Labels

Saturday, July 25, 2015

My letter to the NYTimes RE Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?

Bethlehem Behind the Wall
RE: Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?

Dear Editor,

Israel's decades long refusal to respect the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right to return to original homes and lands continues to exasperate the longest running refugee crisis in the Middle East: As things are today, with many Palestinian Christians pushed into poverty and forced exile by Jews-preferred Israel, Christians most certainly do not have an ally in "The Jewish State" with its ongoing quest to displace and destroy the native non-Jewish population of historic Palestine.

Do you think race or religion or gender are a good way to determine who gets citizenship rights and freedoms?

How can American leadership, and lobby groups- and Israel itself, see facts in context and the bigger picture, when news reports on the burgeoning refugee crises in the Middle East totally ignore Israel's sovereign choice to demolish Palestinian homes and impoverish Palestinian communities and individuals day after day after day for decades?   

Expecting Israel to set a better example by fully respecting universal human rights would go a long way towards calming down the entire region. We can't solve all the problems in the Middle East, the people living there have to do that, but we can send the clear message that we believe in the rule of fair and just laws and real democracy.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab