Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family By Edward Said's daughter Najla Said

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4145&ed=224&edid=224
[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]

     Book of the Month
Looking for Palestine

Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family
By Najla Said
Riverhead Hardcover, August 2013, 272 pages, $19.00
Reviewed by Shams Hanieh

“I am a Palestinian-Lebanese-American Christian woman, but I grew up as a Jew in New York City. I began my life, however, as a WASP,” writes Najla Said in her funny and poignant memoir, Looking For Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family. Najla grew up in New York City, as the daughter of a Lebanese mother from an academic family and Edward Said, the famous Palestinian intellectual and scholar. While Najla’s father affirmed Arab culture and Arab rights, his daughter was completely unsure of her identity or history. Was she Christian, American, Arab, Lebanese, Palestinian, or all of the above?

Her humorous yet melancholy biography begins with her speaking about her childhood, going to the elite Chapin School for girls, where she was the only Arab. She recounts funny anecdotes about her classmates living on New York’s Upper East Side, thinking her home in the Upper West Side was dangerous or had tumbleweeds. Her struggle with her identity eventually led her to become anorexic as a teen. A family trip to Palestine in 1992 was even more stressful when she witnessed how Palestinians really live, especially in Gaza. Making things worse, that first and so far only trip to Palestine came right after her father was diagnosed with leukemia. Najla saw how Palestinians struggled and how her father struggled, and so she wanted to ache and hurt as much as they did. On the other hand, Najla tells of both traumatic experiences during the civil war in Beirut, as well as fun, heart-warming memories with her family in Lebanon. After brilliant studies at Princeton University, Najla decided to pursue a career as an actress. She ended up meeting fellow Arab-American actors and began her journey to self-acceptance.

Edward Said’s death had a huge effect on his daughter. She went to Beirut the summer after his death, and the one following, and finally came to terms with her Arab identity. She spent amazing summers in Lebanon rebuilding after the civil war, helping her recover and giving her peace and pride in her origins.

This book is important for Palestinian readers who want to learn about Edward Said, the man and the father, and for readers in the diaspora, because they can relate to the frustration Najla feels about the way non-Arabs view Arabs and Arab society, with discrimination, ignorance, or hostility. Local readers can relate to the feeling of having no real country or homeland, given that theirs got taken away from them. The title of the book may be misleading for some, however, because the book is more about accepting oneself and coming to terms with one’s many identities - especially the fact that Najla is more attached to Beirut, where she has family, friends, and diverse memories, rather than to Palestine.

Personally, I could especially relate to Najla Said’s memoir as a Palestinian teenage girl with multicultural educational experiences. I enjoyed the informal tone of the book, which is written like a conversation, so that no matter how serious or disturbing the topic at hand is, it is written in a light and funny way. The book is actually adapted from Najla’s one-woman show, which she has performed throughout the United States. Hopefully, she will soon be invited to perform in Palestine so that we can enjoy her show and so that she can rediscover and connect with her father’s homeland.

See PDF www.thisweekinpalestine.com/i187/pdfs/article/botm.pdf

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4145&ed=224&edid=224

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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....

In the centre of the upper courtyard shimmers the Golden Dome that enshrines the Holy Rock (al-Qudus), the locus of Prophet Mohammed’s transfiguration in the Night Journey (Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj).

THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
Seasonality: Is It the Ultimate Fate of Tourism in Jerusalem? By Raed Saadeh   The Very Spot Pilgrimage to Palestine By Diana Buttu   Destination Palestine ... Perceptions vs. Reality By Sami Khoury   Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center   Pilgrimage to Al-Aqsa Mosque The Symbolism of Jerusalem in Islam By Ali Qleibo   Pilgrimage Is It Still Important for the Palestinian Tourism Industry? Sonia Najjar interviews tourism-sector pioneer Sami Abu-Dayyeh   Shift in Holy Land Pilgrimages By Yusef Daher Website Review www.holylandoperators.com

[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.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4130&edid=224&ed=224

Message from the Editor 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. We invite you to read this edition and be changed forever; then we invite you to bite the bullet (no pun intended) and book your next vacation here. A pilgrimage to Palestine is not limited to a religious trip where the pilgrim visits religious sites, prays, and listens to an abbreviated version of what Palestine is all about. There are people who live and work here, who are waiting to talk to you, the tourist (our guest). There are trails to be walked, birds to be watched, bread to be eaten, and honey to be tasted. There are misconceptions and stereotypes to be changed, and friends to be made. But Palestine is still much more than that. Palestine is a spiritual, virtual place that lives within every one of us Palestinians. It is the destroyed villages we long for and journey to as we search for remnants of our parents and grandparents. It is the memories we hear our grandparents recount and which prompt us to embark on a search for the “very spot” they played in or the very tree they hid under. Our writers are a diverse group - tourists, activists, tour guides, academics, and much more. What brings them together in one publication is their love for this country and their mission to change misconceptions. From the very spiritual “Pilgrimage to Jerusalem” by Ali Qleibo, to Sami Khoury’s methodical piece that gnaws at misconceptions of Palestine, to Diana Buttu’s very personal “Pilgrimage to Palestine,” these few pages are a virtual visit with no checkpoints, visa delays, or endless interrogations. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the visit. Bon Voyage and Welcome to Palestine! Riyam Kafri AbuLaban Content Editor An illustration of the Old City of Jerusalem.  Seasonality: Is It the Ultimate Fate of Tourism in Jerusalem? By Raed Saadeh Jerusalem’s classical tourism has always depended on Christian heritage, and this will no doubt continue. Regardless of the benefits that this tourism has brought to Jerusalem in the past, however, its seasonal character and the increasing overhead costs to maintain a tourist establishment in the city are raising the toll on the potential sustainability of this type of business.The Israeli separation Wall has deprived Jerusalem of its suburbs. It has choked every possibility to develop and improve its domestic tourism and business potential. The Wall’s impact on the city has not been only to deter people from entering the city and using its services, it has contributed to shifting the centre of Palestinian life to neighbouring cities, particularly Ramallah. This factor has negatively affected both Palestinian local tourism and foreign expat business potential in the city....READ MORE

Support for Mideast peace ...

ATFP Receives Presidential Accolades at 10th Anniversary Gala

On October 29, ATFP received yet another remarkable recognition of its impact in Washington. President Barack Obama sent a letter to ATFP’s 10 Anniversary Gala, stating that he is “pleased to have a partner in ATFP who shares this vision for peace." The President described this partnership as based on the quest for "a just and lasting resolution to a conflict that has continued for far too long." President Obama’s Special Assistant and White House Middle East Coordinator, Philip Gordon read the letter at the Gala. Dr. Gordon added that ATFP has “carved out space for a nuanced, informed policy discussion, helping provide the American public with a better understanding of the Palestinian narrative and its importance for the United States.”

*********

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/opinion/support-for-mideast-talks.html?ref=international&_r=0

New York Times Letter

Support for Mideast Talks

Published: November 1, 2013

To the Editor:

Re “Middle East Peace Talks Go On, Under the Radar” (news article, Oct. 24): 

It’s easy to be “skeptical about the prospects for progress,” as you report many are, and to poke fun at Secretary of State John Kerry’s “upping the tempo,” as an Israeli cartoon had it. Fortunately, Mr. Kerry confounded the skeptics by getting Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table, and he continues to impress by keeping the negotiators quiet. 

But Americans, Israelis and Palestinians who favor a two-state solution must not keep quiet. We need to vociferously demonstrate our support for this solution, back any effort that improves the prospects for the success of the talks and challenge actions and officials who would undermine them. 

This support will give Mr. Kerry political cover when the naysayers seize on the inevitable periodic impasses to try to discredit his efforts. 

SEYMOUR D. REICH
New York, Oct. 28, 2013 

The writer is a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights

http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/entry/focus-on-palestinians-rights/

Focus on Palestinians’ Rights

Monday October 28, 2013

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are meeting in the latest chapter of the decades-long saga of on-again, off-again peace talks. With no leaks, and even less optimism, there is only speculation about how the talks are going or whether any agreement is even possible.

Here in the US, supporters of the Palestinians are engaged in a sometimes heated but rather pointless debate as to what the "deal" should include or whether no deal is the best outcome – since that result, some say, would lead inevitably to a one-state solution.

However, that entire discussion is unedifying, a waste of energy and an evasion of responsibility.
 I do not mean that the outcome doesn’t matter. But everyone should acknowledge that the ultimate resolution of the conflict will not depend on that debate. Instead of exhausting ourselves arguing about what we can’t control, we should be focused on what we can do – shine a light on the daily injustices visited upon Palestinians, and mobilize support for those whose human rights are being abused.

There are human rights groups in Israel and Palestine that are engaged in this effort. They are documenting cases of land confiscation and home demolitions; cases of prisoners held without charges or trial; instances where vigilante gangs of settlers have desecrated mosques, cut down olive trees and beaten or killed Palestinian youngsters; and recording incidents in which the military has used collective punishment or excessive force or humiliated Palestinian civilians. The victims of these illegal and immoral behaviors deserve our attention. Their cases should be taken up. Their names need to be known. They should be supported until the injustice ends. 

In 1977 I and others formed the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC). Because no then-existing human rights group would adopt Palestinian cases, we took it upon ourselves to look into individual cases of Palestinians who had been tortured, had had their homes demolished, had been detained for prolonged periods without charges or who had been expelled from their homeland.

Back then, in the US discussion about the conflict Israelis were understood to be full human beings, but Palestinians were not known. Americans knew Israelis as real people who had hopes and fears. Palestinians, on the other hand, were an abstraction with whom few Americans could identify.

And so Palestinians were presented either in negative stereotypes, or merely as a problem to be solved. We hoped to remedy this by putting a human face on the Palestinian people.

Many of the Arab-American and Palestine support groups that existed back then were engaged, as many are now, in endless arguments about issues over which they had no control: which "political line" was the most correct or what should be the form of governance for the future Palestinian state.

And back then, much of the American liberal left was largely silent on Palestinian issues. Those who were engaged focused their efforts on setting up "dialogues" in the hope of promoting reconciliation between Arabs and Jews.

When the PHRC came into existence, we were denounced by both groups. On the one hand we were told that we had "sold out" because we ignored ideological debates and weren’t "pure" enough. But the peace groups kept us at arms-length, too, saying that by challenging Israel’s behavior we made Jewish groups defensive and uncomfortable, thereby frustrating the effort to create a “no fault” dialogue.

After 36 years, the situation is much the same today. The debate over one or two states rages in some quarters, while liberals who by now have embraced the notion of a two-state solution continue to shy away from any controversy and refuse to address Palestinian human rights. The former effort is wasted time and energy. The latter is an abdication of morality. Meanwhile Palestinians are still unknown, and their rights are still being violated.

As long as Palestinians are not known, discourse about the issue in the US will remain hopelessly one-sided. When Israeli humanity is presented as confronting the Palestinian "problem" you can guess who wins. If Americans can't see or identify with the Palestinians who lost their homes and lands, who were humiliated in front of their children at checkpoints, or who were abused and denied basic rights as prisoners, then all they will care about is how to insure security for Israelis.

To correct this situation, what is required is an embrace of justice and human rights, or as one of my early mentors, Dr Israel Shahak (founder of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights) put it "to fight for equal rights for every human being".

Whether there will be one state or two states will be decided, if it even can be, by the negotiators. But meanwhile, what of the victims? Who will speak for them? Who will give those who suffer the hope that their cries for justice will be heard? And who will inform the US public that it is not only Israeli humanity that is threatened by the absence of peace? In fact, Palestinians have paid, and continue to pay, an enormous price.

Recognition of this reality is a key ingredient in the search for a just peace, because only when Palestinians are known and their rights are fully recognized will the US feel the need to press for balanced peace that recognizes the rights and needs of all.

Washington Watch Archives »

NYTimes News October 30, 2013: 1,500 Units to Be Added in Settlement, Israel Says

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that with the new moves toward construction, “Israel is willfully and flagrantly violating international law and the requirements of peace.” She called the announcements “an affront” to Mr. Kerry’s efforts and warned that they could “provoke parallel violence and extremism throughout the region.” 

“The Israeli occupation is exposing its true intentions of creating ‘greater Israel’ rather than a two-state solution,” Ms. Ashrawi said in a statement. “The Israeli government has proven once again that it is not a partner for peace nor a member of the international community that respects the global rule of law.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/world/middleeast/israel-approves-1500-new-apartments-in-east-jerusalem.html?ref=middleeast

Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency

A Palestinian construction worker at a building site on Wednesday in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem.

 JERUSALEM — The Israeli government announced Wednesday that it had given final approval for 1,500 new apartments in a particularly contentious Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem and moved forward on plans for a controversial park and tourism center here, prompting Palestinian accusations that it is not taking the Washington-brokered peace talks seriously....READ MORE

At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence

ATFP Gala http://gala.atfp.net/http://gala.atfp.net/

ATFP http://www.americantaskforce.org/

At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence

October 30, 2013 -- The Obama administration and the President personally remain fully committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state White House Middle East Coordinator Philip Gordon told a capacity-crowd of 650 at last night's 10th Anniversary Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) in Washington, DC. Dr. Gordon read a letter of congratulations and support that had already been delivered to ATFP from Pres. Barack Obama. Pres. Obama wrote he was " pleased to have a partner" in ATFP in the "vision for peace." He reaffirmed his commitment that, "The Palestinian people must have a right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in a sovereign state of their own." "Peace is necessary, peace is just, and peace is possible," Pres. Obama wrote in his letter.

Dr. Gordon, who is Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region, said ATFP embodies the vision that the President outlined in his Jerusalem speech in which he urged civil society and ordinary people that they "must create the change that you want to see." He praised the efforts of the Task Force and its leadership for its determined support for peace based on a two-state solution. He reaffirmed that any Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement must be based on the 1967 borders with mutually agreed-upon land swaps

Dr. Gordon also strongly reiterated the United States' firm opposition to continued Israeli settlement activity, which he deemed "illegitimate," and denounced settler violence against Palestinians. Regarding negotiations, he said that while it was vital to keep the substance confidential, all final status issues were on the table and being discussed. Dr. Gordon also strongly endorsed Palestinian institution-building and economic development programs, stressing that the United States was working with partners in the Gulf region and others to help Palestinians continue to develop their society in preparation for independence.

A typically distinguished gathering of community members, senior officials, policy experts and journalists joined together to celebrate the organization's first decade of advocacy and policy work on behalf of peace in Palestine, and to honor the contributions of distinguished Palestinian Americans. ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali presented the group's first ever Lifetime Achievement Award to Jesse and Maria Aweida. Other honorees included Mr. Talat Othman for excellence in business and finance, Rep. Justin Amash for distinguished public service and Prof. Saliba Sarsar for excellence in academics. A special recognition was also presented to the songwriting collaborative "My Favorite Enemy."

The evening was capped off by a special concert by the Syrian-American pianist, composer and humanitarian Malek Jandali, who is currently engaged in "The Voice of Free Syrian Children" tour. ATFP is proud to be a partner in this important effort, the proceeds of which are entirely devoted to providing relief to the orphaned and suffering children of Syria. Mr. Jandali's brilliant performance received a prolonged standing ovation from the audience.

Earlier in the evening, ATFP also premiered a wide-ranging video retrospective of its first decade entitled "I Can See Palestine…" The Task Force thanks Gala participants for their attendance, Pres. Obama for his letter, Dr. Gordon for his remarks, its honorees for their contributions to our society and the world, and Mr. Jandali for his artistry and public-spirited humanitarian project.

With this 10th Anniversary Gala, ATFP is proud to inaugurate its second decade of advocacy and policy work in behalf of peace and looks forward to another 10 years in which, with the help of people of goodwill the world over, the state of Palestine alongside Israel can, in fact, be created.

*** 

October 30, 2013 -- The Obama administration and the President personally remain fully committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state White House Middle East Coordinator Philip Gordon told a capacity-crowd of 650 at last night's 10th Anniversary Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) in Washington, DC. Dr. Gordon read a letter of congratulations and support that had already been delivered to ATFP from Pres. Barack Obama. Pres. Obama wrote he was " pleased to have a partner" in ATFP in the "vision for peace." He reaffirmed his commitment that, "The Palestinian people must have a right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in a sovereign state of their own." "Peace is necessary, peace is just, and peace is possible," Pres. Obama wrote in his letter. - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2013/10/30/1383105600#sthash.y4dKDhDP.dpuf

October 30, 2013 -- The Obama administration and the President personally remain fully committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state White House Middle East Coordinator Philip Gordon told a capacity-crowd of 650 at last night's 10th Anniversary Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) in Washington, DC. Dr. Gordon read a letter of congratulations and support that had already been delivered to ATFP from Pres. Barack Obama. Pres. Obama wrote he was " pleased to have a partner" in ATFP in the "vision for peace." He reaffirmed his commitment that, "The Palestinian people must have a right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in a sovereign state of their own." "Peace is necessary, peace is just, and peace is possible," Pres. Obama wrote in his letter. - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2013/10/30/1383105600#sthash.y4dKDhDP.dpuf

. @Miradallah does a great storify on the responses to the @ATFP Gala - http://t.co/H1Vdg9sloS - #ATFPgala
— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) October 31, 2013

ATFP Video: "I CAN SEE PALESTINE..."

Post by ATFP.

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye is this year's recipient of the 2013 Neustadt Prize for Children's literature... keynote and poems by Ms. Nye, with music and a discussion of Palestinian culture

• Date: Friday, November 1st
• Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
• Venue: Oklahoma Memorial Union
• Address: 900 Asp Ave., Norman, OK, 73019, United States
• Categories: Author Readings, Keynote
• Tags: Naomi Shihab Nye, Palestinian Culture

The 2013 Neustadt Festival will celebrate the poetry and children’s literature by 2013 NSK Neustadt prizewinner Naomi Shihab Nye, as well as the works of the nine international writers who will be convening at the University of Oklahoma as the jury for the 2014 Neustadt Prize.

2013 NSK Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye. Photo by Chehalis Hegner

 The 2013 NSK keynote and poems by Ms. Nye, with music 

and a discussion of Palestinian culture

 (10am–noon, Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union).

The 2013 Neustadt Festival Kicks Off with a Packed House   
 Oct 30th, 2013

Ibtisam Barakat

Laura Hernandez

Laura Hernandez

Laura Hernandez

The Neustadt Festival 2013 has officially begun! Ananda Devi regaled an overflowing room of students with stories of language, writing, and identity in the first Neustadt event of the week. Devi speaks over five languages fluently, and students were eager to ask her questions about her writing and learning process.


At opening night, the festival ignited with a celebration of poetry in all its forms. Two Norman high school students recited their favorite poems for our Poetry Out Loud competition, which sends students from across the country to compete in local, regional, and national poetry competitions. Ken Hada, Nathan Brown, and Ibtisam Barakat judged the competition, with WLT editor in chief Daniel Simon presiding as moderator.

In addition to student performances, we also heard poetry readings from all three of the competition judges as well as from two Neustadt jurors—Lauren Camp and Fady Joudah. NSK Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye closed the event with personal stories and two readings, including one of her most beloved poems, “One Boy Told Me.”

U.S. Mideast czar at ATFP Gala: Settlements, settler attacks not ‘conducive’ to peace

Hussein Ibish

U.S. Mideast czar at ATFP Gala: Settlements, settler attacks not ‘conducive’ to peace

 

ATFP Proud to Welcome White House Middle East Coordinator Philip Gordon as Gala Keynote Speaker

***

JTA NEWS: U.S. Mideast czar: Settlements, settler attacks not ‘conducive’ to peace | Jewish Telegraphic Agency

News Brief

October 30, 2013 6:21am

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The United States strongly condemns settler violence and does not accept the legitimacy of West Bank settlement expansion, a top Obama administration official told an American Palestinian group.

Philip Gordon, the National Security Council coordinator for Middle East policy, emphasized perceived Israeli transgressions in describing the difficulties afflicting renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an address Tuesday evening to the annual gala dinner of the American Task Force on Palestine.

“The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement expansion,” Gordon said, an apparent reference to new housing starts announced by Israel in recent weeks.
Citing attacks by settlers on Palestinian olive groves, he said, “We also strongly condemn settler violence.”

Much of Gordon’s speech was focused on economic development.

Gordon praised both sides for renewing talks and for confidence building measures, noting that Israel has released prisoners convicted of terrorist attacks and that the Palestinians have suspended bids to achieve statehood recognition.

However, in citing elements that do not create a “conducive atmosphere” for the talks, he did not mention Israeli complaints about the Palestinians, including a spate of recent attacks and the Israeli sense that Palestinians are not doing enough to stem incitement.

He praised Israel for removing some restrictions inhibiting Palestinian movement in the West Bank, but called on it to do more.

The ATFP is a leading advocate for a two-state solution, and works closely with a broad array of Jewish and pro-Israel groups. Many of them were represented at the gala dinner.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/10/30/news-opinion/united-states/u-s-mideast-czar-settlements-settler-attacks-not-conducive-to-peace#ixzz2jCqeZShU

   "Like any people, we Israelis tend to see our side’s flaws as unremarkable, and the other’s as unforgivable. We tell ourselves that a few posters don’t mean anything; that neither Raidman nor her toddler will be hauling a Kalashnikov up to the roof anytime soon. That our textbooks tell the truth.

   When people kill each other for decades, though, the hate and the fear tend to flow both ways.Whether or not we want to talk about it, there exists mounds and mounds of evidence that Israelis are just as capable of hate and fear as anybody else.

   Consider this: After hearing his [Israeli] interviewee fantasize about killing [Palestinian] 10 year olds, Yediot’s reporter blithely changed the subject back to fashion..." Emily L. Hauser

Followers of the late Brooklyn-born Rabbi and founder of Jewish anti-Arab movement Meir Kahane pray at his grave at the Givat Shaul cemetery on the outskirts of Jerusalem October 26, 2010 (Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty Images)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/25/why-are-israelis-tone-deaf-to-incitement-against-palestinians.html

Why Are Israelis Tone Deaf to Incitement Against Palestinians?

 The Prime Minister of Israel has been known to angrily decry anti-Israel incitement among Palestinians, and he is right to do so. If there's ever to be peace between the two nations, it will have to consist of more than negotiating terms and signing papers—the people involved will have to learn to see and treat each other as human beings, or the paperwork won’t last...READ MORE

My letter to the Washington Post 10-27-2013 RE Jackson Diehl's Foreign policy based on fantasy

Olive Harvest: Songs & Pictures from Palestine

Jackson Diehl's Foreign policy based on fantasy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-foreign-policy-based-on-fantasy/2013/10/27/cfd74b06-3cc2-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html

Dear Editor,

Is it fantasy for Palestinians living under Israel's oppressive policies and punitive rule to wish for, as well as demand freedom and justice?  

Rising to the challenge of pursuing a just and lasting peace for Israel and Palestine is a reality based endeavor, not a fantasy. It is immensely challenging and difficult- but not impossible: International law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Arab Peace Initiative provide clear guidelines and references for those who are interested in actually helping end the Israel-Palestine conflict once and for all- for everyone sake.

Bolstering naysayers as well as Netanyau's intransigence perpetuates the conflict and self fulfilling prophecies of apocalyptic ruin for Israel, Palestine, and all their neighbors. Elliott Abrams & Jackson Diehl can fantasize all they want that their Israel-centric arguments will help steer more people away from supporting negotiations so that Israel can more easily continue on with its quest to take more and more Palestinian land while ruthlessly evicting  the native non-Jewish population of that land- but that does not make Abrams, Diehl or Israel right. 

I'd rather follow the lead of experts and analysts who understand the very real plight of the Palestinians and the dire need to forge a just and lasting peace for both Israel and for 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." ATFP's Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
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

As ATFP celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary Gala, John H. Sununu, former Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff, recalls the story of ATFP’s inception and gives an insider assessment of its accomplishments

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.

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

Ashrawi Calls on the EU to Investigate Sunday Times Report

The paling mythologies of the “axis of evil” and “axis of resistance”

A new report says Israeli settlement construction on the Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank has increased by about 70 percent.

Hanan Ashrawi on Oslo, Academia, and Women in Politics

CSM: Israel increases rate of home demolitions as peace talks chug along- Human rights activists say home demolitions show that protection for Palestinian human rights is missing from the peace process.

What 20 years of the "Peace Process" has meant for Palestinians... September 1993- September 2013

Attack on Jerusalem graves unnerves Christians

Israel-as-a

Jerusalem life: 'Are you aware? Women should not be strolling outdoors'

"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

"Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Thomas Jefferson

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

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

The 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.

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.

"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

This Week in Palestine Artist of the Month: Yazan Khalili

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!

New Video Previewing ATFP's 10th Anniversary Gala

ATFP Galas: Palestine's Washington Showcase... "One of the most crucial aspects of ATFP's mission has been to change the image of Palestine and Palestinians in Washington, moving beyond the traditional binary stereotypes of menacing terrorists or wretched refugees. There is an all-American story to be told about Palestinian immigrants to the United States, and a need to celebrate their contributions to our country and to the world."

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.

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.

Reuters: A Palestinian worker decorates a bowl in a workshop in the West Bank town of Hebron Oct 23 2013

Analysis: Palestinian downturn bites, aid falters, tunnels collapse

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-palestinian-downturn-bites-aid-falters-tunnels-collapse-133153255--business.html

By Ali Sawafta and Noah Browning 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The arteries of Gaza's economy have collapsed as Egypt demolishes the smuggling tunnels along its sandy border.

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.

The crackdown on the Gaza Strip and stagnation in the West Bank mean the Palestinian economy might shrink this year after average annual growth of about nine percent in 2008-2011.

The doldrums have dented a long-held belief amongst Israeli right-wingers that gathering Palestinian prosperity could achieve a de facto "economic peace" and provide a convenient alternative to a comprehensive two-state deal.

"Any talk of further developing the Palestinian economy without a lifting of Israel's restrictions is just that, talk," said the Palestinian minister for economic affairs, Jawad Naji.

"The international community urgently needs to intervene to pressure Israel to allow us access to our natural resources."

Israel fears an economic downturn could provoke violence in the West Bank, with impoverished Palestinians feeling they might have little to lose by staging another uprising against the occupation.

The economy in the Israeli occupied West Bank shrank for the first time in a decade in the first half of 2013, according to a World Bank report this month which mostly faulted Israeli curbs on Palestinian movement and access to resources.

Contraction of 0.1 percent came as foreign donor aid to the West Bank's puny economy fell by more than half in 2012.

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

[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]

As ATFP celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary Gala, John H. Sununu, former Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff, recalls the story of ATFP’s inception and gives an insider assessment of its accomplishments....

Post by ATFP.

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

[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.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/10/26/why-muslims-should-love-secularism/

Hussein Ibish

By Hussein Ibish,

  Daily News Egypt  /   October 26, 2013
Now

Muslims should love secularism. But very few of them do, largely because they misunderstand what it stands for and would mean for them.

Secularism as an English term – in contrast to the French concept of laïcité – simply means the neutrality of the state on matters of faith. This bears almost no resemblance to the way in which most Arabs understand the term, whether translated as ‘almaniyya, ilmanniyya, or even dunyawiyya.

Secularism has become strongly associated in the Arab and broader Muslim worlds with atheism, iconoclasm, and anti-religious attitudes and policies. And in the process, one of the most important pillars of building tolerant, inclusive, and genuinely free Muslim-majority societies has been grotesquely misrepresented and stigmatised.

The first of these experiences was the overtly anti-religious attitude of the government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which was presented as “modernisation” and “secularism.”

The second is the objectionable and noxious French concept of laïcité, which also tends to be more anti-religious than neutral. This association has been particularly exacerbated by “secular” laïcité laws in France and elsewhere that oppressively prevent Muslim women from covering their hair in public spaces such as schools.

The third, and perhaps most damning of all, has been the misappropriation, abuse, and discrediting of “secularism” by regimes that placed Arab nationalism at the center of their authoritarian ideology. Socialist, communist, and fascist Arab regimes oppressed, abused, and waged wars against their own peoples and each other in the name of, among other things, “secularism.”

None of them were properly secular, of course, but they certainly were anti-Islamist. And that has set up the present-day dichotomy in contemporary Arab politics in which not only Islamists, but also many ordinary Muslims, instinctively mistrust secular politics.

The Syrian dictatorship is a perfect case in point. In the name of “secularism,” among other things, it is waging a brutal war of repression. But for various reasons, high among them Western and Arab government negligence, the opposition has become increasingly Islamist. The consequence has been increasing numbers of religious minorities, particularly Christians, reluctantly siding with the dictatorship, while growing numbers of Sunni Muslims are siding with various Islamist groups. Faux-secularism and Islamism mutually provoke and promote sectarianism.

What devout Muslims need to understand is that real secularism alone offers them something most of them seem to badly want: freedom. If there really is no compulsion in religion, only a secular society can provide that. Only in a secular system can Muslims be free to practice Islam exactly as they see fit. Any “Islamic” polity will of necessity be imposing a particular version or interpretation of Islam, which is an extremely heterodox set of traditions.

The claim that secularism is really just Christianity in disguise is manifestly false. The language is European, inherited from the Enlightenment. But both Western chauvinists and anti-Western demagogues badly misread the fact that although the specific language of modern human rights and freedoms is, for historical reasons, currently packaged in Western terms, this hardly means that they lack non-Western cognates, origins, or bases.

Since at least the 10th century, most Muslim societies have distinguished between political and religious authority, and it’s absurd to claim that religious freedom originates only or even mainly as a concept from the Protestant Reformation. There are deep roots in both traditional and modern interpretations of Islam that lend themselves to political secularism.

The Islamist project of trying to obliterate traditional heterogeneity within Islam and establish religiously-oriented states is misguided and totally inappropriate. In many Muslim-majority states, there remains a vast range of diversity of doctrine and practice that must be accommodated for even the Muslims to be free in religion. This is to say nothing of Christians, Jews, atheists, agnostics, and others who also have a right to freedom of both religion and conscience.

What would be the spiritual virtue of religious dogma that is imposed by the state? It would produce, at best, a false religiosity in many, practice without belief, and mere pretense. Religious leaders generally don’t care what people really believe (because they can never really know that) and instead concentrate on what people can and cannot do. But when such authority is asserted by the state, it demeans and abuses the very concept of faith by mandating the pretense of belief by force of law.

Secularism offers Muslims religious freedom, religious authenticity, and religious meaning. Imposing or privileging religion through state power invalidates all three. Muslims must recognise secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion.

Some Muslims can claim to have come by their suspicions about secularism honestly, through a series of unfortunate historical contingencies. But that doesn’t change the fact that, for all their fears, they should not only want, but in reality need, genuinely secular societies.

Hussein Ibish is a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine.

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) provides an independent voice for Palestinian-Americans and their supporters and advances human rights and peace.

  ATFP categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be.