My letter to the NYTimes RE U.N. Calls on Western Nations to Shelter Syrian Refugees

Syrian refugees waiting for transportation to a shelter after crossing into Turkey. Nearly four million refugees have poured into the countries bordering Syria — chiefly Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey — straining their resources and plunging displaced people into poverty. Photo Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times

RE U.N. Calls on Western Nations to Shelter Syrian Refugees
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/world/middleeast/un-calls-on-western-nations-to-shelter-syrian-refugees.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Dear Editor,

With the news this week about the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (his family thinks he is innocent and that the attack "was all fabricated by the American special services.")

, as well as recent reports from Italy's police that Muslim migrants had thrown 12 Christians overboard during a recent crossing from Libya it will be hard to convince America to welcome in more Syrian refugees.

We tend to hear and remember the worst news and most titillating stories. The more outrageous and anti-social the crime the more attention it gets.  I can not help but wonder about all the many migrants and refugees from the Middle East who came to America to become loyal citizens contributing positive momentum to American ideals. People like the inspiring poet Kahlil Gibran, and people like Dr. Ziad Asali, a Palestinian American born in Jerusalem who built a successful career here in America and is a Diplomat of the Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, as well as the founder of the American Task Force on Palestine which as been trying to get mainstream America, as well as people in the Middle East, to take Palestinian statehood and peace seriously.

Refugee crises in the Middle East have been going on for more than a century, with many innocent men, women and children losing all because of hate campaigns and bigotry. The situation might  become much much worse, but it does not have to be that way. Compassion and kindness and diplomatic efforts have the power to turn things around: Peace in the Middle East can and will be built by people who have been able to break free from the hate campaigns and bigotry, religious extremism, corruption, crime and conspiracy theories that undermine support for the rule of fair and just laws.  Offering safe harbor for some Syrian refugees here in America will increase the chances that their children will be able to get a decent eduction and a better understanding of how to help create real respect for basic human rights and freedom- and real democracy for the people, of the people and by the people.... for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

American homemaker & poet

NOTES

My letter to the NYTimes RE A Tiny House in Seattle

A hemmed-in house has become Seattle’s shrine to defiance. Photo Credit Ian C. Bates for The New York Times

RE A Tiny House in Seattle
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/opinion/a-tiny-house-in-seattle.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Thank you for publishing Barry Martin's reality check on the story of Edith Macefield and her tiny house in Seattle... "she was neither the “anticorporate crusader” or the “old fool, blinded by stubbornness” that you wrote about, in describing the views of some."

Happily hyping Disney's movie "UP" the original report you published “House That Wouldn’t Budge (or Float Away) Faces a Last Stand” should have at least glanced at Barry Martin's book Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned From a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House.  I haven't read the book yet, but will after seeing Barry Martin's fascinating letter and then reading a very easy to find online description about his book: "The story of Barry Martin and Edith Macefield is a tale of balance and compassion, of giving enough without giving too much, of helping our elderly loved ones through the tough times without taking away their dignity."

Seems to me, at the end of the day, there are many nice people and there are some not so nice people everywhere, in every walk of life, and there are countless personal motives for people to do what they do. Here in America, we have homes and we have businesses that help provide jobs so that people can have homes. We also have local zoning as well as neighborhood associations which help keep some very pleasant neighborhoods family friendly so that, as time passes and some people pass on or move away, other individuals and families are more likely to move in and invest in their earnings as well as their time and energy into maintaining a pleasant home and neighborhood.

Life is much more complex and interconnected than big bad corporate entity VS real people.  Jobs matter, personal effort matters, and so does good reporting by reliable newspapers so that we the people might be motivated to help build support for better policies by corporations, colleges, government, local business, as well as any other organization (and noble character) that influences life today.  Jobs matter, individuals matter, letters to the editor matter, stories matter, attention to detail matters, upholding the rule of fair and just laws matters immensely and so do volunteer efforts and the arts... and how we raise our children- what we teach them to see and explore and think about.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet