http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0430/Kerry-makes-headway-with-Middle-East-peace-but-violence-flares?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem
Dear Editor,
The Arab Peace Initiative is sensible, realistic and an admirable first firm step towards actually ending the Israel-Palestine conflict and all the many negative ramifications created by that conflict.
Kudos to all who are courageous and compassionate enough to help shape and sustain a just and lasting peace with real security for all, regardless of supposed race or religion.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
This Week in Palestine: Palestinian Institutions A Story of Perseverance ... Salam Fayyad "This was not about roads, buildings, or infrastructure, despite their importance. This plan was about statehood, citizen participation, and enfranchisement. It was based on the vision of establishing a functional framework where government is accountable and citizens participate in the widest and most effective way possible in decision-making and governance."
Israeli forces uproot 700 olive trees near Jenin
CNN online Dean Obeidallah: I'm Muslim, and I hate terrorism
Hussein Ibish: Fate of Christians will define the Arab future
"I come from there and I have memories... "
*******
"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." ATFP's Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace
"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." ATFP's Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace
".... 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 countriesPalestinian 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
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.
*************
RE: Goodbye to All That by Thomas L. Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/opinion/friedman-goodbye-to-all-that.html
Dear Editor,
There are many nails in the coffin of the two-state solution and the cherished dream of a free Palestine.... and the cherished dream of a just and lasting peace here there and everywhere.
The insulting assertion by some that Fayyad was a "stooge" for America helps hate mongering anti-Palestine activists and agent provocateurs lay the groundwork for mainstream America and our leadership to become even more alienated from Palestine.
Anti-America rhetoric has serious ramifications beyond merely hurting the feelings of Americans, and jeopardizing future funding of Middle East state building efforts and UNWRA.
Anti-America rhetoric, as well as anti-Israel rhetoric, fuels terrorism... " What makes young men, in the prime of their lives, believe that killing others, including at a sports event, is some kind of sacred duty? And can they really identify with an imaginary "nation," one that transcends boundaries and ethnicities, no less? And what will it take to make people on all four corners of earth unite in putting an end to this barbaric pattern and bringing such young men to their senses?" Hassan Khader: Mourning Martin Richard
Fayyad was good for Palestine, not only because of his non-corrupt, institution-focused leadership, but also because he was a darn good diplomat and role model.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
"When concepts such as democracy, secularism and liberalism are stigmatized and discredited as products of an alien and hostile culture, their Arab advocates are crippled from the outset... A basic decision needs to be made. We can resign ourselves to downplaying and shortchanging these concepts. Or we can reassert and redefine them by demonstrating in practical terms how these values -- along with our system of entrepreneurship -- have informed American success and are fueling growth and progress around the world." Dr. Ziad Asali
April 15, 2013
At
Cornell, Panelists Call for Solution to Conflict in Middle
East
Hussein Ibish: Fate of Christians will define the Arab future: "States will become, at best, merely the geographical battlegrounds and, at worst, the principal weapons of repression between battling groups of intolerant religious fanatics."
Gifts of Glass
Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace....
Growing Gardens for Palestine: Nominating a hero
"Resuscitating the peace process"...excellent cartoon from the Baltimore Sun
HEAR PEACE - SEE PEACE - SPEAK PEACE.... be peace
Crowdsourcing Peace: By going over the heads of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Obama is demanding that their people step up.
"Legislature
should "make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof..." Thomas Jefferson
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:
Refugees
and the Right of Return
Hussein Ibish: Fate of Christians will define the Arab future: "States will become, at best, merely the geographical battlegrounds and, at worst, the principal weapons of repression between battling groups of intolerant religious fanatics."
Gifts of Glass
Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace....
Growing Gardens for Palestine: Nominating a hero
"Resuscitating the peace process"...excellent cartoon from the Baltimore Sun
HEAR PEACE - SEE PEACE - SPEAK PEACE.... be peace
Crowdsourcing Peace: By going over the heads of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Obama is demanding that their people step up.
*******
"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." ATFP's Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace
"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." ATFP's Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace
".... it being clearly understood that nothing
shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."
What
is an Israeli settlement 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 countriesPalestinian 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
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.
Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:
1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and
declare that a just peace is its strategic option as
well.
2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:
I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the
following:
I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.
4. Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian
patriation which conflict with the special circumstances
of the Arab host countries.
5. Calls upon the government of Israel and all Israelis
to accept this initiative in order to safeguard the
prospects for peace and stop the further shedding of
blood, enabling the Arab countries and Israel to live in
peace and good neighbourliness and provide future
generations with security, stability and prosperity.
6. Invites the international community and all countries
and organisations to support this initiative.
7. Requests the chairman of the summit to form a special
committee composed of some of its concerned member
states and the secretary general of the League of Arab
States to pursue the necessary contacts to gain support
for this initiative at all levels, particularly from the
United Nations, the Security Council, the United States
of America, the Russian Federation, the Muslim states
and the European Union.
**************
I totally appreciate and agree with your pro-Palestine editorial-
and I think that it is a huge shame that so many people sabotaged
and/or scapegoated Fayyad, rather than appreciating his wisdom and
his many positive contributions to Palestine. He is indeed a hero.
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