My letter to CSM RE Need for textbook examples of peace in Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Palestine's 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the film was assembled by Burnat and Israeli co-director Guy Davidi... Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost.

RE: Need for textbook examples of peace in Israeli-Palestinian conflict
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2013/0204/Need-for-textbook-examples-of-peace-in-Israeli-Palestinian-conflict?nav=87-frontpage-entryCommentary

Dear Editor,

Good headline on your editorial "Need for textbook examples of peace in Israeli-Palestinian conflict "... really sums up the situation quite well. 

School books are indeed a excellent start, but an even more powerful persuasion would be an end to Israel's ongoing violations of international law and the Palestinians basic human rights:  Israel's anti-Palestine policies, Apartheid walls, Jewish-only settlement projects, checkpoints (...etc...) in the illegally occupied territories are totally sabotaging Palestine's efforts to be a sovereign state. 

Making a bad situation worse religious tyrants and extremists on both sides are teaching kids to hate.  A fully secular two state solution would go a long way towards curbing the injustice and bigotry and crimes created by the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

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The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... 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

Palestinian Refugees(1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

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

"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

Empowering Peace & Palestine

"The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine."

The Arab Peace Initiative

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.

UN Resolution 194 from 1948  : The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.