My letter to the NYtimes RE The Making of a Disaster by Roger Cohen

Israel's Gaza offensive causes 5 billion USD losses: "Israel said its war was against militants and against Hamas, but this factory and other factories do not belong to Hamas. So the aim is to keep our economy weak and broken."

RE: The Making of a Disaster
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/opinion/roger-cohen-the-making-of-a-disaster.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. According to wikipedia "She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans and the downtrodden, but she also listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.^[1] " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis 

Why taint the beauty, dignity,  and history of the name Isis by dubbing the Islamist thugs "ISIS".  ISIL was the name first used and I think we should stick with that as it stands for the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant " 

"ISIS" also is "is is", whereas ISIL sounds like "is ill" which is a much healthier subliminal message.

That was one thing I found wrong with Roger's Cohen recent column pontificating about the rise of the murderous anti-Western Islamists who killed many an Arab Muslim and many an Arab Christian before they beheaded the American journalist James Foley.  A much more glaring flaw with even more dangerous ramifications than the tainting of a beautiful name "ISIS" is Cohen's failure to even glance at Israel, as if Israeli rhetoric and Israeli actions do not matter ... and as if Israel has not played a pivotal role in the rise of religious extremism and violence in the Middle East.

Islamists and potential recruits for ISIL can not help but look at Israel's success in building a strong heavily armed state with privileges, good jobs, and preferential housing for Jews, while the native non-Jewish population of historic Palestine is pushed into poverty and forced exile- and Palestinian refugee camps are bombed to smithereens by Israel's army. 

Israel ignores the Arab Peace Initiative and sabotages diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Palestine conflict day after day after day, perpetuating and actively exasperating the plight of the Palestinians rather than respecting international law and universal basic human rights by making peace with and for Palestine, for everyone's sake.

ISIL did not grow through American weakness. ISIL grew because it wanted to grow and it finds victory as well as funds in being cruel to the people it conquers and torments. ISIL is fully accountable for what ISIL does, and must be fully blamed and criticized for its crimes, just as Israel should be held fully accountable for what it does with American made weaponry and HAMAS should be held fully accountable for what it does with its home made rockets. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
The Real Middle East Crisis Is Economic "While Western observers focus on political issues in the Middle East, people in the region are themselves preoccupied with economic matters"

 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

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

NYTimes: Resisting Nazis, He Saw Need for Israel. Now He Is Its Critic.

Dean Obeidallah in The Daily Beast: Searching for a Palestinian Dr. King

There Are Clues

Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?

Zogby:  What we found was that there has been a continued erosion in the favorable ratings Americans have of both Arabs and Muslims, posing a threat to the civil rights and political inclusion of both Arab Americans and American Muslims.

"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 

Normalizing Intelligent Conversations, Diplomatic Support, and Hope for Palestine: American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) Panel on Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape... & a firm call for an immediate ceasefire

To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace : "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." Ziad Asali

In Growing Gardens for Palestine... A poem Dedicated to Abu Yusuf

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

America/Israel/Palestine 1948: 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