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| Israel Defies Allies in Move to Bolster Settlements: Settlements are illegal under international law and detrimental to any international efforts to restart peace negotiations and secure a two-state solution |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israeli-settlement-proposals-prompt-rash-rhetoric/2013/01/01/2d6aea54-504f-11e2-8b49-64675006147f_story.html
Dear Editor,
Palestine's bid for statehood can not be compared to Israel's settlement projects. One is in line with international law- the other is not. One seeks the rule of fair and just laws, real freedom, democracy, economic empowerment and respect for all people, regardless of supposed race or religion- the other does not. One seeks to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict with a two state solution, the other does not.
Israel's ongoing violations of international law and basic human rights really do make negotiations more difficult, and Israel's intransigence sparks extremist rhetoric as well as religious extremism on both sides. If the Washington Post Editorial board members are really interested in progress toward Palestinian statehood, they will press Israel (and religious extremists on all sides) to stop sabotaging Palestine.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
A precarious existence in the Jordan Valley
A Serious Look at Fayyad.... (& Palestine)
CSM letter by James Martin: US Mideast policy should honor rights
This Week in Palestine... INVESTMENT
Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem... and prayers for peace for both Israel and Palestine
Joining our voices in seeking and offering hope for a better future...
Jerri Bird (Jerine Bettybea Newhouse b 1926): "A viable, independent Palestinian state would be a step in the direction of two peoples in the same land living harmoniously"
Palestinian cause redefined as Hamas spins Pyrrhic victories: "Either the Palestinian national movement will continue to seek an independent state through negotiations and by building the national institutions on the ground. Or it will be defined by an open-ended "armed struggle" against Israel under an Islamist banner.... This is not simply a Palestinian choice. Israel, above all, but also the United States, the European Union, and other international actors, will have a major role to play in influencing which of these two visions predominates in the Palestinian national movement in the years to come. Regional and international incentives will be a major, if not a decisive factor, in the outcome." Hussein Ibish
The Arab Peace Initiative
The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Palestinian
Refugees(1948-NOW) refused their right to return...
and their right to live in peace free
from religious bigotry and injustice.
"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..."
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