Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace.... Published letters & online comments 2013

 http://anniespublishedletters.blogspot.com/

CSM Cover Story December 16 2013: Two thousand years after the birth of Jesus, Christianity is under assault more than at any time in the past century, prompting some to speculate that one of the world's three great religions could vanish entirely from the region within a generation or two.

 [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]

CSM

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2013/1216/Readers-Write-Democrats-didn-t-lose-to-personality-US-hypocrisy-on-Israel

US hypocrisy on Israel

Thank you for Katrina Lantos Swett's Nov. 18 commentary, "JFK was right about religious freedom's promise." True religious freedom would indeed curb sectarian strife and extremism. And yes, American diplomats and forward thinkers should be advocating for such freedom worldwide. But how will countries in the Middle East be able to hear, much less understand, that message when so many American religious, political, and business leaders praise and protect Israel as "The Jewish State" while turning a blind eye to its persecution of Palestinians and other Arabs?
Calls for US support of religious freedom will be sanctimonious hypocrisy as long as we fail to insist on real democracy and a fully secular end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in line with international law and human rights.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.


*******

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/parsing-an-academic-boycott-of-israel.html?ref=international

LETTERS Published: December 17, 2013

Parsing an Academic Boycott of Israel

Re “Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel” (front page, Dec. 16):

To the Editor:

 

You report that “the American Studies Association resolution bars official collaboration with Israeli institutions but not with Israeli scholars.” Sounds more like a partial boycott and, yes, a “symbolic sting,” as your headline has it. Israel’s ambassador to the United States claims that Israel is “the sole democracy in the Middle East.” But there is very little freedom or justice for the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine. 

A secular two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would go a long way toward eliminating the religious extremism, bigotry, injustice and refugee crises created by the conflict. 

ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa., Dec. 17, 2013

********

USA TODAY
RE: UN secretary-general: JFK left indelible imprint on me
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/11/22/ban-ki-moon-un-secretary-general-jfk/3639233/

comment left on website

Delighted to see UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's inspiring op-ed "JFK left indelible imprint on me"...  In giving sincere thanks, and telling such a charming story, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon helps elevate an important person, but more importantly he promotes magnificent ideas and ideals. 
Annie Annab


http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/11/22/ban-ki-moon-un-secretary-general-jfk/3639233/

UN secretary-general: JFK left indelible imprint on me

Ban Ki-moon 6 a.m. EST November 22, 2013

Meeting the president as a youth led to my decision to choose a life of public service.

(Photo: Family photo)

Story Highlights

• President Kennedy that day reminded us that we could be friends even if our governments were not.
• His last speech at UN reads like a primer for addressing the problems that still plague us today.
• I deliver the message JFK gave me: Be a global citizen and love your country by serving the world.

********

The Patriot News
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/11/editorial_retraction_gettysburg_address_no_one_is_perfect.html#incart_flyout_opinion

Editorial retraction about the Gettysburg address shows no one is perfect: PennLive letters

By Letters to the Editor
on November 16, 2013 at 12:18 PM 

 

Loved your editorial "Retraction for our 1863 editorial calling Gettysburg Address 'silly remarks'!
Hindsight certainly is 20/20. It really is totally impossible to know beyond an educated guess what speeches and stances will stand the tests of time, as well as what ideas and projects are a worthwhile investment. However we can try our best to be educated and compassionate, as well as humble, knowing that, as my brother was fond of saying when we were little: "No one is perfect."
In light of that fact, I cannot help but wish the Patriot News the best of luck, and hope that you have many, many more years ahead of publishing good, bad, and atrocious news and opinions.

ANNE SELDEN ANNAB, Mechanicsburg

*********

THE NEW YORKER
comment I left online RE New Yorker "Thinking Outside the Two-State Box" by Yousef Munayyer

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/09/israel-palestine-two-state-solution-counterargument.html

September 20, 2013

Thinking Outside the Two-State Box

AnneSeldenAnnab Sep 23, 2013

 

The one state scenario is what already has been for decades... and tempting albeit short sighted one state  rhetoric (both Israeli & Palestinian) builds the box and the trap that keeps Israel and Palestine in an escalating conflict.

Now is the time for negotiations and negotiations need clear, easy to understand assessments of the situation:

Two fully secular, fully independent and secure sovereign nation states- both FULLY respecting universal basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws, allow for a transition away from the nefarious bigotry and injustice and intransigence and grandiose delusions that have been galvanizing religious extremism and violence on both sides.

Two states, with Palestinian refugees able to return to original homes and lands in Israel, or resettle in the New Palestine, or move on and away. 

Two states, as a gateway to a future where tourists, teachers, students, workers, family members, friends, artists, poets, filmmakers, researchers, archeologists,(...etc...) will be able to travel back and forth knowing that their home and their garden and their loved ones, who ever and wherever they might be, are safe from destruction.

Two states with every citizen free to find ways to make diplomacy and compassion an every day endowment for everyone's sake.

*********

CSM

Monday, August 19, 2013

My letter PUBLISHED CSM August 19, 2013... Strengthening reasonable voices on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a good idea – but only if those voices respect universal human rights. A fully secular two-state solution is the best way forward.

[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.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Letters-to-the-Editor/2013/0819/Readers-Write-US-must-preserve-not-develop-Arctic-Way-forward-for-Israelis-Palestinians

Way forward for Israelis, Palestinians

Regarding Nadine Epstein's July 22 commentary, "Israelis, Palestinians need help for two-state solution": The one-state situation is what already is and has been for decades, with Israel easily able to find more excuses (and ways) to usurp more Palestinian land, liberty, and life. Making a cruel situation even worse, Islamists have been thriving on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ensuring that Israel too often perceives Palestinians as terrorist threats rather than as real people.

Noticing and hopefully strengthening reasonable voices, as Ms. Epstein suggests is needed, is a good idea – but only if those reasonable voices firmly respect universal basic human rights. The goal must be a just and lasting peace. A fully secular two-state solution is the best way forward.

Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.

*********
The New York Times

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

Published: July 28, 2013

To end the Israel-Palestine conflict

 

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

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

Anne Selden Annab, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Charter for Compassion ... life is riddled with imperfections

Charter for Compassion

Peace Cracks
"On my desk I keep a mug with this saying: 'Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.' The first time I poured coffee into the mug, it seeped out through a hairline crack in the bottom and spilled all over the countertop. Now I use it to hold pens and pencils and remind myself that my life is riddled with imperfections. The imperfections are funny, and my attempts at perfection are even funnier."
~Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Simply Imperfect Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House

 

About

The Charter 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.

 

Mission

 

The Charter for Compassion is a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more important, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life. Compassion is the principled determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the heart of all religious and ethical systems.

One of the most urgent tasks of our generation is to build a global community where men and women of all races, nations and ideologies can live together in peace. In our globalized world, everybody has become our neighbor, and the Golden Rule has become an urgent necessity.

The Charter for Compassion is not simply a statement of principle; it is above all a summons to creative, practical and sustained action to meet the political, moral, religious, social and cultural problems of our time.

We invite each of you to adopt the charter as your own, to make a lifelong commitment to live with compassion.

The Charter for Compassion is a document that transcends religious, ideological, and national differences.

Supported by leading thinkers from many traditions, the Charter activates the Golden Rule around the world.

SIGN THE CHARTER

This complex, fluid time in which peace talks are ongoing and the whole region is being reshaped is EXACTLY when we can all make a difference.

YOU share our vision of a Middle East free of discrimination against any individual based on religious affiliation, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, creed or ideology.... ATFP: With Gratitude and a Promise of Commitment

USPS 2012 Forever stamp for Christmas

Dear ATFP supporter,

 
BECAUSE of YOUR support, ATFP has succeeded in intensifying its efforts to advocate for peace between Palestine and Israel. With YOUR HELP we plan to do even more in 2014. You can help us achieve this.

YOU share our passion and commitment for peace between Palestine and Israel: a peace in which the Palestinians live in dignity as first-class citizens in their own state; in which Israel enjoys security and an end to the conflict; and where our own country’s interests and values are realized.

YOU share our vision of a Middle East free of discrimination against any individual based on religious affiliation, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, creed or ideology.

That is what we stand for at ATFP. This complex, fluid time in which peace talks are ongoing and the whole region is being reshaped is EXACTLY when we can all make a difference.

But we cannot do it without you.

During this holiday season, please donate as generously as possible to ATFP. To donate to ATFP click here.

 
With Thanks,

  Ghaith Al-Omari

  ATFP Executive Director

American Task Force on Palestine.

1634 Eye St
Suite 725
Washington, DC -20006
United States

- 202-887-0177 - info@atfp.net - The American Task Force on Palestine

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) is a 501©(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC. Established in 2003, its mission is to articulate and educate about the United States national interest in helping to create a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace, security and dignity. ATFP is committed to strengthening Palestinian-American relations at every level. The Task Force supports Palestinian institution-building, good governance,  anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved living standards. ATFP holds that these same values are relevant to the broader Arab world, and that the question of Palestine is inextricably linked to regional realities and developments.

ATFP provides an independent voice for Palestinian-Americans and their supporters and advances human rights and peace. It categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter thecause and who the victims or perpetrators may be.

ATFP builds effective and durable working relationships with government departments and agencies, think tanks and NGOs, and the media. It has developed lines of communication with the US and other relevant governments in order to pursue its policy advocacy goals.

USPS 2011 Forever Stamps

USPS 2013 Forever Stamps for Christmas

My letter PUBLISHED in the NYTimes: Parsing an Academic Boycott of Israel

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/parsing-an-academic-boycott-of-israel.html?ref=international

LETTERS Published: December 17, 2013

Parsing an Academic Boycott of Israel

Re “Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel” (front page, Dec. 16): 

1. Anti-Boycott Letter by DAVID HARRIS Executive Director, American Jewish Committee

2. Anti-Boycott Letter by MICHAEL A. SALBERG Director, International Affairs, Anti-Defamation League

3. Letter by me...

To the Editor:

 

You report that “the American Studies Association resolution bars official collaboration with Israeli institutions but not with Israeli scholars.” Sounds more like a partial boycott and, yes, a “symbolic sting,” as your headline has it. Israel’s ambassador to the United States claims that Israel is “the sole democracy in the Middle East.” But there is very little freedom or justice for the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine. 

A secular two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would go a long way toward eliminating the religious extremism, bigotry, injustice and refugee crises created by the conflict. 

ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa., Dec. 17, 2013

4. Anti- Boycott Letter by DAVID RAWSON of Brooklyn

********

Orginal text of my letter 

My letters to the NYTimes & the Guardian RE Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel & Roger Waters and the antisemitism question

ROGER WATERS Photograph: Torben Christensen/AFP/Getty Images

 

"We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place." Manar Harb

This Week in Palestine archived cover

What Are Fifteen Years?
By Manar Harb

I started my editorial career at This Week in Palestine (TWIP), and I am very proud of this fact. TWIP is a national magazine, made for the people, by the people! It may have started as a publication for tourists, but throughout the fifteen years of its existence, TWIP has acquired quite a unique archive of the Palestinian narrative. During my own experience, I was absolutely fascinated by the amount of material we received for each issue. The entire process was like soaring above the clouds with readers and writers. I was connecting with Palestinian authors from all around the world. I remember so many who reached out to us to express their thoughts and share their stories. I felt exposed to the entire Palestinian community that I was trying to connect with. Suddenly, TWIP was the only place that somewhat represented a “collective.”

The collective is an important part of the Palestinian struggle; no collective, no victory. And Palestinians everywhere need to think about a collective vision if we wish to have a future with a place called Palestine. Don’t kid yourself, we Palestinians are close to extinction. Perhaps I exaggerate, perhaps not; either way, without a complete understanding of the entire picture - the documentation and narration of what happened, and of what is taking place - there will be no justice!

Local organisations and businesses in solidarity with the Palestinians should support such a constructive medium. We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place.

Finance and marketing are two important factors in the life of a magazine, and they also influence the content and final output. These are areas that we should also think about and examine. The overhead involved in printing 12,000 copies of each issue is not cheap! And yes, to sustain a magazine, resources are required.

TWIP has the capacity to reflect a part of the Palestinian narrative to an English-speaking audience, which is a pretty powerful tool. And the English-speaking audience is a broad audience. We Palestinians have not been very good at presenting ourselves in public. I mean the public media. We haven’t been very successful at presenting ourselves to each other. I find that TWIP is a healthy space for us to have these exchanges and conversations between ourselves, and yes, in English, because the world needs to know.

Palestinians will always be weak if we remain divided; we will be strong only if we are united with our Arab neighbours and allies. It is true that borders disconnect us, and that if it weren’t for the Israeli occupation, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be speaking Farsi or Turkish. There was a point in time, not long ago, when those borders were wide open and people travelled freely from village to village, and town to town. We won’t forget what once was, but we will also look very closely at the present.

The present is the most exciting time! Some say that the present is a gift.

The best gifts are those that come unexpected. We’ve got some presents to give! With the young and the old, our voices, our energy, our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, we’ve got to tell our stories; that’s the only way to justice.

The magazine has survived fifteen years of wars and conflict, issue after issue, curfew or not, TWIP was published! The clarity of the vision behind TWIP is what drives this success.

I am grateful for TWIP as a model of success for Palestinians, an experience that reflects how persistence and faith go a long way. For the future of this humble magazine, I only hope for further growth. And thank you, TWIP, for capturing some of the brighter moments. (:

I am really proud of you, Sani Meo and Taisir Masrieh!
Manar A. Harb is an aspiring writer and previous content editor of This Week in Palestine.

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4157&ed=225&edid=225

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

My letter to the NYTimes RE Secretary Kerry’s Derring-Do by Thomas L Friedman

The Jerusalem Arbitration Center: An Israeli former peace negotiator, Oren Shachor, and Palestinian tycoon Munib Al-Masri have founded the Jerusalem Arbitration Center, in a rare example of cooperation aimed at bypassing the political pitfalls of decades of conflict....Centre officials said they hope the availability of arbitration will lead to an increase in Israeli-Palestinian business ties and attract foreign investment. Two-thirds of the annual trade between Israel and the West Bank consists of Israeli exports to the territory.

RE Secretary Kerry’s Derring-Doby Thomas L Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/friedman-secretary-kerrys-derring-do.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Friedman certainly is taking liberties with his podium at the NYTimes as he asserts, with what sounds like an air of absolute authority, that Kerry is saying (or should be telling) Palestinians that there will be no return to original homes and lands for Palestinian refugees.

I vehemently disagree with Friedman's advice about Palestinian refugees, not only because his advice is in direct conflict with the dictates of international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but also because I believe that a person's religion should not ever ever EVER be the determining factor for security and citizenship and job opportunities. 

Israel's choices must not be about being Jewish: Israel's choices must be about being a sovereign nation making sovereign choices that respect international law, basic human rights and every citizen's need for security and peace- regardless of supposed race or religion.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

 NOTES

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

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

 Live by the Golden Rule

Christmas in Bethlehem ...useful links

[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=4167&ed=225&edid=225

Christmas in Bethlehem
By VisitPalestine.ps

 

Every December Bethlehem takes centre stage as it welcomes thousands of visitors who come to experience this historic town and join in the Christmas celebrations. This year should be no different as Bethlehem and its host communities once again prepare to welcome their guests from across the world.

Men, women, and children, tourist and local alike, will once again pack Manger Square to wait for and welcome the Roman Catholic Patriarch, Archbishop Fouad Twal, as he arrives at the Church of the Nativity and marks the start of Christmas celebrations. Palestinian boy scouts and girl scouts will bring the streets to life as they parade down Manger Street playing loud, festive music on their bagpipes and drums. Be sure to check out the December schedule of events that is expected to be packed with activities throughout the area. Dozens of international and local artists, musicians, choirs, and bands are scheduled to perform in Manger Square and at other venues, such as the Bethlehem Peace Center and Dar Annadwa (International Center of Bethlehem). The Annual Christmas Market will once again bring together local and international artisans showcasing and selling crafts, traditional foods, Christmas decorations, and children’s goodies. The Christmas-tree-lighting ceremonies in Bethlehem and neighbouring Beit Jala and Beit Sahour are yet another draw for tourists and locals alike since they will surely be accompanied by music and dance celebrations.

Celebrations will slow down after Christmas Eve on the 24th but pick up again with the celebration of Greek Orthodox Christmas on January 6 and Armenian Christmas on January 18.

If you plan to spend New Year’s Eve in Bethlehem, there will definitely be dozens of parties taking place at hotels and restaurants in the area. The Manger Square celebrations will feature fireworks displays and various performances.

Useful links for Christmas season events:
www.thisweekinpalestine.com

www.visitpalestine.ps
www.travelpalestine.ps

This Week in Palestine: One of Ours By Jane Masri

[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=4153&ed=225&edid=225

One of Ours
By Jane Masri

I don’t think you can find an English speaker in this country who couldn’t identify This Week in Palestine at 20 paces. Sani Meo, in the jargon of our shared industry, has created an iconic brand. His monthly chronicle of Palestinian perspectives set the standard for graphic design when he put out the first issue 15 years ago. Then and now, Turbo Design is a benchmark for young professionals in the communications field.

Sani and I are good friends. For two challengers who compete head to head for business in a very small market, this is a very strange circumstance indeed. I can’t speak to why Sani likes me (perhaps he likes my jokes), but I know exactly why I like him.

Sani is an entrepreneur and an idea man, in equal measure. This Week in Palestine’s most elemental function is as a slick, well-presented tour guide of Palestine. It’s a trove of valuable information for ajanab (foreigners) and locals alike, with good maps, restaurant reviews, a monthly list of goings on about town…and much, much more.

TWIP’s foundational business model was, and is, rock solid. Sani could have stopped there, and, arguably, he might have sold the same number of monthly ads. If he had, TWIP would be like every other magazine you see in hotels and restaurants all over the world. But he didn’t stop there.

Sani decided that TWIP’s content would showcase local and guest authors. Each month, he invites them to hold forth as they see fit on a certain theme. This month might be politics, another month might be cuisine, yet another might be landscapes or hikes. We’ve seen light-hearted pieces, tales of personal sadness or loss, sarcasm, info-mercials - you name it, someone’s covered it through the years in TWIP. And throughout this process, we have succeeded in documenting this Palestinian journey of ours from every imaginable perspective and point of view. I say “we” because we are the writers of This Week in Palestine - as much as he is. That’s the genius of his vision. From scratch, Sani built a successful business that adds value to his community - and he made us all shareholders.

Jane Masri is a founding partner and director of communications at Publicis Zoom. She has lived in Palestine with her husband and two children since 1998.
 
See PDF www.thisweekinpalestine.com/i188/pdfs/article/one_of_ours.pdf  

***

The main objective of TWIP, as many of you already know, is to document and promote Palestine.

Message from the Editor

Imagine a place where your ideas can roam free, un-judged, but respectfully critiqued; discussed and passed on from one person to the other, with no prejudice or dislike ...READ MORE

 

Israel confiscates private Palestinian land near Nablus

[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.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=657795

18/12/2013

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities confiscated ten dunams and restricted access to 500 dunams of private agricultural Palestinian land in the village of Qusra south of Nablus on Tuesday, an official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that the Israeli liaison department in Nablus officially notified its Palestinian counterpart of the confiscation order.

The land, he added, is located between the village and an illegal Israeli settlement outpost called Esh Kodesh.

Daghlas added that the Israelis told their Palestinian counterparts that farmers were not allowed access to an area of more than 500 dunams around the confiscated land.

"This means," he said, "they are confiscating 500 more dunams."

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

My letters to the NYTimes & the Guardian RE Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel & Roger Waters and the antisemitism question

ROGER WATERS Photograph: Torben Christensen/AFP/Getty Images

RE "Roger Waters and the antisemitism question- The Pink Floyd singer is certainly guilty of talking about Israel in a predictable and unhelpful way" by Keith Kahn-Harris

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/16/roger-waters-antisemitism-unhelpful

Dear Editor,

KUDOS to Roger Waters for noticing the very real plight of the Palestinians, and stepping up to do what he can to help being peace and justice to the Holy Land by raising awareness.

I do agree with Keith Kahn-Harris that "There is something about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that sucks people in and brings out the worst in them."... but I think it is obvious that the worst of the worst is being done by Islamists and by Israeli politicians and bigots who want the land but not the native non-Jewish population of that land.

A fully secular two state solution in 2014 to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict for everyone's sake won't stop people steeped in stories about the Nazis and the Holocaust from deploying the word Nazi to explain what they mean in various situations (like Seinfeld & the Soup Nazi)... but it might help keep the word "Zionist" from being officially defined as something much much worse than Nazi.

In a post 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights & a post Martin Luther King Jr world with the global information age, history is bound to judge us all in a very different light.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

*****

RE: Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/education/scholars-group-endorses-an-academic-boycott-of-israel.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131217&_r=0

Dear Editor,

"The American Studies Association resolution bars official collaboration with Israeli institutions but not with Israeli scholars themselves." Sounds more like a semi-boycott, or a partial boycott.... and yes indeed a very "symbolic" sting.

Israel's publicity aware ambassador to the United States firmly objects, claiming that Israel is "the sole democracy in the Middle East, in which academics are free to say what they want, write what they want and research what they want”...  I think it is becoming increasing obvious that there is nothing democratic about Israel's obsession with being Jewish, and that as things are today there is very little freedom or justice for the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine.

As things are today a one state scenario entrenches sovereign Israel's investments in Jews-preferred housing projects and religious scholars and schemes- further oppressing, displacing and disenfranchising the Palestinians in official as well as unofficial ways. 

A fully secular two state end to the Israel-Palestine conflict would go a long way towards eliminating the religious extremism, bigotry, injustice, corruption, cruelty and refugee crises created by the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

 NOTES

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

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

 Live by the Golden Rule

My letter PUBLISHED in CSM: US hypocrisy on Israel

 [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.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2013/1216/Readers-Write-Democrats-didn-t-lose-to-personality-US-hypocrisy-on-Israel

US hypocrisy on Israel

Thank you for Katrina Lantos Swett's Nov. 18 commentary, "JFK was right about religious freedom's promise." True religious freedom would indeed curb sectarian strife and extremism. And yes, American diplomats and forward thinkers should be advocating for such freedom worldwide. But how will countries in the Middle East be able to hear, much less understand, that message when so many American religious, political, and business leaders praise and protect Israel as "The Jewish State" while turning a blind eye to its persecution of Palestinians and other Arabs?

Calls for US support of religious freedom will be sanctimonious hypocrisy as long as we fail to insist on real democracy and a fully secular end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in line with international law and human rights.

Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.

"While attention is paid to the religious dimension of the city, Jerusalem was more than that. It was the Palestinian's metropol - the hub of their commercial and cultural life. It was the center of the West Bank, housing the region's major employers, and its medical, educational, financial, and social institutions. And so, when in 1994 Israel severed Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank it was as if the region had lost its heart. To understand the significance of this closure, imagine the impact on residents of northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland if they were suddenly cut off from entering Washington, DC." Dr. Zogby of AAI

AAI Remembering Nelson Mandela’s Extraordinary Legacy

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

http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/entry/mandela-and-arafat-ii/
Dr Zogby

Mandela and Arafat II

Monday December 16, 2013

Last week, I wrote a piece about a poster that has been hanging in my office for more than two decades.  It features a photo of Nelson Mandela embracing PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat taken when the two leaders first met following Mandela's release from prison. The poster also included a quote from Mandela in which he likened his struggle against apartheid to the struggle of the Palestinian people. I noted that I was pleased to have had the poster signed by both men.

Some readers raised objections to the piece and made disparaging remarks about the Palestinian leader - the kindest of which was to point out the obvious fact that "Arafat was no Mandela." While that statement was, of course, true, it missed the point. I wasn't comparing Arafat to Mandela, I was quoting Mandela who was pointing out the similarities between the South African and Palestinian peoples' struggles.

Some of the other comments were so ignorant of history and reality and so focused on the failings of Arafat that I was reminded of a time eighteen years ago when I was testifying at US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the state of the Palestinian economy. After I finished my remarks, a Senator challenged me asking, "Why aren't the Palestinians able to get their economy going? Why can't Arafat be more like South Africa's Nelson Mandela or Russia's Boris Yeltsin?"

The questions were "no brainers" that could only have been asked by someone who was either unaware of the Palestinian reality or so blinded by prejudice that they could not or would not see that reality even it were pointed out to them. I thought it best to assume that my questioner was simply unaware and so I answered respectfully. 

The fundamental difference between Arafat's situation and that faced the South African and Russian leaders was that when Mandela and Yeltsin assumed the presidency in their respective countries, they inherited states that were fully sovereign entities with functioning institutions and sustainable economies. They controlled their own borders, were able to freely import and export goods, collect revenues, and establish mutually beneficial state-to-state relations.  

In contrast, what the Palestinian leader received as a result of his agreement with the Israelis were several tiny cantons of densely populated and largely underdeveloped areas of the West Bank and Gaza that remained surrounded by Israeli-controlled territories. Palestinians did not control their borders and were, therefore, unable to conduct normal commerce with the outside world.  

In my capacity as co-chair of Builders for Peace (a project launched by then Vice-President Al Gore to promote private sector investment in the Palestinian territories), I had learned first-hand how Israeli control over imports and exports and even the movement of goods within the territories created severe impediments to investment and economic development in the West Bank and Gaza. 

Additionally, within a year of the signing of their agreement with Israel, Israel denied most Palestinians access to Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. While attention is paid to the religious dimension of the city, Jerusalem was more than that. It was the Palestinian's metropol - the hub of their commercial and cultural life. It was the center of the West Bank, housing the region's major employers, and its medical, educational, financial, and social institutions. And so, when in 1994 Israel severed Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank it was as if the region had lost its heart. To understand the significance of this closure, imagine the impact on residents of northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland if they were suddenly cut off from entering Washington, DC.

The two realities - the Palestinian and the South African - were so profoundly different. The only way they might have been comparable was if Mandela had become the mayor of Soweto, with the apartheid regime still governing the rest of the country. But Mandela and the ANC did not assume control of just the areas of the country populated largely by blacks, he and his movement won the right to compete in elections and then the right to govern the entire country.

In contrast, the best that Arafat could hope for and what he agreed to settle for was the right to establish an independent state on the 22% of Palestine that Israel had occupied in the aftermath of the 1967 war. That is what he believed he would get. But what he got instead was the "right" to establish a captive "provisional self-governing authority" on less than one-fifth of that 22% - with limited rights to operate beyond those areas.

By the time I was testifying (about three years after Palestinians had signed their agreement with the Israelis), Palestinian income levels had declined, unemployment had sharply increased, as had Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied lands, and Palestinians had grown restive and increasingly frustrated at the failure of peace to change the quality of their lives.  

There were, to be sure, profound errors made by the Palestinian leader - not the least of which was the trust he placed in the agreements he signed. But the mistakes in judgment, the lack of strategic vision, and the reliance on violence do not, alone, explain the reasons for the Palestinian dilemma. Arafat was handed a bad situation over which he had little control and few tools at his disposal and told that he was expected to perform like Mandela and Yeltsin! He was, in reality, being set up to fail. To place the blame solely on his shoulders is either ignorant of reality or just downright cruel.    

Washington Watch Archives »

Real models for Arab-American advocacy in the U.S.

ATFP 10th Anniversary photos

NOTE: The following commentary by ATFP Executive Director Ghaith al-Omari appears today on the Al Arabiya website. Click here for the original Al Arabiya commentary.]

Real models for Arab-American advocacy in the U.S.
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Ghaith al-Omari

It is an inescapable and perennial question among Arabs and Arab Americans why they have found it so difficult to establish a political presence in Washington and exercise influence over U.S. government policies. A Nov. 30 Al Arabiya News panel held in Dubai once again examined this quandary from multiple perspectives.

It is generally believed, and was reflected in the Al Arabiya panel, that there has been little more than a series of failures in such projects, arising from a plethora of challenges, obstacles and insufficient efforts. This is largely true. Yet, there are some important extant and emerging models of Arab-American success that went overlooked in the conversation and have yet to receive sufficient attention in general.

The Arab states face somewhat different challenges than the Arab-American community in trying to influence American policies, although their perspectives, interests and problems sometimes have significant overlap. For the Arab Americans, the problem is essentially a lack of organizations and institutions commensurate with their educational, financial, social and other accomplishments. In all other indicators, the Arab Americans outperform the vast majority of other Americans. But when it comes to building and maintaining political credibility, clout and influence, they seem to be particularly ineffective.

As was raised at the panel, the most typical complaint is the lack of an effective “Arab lobby,” or even set of Arab and Arab American lobbying groups to try to influence legislation and policy. And, as was noted on the panel, impediments - both those internal and external to the Arab-American community - really do undermine its ability to be politically effective. Yet, it is not enough to identify these. It is important to look into ongoing projects that demonstrate exactly how, and to what extent, that can happen if people are willing to do what is necessary for success.

It’s important to note that lobbying, which is a very clearly defined and regulated legal activity in the United States directly relating to specific legislation and elections, is hardly the only way of successfully engaging the American policy conversation. Even for more generalized policy advocacy, public education and other related and indispensable activities, hurdles do exist. However, it is equally important to understand that there are no legal or formal barriers to Arab-American political participation. It all comes down to a matter of will and skill.

A shining example

We strongly believe that some Arab Americans, such as the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), although it is not a lobby group but a policy advocacy organization, have identified ways of effective Arab-American engagement in Washington. And we feel that ATFP has demonstrated the core elements necessary for such a successful intervention.

First, it must be American at its core; especially if it relates to foreign policy, also, it must put the U.S. national interest first and participate in defining it. Second, it must engage with the system as it exists, and craft receivable messages that can be successfully communicated to policy makers and framers. Third, it must seek to make itself genuinely relevant to the problems facing the implementation of core, consensus American policy goals. Fourth, it must be based on integrity and an unswerving commitment to political and intellectual consistency saying the same things to all audiences in every language and not ever playing into the stereotype of Arab doublespeak.

Any such project will face significant resistance from within and without.

External forces such as extremist pro-Israel and other elements of the ultra-right will try to paint any Arab-American project, especially if it overtly champions the cause of Palestine, as anti-Semitic and possibly terrorist-oriented. Islamophobes will attack anything remotely linked to Islam or Muslims. And elements of the far left will denounce any serious effort to engage with the American political system as “selling out” or collaborating with imperialism and so forth. However, the bulk of the American policy and political mainstream is supportive of such a project.

Far more damaging are the internal constraints facing any serious Arab-American effort at political empowerment based on the indispensable precepts outlined above. The Arab-American far left and the Muslim religious right can both be relied upon to condemn any such project as “collaboration” and even “treason.” The alienation of so much of the community here in the United States, and the pervasive misimpression that the system is somehow closed to us makes anyone who engages, particularly if they are successful, immediately suspect. Therefore, not only is any effort stigmatized by a strident, vocal minority within the community, the more successful it is, the more it will be condemned.

Knee-jerk anti-Americanism

Similarly, the normative, knee-jerk anti-Americanism from multiple quarters in Arab political discourse, media and social conversation reinforce these same sentiments within the Arab-American community.

Many Arab Americans remain primarily informed by Arab political discourse, which has two debilitating impacts. First, it means that they are speaking a different political language, no matter how perfect their English may be, than their fellow citizens. They simply cannot be understood because of the chasm in worldviews. Second, insofar as Arab Americans are influenced by Arab discourse emanating from the Middle East, their alienation from and hostility towards their own country and its foreign policy is only exacerbated.

These factors combine to intimidate, bully and discourage far too many Arab Americans who would otherwise been keen on engaging in our country’s political and policy dynamic. They are the real reasons why it is proving so hard for Arab Americans, as a community, to be effective in Washington.

We believe we have shown how, by shaking off these traditional negative attitudes and embracing our full status as American citizens with every right, and indeed the responsibility, to help define and shape our national interests, Arab Americans can achieve the long-elusive goals of political credibility and relevance. With meager resources, and facing all of these same difficulties, ATFP has managed to gain a seat at the American policy table on the most sensitive and challenging of U.S. foreign policy issues: Palestine. If this can be accomplished regarding Israeli-Palestinian matters, other areas of concern should be even more accessible.

The challenge now is to extend this model beyond the issue of Palestine to other crucial American foreign policy concerns in the Middle East, and the accumulation of major influence through multiple organizations. Serious, purposeful, focused engagement of the kind pursued by ATFP needs to be replicated at a much broader level and through many different vehicles.

Over the past decade of its existence, ATFP has proven, beyond any plausible doubt, that it is entirely possible for Arab Americans to gain credibility, access, and indeed, influence over the thorniest of American policy issues if the approach is serious, thoughtful and systematic. The corollary is obvious: The main thing that is actually holding the Arabs and the Arab Americans back from gaining real political impact and influence in the United States is… ourselves!

____________________

Ghaith al-Omari is Executive Director at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). Prior to that, he served in various positions within the Palestinian Authority, including Director of the International Relations Department in the Office of the Palestinian President, and advisor to former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. In these capacities, he provided advice on foreign policy - especially vis-à-vis the United States and Israel -- and security. He has extensive experience in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, having been an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team throughout the permanent status negotiations (1999–2001). In that capacity, he participated in various negotiating rounds, most notably the Camp David summit and the Taba talks. After the breakdown of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, he was the lead Palestinian drafter of the Geneva Initiative, an unofficial model peace agreement negotiated between leading Palestinian and Israeli public figures. Mr. al-Omari is a lawyer by training and a graduate of Georgetown and Oxford universities. Prior to his involvement in the Middle East peace process, he taught international law in Jordan and was active in human rights advocacy.