Wednesday, October 1, 2014

My letter to the NYTimes RE Order vs. Disorder, Part 4 by Thomas L Friedman

Palestinian protest against planned land seizure by Israeli settlers in the village of Wadi Foukin, near Bethlehem, 26 September 2014. Photograph: Sipa USA/Rex Features
RE: Order vs. Disorder, Part 4 by Thomas L Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/opinion/thomas-l-friedman-order-vs-disorder-part-4-.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

The Israel-Palestine conflict can not be contained, despite Thomas Friedman's best efforts: Continuing to imprison Palestinians in a stateless limbo plus crowded refugee camps while sovereign Jews-preferred Israel steals more and more Palestinian land, pushing more and more native non-Jewish Palestinians into poverty and forced exile is not a formula for containment.

HAMAS is reaction to Israel's anti-Palestine actions, and a useful tool for Israel on its current trajectory.  Opponents of peace negotiations and apologists for HAMAS help Israelis 'prove' to themselves and to the wider world that Palestinians reject peace, diplomacy, Israel and a fully secular two state end to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Fact is, right now Israeli tax payers fund Jewish religious "scholars" and settlement projects in the illegally occupied territories. IS/ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State/Da'esh (or whatever the heck you want to call it) has taken the same basic game plan and pushed it to its cruelest extreme.

FULL respect for international law and universal basic human rights (including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees inalienable right to return to original homes and lands) creating a fully sovereign fully secular Palestinian state living alongside a fully secular Israel in peace, security and dignity, would go a long way towards ending the very real plight of the Palestinians as well as convincing people, and governments, worldwide that the rule of fair and just laws is the best option, and that civilization really is worth preserving.

The Israel-Palestine conflict can not be contained- but it can [and should] be ended.

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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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


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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.

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