussions about the role of young people in community development.

Watch a video about UNRWA’s young women’s leadership programme [link to http://youtu.be/1S7063jJig0]