 |
| "We are witnessing the end of the two-state solution, and if Israel is
not held to account, chances of peace and stability in the region will
be destroyed indefinitely," PLO official Hanan Ashrawi, explaining that Israel is using peace negotiations as a "cover" to continue building illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Photo shows the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem in this picture taken Dec. 4, 2012. (Reuters/Ammar Awad) Photo and Quote from Ma'an News 11-21-2013 |
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/Olive-Press/2013/1120/Why-one-Israeli-settler-invites-tour-groups-over-for-tea
Dear Editor,
Israelis who reassure themselves that "entire continents were stolen" in the past, in order to justify the nefarious part they currently play in stealing Palestinian land, resources and peace, are foolishly ignoring timelines and the emergence of international law as well as the idea of universal human rights.
We live in a post-Holocaust world. Compassionate and rational people worldwide understand the horrors of the Holocaust and the crucial importance of upholding respect for international law and universal human rights.
But that might change. Customary International law are "those aspects of international law that derive from custom." If everyone follows the example of the Israelis; freedom, justice, citizenship and job opportunities will all eventually be based on a person's inherited religion. When you look for housing your options will be based on your assigned religion... and when you leave your carefully planted beautiful garden on an errand you might find yourself barred from ever returning to enjoy to fruits of your own family's labor because you have been deemed the "wrong" religion.
That is the world the Palestinian have been forced to endure for generations as Israelis continue to push the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land into poverty, forced exile, and despair.
An end to the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular two state configuration empowering both Israel and Palestine as sovereign separate nation states cooperatively shaping a new beginning with a just and lasting peace based on Golden Rule thinking (and international law) will not magically return every flower and every tree to rightful heirs. An end to the conflict with all its many negative ramifications won't erase the past, but ending the conflict will help ease [and eventually end] the pain and suffering of countless victims of the conflict.
A negotiated two state end to the conflict will help ensure that all our children have a chance to grow up in a world where the rule of fair and just laws can flourish, a world where bigotry is scorned and disarmed, a world where healing can begin- where character counts and where (as the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights wisely points put) "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world"
Sincerely,
Dear Editor,
Israelis who reassure themselves that "entire continents were stolen" in the past, in order to justify the nefarious part they currently play in stealing Palestinian land, resources and peace, are foolishly ignoring timelines and the emergence of international law as well as the idea of universal human rights.
We live in a post-Holocaust world. Compassionate and rational people worldwide understand the horrors of the Holocaust and the crucial importance of upholding respect for international law and universal human rights.
But that might change. Customary International law are "those aspects of international law that derive from custom." If everyone follows the example of the Israelis; freedom, justice, citizenship and job opportunities will all eventually be based on a person's inherited religion. When you look for housing your options will be based on your assigned religion... and when you leave your carefully planted beautiful garden on an errand you might find yourself barred from ever returning to enjoy to fruits of your own family's labor because you have been deemed the "wrong" religion.
That is the world the Palestinian have been forced to endure for generations as Israelis continue to push the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land into poverty, forced exile, and despair.
An end to the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular two state configuration empowering both Israel and Palestine as sovereign separate nation states cooperatively shaping a new beginning with a just and lasting peace based on Golden Rule thinking (and international law) will not magically return every flower and every tree to rightful heirs. An end to the conflict with all its many negative ramifications won't erase the past, but ending the conflict will help ease [and eventually end] the pain and suffering of countless victims of the conflict.
A negotiated two state end to the conflict will help ensure that all our children have a chance to grow up in a world where the rule of fair and just laws can flourish, a world where bigotry is scorned and disarmed, a world where healing can begin- where character counts and where (as the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights wisely points put) "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world"
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
It is widely accepted that under international law, the Jewish settlements in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 are illegal. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons... "The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies." BBC News
"It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory. Any measure designed to expand or consolidate settlements is also illegal. Confiscation of land to build or expand settlements is similarly prohibited. " International Red Cross
GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR (THE “FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION”)
Adopted in August 1949, the Fourth Geneva Convention defines humanitarian protections for civilians
In 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted a report from the Secretary-General and a Commission of Experts which concluded that the Geneva Conventions had passed into the body of customary international law, thus making them binding on non-signatories to the Conventions whenever they engage in armed conflicts.
more notes
PBS Newshour: Poet Naomi Shihab Nye: 'Telling a story helped us figure out who we were'
Poll: Oslo brought 'political normalization' but no benefits "83.3 percent of the respondents believe that settlement construction increased “unprecedentedly” in the Palestinian territory as a result of the Oslo Accord."
Palestinians cast first-ever vote in U.N. General Assembly "It's a symbolic (step)," he [ chief Palestinian U.N. observer, Ambassador Riyad Mansour] said. "But it is an important one because it reflects that the international community, particularly the General Assembly, is hungry and waiting for the state of Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations."
Israeli Settlers uproot 26 Palestinian olive trees in Nablus village... IT ADDS UP: Since 1967, 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, resulting in a loss of around $55 million to the Palestinian economy
Hollande: France urges 'full and complete halt to settlement'
Jewish mob attacks Palestinian man in Jerusalem
Israel's policy of erasure : A path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians requires not simply dealing with settlements but with the whole complex of displacement, suffocation and erasure.
UNITED NATIONS 2013: The nations of the world call on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law, the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the apartheid wall and all UN resolutions.
2013: Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues ...Recalling its resolutions 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and 36/146 C of 16 December 1981 and all its subsequent resolutions on the question
"The direct threat to Israeli and Palestinian existence — and, in fact, to the existence of all peoples in the region — is the absence of peace in Palestine." Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh in The Jordan Times
Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.
Christians are being driven out of regions around the world where they are a minority
Palestinian villages subject to Israeli mock raids not told they are exercises: Israeli military rejects complaints by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din over 'training' arrests of Arabs and raids on homes
Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank
Israeli Settler Violence Map
'It is where religious freedom is most dishonored or repressed that the forces of violent religious extremism are likely to thrive.' Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform...
Why Muslims should love secularism: Though secularism is widely misunderstood as anti-religious and iconoclastic, all it means is the neutrality of the state on religious affairs ... "Muslims must recognize secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion." Hussein Ibish
U.S. 'working tirelessly' to restore UNESCO funding... UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova: "This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development,"
U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row
UNWRA ... a crucial lifeline for Palestinian refugees
Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights
At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence
"So let us put the narrative of injustice away and find the joy, if it’s the last thing we ever do. " Tala Abu Rahmeh, Palestinian poet and writer
A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.
Pomegranates in season along the path!
Ancient stone villages in the occupied West Bank have become trapped in rural poverty, while investors and donors shy away from a zone of seemingly endless conflict... Israel's restrictions affect much of Palestinian economic life. It controls every access point, which enables it to oversee all imports and exports, creating bureaucratic hurdles that Palestinians say stifle or kill entrepreneurship.
Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business. It is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival."~Dalai Lama
"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate."~ Albert Schweitzer,1952 Nobel Peace Prize
"I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."~ Stephan Grellet, a prominent French-born American Quaker missionary
The Charter for Compassion is a call to restore the Golden Rule to the center of religious, moral and civic life. The path to a just economy and a peaceful world requires listening, understanding and treating all others as we wish to be treated ourselves.
Freedom for Palestine - OneWorld
NOTES
It is widely accepted that under international law, the Jewish settlements in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 are illegal. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons... "The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies." BBC News
"It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory. Any measure designed to expand or consolidate settlements is also illegal. Confiscation of land to build or expand settlements is similarly prohibited. " International Red Cross
GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR (THE “FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION”)
Adopted in August 1949, the Fourth Geneva Convention defines humanitarian protections for civilians
In 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted a report from the Secretary-General and a Commission of Experts which concluded that the Geneva Conventions had passed into the body of customary international law, thus making them binding on non-signatories to the Conventions whenever they engage in armed conflicts.
more notes
PBS Newshour: Poet Naomi Shihab Nye: 'Telling a story helped us figure out who we were'
Poll: Oslo brought 'political normalization' but no benefits "83.3 percent of the respondents believe that settlement construction increased “unprecedentedly” in the Palestinian territory as a result of the Oslo Accord."
Palestinians cast first-ever vote in U.N. General Assembly "It's a symbolic (step)," he [ chief Palestinian U.N. observer, Ambassador Riyad Mansour] said. "But it is an important one because it reflects that the international community, particularly the General Assembly, is hungry and waiting for the state of Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations."
Israeli Settlers uproot 26 Palestinian olive trees in Nablus village... IT ADDS UP: Since 1967, 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, resulting in a loss of around $55 million to the Palestinian economy
Hollande: France urges 'full and complete halt to settlement'
Jewish mob attacks Palestinian man in Jerusalem
Israel's policy of erasure : A path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians requires not simply dealing with settlements but with the whole complex of displacement, suffocation and erasure.
"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
Welcome
to Bethlehem, Secretary Kerry: A call for humanity by
Bethlehem Mayor Vera BabounUNITED NATIONS 2013: The nations of the world call on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law, the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the apartheid wall and all UN resolutions.
2013: Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues ...Recalling its resolutions 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and 36/146 C of 16 December 1981 and all its subsequent resolutions on the question
"The direct threat to Israeli and Palestinian existence — and, in fact, to the existence of all peoples in the region — is the absence of peace in Palestine." Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh in The Jordan Times
Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.
Christians are being driven out of regions around the world where they are a minority
Palestinian villages subject to Israeli mock raids not told they are exercises: Israeli military rejects complaints by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din over 'training' arrests of Arabs and raids on homes
Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank
Israeli Settler Violence Map
'It is where religious freedom is most dishonored or repressed that the forces of violent religious extremism are likely to thrive.' Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform...
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Promote freedom of religion and
conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right
and as a source of stability for all countries
Why Muslims should love secularism: Though secularism is widely misunderstood as anti-religious and iconoclastic, all it means is the neutrality of the state on religious affairs ... "Muslims must recognize secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion." Hussein Ibish
The Golden Rule... Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you
Live
by the Golden Rule
Dear President Obama... Let Freedom Ring
194
Globalizing Martin Luther King, Jr.
This Week in Palestine: In Palestine we have no physical control over our borders, and therefore have no say in how anyone could be treated at any given moment in time. But what we do have control of is the Palestine we write about, describe, and photograph in the folds of this issue’s pages.
Dear President Obama... Let Freedom Ring
194
Globalizing Martin Luther King, Jr.
This Week in Palestine: In Palestine we have no physical control over our borders, and therefore have no say in how anyone could be treated at any given moment in time. But what we do have control of is the Palestine we write about, describe, and photograph in the folds of this issue’s pages.
U.S. 'working tirelessly' to restore UNESCO funding... UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova: "This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development,"
U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row
UNWRA ... a crucial lifeline for Palestinian refugees
Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights
At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence
"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
"So let us put the narrative of injustice away and find the joy, if it’s the last thing we ever do. " Tala Abu Rahmeh, Palestinian poet and writer
A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.
Pomegranates in season along the path!
The Arab Peace Initiative
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.
We
Need to Talk... Ziad Asali has proven that
Palestinian-Americans can work within the system as
first-class American citizens and Washington has paid
attention: The status quo is clear: occupation.
Asali's mission is to change that status quo.
Ancient stone villages in the occupied West Bank have become trapped in rural poverty, while investors and donors shy away from a zone of seemingly endless conflict... Israel's restrictions affect much of Palestinian economic life. It controls every access point, which enables it to oversee all imports and exports, creating bureaucratic hurdles that Palestinians say stifle or kill entrepreneurship.
The Israelis also impose strict limits
on water supply, which affects industry and agriculture.
Israel has not allowed Palestinians access to 3G mobile
technology, citing security concerns, rendering many
smartphone apps largely useless....READ
MORE
Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Thomas Paine: "Of
all of the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny of
religion is the worst."
"In every country and in every age, the priest [rabbi/imam/...etc...] has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own"
Thomas Jefferson
"In every country and in every age, the priest [rabbi/imam/...etc...] has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own"
Thomas Jefferson
"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business. It is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival."~Dalai Lama
"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate."~ Albert Schweitzer,1952 Nobel Peace Prize
"I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."~ Stephan Grellet, a prominent French-born American Quaker missionary
The Charter for Compassion is a call to restore the Golden Rule to the center of religious, moral and civic life. The path to a just economy and a peaceful world requires listening, understanding and treating all others as we wish to be treated ourselves.
Freedom for Palestine - OneWorld
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