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Friday, October 10, 2014

My letter to Ma'an News RE Salaita & Analysis: On the incivility of Palestinians By Heike Schotten

Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of a building that was destroyed  during the Israeli army summer's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, on Oct. 2, 2014, in Khan Younis (AFP/Said Khatib, File) UNRWA to make biggest ever Gaza aid plea
RE Analysis: On the incivility of Palestinians By Heike Schotten,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=730563

Dear Editor,

No wonder America's mainstream media shies away from more fully covering the Israel-Palestine conflict... as all the world's eyes are on Palestinian statehood, American's loudest activists for Palestine are doing everything but promoting support for Palestinian statehood. 

I feel deep sorrow for all the children of Palestine, not just the ones killed in and by the Israel-Palestine conflict, but also the ones stuck living in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict with all its many dangers and negative ramifications.

Salaita is not stuck in stateless limbo. 

Salaita has the freedom to find another job, whereas countless Palestinians do not have that freedom.

Salaita is free to travel, and free to keep his own children safe from Israeli bullets and bombs, whereas countless Palestinians do not have that freedom.

Salaita is a grown man making his own choices, living in a safe and secure, fully sovereign nation state where you are free to speak out, but so is everyone else:

MAYBE Zionists once 'owned' the conversation, and MAYBE Zionists did help prod the university to reconsider the wisdom of hiring Salaita, but in the age of the internet with blogs, online journals, comment sections, facebook, tweets, and forwards Zionists most certainly do not own the conversation, although they do tend to make many intelligent and diplomatic contributions in many forums.

I think Ma'an news, which is supposed to be about and for Palestine, should look for and publish pro-Palestine writers who actually support statehood and diplomacy for Palestine

My personal favorites to follow are the folks at ATFP - the American Task Force on Palestine.  As Hussein Ibish says in his most recent article: Hisham, Hope and Despair..."The crucial point is that the one thing that is certain is that the choices that we make individually and collectively will have a direct and profound impact on the short, medium and long-term outcomes. And, therefore, our choices must be carefully considered, deliberate and purposive, while apathy and inaction are not options." 
 https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/564209-hisham-hope-and-despair

And as ATFP's (born in Jerusalem) founder Ziad Asali wisely points out with a pertinent twitter retweet on the same basic topic: To promote the values of dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect, among religions and cultures... Let’s teach our youth to build, not destroy

 http://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/2014/10/to-promote-values-of-dialogue-tolerance.html

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab,
American homemaker & poet

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