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Friday, August 1, 2014

My letter to the Washington Post RE UNWRA & "The controversial UN agency that found rockets in its Gaza schools "

Folke Bernadotte, the first official mediator in the United Nation's history: Born January 2, 1895 Stockholm, Sweden. Assassinated September 17th 1948 (aged 53) in Jerusalem
RE The controversial UN agency that found rockets in its Gaza schools
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/01/war-in-gaza-the-controversial-un-agency-that-found-rockets-in-its-schools/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3

Dear Editor,

US Congressmen are foolish to be trusting Israeli advice on UNWRA.  Islamists and Israel are both in the wrong, and they are both making the very real plight of the Palestinians much worse.

Tax payers here and there should not be coerced into funding religious preferences and religious fantasies- and religious war.  Nations and neighborhoods and NGOs should be nurturing golden rule thinking and fair and just policies- for everyone's sake, not just coreligionists.  A fully secular two state solution shaping two fully sovereign, fully secure, fully free nation states, one called Israel and one called Palestine, to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict ASAP is in everyone's best interests. 

Established in 1949 UNWRA's "mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. " (An UNRWA historic moment: UNRWA Commissioner-General briefing to the UN Security Council 31 July 2014)

Chris Gunness's twitter profile sums up perfectly who he is, and why he is worth following: "UNRWA Spokesman advocating passionately for Palestine refugees to enjoy all their rights to the full, including the right to a just and durable solution."   I admire him immensely, but not being very twitter savvy did not even know I could follow him on twitter until I started to do a little research to write this letter objecting to the very VERY slanted and misleading article "The controversial UN agency that found rockets in its Gaza schools "

Back to my main point: Following the shocking horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, the United Nations gathered representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world to draft the carefully and thoughtfully crafted Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected: "Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world" Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1945 a noble man named Folke Bernadotte succeeded in rescuing 15,000 people from German concentration camps- in 1948 Folke Bernadotte became the first official mediator in the United Nation's history.

Folke Bernadotte pointed out that "it would be an offense against the principles of justice if those innocent victims [Palestinians] could not return to their home while immigrants flowed into Palestine to take their place"

United Nations Mediator Folke Bernadotte was murdered on Friday 17 September 1948 by members of the armed Jewish Zionist group Lehi (commonly known as the Stern Gang or Stern Group).

December 11, 1948 The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 194 (III), resolving that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date...

There would be no UNWRA today if Israel had respected the Palestinian refugees right to return to live in peace.  Time plus Jews-preferred Israel's continuing persecution and forced displacement of the native non-Jewish population of historic Palestine has swelled the number of official Palestinian refugees, as well as the number of those who are also in forced exile but not registered as official refugees. 

The real controversy is not that UNWRA exists, but that Israel refuses to respect international law and the Palestinians basic human rights.

Article 1. of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • 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.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
If a problem ever seems too big, too insurmountable, remember Nelson Mandela's words: "It always seems impossible until it's done."

One Sorrow ... a poem

This Week in Palestine SOCIAL MEDIA: How do we move from “preaching to the choir” to communication with a wider audience that leads to more understanding, empathy, and behaviours in concert with our plight for self-determination and an end to the Israeli occupation?

The Solution to Middle East Chaos ... American Task Force on Palestine: Categorically and unequivocally condemning all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be

Palestinians in Gaza


"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

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

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Video: UN official Chris Gunness, in an interview with Al Jazeera, sobs on live TV over deaths of Palestinian children

  • Image Credit: YouTube
  • UN official Chris Gunness is brought to tears while being interviewed on television.
  [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/video-un-official-chris-gunness-sobs-on-live-tv-over-deaths-of-palestinian-children-1.1365722
  • By Siham El Najmi, Special to Gulf News
  • Published: 13:15 July 31, 2014
Dubai: Sometimes tears are more eloquent than words, UNWRA spokesman Chris Gunness told Gulf News in an interview.

Gunness broke down in tears on Wednesday after a television interview appearance following an Israeli attack on a UN school in Gaza.

“The rights of Palestinians, and even their children, are wholesale denied ... and its appalling,” Gunness, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told Al Jazeera Arabic from Occupied Jerusalem.

The interviewer appears to thank him for appearing, upon which Gunness breaks down and weeps. The video has gone viral on social media. Gunness said he didn’t know that the network would share the video which he said was effectively a ‘private moment of grief’.

My letter to the Washington Post RE End the Gaza blockade to achieve peace By Keith Ellison

Displaced Palestinian children rest at the Abu Hussien United Nations school in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip after the area was hit earlier in the morning by Israeli shelling on July 30, 2014  UN says Israeli shelling of Gaza 'disgraces the world'

RE End the Gaza blockade to achieve peace

If a problem ever seems too big, too insurmountable, remember Nelson Mandela's words: "It always seems impossible until it's done."

One Sorrow ... a poem

This Week in Palestine SOCIAL MEDIA: How do we move from “preaching to the choir” to communication with a wider audience that leads to more understanding, empathy, and behaviours in concert with our plight for self-determination and an end to the Israeli occupation?

The Solution to Middle East Chaos ... American Task Force on Palestine: Categorically and unequivocally condemning all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be

Palestinians in Gaza



"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

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

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

If a problem ever seems too big, too insurmountable, remember Nelson Mandela's words: "It always seems impossible until it's done."



"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


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.


Tuesday, July 29, 2014

One Sorrow ... a poem

Sorrow 
( photo credit: cemetery sculptures found on Pinterest)


    One Sorrow

Israel.
Palestine.
Two words
generating rage

since 1948.

Failure to end
the Israel-Palestine
conflict
is what already is,

and has been
formally
since 1948.

One Israel and
No Palestine:

One tragic sorrow
with two words
and a billion
arguments
everywhere
exasperating
hostilities
and bad assumptions...

One land with two words
sparking insults
bigotry, bombs.

One land, and two words
with many meanings
perpetuating one war
that needs to end
with two fully free
fully secure, fully
sovereign states
making one true peace.

A courageous peace-
a compassionate peace
a reasonable peace
welcoming home
the rule of fair
and just laws,
welcoming home
all refugees,
welcoming home
one universal quest
for a better way forward.






                   poem copyright ©2014 Anne Selden Annab

This Week in Palestine SOCIAL MEDIA: How do we move from “preaching to the choir” to communication with a wider audience that leads to more understanding, empathy, and behaviours in concert with our plight for self-determination and an end to the Israeli occupation?

YES, BEAUTY! This Week in Palestine Gaza Photo by Mohammad Zarandah.
 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4313&ed=233&edid=233

Would Social Media Bring Freedom to Palestine?
Saleem Alhabash, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Social Media Michigan State University

 
I am a social scientist who is enthusiastic about the social media phenomenon and how it affects our lives. I use lab and field experiments to test what motivates people to share, like, and comment on social media posts and how engagement with social media can lead to offline behaviours. Applying my research to my homeland, I argue that interaction on social media related to the Palestine question could potentially lead to changes in attitudes and behaviours toward Palestine and the Palestinians.

Social Media: A Global Village?

In the mid-1960s, Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan1 talked about technology as a force unifying the world into a global village, where people communicate freely and things that happen in one part of the world are seen or heard in another. However, the fact that people are on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram does not make them connected and does not remove physical and mental borders among nations. Social media are still very segregated. We interact with people who are like us, despite the possibility of having diverse online networks. It becomes difficult, then, to infiltrate people’s networks with content that is incongruent with their values and norms. Even when it happens, the chances of them engaging with such content are slim. Taking into consideration negative stereotypes of Palestinians, pro-Palestinian social media content is deemed incongruent, thus leading us to a case of “preaching to the choir,” instead of changing how others perceive us as a nation and as a cause.



Over the past decade, social media have experienced exponential global growth. Facebook has 1.28 billion users, each with an average of 338 Facebook friends.7-8 There are 255 million active Twitter users, who send 500 million tweets per day.9 More than a billion Internet users visit YouTube each month, where they watch six billion hours of video monthly, and upload 100 hours of video every single minute.10 Palestinians have the opportunity to leverage social media in order to engage people in online interaction that will lead to empathy and support for ending the Occupation.


How do we move from “preaching to the choir” to communication with a wider audience that leads to more understanding, empathy, and behaviours in concert with our plight for self-determination and an end to the Israeli occupation? It will not be easy. To master this art, we need to understand how people use social media and the resulting effects. But first, we need to understand human nature.


Return to Basics
As humans, we respond to everything in our environment in one of two basic ways: we either approach stimuli or we avoid stimuli. Our central nervous system is guided by the appetitive motivational system, which drives us to seek out pleasurable stimuli such as food and sex, and the aversive motivational system that drives us to avoid negative stimuli, such as danger so that we run away from a roaring lion. Understanding this trait of human nature is essential to realizing why people click on a link, hit the “like” button, share a post, or comment on something someone else has said on social media. When communicating with others, the key is making it relevant enough to activate their approach motivation, which guides both online and offline behaviours. A study in 20122 found that positive articles in the New York Times were shared more often than negative ones. My own research showed that college students were more willing to like, comment, and share anti-cyberbullying posts if they had a positive rather than a negative tone.3 This is precisely why images of babies and kittens get more likes, shares, and Retweets. Pleasant images activate pleasant emotions, and people like to share pleasant things. I’m not suggesting we start posting pictures of cats to garner support for Palestine, yet knowing about this dynamic is essential to getting people more engaged online.

In 2007, I conducted a month-long experiment, where I asked Palestinian and American young adults to interact on Facebook. In addition to discussing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, participants asked each other about dating norms, food, school, and family relationships. Pretty mundane, right? Yet after one month of such “mundane” interactions, both the Palestinian group and the American group had changed their perceptions about the other for the better. Bottom line: the experiment was a success. Participants were able to humanize the other side, which resulted in viewing them favourably. In another study, American college students played the roles of the Palestinian President or the Israeli Prime Minister in PeaceMaker, a video-game simulation of the conflict. Results from two studies showed that playing the role of the Palestinian President for only 20 minutes led to positive changes in attitudes and stereotypes toward Palestinians.


A sceptic might very well say that these interactions are meaningless, considering the complexity of the conflict. That might be true in some cases, yet additional studies I’ve conducted show that expressing intentions to “like,” share, and comment on a Facebook status update (regardless of the topic) nearly doubles the chances that a person would express intentions to engage in relevant offline behaviours.4, 5How do we, then, get people engaged online with our cause?


Creating a “Dragonfly Effect”

In their book, The Dragonfly Effect,6 Aaker and Smith argue that to create successful social media campaigns, you need to identify a clear goal, figure out how to grab people’s attention, engage them with the content, and invite them to take action. I often see posts on my Facebook newsfeed related to Palestine that have no clear goal. We need to think more strategically about what kind of impact we want to have with the information we share about Palestine. We need to provide content that not only grabs people’s attention, but also engages them. To engage people and motivate them to take action, we need to tell a story, to put a human face on our just cause, to generate empathy (bloody and gory pictures don’t generate empathy; they create anger and push people away). Above all we must remain authentic. We need to provide a call to action beyond sheer awareness-raising. It’s not about telling people what to do; it’s about offering mechanisms for them to act upon their online engagement.

To answer the question I posed in the title of this article, I can only say: it depends. Social media offer amazing opportunities to share our perspectives without the restrictions of mainstream media gatekeepers. We have access to a virtual space where anyone can talk to everyone, where everyone can fulfil his/her responsibility to champion our rights and induce change, even if it’s just one person at a time. This is the time when one person could make a difference. The world awaits our call to action!


Saleem Alhabash is an assistant professor of public relations and social media at Michigan State University’s Department of Advertising + Public Relations and Department of Media and Information. He completed his B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from Birzeit University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. Away from research, he enjoys baking batches of baklawa and muttabaq-consistently crowd-pleasers-to share with friends and colleagues.




1    http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_mcluhan.htm
2    Berger, J. & Milkman, K. L. (2012). What makes online content viral? Journal of Marketing, 49(2), 192-205.
3    Alhabash, S., McAlister, A., Hagerstrom, A., Quilliam, E. T., Rifon, N., & Richards, J. (2013). Between “Likes” and “Shares”: Effects of emotional appeal and virality of anti-cyberbullying messages on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(3). DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0265
4    Alhabash, S., McAlister, A. R., Richards, J. I., Quilliam, E. T., & Lou, C. (In Press). Alcohol’s getting a bit more social: When alcohol marketing messages on Facebook motivate young adults to imbibe. Mass Communication & Society.
5    Alhabash, S., Baek, J.-h., Cunningham, C., & Hagerstrom, A. (2014). Anti-cyberbullying civic participation: Effects of virality, arousal level, and commenting behavior for YouTube videos on civic behavioral intentions. Paper presented to the Communication and Technology Division of the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Seattle, WA.
6    Aaker, J. & Smith, A. (2010). The dragonfly effect: Quick, effective, and powerful ways to use social media to drive social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
7    http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/

8    http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/6-new-facts-about-facebook/

9    https://about.twitter.com/company

10    https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html

The Solution to Middle East Chaos ... American Task Force on Palestine: Categorically and unequivocally condemning all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be

The Solution to Middle East Chaos
July 28, 2014
Gaza, Syria, and Iraq are pained by that same disease of extremism and conflict. Civilians, more specifically children and women, are bearing the brunt of the injustices. In today's Middle East, we have sacrificed a generation to the flames of rage.


Israel’s rhetoric exposes some disturbing moral grey areas
July 28, 2014 

In the ongoing Gaza campaign, Israel and its supporters have once again fallen back on the shopworn idea that civilian casualties are justifiable because its primary intention is not to specifically target non-combatants.


VIDEO: The Conflict in Gaza: Recalculating the Political-Military Equation 
Published on Jul 24, 2014
Experts discuss Israeli and Hamas objectives and capabilities in the Gaza conflict, likely winners and losers, potential for a ceasefire agreement, and implications for future conflicts in the Middle East. Read more and download slide presentations


 VIDEO: MSNBC Last Word (7-18-14)... Nearly 300 Palestinians have died in the conflict between Hamas and Israel as both sides trade rockets and the blame. But who supports Hamas? Ziad Asali discusses.


 ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

July 8, 2014, 
Washington, DC -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP)
today called on Israel and the Palestinians to de-escalate as quickly as
 possible from an increasingly explosive situation and a moment of grave
 peril. Major airstrikes on Gaza have killed numerous Palestinians,
reportedly including several children, today while another heavy barrage
 of rocket fire from Gaza was launched towards southern Israel, and at
least one rocket being reportedly shot down over Tel Aviv. Today's
violence comes in the context of tit-for-tat killings of, and attacks
on, Israeli and Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem, widespread tensions
in the West Bank, and even growing unrest among Palestinian citizens of
Israel. 

ATFP called on all sides to demonstrate leadership and to take immediate and
 concrete actions to de-escalate the growing conflict and refrain from
inflammatory rhetoric. ATFP urged all parties to consider the negative
consequences of similar conflagrations in the past, and recall that they
 did not benefit either side, militarily or politically, but caused the
deaths of countless innocent civilians, enormous destruction of
property, and widespread and lasting misery. ATFP urged President Barack
 Obama and the rest of the international community to use their good
offices to ensure that all prospects for resolving the crisis are fully
explored.

ATFP categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be
ATFP's mission is to articulate and educate about the United States
national interest in helping to create a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace, security and dignity. ATFP is committed to strengthening Palestinian-American relations at every level. The Task Force supports Palestinian institution-building, good governance, anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved living standards. ATFP holds that these same values are relevant to the broader Arab world, and that the question of Palestine is inextricably linked to regional realities and developments.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Palestinians in Gaza

Retweeted by Ziad Asali
USAToday: A Palestinian family seeks shelter in Khan Younis. More photos from Gaza: (Oliver Weiken, epa)


USA Today Photo Story

My letter to the NYTimes RE Hope in the Abattoir, The Shared Destiny of Israel and Gaza by Roger Cohen


Israeli Arabs caught in the middle of Gaza war: Jafar Farah, director of Mossawa, the advocacy center for Arab citizens in Israel, said Israeli Arabs had a particularly hard time because they could see the suffering and growing extremism on both sides: "What the army is doing in Gaza is just creating more enemies. Our identification is not with Hamas, it is with the Palestinian people." In this Friday, March 30, 2012, file photo, Arab Israeli protesters wave Palestinian flags as they gather to mark the annual Land Day event in the Arab Village of Dir Hana, northern Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

RE:  Hope in the Abattoir, The Shared Destiny of Israel and Gaza by Roger Cohen

Dear Editor,

It feels true, as poet Seamus Heaney observed, that “It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir.”

However there are valuable lessons we have learned from history that have shaped modern law and social attitudes to help secure more freedom, more justice, more prosperity, and more peace for more people. 

Right now both Jews-preferred Israel and Islamists all through out the region have been contributing to a horrifically tragic and increasingly dangerous situation whereby there is substantially less freedom, justice, prosperity or peace for many people.

Countless children and their parents are being traumatized and/or maimed, wounded, killed because of the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict and all the many armed religious fanatics influenced by that conflict.

Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a just and lasting peace shaped by two fully secular, fully sovereign nation states, one called Israel and one called Palestine living side by side in peace and security, is the only way to stop the many negative ramifications of the Israel-Palestine conflict from getting even worse.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

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

What Israel and Hamas are really trying to accomplish in Gaza... "The sole purpose of this war with Israel is to force Egypt to change its policies"

Palestinians die in the most cynical of all military games

Syrian refugees, sectarian tensions endanger Lebanon

"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

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

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

Reasonable voices & helpful resources ...America for Palestine MAY 2014

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

The American Task Force on Palestine supports Palestinian institution-building, good governance, anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved living standards. ATFP holds that these same values are relevant to the broader Arab world, and that the question of Palestine is inextricably linked to regional realities and developments.

ATFP provides an independent voice for Palestinian-Americans and their supporters and advances human rights and peace. It categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be.

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians
July 8, 2014, Washington, DC -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today called on Israel and the Palestinians to de-escalate as quickly as possible from an increasingly explosive situation and a moment of grave peril. Major airstrikes on Gaza have killed numerous Palestinians, reportedly including several children, today while another heavy barrage of rocket fire from Gaza was launched towards southern Israel, and at least one rocket being reportedly shot down over Tel Aviv. Today's violence comes in the context of tit-for-tat killings of, and attacks on, Israeli and Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem, widespread tensions in the West Bank, and even growing unrest among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

ATFP called on all sides to demonstrate leadership and to take immediate and concrete actions to de-escalate the growing conflict and refrain from inflammatory rhetoric. ATFP urged all parties to consider the negative consequences of similar conflagrations in the past, and recall that they did not benefit either side, militarily or politically, but caused the deaths of countless innocent civilians, enormous destruction of property, and widespread and lasting misery. ATFP urged President Barack Obama and the rest of the international community to use their good offices to ensure that all prospects for resolving the crisis are fully explored.

The Arab villages lost since Israel's war of independence - Guardian Interactive: ...Pre 1948 ...March 1948 ... May 1948 ...June 1948 ...Oct 1948 ...July 1949 ...Now


Remembering the Nakba: Israeli group puts 1948 Palestine back on the map Zochrot aims to educate Israeli Jews – through tours and a new phone app – about a history obscured by enmity and denial

Growing Gardens for Palestine: "And it's up to all of us together"... a Spring poem for Palestine & peace

Peace Building ... civic muscle

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