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Thursday, January 30, 2014

My letter to the NYTimes RE Why Kerry is Scary by Thomas L. Friedman

Israel's anti-Palestine wall
RE Why Kerry is Scary by Thomas L. Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/opinion/friedman-why-kerry-is-scary.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Talking Israel away from peace, Friedman seeks to annihilate the refugee's right of return...  Who is next is the question that needs to be asked: This is not just about Israel, nor is it about being Jewish- it is about the future of fair and just laws.

The right of return is a normal every day thing we do every time we walk out a door no matter who we are or where we live. The right of return is not a complicated or esoteric concept, it simply is how civilization works.

The right of return is firmly rooted international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights... and Golden Rule thinking. It is a tool for peace and security for every man, woman and child on earth. 

Do we really want to set the official precedent for every community and country on earth, from this day forward, to feel free to harass, oppress, impoverish, imprison and/or displace targeted 'others'.

Demanding that the Palestinians ratify Israel's state sponsored religion is a bad idea with dangerous ramifications.  Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular two sate solution is a good idea with beneficial ramifications for the entire region.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
“You have to understand that the progressive forces in the Arab world, those that support having a visible relationship with Israel, cannot reach out to it until the Palestinian problem is resolved,” said one Jordanian official. “Moreover, this should also be Israel’s interest, because the only way to stop the Islamic movements from seizing control in the West Bank is through an agreement with the Palestinians.”

Hanan Ashrawi tells The Times of Israel: Jews and members of all religions would have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship. But “Palestine” could not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves” where residents maintained their Israeli citizenship status

ATFP Briefing: Yarmouk Camp Crisis

John Kerry defends US foreign policy “The reason we’re so devoted to finding a solution is simple: Because the benefits of success and the dangers of failure are enormous for the United States, for the world, for the region and, most importantly of all, for the Israeli and Palestinian people,” US secretary of state John Kerry at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

EU warns Israel, Palestinians of the cost of peace failure

MIFTAH: Anti- corruption youth strategy; young Palestinians put a corruption-free society as their priority "...This is their future, they say, because in the end, it is the youth that seeks a society free of corruption that will offer them the opportunity to obtain the right job and the right social status based on their own merits, not on grounds of nepotism and favoritism."   

ATFP Briefing: Richard Wright, the Director of the UNRWA New York Representative Office will join Andrew Tabler from WINEP and ATFP's Hussein Ibish to discuss the dire situation of those Palestine Refugees trapped inside Yarmouk, including updates on recent interventions by UNRWA 1-22-2014


Analysis: Why Palestinian leadership is right to engage in peace talks

Ziad Asali of ATFP: Why Palestinians are puzzled by the 'Jewish state' demand... Netanyahu's demand for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state bizarrely inserts Palestinians into the 'Who is a Jew' debate

The monster that won't die: Al-Qaeda is making yet another appalling comeback "There have always been differences within al-Qaeda, those who have either successfully seized or been granted permission to use the name as a kind of franchise, and other salafi-jihadi or "takfiri" groups. But while the parent organization based in Pakistan and Afghanistan seems to be increasingly irrelevant, the political ideology and program of mass murder that are now synonymous with al-Qaeda seem at least as robust as ever, if not more so. It is the monster that, for the past decade, simply will not die."

  • 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

American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) supports Palestinian institution-building, good governance, anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved living standards. ATFP categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be. http://www.americantaskforce.org/

                                                                                               The Arab Peace Initiative

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