My letter to the NYTimes RE The Islamic State’s Most Recent Victims & For Artist in Gaza, a Small Refuge of Beauty

One of Ms. Badwan’s self-portraits from her artistic project, “100 Days of Solitude.” Credit Nidaa Badwan The artist Nidaa Badwan has hardly left her small room for more than a year, creating her own world of color and a striking set of self-portraits. 

RE The Islamic State’s Most Recent Victims & For Artist in Gaza, a Small Refuge of Beauty
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/opinion/the-islamic-states-most-recent-victims.html?ref=opinion
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/world/middleeast/finding-gaza-unbearable-artist-creates-her-own-world-in-one-room.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Dear Editor,

Your editorial "The Islamic State’s Most Recent Victims" was perfect. Every gripping sentence summary and conclusion, perfect.  So was Nicholas Kristof's column earlier this week "The Human Stain" so aptly subtitled "Israel squanders political capital and antagonizes even its friends with its naked land grab in the West Bank."

Adding in the alluring art of Palestinian Nidaa Badwan featured in The Saturday Profile For Artist in Gaza, a Small Refuge of Beauty, I find my self frankly shocked and actually hopeful as a much more balanced and helpful understanding of the Middle East takes hold in the influential New York Times. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
World Press Roundup: Middle East News

Global Citizenship... laying the foundation for a culture of peace

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

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

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

... Ibrahim's Estate... The Promised Land: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Peace Day

Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity

Hussein Ibish: Non-violent resistance is Palestine’s most powerful weapon

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

 “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), born in Lebanon, immigrated to the United States in 1895 where he grew up to become a beloved poet and respected writer.

"There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies" Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American minister, humanitarian and social activist- a cherished leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, whose inspiring words continue to influence and empower diplomatic efforts to bring more justice, more security, more peace and more jobs to more people, every one and every where.

"We are brothers. It's not a question of Jews, of Christians or of Muslims. We're all in the same boat, we have to help each other to get out of this crisis." Lassana Bathily

IBISH: Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

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]