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Saturday, November 24, 2012

My letter to the Wash Post RE Photographs of Gaza conflict bring accusations of media bias & Ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton: Photo of dead baby in Gaza holds part of the ‘truth’


RE Photographs of Gaza conflict bring accusations of media bias
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/photographs-of-gaza-conflict-bring-accusations-of-media-bias/2012/11/22/5da23f40-3404-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html
& Ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton: Photo of dead baby in Gaza holds part of the ‘truth’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/patrick-pexton-photo-of-dead-baby-in-gaza-holds-part-of-the-truth/2012/11/23/0cd54eb0-342a-11e2-bb9b-288a310849ee_story.html

Dear Editor,

Kudos to the Washington Post for not only covering the news regarding Israel and Palestine, but for also providing revealing information about the media war being waged by both sides.  Good quotes and summaries- especially this one: "Complaints about bias flare with each spike in the struggle, but Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Task Force on Palestine, isn’t convinced that either side dominates the media spin (“the dishonesty is pretty damn even, really,” he said), although he believes Israelis have the advantage of “cultural affinities” with Western journalists — that is, “they speak American” better than Palestinians."

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES


Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

The Arab Peace Initiative


"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 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

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

My letter to the NYTimes RE Time to Impose a Plan By YONATAN TOUVAL & Solution Without Resolution By ERAN YASHIV

A day after the ceasefire: UNRWA returns to work with Gaza traumatised and in crisis

RE Time to Impose a Plan  By YONATAN TOUVAL &  Solution Without Resolution By ERAN YASHIV

Dear Editor,

I applaud Israelis who are motivated to write heartfelt op-eds insisting on an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but I firmly object to their myopic refusal to respect the Palestinian refugees inalienable legal, moral, and natural right to return to original homes and lands. 

Saying PEACE while advocating the continued violation of basic human rights and international law, and the continued impoverishment and displacement of the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land, might convince some clueless Americans to back such plans, but that exact trajectory is what has already been for more than sixty years and is the primary reason that the Israel-Palestine conflict has become so cruel- and so entrenched.

I also firmly object to Islamists and one-staters who misuse the right of return in order to wage war on Israel, and to foolishly promise their naive and gullible followers that Israel should be and will be erased. 

A fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the conflict for everyone's sake is the best way forward.  Universally refugees, regardless of religion, must always be given the choice and the chance to return- but they must not be forced to return... nor should they be forced to remain in aid dependent camps and dire poverty for generations.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
''I am mad at both Israel and Hamas. We need peace,'' says Hanan al-Karanawi, a farmer. 

Gaza children struggle to cope with life under fire

ATFP Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire Between Israel and Gaza: There is no military solution to this conflict.

[Palestinian] Arab Americans Need Political Normalization

They can hear only the loudest calls from their enemies...

Known Numbers November 18 2012

Israel and Hamas wage social media fight via social media platforms

All of those who are escalating this conflict....

A Memo to the US President: Resurrecting meaningful Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will be difficult, but a peace agreement is indeed a vital American national interest.

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:
Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt


The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

My letter to the Washington Post RE The never-ending war in the Middle East By David Ignatius

 A Palestinian boy walks past a destroyed building on which a painting depicting the Dome of the Rock can still be seen after what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine located in Jerusalem. Nov. 20, 2012 Mohammed Salem / Reuters
RE The never-ending war in the Middle East  By David Ignatius
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-the-never-ending-war-in-the-middle-east/2012/11/20/5254eae4-334f-11e2-9cfa-e41bac906cc9_story.html

Dear Editor,

Israel does have an obvious endgame: The destruction of Palestine. Israel's strategy is to goad Palestinians and their supporters into empowering and cheering on Islamists and terrorism and anti-America rhetoric- effectively laying the ground work to make sure that America stops funding UNWRA as well as Palestinian state building efforts.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
''I am mad at both Israel and Hamas. We need peace,'' says Hanan al-Karanawi, a farmer. 
Gaza children struggle to cope with life under fire

ATFP Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire Between Israel and Gaza: There is no military solution to this conflict.

[Palestinian] Arab Americans Need Political Normalization

They can hear only the loudest calls from their enemies...

Known Numbers November 18 2012

Israel and Hamas wage social media fight via social media platforms

All of those who are escalating this conflict....

A Memo to the US President: Resurrecting meaningful Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will be difficult, but a peace agreement is indeed a vital American national interest.

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:
Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt


The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Monday, November 19, 2012

''I am mad at both Israel and Hamas. We need peace,'' says Hanan al-Karanawi, a farmer.

Israeli soldiers stand near a mobile artillery unit after it fired a shell towards northern Gaza from its position outside the Gaza Strip on Monday. Residents of the Bedouin Arab town of Rahat are divided between worry for themselves as rockets from Gaza fly in both directions and worry for their relatives. Amir Cohen/Reuters

Israel's Bedouin Arabs caught in middle as rockets fly in both directions

Residents of the Bedouin Arab town of Rahat are divided between worry for themselves as rockets from Gaza land nearby and worries for their relatives in Gaza facing an Israeli barrage.

By Ben Lynfield, Correspondent / November 19, 2012 

Rahat, Israel
"Remember God" reads a sign on the main street of this devout, impoverished Bedouin Arab town in southern Israel that is trapped in the middle of the devastating Israel-Gaza fighting, even more than most places in the country.

Like nearly a million other Israelis in the south, the lives of Rahat's 55,000 residents are interrupted by missile strikes in the vicinity, recurrent sirens, and fears that the pictures of shattered apartments they see on television could include their own homes next.

But unlike their Jewish neighbors, many of Rahat's inhabitants have relatives in the Gaza Strip, making them more adamant about the need for a cease-fire and more sensitive to the spiraling civilian casualty toll there.

The familial ties to Gaza date back to 1948, when Bedouin who were expelled or fled from what became southern Israel arrived as refugees in the coastal enclave. The relationship between southern Israeli Bedouin and Gazans even extends to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who, according to Israeli Hamas specialist Shlomi Eldar, has a sister living in the Israeli Bedouin town of Tel Sheva.

As Israel ponders expanding the military operation into an all-out ground incursion, many in Rahat are urging a solution through negotiations.

''I am mad at both Israel and Hamas. We need peace,'' says Hanan al-Karanawi, a farmer.
Khalil al-Zbareh, a gas station attendant, added: ''This cannot continue. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas and [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi must meet and make a sulha,'' he says, referring to the Arabic word for a traditional reconciliation between warring families or tribes.

Al-Karanawi says his six children have been ''screaming and crying'' from the missile sirens and taking cover under a table and the stairs.

Despite their links to Gaza, Rahat residents have a real chance of being hit by one of the rockets soaring into Israel, al-Karawani says.''Why won't Rahat also be hit by a missile? We have no immunity,'' he says.

'I'm worried about them'

But what his children go through pales in comparison to the barrage against Gaza, where his uncles live, he says. They have no warnings before the Israeli airstrikes.

''Compared to them, we are living it up here,'' he says. ''I'm worried about them. All are humans. There are a lot of innocent civilians on both sides.'' ...READ MORE

Gaza children struggle to cope with life under fire


A Palestinian boy walks up the stairs of a house destroyed on Sunday by an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)


GAZA (Reuters) - Barefoot boys chase each other in circles around the street, pointing pretend guns made out of rubber pipes up at the Gaza sky, which is thick with Israeli F-16s and surveillance drones.

"We're not afraid of the Jews' bombs!" said Sharif al-Ewad, whose plump cheeks make him look younger than his 15 years. "Al-Qassam (Hamas's armed wing) has raised its head high, and is really beating them up this time!" he smiled.

But beneath the swagger and bravado there is also a yearning for peace and quiet after five days of Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 65 Palestinians, including 20 children.

With one of the youngest populations in the world, over half of Gaza's 1.7 million residents are aged under 18 and they have little to comfort them beside the heady local culture of armed struggle against Israel.

The Jewish state pulled its troops and settlers out of the coastal territory in 2005 but ever since has come under regular rocket fire from Islamist group Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip, which refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Israel launched its latest widescale operation last Wednesday with the stated aim of putting a halt to the attacks.

Psychiatrist Hasan Zeyada says the constant exposure to shocking violence has left many children suffering trauma and all that it entails -- bed-wetting, nightmares, flashbacks, and fear of going out in public...READ MORE

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A striking picture of Palestinians searching through a destroyed house for survivors and possessions; the horse and cart emphasises the basic living conditions of most residents

Palestinians load their belongings on to a horse cart after an Israeli air strike hit a house in Gaza City. The death toll has risen on the fifth consecutive day of bombing
Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

Picture of the day: Gaza City

ATFP Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire Between Israel and Gaza: There is no military solution to this conflict.

http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2012/11/18/1353214800

ATFP Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire Between Israel and Gaza

Nov. 18, Washington DC -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today urged the US government and all concerned parties to spare no effort in securing a cease-fire between Israeli forces and militant groups in Gaza. Palestinian sources say at least 72 Palestinians, many of them civilians and some children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since the latest round of violence began following Israel's assassination of Hamas' military commander Ahmed al-Jabari last Wednesday. Israeli sources say over 900 missiles or projectiles have been launched at Israel from Gaza over the past few days, with at least three Israeli civilians killed and many more injured.


Concerns are rising that Israeli forces are preparing for a potential wide-ranging ground intervention into the Gaza Strip, which could cost many more lives. ATFP strongly urged the Obama administration to work with regional allies, including Egypt, to de-escalate tensions and secure an immediate cease-fire between the parties.


ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali said, "We have witnessed this scenario before, and the lessons of the past are clear. There is no military solution to this conflict. Israel cannot achieve security for its people through military interventions, nor can it break the will of the Palestinian people to live in freedom. The Palestinian cause gains nothing from the firing of rockets at Israel, and innocent Palestinians pay the price for such irresponsible actions. The only things achieved by such conflicts are death and injury, disruption and deterioration of the quality of life, and the exacerbation of tensions on both sides."


He continued, "The clearest lesson is this: Israel can only achieve its aim of peace and security, and the Palestinians can only achieve their aim of independence, through a negotiated agreement allowing Israel and an independent Palestinian state to live side-by-side in peace and security. The most urgent measure is to stop the violence and protect human life. All parties must then play their role in rebuilding confidence and laying the groundwork for revivified diplomatic efforts to secure a negotiated peace agreement. For our own government here in Washington, this serves another tragic reminder of the need to return efforts to resolve this conflict to the top of the US foreign policy agenda."



 ATFP is dedicated to advocating that it is in the American national interest to promote an end to the conflict in the Middle East through a negotiated agreement that provides for two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace and security.  The Task Force was established in 2003 to provide an independent voice for Palestinian-Americans and their supporters and to promote peace.  AFTP’s Board of Directors is made up of a large group of noted Palestinian-Americans who agree with these principles.

 ATFP is strictly opposed to all acts of violence against civilians no matter the cause and no matter who the victims or perpetrators may be.  The Task Force advocates the development of a Palestinian state that is democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts.

[Palestinian] Arab Americans Need Political Normalization

"As long as normative American political behavior is stigmatized as anathema, political normalcy for Arab Americans, as a community, will remain a distant dream. Self-imposed marginalization will persist. And self-defeating Arab Americans will continue to regard "normalization" not as a goal, but as the most damning of invectives." Hussein Ibish


Hussein Ibish
The Daily Beast (Opinion)
November 12, 2012 - 12:00am
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/12/arab-americans-need-political-normalization.html



Following the recent election, and noting the growing influence of nontraditional power blocs such as Latinos, Arab Americans have again raised the question of how they can become politically empowered. There is only one answer: become politically "normal" Americans.
 
This seems simultaneously a provocative and absurdly facile response. Who wants to be "abnormal?" The initial reaction might be outrage: in what way are you suggesting we're not "normal Americans?" But for many Arab Americans, especially as a collectivity, becoming politically "normal"—successfully acculturated to and invested in the American political system—is easy to endorse in theory but exceptionally difficult to accomplish in practice.
 
Normalization means accepting that the system is open to all. There are no laws preventing effective participation, and no candidates who aren't responsive to the normal levers of influence: votes, money, time and advocacy. But there is a self-defeating delusion prevalent among many Arab Americans that they are uniquely excluded. Some identify anti-Arab racism or Islamophobia as insurmountable barriers. Others say our opponents are so powerful that we cannot be heard.
 
Moreover, the community is badly divided along numerous axes. Many Arab Americans have imported political allegiances from the Middle East. They identify primarily with organizations or constituencies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Palestine, rather than those here in the United States, and formulate their policies accordingly. As my friend and colleague Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine, has pointed out, this is the equivalent of running into the middle of a football game waving a tennis racket and expecting to affect the outcome.

Many Arab Americans left the Middle East precisely to get away from politics, where it has been a terrain of oppression, corruption and, above all, defeat...READ MORE

They can hear only the loudest calls from their enemies...


Protestors gather outside Israel's consulate in New York City on November 15, 2012. (Jacob Silverman)

Twin Protests



Metaphors for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rarely come this readymade: two protests, one pro-Palestinian and one pro-Israeli, kitty-corner from each other in a busy Midtown intersection. Their voices amplified by PA systems, the protests' leaders exhort their audiences with rigidly ideological slogans. Passing cars offer the occasional supportive honk to one faction or another. Never do the two sides meet. They can hear only the loudest calls from their enemies.

That was the scene last night around Israel's consulate at East 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue in New York City. The occasion, of course, was to protest, or support, Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza and to protest, or support, Hamas' rocket fire into southern Israel. The attendees were well armed with signs and chants. They assembled in chilly weather, corralled behind steel barricades, as dozens of NYPD officers watched over them and shooed along pedestrians...READ MORE

Known Numbers November 18 2012

Palestinian girls run away after an Israeli airstrike on a house in
northern Gaza, Nov. 18, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)



2 children killed in Jabalia refugee camp early Sunday; infant later dies in al-Bureij airstrike, as Israel jets continue Gaza bombardment.

Some 50 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured since the assault began on Wednesday. Three Israelis were killed by a Gaza rocket on Thursday.

Egyptian train hits school bus, 51 killed

ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — A speeding train that crashed into a bus carrying Egyptian children to their kindergarten on Saturday killed 51 and prompted a wave of anger against a government under mounting pressure to rectify the former regime's legacy of neglect.

The crash, which killed children between four and six years old and three adults, led to local protests and accusations from outraged Egyptians that President Mohammed Morsi is failing to deliver on the demands of last year's uprising for basic rights, dignity and social justice.

Over 37,000 have died in Syria's civil war... Ninety-five people died Thursday.

The U.N. refugee office says 414,838 Syrians are in neighboring countries registered as refugees or waiting to register. Turkey has the single highest number, with 114,944, it says.

Ninety-five people died Thursday, including 46 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 14 in Homs, according to the LCC.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's prime minister defended his decision to raise prices for subsidized fuel on Friday, four days after the move sparked unrest that left one person dead and scores wounded.