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Saturday, August 3, 2013

'Why are men so angry that they kill children to get what they want?' Rami Elhanan is an Israeli, Bassam Aramin is a Palestinian. Both live in Jerusalem, both grieve for daughters killed in the conflict. And somehow they fought off the urge for vengeance...

Lost children ... Bassam's daughter Abir, who was killed aged 10, and Rami's daughter, Smadar, who died at 14.
"Before we lost Smadar, we thought everything was fine, we didn't think about what else was happening. Our family was well-off and happy. And when it happened, at first, every inch of your body cries out for revenge. But you ask yourself: would that take away my pain? And you know it would not. So instead you start to ask, what is happening here? Why are men so angry that they are prepared to kill children to get what they want?"
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/03/men-kill-children-middle-east-israel-palestine

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

The New Yorker: The Fight for Jerusalem’s Past, and Future... Archeology is another weapon in the fight over territory.

 August 2, 2013

The Fight for Jerusalem’s Past, and Future

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/08/the-fight-for-jerusalems-past-and-future.html

This week, with subdued, if earnest, cheer, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the restart of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in Washington. The reaction was about as cynical as coverage of Liz Taylor’s seventh wedding—we’ve been invited to this affair before.

There are valid reasons for that attitude. The question of dividing or even sharing Jerusalem was one of the tripwires that took down peace negotiations in the past. It has never been resolved, and is now more complicated than ever. The history of the city—and its holiness—has always been the sticking point, but in recent years that history has evolved. Parcels of Jerusalem slated for return to Palestinians have become essential to the historical mythology of the city. Archeology is another weapon in the fight over territory.

That phenomenon is seen most clearly in East Jerusalem’s contested neighborhood of Silwan and a slightly smaller section of it known as Ir David, or City of David, which sits in the shadow of the Old City, across the road from the Dung Gate, the entrance to the Old City closest to the Temple Mount.

This was the Biblical core of Jerusalem, a Canaanite town later ruled by Judean kings. But the modern neighbors, above ground, are Palestinian. “Silwan is where Jerusalem was established,” says Yonathan Mizrachi, an archeologist with an organization called Emek Shaveh that protests the politicization of archeology. “What is Jerusalem without the beginning of Jerusalem?” That’s true enough, but in the intervening thousands of years the area has seen settlement by a half-dozen other peoples as well. And though Israelis point to a small group of Yemenite Jews who settled there at the end of the nineteenth century—and were protected by their Arab neighbors during riots in 1929—Silwan remained on the Jordanian side of the Green Line that divided Jerusalem in 1949.

That border meant Silwan was to be returned to the Palestinians under the peace plan negotiated by Bill Clinton at the end of his Presidency. The problem is that below and abutting the Palestinian residences is a massive archeological dig, also called the City of David....READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

My letter to the New York Times PUBLISHED July 28 2013: To end the Israel-Palestine conflict

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/opinion/global/a-chance-to-talk-with-iran.html

July 28, 2013
To end the Israel-Palestine conflict
 
Regarding “The two-state imperative” (Globalist, July 23) by Roger Cohen: My heart sinks when columnists toy with the topic of Israel-Palestine by insisting that Israel needs a two-state solution in order to remain Jewish. There is a much better argument, a more civilized imperative and a much more righteous as well as sensible way to build a just and lasting peace: Both Israel and Palestine need a two-state solution in order to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict. A fully secular end to the conflict would be based on respect for international law and universal basic human rights. 

Religion should be a personal private choice as well as a cherished inheritance, not a state-sponsored project. Taxpayers here and there should not be forced to fund and empower religious scholars and schemes. 

Anne Selden Annab, 
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Friday, August 2, 2013

Middle East identity politics is more than Sunni-Shia schism: Caabu director Chris Doyle's letter in the Financial Times

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.caabu.org/news/news/middle-east-identity-politics-more-sunni-shia-schism-caabu-director-chris-doyles-letter-fi

  Posted by Caabu on 02 Aug 2013
Published in the Financial Times Friday 2nd August 2013.
Chris Doyle

Sir, In the whole debate about sectarianism in the Middle East all too often the issue is oversimplified, distilled into a centuries-old Sunni-Shia religious schism (“Battlelines drawn”, Analysis, August 1).
This is flawed. Across the Middle East there is a dangerous breakout of identity politics of which Sunni and Shia identities are just two. Divisions have taken ethnic, religious, ideological and tribal lines. There are tensions between Arab, Turk and Kurd, between Berber and Arab in north Africa.

Many of the religious clashes are not Sunni-Shia but between “secular” and hardliners. In Egypt, it is often Muslim-Christian. In Israel, there is increased racist rhetoric between Jew and Arab. This atomisation of identity is worse in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon where the state is weak.
All of this has been exacerbated because of the threats to existing state structures and regimes, as a result of the Arab uprisings and the increased power struggle between Iran (and its allies) and Saudi Arabia. Sectarian politics has frequently been used to shore up various regimes’ positions, notably in Syria and in Bahrain. What scares so many regimes is the possibility of a united opposition, so every opportunity is taken to split them by identity including sect.

The only solution is to push firmly towards political systems that emphasise equal citizenship and rights where nobody is excluded on the basis of identity. Regrettably all too often in the west, we have failed to do that.

My letter to USA Today RE East Jerusalem thorniest of issues ahead of peace


To be clear: Return
RE East Jerusalem thorniest of issues ahead of peace
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/28/peace-talks-east-jerusalem-israel-palestine/2592291/

Dear USA Today ... and anyone else who might be concerned,

While I very much admire American Task Force on Palestine efforts to help usher in a more reasonable, compassionate, intelligent, realistic and mainstream conversation regarding Palestine and peace, I totally and completely disagree with senior fellow Hussein Ibish's recent declaration in USA Today that "Palestinians will have to accept that refugees and their descendants who've lived for decades without full citizenship in other nations will never be allowed to return to the homes they left. Their numbers would outnumber the Jewish population, which Israel would never accept."

I disagree because I believe with every fiber of my being that no country should ever use religion as a determining factor for who is allowed to live and work in peace and prosper and who will be pushed into poverty and forced exile. 

And I disagree because I think international law and universal basic human rights have to be the deciding factor on how negotiations are shaped.

Israel as a sovereign nation with a strong economy as well as polished media and PR skills has all the power- including the power to actually withdraw from the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

Negotiations to end the Israel-Palestine conflict are not between equals but between the oppressor and the oppressed.  The Palestinians have been systematically disenfranchised by Israel and the last thing they need is for Israel to be given the green light to destroy even more Palestinian homes and families.

I was very sad to see Ibish's comment for I had hoped that Ibish and the American Task Force on Palestine could help America usher in peace in the Middle East by setting a good example on how to reach out to America so that more Americans- and more Israelis... and more people worldwide- might understand the very real plight of the Palestinians and the importance of negotiations to forge a just and lasting peace for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Kerry: "The only announcement you will hear about meetings it's the one that I just made, and I will be the only one by agreement authorized to comment publicly on the talks in consultation obviously with the parties... That means that no one should consider any reports, articles or even rumors reliable unless they come directly from me and I guarantee you they won't."

Boston Globe editorial: Kerry’s enormous effort stirs new hope for Mideast talks

Friendship can inspire peace and build bridges between communities

"The way forward is to be found not in looking back at what might have been, but in an honest assessment of what can be done to address current realities." Dr. James Zogby


Live by the Golden Rule
Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat

Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"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

".... 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

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Kerry: "The only announcement you will hear about meetings it's the one that I just made, and I will be the only one by agreement authorized to comment publicly on the talks in consultation obviously with the parties... That means that no one should consider any reports, articles or even rumors reliable unless they come directly from me and I guarantee you they won't."

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Israel, Palestinians launch sustained peace talks

By Tom Cohen, CNN
updated 3:10 PM EDT, Tue July 30, 2013

WASHINGTON - July 30: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) watches as Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat (L) shake hands following the announcement of a new round of Mideast peace talks. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Washington (CNN) -- Secretary of State John Kerry got the money shot he wanted on Tuesday -- the chief negotiators for Israel and the Palestinians framed by his lanky embrace as they shook hands to launch "sustained, continuous and substantive" talks on a long-sought Middle East peace treaty.

Now the question is whether the negotiations expected to last nine months will bring an even more historic image, with President Barack Obama bringing together Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to sign a final-status agreement that creates a sovereign Palestinian state in what is now part of Israel.

The Middle East dispute, perhaps the world's most intractable in the past six decades, entered a new phase with Kerry's announcement that the first direct talks in three years would proceed in earnest..READ MORE

My letter to CSM RE Why Israel must make bold move to secure Palestinian peace talks – and Israel's future

Secretary of State John Kerry, Israel's President Shimon Peres, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, participate in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan, May 26. Mr. Kerry begins preliminary talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, in hopes of re-starting the Middle East peace process.Jim Young/AP/File
RE Why Israel must make bold move to secure Palestinian peace talks – and Israel's future
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0730/Why-Israel-must-make-bold-move-to-secure-Palestinian-peace-talks-and-Israel-s-future

Dear Editor,

I too applaud Kerry's valiant efforts, and I agree that Israel must do all it can to help end the Israel-Palestine conflict... Yes Netanyahu really should declare that Israel has no sovereignty claims over the West Bank. However, many Israeli settlers withdrawn from Gaza took generous 'compensation' and resettled in the West Bank: Israeli settlers should not expect to be refunded and rewarded yet again for usurping Palestinian land and sabotaging peace.  

The goal of negotiations must be to shape a just and lasting peace for a sovereign nation state called Israel living alongside a sovereign nation state called Palestine.  Water resources and underground aquifers are a more important factor for determining the border between Israel and Palestine than the recently constructed Israeli fence. Furthermore religion must be a personal private individual matter, not a state sponsored mandate, and certainly not a determining factor in who gets citizenship where.

Keep it simple. Two states, both fully honoring and respecting the idea of two separate sovereign nation states, international law and universal basic human rights. One sovereign nation state is called Israel and one sovereign nation state is called Palestine. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Boston Globe editorial: Kerry’s enormous effort stirs new hope for Mideast talks

Friendship can inspire peace and build bridges between communities

"The way forward is to be found not in looking back at what might have been, but in an honest assessment of what can be done to address current realities." Dr. James Zogby

ATFP Welcomes New Direct Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

"And when we speak of our faith, it can’t be just about our personal relationship with God, it has to also be about our personal relationship one to the other, each to everybody else." John Kerry, Secretary of State, Remarks at the Ramadan Iftar Dinner 2013



Live by the Golden Rule
Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat

Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"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

".... 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

Boston Globe editorial: Kerry’s enormous effort stirs new hope for Mideast talks

AFP/Getty Images: Secretary of State John Kerry stepped off his plane in Amman, Jordan, on July 16 on one of several trips to the region.
"It is worth remembering that the enduring conflict between Israelis and Palestinians doesn’t just hurt both sides; it also hurts the United States. It is the core issue issue that jihadists use to whip up anti-American hatred across the Muslim world. US national security will be vastly improved if stateless Palestinians, who have been in limbo for decades, finally receive a just outcome and if the Muslim world finally accepts the existence of America’s ally Israel."

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/07/30/john-kerry-deserves-great-credit-for-his-mideast-initiative/DOD2WyvonWKaUmkawxUfxN/story.html
 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
 Friendship can inspire peace and build bridges between communities... photo credit: Girl-Up Uniting girls to change the world. A United Nations Foundation campaign. www.GirlUp.org

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My letter to the NYTimes RE Aaron David Miller- The New Mideast Talks: Much Risk, Little Hope, but Still We Must Try

RE:  Aaron David Miller- The New Mideast Talks: Much Risk, Little Hope, but Still We Must Try
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/opinion/the-new-mideast-talks-much-risk-little-hope-but-still-we-must-try.html?ref=global&_r=0

Dear Editor,

Aaron David Miller does a very good job excusing Israeli intransigence, but not a very good job of making a case for peace and Palestine. 

Stuck on the sectarian notion that Israel has to be officially Jewish Miller wants America to convince the world that forcing tax payers (here & there) to endorse and fund one specific official state religion is a good idea.  I think empowering the rule of fair and just laws is a much better idea... and so is a fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"The way forward is to be found not in looking back at what might have been, but in an honest assessment of what can be done to address current realities." Dr. James Zogby

ATFP Welcomes New Direct Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

"And when we speak of our faith, it can’t be just about our personal relationship with God, it has to also be about our personal relationship one to the other, each to everybody else." John Kerry, Secretary of State, Remarks at the Ramadan Iftar Dinner 2013


Live by the Golden Rule
Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat

Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"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

".... 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

Monday, July 29, 2013

"The way forward is to be found not in looking back at what might have been, but in an honest assessment of what can be done to address current realities." Dr. James Zogby

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/entry/saving-the-arab-levant/
Saving the Arab Levant
by
Dr. Zogby

Monday July 29, 2013

Anyone who cares about the Arab World has to be profoundly shaken by the unraveling that is taking place across the Levant. Reviewing events unfolding from Iraq in the East to Lebanon in the West can give one the distinct feeling that the region is on a path leading to self-destruction. What, if anything, can be done to reverse course?

Syria is committing suicide—tearing itself asunder in a civil war that, with the support and prodding of outside forces, has increasingly become an exercise in sectarian blood-letting. American combat forces may have left Iraq, but the country has not found a way to make peace with itself. Daily terrorist bombings are killing scores of civilians, while a dysfunctional sectarian government appears to be focused more on prosecuting and persecuting its opponents, than providing for the needs of its people.

Speaking of dysfunction—Lebanon, reeling from the pressure emanating from Syria next door, is once again teetering on the brink of civil conflict. Meanwhile, the conflicts raging around Jordan are having a destabilizing impact with that country receiving yet another massive influx of refugees—its fourth in the past six decades. And poor dismembered Palestine and its dispersed people are suffering from new and old tragedies. Palestinian refugees from Syria have flooded into Lebanon's already congested and impoverished camps creating new tensions. Despite the news that another "peace process" might be underway, the Palestinians in the occupied territories see what remains of their lands being chewed up by settlement construction and a barrier wall that snakes deep into the West Bank, while Gaza continues to be strangled by a cruel blockade.

It was back in 2002 that then British Foreign Minister Jack Straw noted that many of the "problems we [the United Kingdom] are dealing with [in the Middle East] are a consequence of our colonial past". Straw was referring to what he called his country's "not entirely honorable past"—its betrayal of the Arabs in the post-World War I period and its imposition of the Sykes-Picot Agreement on the region.

Straw was right. By denying Arab aspirations to establish a unitary state in the Levant; by carving the region up into British and French spheres of influence and imposing their colonial authority and regimes of their choosing in each of these newly created "states"; by pitting sect against sect and paving the way for the loss of Palestine—the British and French laid the groundwork for many of the problems the Levant is confronting today.

One might be tempted to ask what the Levant might look like had US President Woodrow Wilson been able to win the day and secure the "right of self-determination" for the Arabs who had just come out from under the Ottoman yoke? And what if the world had paid heed to the findings of the Wilson-authorized King-Crane Commission survey and granted the Arabs the unitary state they so overwhelmingly desired?

We can indulge in such speculation, but, in the real world, politics is a function not of "what if" but "what is". And so despite Straw's lament, the way forward is to be found not in looking back at what might have been, but in an honest assessment of what can be done to address current realities.

During the past century, there were many attempts by Arabs living in the Levant to redress their aggrieved history. Refusing to succumb to the efforts of outsiders who sought to exploit their religious diversity, in an effort to "divide and conquer", they developed "Arab" nationalism—fostering an identity that would transcend both religious sect and the mini-states that had been the legacy of Sykes-Picot. It remains a tragedy that this Arab identity movement was exploited by military regimes who manipulated its emotive power to support their rule. In the end, the idea of "Arabism" became discredited, not on its merits, but because of the brutal regimes that had embraced it.

Another approach was found by those who accepted the new reality of Sykes-Picot created sub-national identities. These stressed, for example, the uniqueness of being "Lebanese" or the differences between being "Palestinian" or "Jordanian". It was important to note that even within these state-based nationalisms, religious divisions were transcended.

What I have always found to be among the most intriguing results in the polling we have done during the past decade is the persistence of an Arab identity and a sense of a common destiny among the people of the Levant. While sectarian wars raged in Iraq, or while Lebanon's political system remained grounded in a system of sect-privilege, the principal identity of most Iraqis and Lebanese remained not their sect, but being both "Arab" and "Lebanese" or "Iraqi". And when we asked the publics in all of the countries of the Levant why what happened to Palestinians, Syrians, or Iraqis was important to them, the most common response was "because they are Arabs like me".

It is for this reason that I cannot accept that it is inevitable that the Levant drown in the blood of sectarian conflict. Nor can I imagine that the people of the region desire their fate to be a checkerboard of "cleansed" sectarian cantons. It makes no sense that Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood should be driving the Levant's agenda when the region's people, despite their religious diversity, express an attachment to their common bonds born of history, culture, and blood-ties.

Egyptians have demonstrated their rejection of religious sect-based government. Syrians are now waging an anti-sectarian rebellion within their rebellion against the regime. And polls show that Palestinians in Gaza, despite having voted for Hamas in 2006, are now rejecting this movement's divisive rule.

What the Levant needs today is a unified revolt against sectarian division and recognition of the futility of its self-destructive path. It can be done. I have seen the seeds of the way forward in the young Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian entrepreneurs—Muslim and Christian –working together to create innovative businesses in the Arab World's "Silicon Valley" of Dubai. I have seen much the same in gatherings of Arab business leaders hosted by the World Economic Forum. It is their experience, and not that of their contemporaries, inspired by hate and armed with guns, that represents the most promising future for the Levant. The notion that this region’s people share common bonds and have a common destiny cannot be rejected because this idea had once been abused by brutal regimes. To borrow an American expression “one shouldn’t throw the baby out with the Ba’ath”. New life needs to be breathed into this region to save it before it drowns in its own blood. It can be done. The region can be saved, but it will take leaders with vision and a determination as strong that being demonstrated by those who appear hell-bent on destroying it.

ATFP Welcomes New Direct Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

 
July 29, Washington DC -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) welcomes today's scheduled resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for the first time since 2010. The Task Force expresses its appreciation for Secretary of State John Kerry’s leadership in helping to broker the negotiations. ATFP also complements the courage of the Palestinian and Israeli leaderships in being willing to take the bold step of resuming direct talks.
 
 
The Task Force notes that negotiations will be long, complicated and difficult. But they must continue despite any obstacles. They should also proceed with a clearheaded anticipation of actions by opponents of peace on both sides to attempt to sabotage progress, both through political and, possibly, violent means.
 
 
The Task Force calls for immediate measures by all parties, including Israel, to improve living conditions on the ground, particularly for Palestinians in the occupied territories. This can help protect the process from diplomatic and political variables, and manage expectations. ATFP urges the preservation and expansion of institution-building, economic development, government reform and anti-corruption measures by Palestinians, with oversight, accountability and transparency, and strong international support.
 
 
ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, "We welcome the resumption of talks and express our sincere gratitude to Sec. Kerry for his tireless efforts to revive them. The United States remains the indispensable partner for peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The resumption of these negotiations, and their eventual successful conclusion in a two-state agreement, is essential to the American national interest."
 
 
Please help sustain ATFP's work and independent decision-making by donating here.
 
Save the date!
ATFP 10th Anniversary Gala
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Ritz Carlton—Washington D.C.
1150 22nd Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037
 
American Task Force on Palestine.
1634 Eye St
Suite 725
Washington, DC -20006
United States
- 202-887-0177 - info@atfp.net - The American Task Force on Palestine
 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

My letter to the IHT/NYTimes RE Netanyahu the Peacemaker By Roger Cohen

July 29, Washington DC -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) welcomes today's scheduled resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for the first time since 2010. The Task Force expresses its appreciation for Secretary of State John Kerry’s leadership in helping to broker the negotiations. ATFP also complements the courage of the Palestinian and Israeli leaderships in being willing to take the bold step of resuming direct talks.
RE: Netanyahu the Peacemaker By Roger Cohen
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/opinion/global/roger-cohen-netanyahu-the-peacemaker.html?ref=global

Dear Editor,

Neither Jimmy Carter, nor Roger Cohen have the right to trade away or dismiss or in any way attempt to sabotage support for the Palestinian refugees' inalienable legal, moral, ethical and natural right to return to original homes and lands.

Full respect for international law and universal basic human rights remains the only reliable foundation for a just and lasting peace:  A refugee's right of return must not ever be contorted into yet another way to impose even more forced transfer and punitive exile on people already displaced. Nor should any Palestinian refugees be forced to go back to be Israeli. Refugees must be free to make an informed choice as to where they want to invest their time, talents and tax money. 

Personally I think it is obvious already that the best and the brightest are already choosing, each in their own way, to help build a sovereign and successful Palestine living in peace and security alongside Israel.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab, American homemaker & poet

NOTES
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.

The PLO Delegation to The United States: "We call for a just solution to our refugee issue in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Our position on refugees is also included and supported in the Arab Peace Initiative (API), which calls for “a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.” A just solution to the refugee issue must address two aspects: the right of return and reparations." http://plodelegation.us/resources/negotiations-primer/

"And when we speak of our faith, it can’t be just about our personal relationship with God, it has to also be about our personal relationship one to the other, each to everybody else." John Kerry, Secretary of State, Remarks at the Ramadan Iftar Dinner 2013


Live by the Golden Rule
Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.
“Generations of Commitment" American Task Force on Palestine Honoring the Achievements of Palestinian-Americans ... & This Could Actually Work: Why John Kerry's Middle East peace push isn’t a fool's errand.

FORBES: Peace Through Profits? Inside The Secret Tech Ventures That Are Reshaping The Israeli-Arab-Palestinian World

Al Jazeera English's The Stream hosts a spirited conversation on the new Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with Hussein Ibish, Gil Hoffman, Noura Erakat and Dimi Reider.

Dr Ziad Asali with Aaron David Miller, Dennis Ross, US envoy to the Middle East, and Shibley Telhami on PBS's Charlie Rose on John Kerry's Middle East Peace Initiative

Hamas in the Crosshairs

New York Times: Israeli Land Measure Called Discriminatory

Israel has frozen co-operation with the European Union on work in the Palestinian territories in retaliation for an EU directive banning funding or grants for bodies with links to Israeli settlements.

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat

Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"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

".... 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