Wednesday, May 1, 2013

My letters 4-21, 4-24 & 5-1-2013 RE Salam Fayyad's state building efforts & The Arab Peace Initiative

RE Kerry makes headway with Middle East peace, but violence flares
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... "



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

"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:
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

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.



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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.

LIKE ATFP - The American Task Force on Palestine

"I come from there and I have memories... "



".... 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

"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:
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
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.


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.
 
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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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