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Saturday, August 16, 2014

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

Henk Zanoli, second from right, with his family in 1942. A year later, he smuggled a Jewish boy from Amsterdam to the family’s home in a Dutch village and helped hide him through the war. Credit Yad Vashem
  [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.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/world/middleeast/henk-zanoli-israel-gaza-holocaust-ziadah.html?ref=world

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



THE HAGUE — In 1943, Henk Zanoli took a dangerous train trip, slipping past Nazi guards and checkpoints to smuggle a Jewish boy from Amsterdam to the Dutch village of Eemnes. There, the Zanoli family, already under suspicion for resisting the Nazi occupation, hid the boy in their home for two years. The boy would be the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust.

Seventy-one years later, on July 20, an Israeli airstrike flattened a house in the Gaza Strip, killing six of Mr. Zanoli’s relatives by marriage. His grandniece, a Dutch diplomat, is married to a Palestinian economist, Ismail Ziadah, who lost three brothers, a sister-in-law, a nephew and his father’s first wife  

On Thursday, Mr. Zanoli, 91, whose father died in a Nazi camp, went to the Israeli Embassy in The Hague and returned a medal he received honoring him as one of the Righteous Among the Nations — non-Jews honored by Israel for saving Jews during the Holocaust. In an anguished letter to the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands, he described the terrible price his family had paid for opposing Nazi tyranny....READ MORE

Friday, August 15, 2014

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

Dean Obeidallah:
"I really love the photo that The Daily Beast made for my article about the Palestinian Dr. Martin Luther King. Im a big fan of Dr. King's work. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/15/searching-for-a-palestinian-dr-king.html "

World News


08.15.14
"What makes nonviolence as a strategy even more challenging for Palestinians is that, as Ashrawi noted, the Israeli administrations over the years seemingly reward violence over peaceful methods. “They won’t cooperate with ‘Mr. Nice Guy,’” she told me, “but will sit up and listen when there is a threat of violence.” She added that it almost seems Israeli administrations prefer Palestinians to be violent because it allows them to define us all as terrorists."

  [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]

There Are Clues


       There Are Clues

Armed Palestinian resistance
is and has been killing Palestine.

Every youth who becomes a militant
is one less letter writer
and lobby for Palestine,
one less loyal citizen
learning state craft,
one less role model
mentoring peace,
one less poet
seeking truth,
one less scientist
seeking fact
one less voice
for what Palestine was
and might be in time...

Every insult hurled
every hate mongering tweet
every rocket fired

proves Israel right.

Every extremist
and Islamist
proves Israel right.

There are clues
clues everywhere
despite the bravado
despite the t-shirts
and key rings
and forwards,
despite
all the internet talk
and huge protests-
despite decades
of support
there are clues
that Palestine
is not going to survive.

There are clues, indications,
evidence everywhere
when one dares look
beyond the hype
beyond the delusions
beyond the propaganda
that as things are now
the Israel-Palestine war
will end not with peace
or charity
for the people of Palestine.

As things are now
despite the echo chamber promises,
 despite the free lancers insisting
"Palestine will be free!"
despite the passion
of countless people
there are obvious clues
that unless there is statehood,
sovereign statehood
for Palestine
it is inevitable
that Palestine
will disappear,
and Israel will remain
despite the weight of news
aimed to condemn Israel,
despite the campaigns
shaped to dismiss Israel:

As things are now
despite everything
the Israel-Palestine war
is most likely to end with Israel,
only Israel, ruling every inch.

Not Israel as a one state haven
of freedom, jobs, and security for all
Not a welcoming community,
but a heavily guarded
fully sovereign and strong
Israel as a Jewish nation
convinced that Palestine
is no more
and more Palestinians
have to leave.


Tuesday, August 12, 2014


My letter to Newsweek's Jeff Stein RE Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?

NEWSWEEK: Dr. Mubarak Awad in his office on August 7, 2014 in Washington, D.C. photo by "Awad came to pacifism through violence. His father was killed by Jewish fighters during Israel’s war for independence in 1948 when he was 5, but his mother counseled him to turn the other cheek. “She told me, ‘The one who killed your father did not know he was leaving me a widow with seven children to raise.’ She said, ‘Please don’t take revenge on your father, don’t kill anyone, don’t ever destroy a human life.’"...READ MORE
Dear Jeff Stein,

I liked your article Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?  It was surprisingly honest about the very real plight of the Palestinians.

Mubarak Awad sounds like a very admirable and interesting Palestinian-American, and it was good of you to point out his work advocating non-violence.  All in all it really was a very good article BUT I think your lead up to the excellent quote by Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, is not really fair or informative as ATFP clearly promotes non-violence to end the conflict, and from what I have seen of Ibish's brilliant essays he is not giving up on Palestine and peace.

You say in Where is the Palestinian Gandhi? "Many longtime observers think his [Mubarak Awad's nonviolent] strategy is, at best, way too late. “Even if most Palestinians [were] convinced of the virtues of nonviolent resistance, it’s likely that there will be small groups who are still committed to violence and will take the opportunity to act on a provocation” from Israeli forces, says Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, a private group that advocates a two-state solution to the 60-year-long struggle. “This will then justify an even more harsh Israeli crackdown, and the vicious circle will be in full effect.”"

While it is true that many long term observers do think it is way too late for non-violence, Ibish does not succumb to such pessimism. He and his colleagues at ATFP have been working tirelessly to promote diplomacy and negotiations: ATFP clearly, vehemently, and frequently condemns Palestinian violence, Israeli violence, and Islamist violence. It is part of their very noble mission: ATFP "categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be." http://www.americantaskforce.org/about_us

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet & letter writing blogger http://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/ & a very big fan of ATFP


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

My letter to the Guardian RE Out of the carnage of Gaza a new spirit: we are all Palestinians:The world has witnessed the daily brutality of Israel’s collective punishment and our cause is now stronger

 Recent news: International donors are wary of funding another rebuilding effort in Gaza.
RE:  Out of the carnage of Gaza a new spirit: we are all Palestinians:The world has witnessed the daily brutality of Israel’s collective punishment and our cause is now stronger
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/12/gaza-palestinians-world-israel-collective-punishment

Dear Editor,

- there is no victory for Palestine or for Israel, nor is there a new spirit.  Stateless Palestinian refugees who would rather not become Israeli need to be free to find citizenship and job opportunities elsewhere.  Many already have, for instance one of my favorite poets, Naomi Shihab Nye, elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2009, is a well known and highly respected Palestinian American. Her father, Palestinian-born Texas journalist Aziz Shihab, was a Palestinian refugee who, in addition to raising an immensely talented helped America realize that there was such a thing as a Palestinian with his writings such as the books "A Taste of Palestine: Menus & Memories" & "Does the Land Remember Me? A Memoir of Palestine".

Another admirable role model is Dean Obeidallah, an immensely talented American comedian of Palestinian-Italian descent. Islamists are not admirable role models, nor are their passionately misguided defenders and supporters.  As the brilliant Hussein Ibish points out in his recent essay ISIS and its Success Narrative Must be Broken: "Challenging the Islamic State’s marketing is crucial. The group has a clear, simple and readily digestible ideological message that taps into its target audience’s deepest fantasies with alarming precision."

Fact is, as the

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Washington Post headlines Hamas could've chosen peace but made Gaza suffer

New York Times headlines President Obama Talks to Thomas L. Friedman About Iraq, Putin and Israel

USAToday headlines Islamic extremism demands U.S. action: #tellusatoday

LATimes headlines
Prepare for a long war against the Islamic State

CSM headlines
State sovereignty, up for grabs  By encroaching on others' territories, China, Russia, and Islamic terrorist armies challenge the norms of state sovereignty. How should the world respond?

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

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


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


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

Sunday, August 10, 2014

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

"A sea of Palestinians and their sympathizers lined Manhattan streets Saturday, marching to the United Nations and shouting that Israel's response to missile attacks was genocide that took children's lives. " Photo Credit: America's free press & NBC News


         Dedicated to Abu Yusuf

While some do serious work, crafting
reality based astute responses
to what is and might be,
there is also a world of people
being taught to ignore
 the full and total truth,
being taught to have tunnel vision,
being taught to reject diplomacy,
being taught to voluntarily disenfranchise
as if that will help bring peace and jobs, food
and water- and security to those in dire need.

A sea of people protest
with a storm of slogans
and symbols, all focused
on Palestinian suffering...

What of all the other children
the other families
the other flesh torn...

What of all the nameless
Arabs and Muslims
murdered by Islamists?

What of the communities ruined?

What of the girls enslaved?

What of the historic treasures,
and modern work places
decimated by Islamists
day after day after day...

What of tyrants and terror
and the ISIL evil - what of
the malicious Islamists
who consider anyone, everyone
who refuses to lionize Islamists
as infidels to be killed.

A sea of people protest "for Palestine"
many with very good intentions,
but few with good research skills
and the courage to question
what is heard...

A sea of people protest
worldwide with orchestrated
anti-Israel/anti-America ire
aimed to grow a crowd
aimed to escalate rage,
with anti-Israel scorn...
inadvertently informing
Islamist monsters
that their way wins

because a sea of people protest
wearing Palestinian flags
but not demanding Palestinian statehood
based on full respect for international law
to once and for ALL end
the injustice and violence
of Israel/Palestine unresolved.

A sea of people protest
oblivious to the rising tide
of Islamist crimes
and Islamist insults
to Islam.