My letter to CSM RE In famously argumentative Israel, near total support for Gaza offensive. While many outside Israel question if Israel's offensive in Gaza is proportional to the threat, it's hard to find any hand-wringing in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

Ma'an News August 5 2014: According to the Ministry of Health, the Israeli offensive on Gaza has left 1,822 Palestinians dead, including 398 children. Some 9,370 Palestinians have been injured, 2,744 of them children. Approximately 373,000 children are in need of psychological support as a result of the trauma of the war, according to UN figures.

RE In famously argumentative Israel, near total support for Gaza offensive (+video). While many outside Israel question if Israel's offensive in Gaza is proportional to the threat, it's hard to find any hand-wringing in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0803/In-famously-argumentative-Israel-near-total-support-for-Gaza-offensive-video

Dear Editor,

Israel's need to defend itself as a sovereign nation is not at all the same thing as Israel's drive to be demographically Jewish. Confusing the two generates misleading manic propaganda perpetuating support for sovereign investments in institutionalized bigotry such as Jewish-only immigration, settlement, housing and hasbara projects; state subsidized Jewish scholars;  a Jews-preferred job market and increasingly cruel Israeli military campaigns that have been usurping Palestinian land, life and peace for the past sixty six years. As things are today  Jews-preferred Israel wants the land, but not the native non-Jewish population of that land.

Islamists most certainly make a bad situation worse, but Islamists are not the only rejectionists, manipulative liars, and rage maestros who thrive on the continuation of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the very real plight of the Palestinians: Bad advice, half truths, bully tactics, bigotry, and insults on both sides of the global pro-Israel/pro-Palestine conversation proliferate, making actually ending the Israel-Palestine conflict appear more convoluted and impossible than it needs to be. 

Keep your eye on the ball: Diplomatic efforts geared towards empowering a carefully negotiated fully secular two state solution shaping two fully sovereign, secure modern nation states both fully respecting international law and universal human rights is the only way to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict and all its many very negative ramifications.

Realistic analysts, compassionate insiders, and savvy outsiders on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict realize the need to work within existing systems everywhere advocating and investing in a just and lasting peace for both Israel and for Palestine.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
" This is a time of national crisis, I will be honest with you, that does require commitment to non-violence of the kind that would give everyone the time needed to rebuild, to unify, but at the same time to agree with Israel and the world on a date certain for ending the occupation." Palestine's Salam Fayyad

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2014/07/08/1404792000#sthash.591SYEYV.dpuf

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2014/07/08/1404792000#sthash.591SYEYV.dpuf

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2014/07/08/1404792000#sthash.591SYEYV.dpuf

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians - See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2014/07/08/1404792000#sthash.591SYEYV.dpuf

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

UPDATE: American Task Force on Palestine Advocacy Efforts During the Ongoing Tragic Hostilities : As tragic and appalling hostilities erupted again between Israelis and Palestinians, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) engaged in intensive advocacy efforts to call for an immediate cease-fire to save lives and spare the innocent. On July 8th, ATFP issued a formal press release calling for de-escalation between Israel and the Palestinians...READ MORE

UNITED NATIONS: International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2014 

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

 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

Normalizing Intelligent Conversations, Diplomatic Support, and Hope for Palestine: American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP)

ATFP Panel on Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape... & a firm call for an immediate ceasefire

"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

***

The Arab Peace Initiative

Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:

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.

Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine... "An eye-opening—and inspiring—new approach to thinking about one of the world’s most deeply entrenched conflicts"

"I have yet to meet a refugee who wanted to be a refugee and even less so, who wished to remain a refugee. Palestine refugees are no different. Their call for a just and lasting solution to their plight must be heard." UNWRA's Pierre Krähenbühl on World Refugee Day

America/Israel/Palestine 1776

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