Thursday, May 15, 2014

My letter to the Washington Post RE " Who’s to blame for the end of the ‘peace process’? " By Jennifer Rubin

ATFP/UNRWA Briefing
The Future of Gaza: Trajectories, Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

May 19 2014 National Press Club Washington, DC
RE  Who’s to blame for the end of the ‘peace process’?  By Jennifer Rubin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/05/14/whos-to-blame-for-the-end-of-the-peace-process/?wpisrc=nl_popns

Dear Editor,

Jennifer Rubin's most recent anti-Palestine rant is a very good example of echo chamber insanity.  Echo chamber insanity is shaped by titillating half truths compiled and promoted by groups of people who bond by creating enemies. 

Wiser more compassionate people know to sample and seriously think about a wide variety of news, information and opinion from multiple sources, making connections and sparking some very valuable insights. For instance: Omar Baddar "... bigotry puts entire communities under attack from the outside, thus distracting from their fight to advance and tackle problems within."

Some people obviously want to exasperate bigotry, and some people obviously do not want the Israel-Palestine conflict to end. On both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict echo chamber insanity convinces a narrow minded audience that one narrow worldview will "win"...  Wiser more compassionate people do want the Israel-Palestine conflict to end, and are highly motivated to help shape a just and lasting peace. 

Diplomacy for Palestine continues, and everyone weighing in is in fact part of the 'peace process' Rubin wants us to believe is over. 

A fully secular two state solution firmly rooted in full respect for international law and universal human rights to, once and for all, actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict for everyone's sake really is the best way forward. 

Today, marking the anniversary of what Arabs refer to as the Nakba, the catastrophe- the beginning of the very real plight of the Palestinians with the forced exile of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands, Saeb Erekat points out in a very informative essay ('Israel can't erase the Nakba from history' ) that "Palestine has recognized Israel's right to exist since 1988. We are not asking for Hebrew not to be an official language or Jewish holidays not to be official holidays. The character of Israel is not for us to define."

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
STAY CONNECTED... 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

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  • 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 only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine." American Task Force on Palestine's born in Jerusalem Dr. Ziad Asali: To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace 

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