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Saturday, November 16, 2013

My letter to the NYTimes Sunday Review RE The Banality of Robbing the Jews

Palestinian Refugee...The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “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..."
RE The Banality of Robbing the Jews
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/opinion/sunday/the-banality-of-robbing-the-jews.html?ref=international&_r=0

Dear Editor,

I do not know any one any where whose family has totally escaped loss of one kind or another- either through a criminal theft or hard times or natural disaster or illness or war or one of the many other ways that our things, and our loved ones, can be taken from us.  Some incidences are significantly worse than others.

The Nazi era was indeed a huge horrible despicable tragedy for Jews as well as every one else the Nazis decided destroy, as well as those who lost all or anything simply because of war and bombs and desperate times.

And, as the information age fills all our in-boxes with a wealth of facts and stories from afar, I am left wondering about the here and now, and modern man made disasters: Will the Israel era eventually be seen in the same light as the Nazi era as time goes by and records (in addition to UN Resolutions) accumulate documenting Palestinian homes destroyed- and treasures usurped.... There is a multitude of sovereign Israeli violations of international law and universal basic human rights, including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees inalienable right to return to original homes and lands.

The unresolved Israel-Palestine conflict extends the horrifying trauma and loss of WWII as the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land are, right at this very moment, being cruelly demonized, tormented, impoverished and displaced. I very much hope that diplomats and negotiators seeking to end the Israel-Palestine conflict are able to negotiate a just and lasting peace with a fully secular two state solution... for everyone's sake.

May this May bring Israel and Palestine real progress towards a Golden Rule peace with two sovereign nations living side by side in security, cooperating to ensure that every Israeli and Palestinian man, woman, and child, regardless of supposed race or religion, is free to find equal opportunity, equal justice and equal dignity without discrimination, and equal pride of place.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
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

Christians are being driven out of regions around the world where they are a minority

IMF: Arab Spring economies hit by uncertainty Ahmed said that governments in the Arab world and the rest of the world need to find a way to "arrest this situation with its downside risks and try to find ways to boost jobs and growth in the short term and lay the foundation for a private sector-led recovery."

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

Israel 'plans 20,000 new settler homes in West Bank'

Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank

Israeli Settler Violence Map

Israeli police seized computers and detained 25 Palestinians because of Facebook posts in East Jerusalem on Thursday

'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...

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.


"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

  • 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 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

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


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

"Can you imagine the world today without letters or without music?"

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!

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... 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

"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

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.

The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour. - See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpufvv

UN adopts new resolutions on Palestine

The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed

Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue. - See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpuf
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue. - See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpuf
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine


*******
The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour.

The resolutions covered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and an intention for the committee to investigate "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territory".
Predictably, Israel voted against all of the resolutions, being joined variously by Cameroon, the United States, Canada, Australia and Panama. Equally predictable abstentions included Micronesia, Palau, Vanuatu and South Sudan.
The resolutions relating to UNRWA were backed consistently by more than 160 UN members states, whereas those committing the UN to look at the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory saw fewer in favour, just under 90 countries, with far more abstentions (70 or more).
The resolutions reflected the extremely difficult living, economic, social and humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the continued Israeli military aggression and siege. They emphasised the vital and important role of UNRWA and the tireless efforts of its staff in implementing its mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved.
After the votes, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the state to all the countries that voted in favour of the new resolutions. He thanked them in particular for their support for UNRWA, which should ensure that it can continue with its mandate to help Palestinian refugees. He noted that the General Assembly was reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the refugees’ right to return to their land.
The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed.
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.j9QEQScD.dpuf
 THE WALL
9 years since the issuance of the 2004 ICJ Advisory Opinion on the wall being constructed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. OCHA fact sheet shows the humanitarian impact of the wall. The UN Register of Damage caused by the construction of the wall (UNRoD) was established by the General Assembly.

The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour.

The resolutions covered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and an intention for the committee to investigate "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territory".
Predictably, Israel voted against all of the resolutions, being joined variously by Cameroon, the United States, Canada, Australia and Panama. Equally predictable abstentions included Micronesia, Palau, Vanuatu and South Sudan.
The resolutions relating to UNRWA were backed consistently by more than 160 UN members states, whereas those committing the UN to look at the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory saw fewer in favour, just under 90 countries, with far more abstentions (70 or more).
The resolutions reflected the extremely difficult living, economic, social and humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the continued Israeli military aggression and siege. They emphasised the vital and important role of UNRWA and the tireless efforts of its staff in implementing its mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved.
After the votes, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the state to all the countries that voted in favour of the new resolutions. He thanked them in particular for their support for UNRWA, which should ensure that it can continue with its mandate to help Palestinian refugees. He noted that the General Assembly was reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the refugees’ right to return to their land.
The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed.
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.4kFYyiHX.dpuf
The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour.

The resolutions covered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and an intention for the committee to investigate "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territory".
Predictably, Israel voted against all of the resolutions, being joined variously by Cameroon, the United States, Canada, Australia and Panama. Equally predictable abstentions included Micronesia, Palau, Vanuatu and South Sudan.
The resolutions relating to UNRWA were backed consistently by more than 160 UN members states, whereas those committing the UN to look at the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory saw fewer in favour, just under 90 countries, with far more abstentions (70 or more).
The resolutions reflected the extremely difficult living, economic, social and humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the continued Israeli military aggression and siege. They emphasised the vital and important role of UNRWA and the tireless efforts of its staff in implementing its mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved.
After the votes, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the state to all the countries that voted in favour of the new resolutions. He thanked them in particular for their support for UNRWA, which should ensure that it can continue with its mandate to help Palestinian refugees. He noted that the General Assembly was reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the refugees’ right to return to their land.
The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed.
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.4kFYyiHX.dpuf
 UN NEWS CENTRE
Get all the latest United Nations news from around the world at the United Nations News Centre.

Marking the ratification of the UN Charter on 24 October 1945

Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue. - See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpuf
UN adopts new resolutions on Palestinev
The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour.

The resolutions covered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and an intention for the committee to investigate "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territory".
Predictably, Israel voted against all of the resolutions, being joined variously by Cameroon, the United States, Canada, Australia and Panama. Equally predictable abstentions included Micronesia, Palau, Vanuatu and South Sudan.
The resolutions relating to UNRWA were backed consistently by more than 160 UN members states, whereas those committing the UN to look at the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory saw fewer in favour, just under 90 countries, with far more abstentions (70 or more).
The resolutions reflected the extremely difficult living, economic, social and humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the continued Israeli military aggression and siege. They emphasised the vital and important role of UNRWA and the tireless efforts of its staff in implementing its mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved.
After the votes, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the state to all the countries that voted in favour of the new resolutions. He thanked them in particular for their support for UNRWA, which should ensure that it can continue with its mandate to help Palestinian refugees. He noted that the General Assembly was reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the refugees’ right to return to their land.
The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed.
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpuf
The Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted eight new resolutions concerning the plight of the Palestinians. The drafts were taken on board with large majorities voting in favour.

The resolutions covered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and an intention for the committee to investigate "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territory".
Predictably, Israel voted against all of the resolutions, being joined variously by Cameroon, the United States, Canada, Australia and Panama. Equally predictable abstentions included Micronesia, Palau, Vanuatu and South Sudan.
The resolutions relating to UNRWA were backed consistently by more than 160 UN members states, whereas those committing the UN to look at the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory saw fewer in favour, just under 90 countries, with far more abstentions (70 or more).
The resolutions reflected the extremely difficult living, economic, social and humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the continued Israeli military aggression and siege. They emphasised the vital and important role of UNRWA and the tireless efforts of its staff in implementing its mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved.
After the votes, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the state to all the countries that voted in favour of the new resolutions. He thanked them in particular for their support for UNRWA, which should ensure that it can continue with its mandate to help Palestinian refugees. He noted that the General Assembly was reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the refugees’ right to return to their land.
The nations of the world called 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. The application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was also reaffirmed.
Ambassador Mansour said that the international community must make a serious collective effort to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and ensure that it complies fully with all legal obligations in order that a just settlement is reached for the Palestinian issue.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/8343-un-adopts-new-resolutions-on-palestine#sthash.pSVN77B6.dpuf

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


http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/9365d5f545357e8785257c2200524d03?OpenDocument




UNITED
NATIONS
General Assembly
A/C.4/68/L.15
8 November 2013

Sixty-eighth session
Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee)
Agenda item 51
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East


Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Comoros, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Yemen and State of Palestine: draft resolution
 


Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues
The General Assembly,
 
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,
 
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to its resolution 67/117 of 18 December 2012,1 as well as that of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine for the period from 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013,2
 
Recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights3 and the principles of international law uphold the principle that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her property,
 
Recalling in particular its resolution 394 (V) of 14 December 1950, in which it directed the Conciliation Commission, in consultation with the parties concerned, to prescribe measures for the protection of the rights, property and interests of the Palestine refugees,
 
Noting the completion of the programme of identification and evaluation of Arab property, as announced by the Conciliation Commission in its twenty-second progress report,4 and the fact that the Land Office had a schedule of Arab owners and a file of documents defining the location, area and other particulars of Arab property,
 
Expressing its appreciation for the preservation and modernization of the existing records, including the land records, of the Conciliation Commission, and stressing the importance of such records for a just resolution of the plight of the Palestine refugees in conformity with resolution 194 (III), 
 
Recalling that, in the framework of the Middle East peace process, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Government of Israel agreed, in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993,5 to commence negotiations on permanent status issues, including the important issue of the refugees,
 
1. Reaffirms that the Palestine refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of equity and justice;
 
2. Requests the Secretary-General to take all appropriate steps, in consultation with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, for the protection of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel;
 
3. Calls once again upon Israel to render all facilities and assistance to the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;
 
4. Calls upon all the parties concerned to provide the Secretary-General with any pertinent information in their possession concerning Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel that would assist him in the implementation of the present resolution;
 
5. Urges the Palestinian and Israeli sides, as agreed between them, to deal with the important issue of Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues within the framework of the final status negotiations of the Middle East peace process;
 
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

*******


GA Resolution, A/RES/302 (IV), (8 December 1949)

 ********

Why did UNRWA continue its operations in the West Bank and Gaza after the Palestinian Authority was established?

The Palestinian Authority falls under the same category as the host governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Until the refugee issue is solved and as long as there is a need for relief, UNRWA will continue providing services to the refugees in these areas in accordance with its mandate from the General Assembly. The Palestinian Authority strongly supports the continuation of UNRWA’s operations in support of the refugees.

How is UNRWA responding to the current humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip?

UNRWA has launched a series of emergency appeals for emergency food, employment and cash assistance. The emergency programme serves over one million people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have been impoverished by the conflict, violence and restrictions. Emergency assistance consists of food assistance (flour, oil, rice, etc.), employment assistance (temporary job creation), shelter rehabilitation and reconstruction for those whose homes have been destroyed or are in need of repair, and some cash assistance.

UNRWA provides this emergency assistance in addition to its regular programme services in the areas of relief and social services, education and health and other assistance.

Is UNRWA now closing down its services in anticipation of the imminent closure of the Agency?

No, UNRWA services are not being closed down. However, the Agency has been forced to implement austerity measures over the last few years due to lack of funds: financial contributions have not increased sufficiently to keep pace with inflation and a rising refugee population. This has resulted in a reduction in services as is evident in the fact that average annual spending per refugee has fallen from about $200 in 1975 to around $110 today. Nevertheless, UNRWA’s commitment to Palestine refugees remains undiminished, and the Agency will continue to serve them pending a just resolution of the question of the Palestine refugees.

********
An Nabi Samuel: “We are living inside of  a prison"

Refugees, 65 years later

The story of a tree and a barrier

Immediate impacts of the Barrier

Environmental impacts of the Barrier




Flying High


Friday, November 15, 2013

"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

IN CONTEXT: Nov 14, 2013 Palestinians look on at damages inside a house that was attacked overnight by suspected Jewish extremists in Sinjil, a village in the West Bank, northeast of Ramallah (AFP photo)...

Five Palestinian children suffered from smoke inhalation when suspected Jewish extremists set fire to their West Bank home on Thursday in an apparent revenge attack, the family said.

The attackers torched the front of the Dar Khalil home in Sinjil, a village northeast of Ramallah, and spray-painted the words “Regards from Eden, Revenge!” in Hebrew in blue on a wall outside the house.

“Eden” is an apparent reference to Eden Atias, a soldier who was killed on Wednesday by a 16-year-old Palestinian while sleeping on a bus in northern Israel. He was buried on Wednesday night.

The Dar Khalil family had no apparent connection to the Palestinian attacker.

“I woke up at 2:00am (0000 GMT), and four or five people came out of a white car and started breaking windows, then poured gasoline, then threw fire into the house,” mother-of-five Ruweida Dar Khalil told AFP.

“My kids were sleeping. I was scared to death. My kids almost died. I couldn’t even touch the doorknob it was so hot...”

 [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://jordantimes.com/why-should-palestinians-negotiate

Why should Palestinians negotiate?

by Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh | Nov 14, 2013 | 21:42

The withdrawal of the Palestinian negotiating team from the US-sponsored peace talks with Israelis is more than justified. Israel has made it impossible for them to continue.

The current Israeli government is not serious about peace; actually it is doing all it can to subvert the fragile peace talks and impose its expansionist, Judaisation agenda in Palestine.

If the Israeli government had been genuinely interested in making peace, it would have done several things. For example, it would have stopped all settlement activity at once to give the peace negotiators a chance and would have made focus on peace a priority.

It, however, is doing the exact opposite. Since the start of the latest round of peace talks, the Israeli government sped up settlement activity. The latest move by the Israeli prime minister to halt — not to cancel — a plan for a huge settlement project is another of his endless gimmicks.

The reason he gave for halting this project, which would affect the peace talks and the future relations and existence of Israelis and Palestinians, was that it could anger the international community and thus affect Israel’s proposals regarding Iran!!

What a misguided, disrespectful thing to say when the Palestinians have joined peace talks even though they made clear that settlements should be halted until they come to an agreement with Israel about the future borders of a Palestinian state.

In other words, the Israeli premier would halt settlement activity to give a chance to his weird, paranoid proposals regarding Iran, but he would not do it for the sake of talks which are crucial to both Israelis and Palestinians.

Iran, of course, is another gimmick used in a delaying tactic.

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. It is not the Iranian nuclear project.

And yet, the Israeli government is creating much fuss about the Iranian project to focus attention away from peace making in Palestine and sideline, and thus subvert, the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

The timing here is crucial. Had Iran been threatening Israel with a nuclear bomb, or had Iran come even close to producing one, the Israeli government may have had an excuse for devoting so much energy and attention to Iran. At this moment in time, however, the Israeli obsession with the Iranian issue is utterly unjustified.

For one thing, the new Iranian leadership is negotiating in earnest with the international community about inspection of its nuclear facilities; for another, American diplomacy regarding the Iranian issue appears to be bearing fruit.

In fact, the US secretary of state announced a couple of days ago that an agreement with Iran is imminent.

Furthermore, the current Iranian government is no longer provocative or hostile to Israel, as some were in the past.

So, why should the Israeli government choose to create a huge fuss about Iran now?

The only answer is that it wants to distract the focus from the peace talks.

The fact of the matter is that the Israeli government does not want peace. It only wants all the Palestinian land.

So, why should the Palestinians continue to sit uselessly and fruitlessly at the negotiating table with the Israelis when the Israeli government continues to sabotage peace?

The reason they sit and negotiate — and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will try to form another negotiating team — is that they have an inalienable right to an independent Palestinian state in their homeland Palestine.

And because the international community — including Europe and the US — insists that there should be justice in Palestine and that the Palestinians are entitled to their state on land that Israel has occupied and continues to swallow.

The European and American positions on Palestinian statehood and on Israel’s illegal settlement are highly appreciated. However, one expects them to close the loop by pressuring the Israeli government to stay focused on peace in Palestine and take concrete measures to show that it is serious about peace, including, first and foremost, immediately halting all settlement plans and activities.

Without such a firm position, it would be useless for the Palestinians to continue sitting at the negotiating table, while the Israeli premier is playing his games and sanctioning further settlement and occupation measures.

Christians are being driven out of regions around the world where they are a minority


Faith and communities minister Lady Warsi called on politicians to set the tone for tolerance of religious minorities. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
"... no western government should promote a course of action in the Middle East which would end with a new government which was intolerant to its historical neighbours and colleagues within the territory." Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
 
 [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.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/15/christianity-risk-extinction-persecution-minority-warsi

Christianity at risk of extinction in areas of persecution, says Warsi

UK government minister Lady Warsi says Christians are being driven out of regions around the world where they are a minority
 
theguardian.com,

Thursday, November 14, 2013

My letter to the Washington Post RE CIA declassifies documents on Egypt, Israel and Camp David Accords brokered by Jimmy Carter

CAMP DAVID ACCORDS: The UN General Assembly rejected the Framework for Peace in the Middle East, because the agreement was concluded without participation of UN and PLO and did not comply with the Palestinian right of return, of self-determination and to national independence and sovereignty. December 1978, she declared in Resolution 33/28 A, that agreements were only valid if they are within the framework of the United Nations and its Charter and its resolutions, include the Palestinian right of return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine, and concluded with the participation of the PLO.
RE  CIA declassifies documents on Egypt, Israel and Camp David Accords brokered by Jimmy Carter
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cia-declassifies-documents-on-egypt-israel-and-camp-david-accords-brokered-by-jimmy-carter/2013/11/13/66940598-4cc2-11e3-bf60-c1ca136ae14a_story.html

Online: Camp David papers: www.foia.cia.gov/collection/carter-camp-david-accords

Dear Editor,

How differently things would have played out had President Carter- and all of America (including our newspapers and our Congress and our CIA), taken a firm and pubic and principled stand for our own ideals concerning secular freedom and democracy... and justice.. and equality.

By 1977 decades had passed since the Nazi Holocaust and the subsequent United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948) which was created to remind all the world that " 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..."

By 1977 America had heard and acted on Martin Luther King Jr.'s diplomatic pleas for freedom and an end to the pernicious institutionalized bigotry and injustice that plagued our nation and harmed many innocent men, women and children.

Stop and Think: Would Iran have taken 52 American hostages months after the Egypt-Israel treaty if the Camp David Accords had achieved not only a treaty between Egypt and Israel but also an actual end to the Israel-Palestine conflict and an end to the largest, longest running refugee crisis in the world today.

How many more Palestinian homes and workplaces will Israel destroy, how many more Palestinian individuals will Israel imprison, how many more Palestinian families will Israel fragment, how many more Palestinian men, women and children will Israel push into forced exile ... and how much more Palestinian land and resources will Israel usurp?

Israel as a Jews-preferred ego trip and business investment for those lucky enough to be Jewish has been quite a lucrative success for some people, but not for most, and it has certainly set a very bad example for its neighbors. Religion should be a personal private choice and religion should most certainly not be armed with lethal weaponry- or with tax payer funds.

A fully secular two state end to the Israel-Palestine conflict, for everyone's sake, is the best way forward. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

IMF: Arab Spring economies hit by uncertainty Ahmed said that governments in the Arab world and the rest of the world need to find a way to "arrest this situation with its downside risks and try to find ways to boost jobs and growth in the short term and lay the foundation for a private sector-led recovery."

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

Israel 'plans 20,000 new settler homes in West Bank'

Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank

Israeli Settler Violence Map

Israeli police seized computers and detained 25 Palestinians because of Facebook posts in East Jerusalem on Thursday


  • 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.

'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 places like Pakistan.

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

"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


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

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


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

"Can you imagine the world today without letters or without music?"

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!

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... 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.


"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