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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

635 flying checkpoints have been imposed between Palestinian towns, Refugee camps and cities #Palestine


8m8 minutes ago
635 flying checkpoints have been imposed between Palestinian towns, Refugee camps and cities

Palestine PLO - NAD

Jerusalem, Palestine : This is the official account of the Palestine Liberation Organization - Negotiations Affairs Department. Follow news and updates from Palestine

My letter to LRB RE: Nathan Thrall's "The End of the Abbas Era"

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, was the result of the experience of the Second World War. With the end of that war, and the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never again to allow atrocities like those of that conflict happen again..." READ MORE
RE Nathan Thrall's "The End of the Abbas Era"
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2015/10/20/nathan-thrall/the-end-of-the-abbas-era/

Dear Sir,

October 20th, 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council announces that the President of Palestine, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, will be addressing a special meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on October 28, 2015 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16621&LangID=E

The same day, October 20th, 2015, London Review of Books blog publishes Nathan Thrall's "The End of the Abbas Era" where Thrall deftly builds a detailed case to dismiss Palestine's Abbas... Thrall dwells on what he calls Abbas's failures, but Thrall fails to notice sovereign Israel's total failure to respect international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights, and the longest running refugee crisis in the world today: Israel clearly wants the land, but not the native non-Jewish people of that land. Israel determines citizen rights and freedoms by religion, and invests tax payers' money in subsidizing Jewish religious "scholars", Jewish settlers in the illegally occupied territories, and Jewish-only "neighborhoods", as well as "security measures" which usurp Palestinian land and resources.

What kind of world do you want to build from this day forward? One where religion and/or race determine who is free and able to find a good job and which schools, neighborhoods, and infrastructures get funds and support?

Or one where Golden Rule thinking empowers public and private support for respecting basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as Palestine's political survival is really what is at stake today- not Abbas.

The Palestinian refugee crisis created by Israel more than 60 years ago, and exasperated every day since as Jews-preferred Israel continues to push Palestinian men, women and children into poverty, despair and forced exile is a cruel situation that only gets worse as the Israel-Palestine conflict grinds on and on with endless negative ramifications.

Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with two fully sovereign and fully secular states based on full respect for international law and human rights- and golden rule thinking- is the right thing to do.

Entertaining readers with distractions, and demonizing Palestinians individually or collectively, might help steer some away from noticing the big picture, but we need to see the big picture- for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & Poet

NOTES
Tit-for-tat violence is ‘new normal’ in occupied territory..."The emerging “new normal” – characterised on the Palestinian side by spontaneous acts of violence mainly by youths, and on the Israeli side by settler vigilantes and trigger-happy soldiers – is yet another reminder that the status quo is neither manageable nor containable." Hussein Ibish


The ugly order of free-for-all killings in Israel-Palestine By Rami G. Khouri in the Jordan Times

Ex-U.N. Official John Dugard: Israel’s Crimes are "Infinitely Worse" Than in Apartheid South Africa

Sam Bahour: Palestinians must not fall into this trap, again!  "To cover up its crimes, Israel needs to feed all the western stereotypes of Palestinians as violent and subhuman rather than hungry for freedom and equal rights."

Artists got ‘Homeland is racist’ Arabic graffiti into the latest episode of ‘Homeland’


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

Unclench your fist... Live by the Golden Rule...

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.

***

President of Palestine to address special meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council October 28, 2015


UN Human Rights Council to hold special meeting 28 Oct to hear President Abbas of
President of Palestine to address special meeting of Human Rights Council on 28 October


20 October 2015
The Human Rights Council will convene a special meeting as a matter of courtesy on Wednesday, 28 October on the occasion of the visit of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine.
The special meeting will start at 12.00pm in Room XX.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will also address the meeting.

The special meeting will be webcast live on www.webtv.un.org.
For more information and media requests, please contact Rolando Gómez at +41 (0) 22 917 9711 /mailto: rgomez@ohchr.org or Cédric Sapey at +41 (0) 22 917 9695 / csapey@ohchr.org
To learn more about the Human Rights Council, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/HRCIndex.aspx
UN Human Rights Council, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNHRC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UN_HRC
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCokQuTYVvkwQb-A3TsSUm-g
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16621&LangID=E#sthash.waIgQThl.dpuf
President of Palestine to address special meeting of Human Rights Council on 28 October


20 October 2015
The Human Rights Council will convene a special meeting as a matter of courtesy on Wednesday, 28 October on the occasion of the visit of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine.
The special meeting will start at 12.00pm in Room XX.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will also address the meeting.

The special meeting will be webcast live on www.webtv.un.org.
For more information and media requests, please contact Rolando Gómez at +41 (0) 22 917 9711 /mailto: rgomez@ohchr.org or Cédric Sapey at +41 (0) 22 917 9695 / csapey@ohchr.org
To learn more about the Human Rights Council, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/HRCIndex.aspx
UN Human Rights Council, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNHRC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UN_HRC
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCokQuTYVvkwQb-A3TsSUm-g
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16621&LangID=E#sthash.waIgQThl.dpuf

My letter to the NYTimes RE "Mismanaging the Conflict in Jerusalem" by Nathan Thrall & East Jerusalem, Bubbling Over With Despair by Jodi Rudoren


RE: "Mismanaging the Conflict in Jerusalem" by Nathan Thrall
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/mismanaging-the-conflict-in-jerusalem.html?emc=edit_ee_20151019&nl=todaysheadlines-europe&nlid=22789767
& East Jerusalem, Bubbling Over With Despair by
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/world/middleeast/in-east-jerusalem-palestinians-are-seething-after-years-of-neglect.html?emc=edit_th_20151018&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=22789767&_r=0

Dear Editor,

Mismanaging- or managing the Israel-Palestine conflict means a continuation, rather than an end to the conflict.

So far, more than sixty years and counting, violence has not ever come close to ending the conflict. Quite the opposite. Both institutional bigotry by the sovereign nation Israel, as well as individual violence by Israelis and Palestinians has only exasperated suffering, despair, angst, insults, revenge and more violence that fuels escalating hostilities- and bigotry.

Violence does make for eye catching newspaper headlines and exciting stories easily spun by professional and amateur propagandists on all sides of the conflict. In the West we tend to hear Israeli perspectives (and excuses), whereas all through out the Middle East the Palestinian perspective is quite well known on a personal level as the longest running refugee crisis in the world today continues to push Palestinians into forced exile.

One can not know what the 'wrong side of history' is until long after a situation ends, but my best guess (very much influenced by the global information age) is that sovereign Israel in harshly oppressing, impoverishing, trapping, tormenting and displacing as well as killing the native non-Jewish men, women and children of historic Palestine is on the wrong side of history.

Israel wants Palestinians - and Americans- to make peace with the idea that religion should determine citizenship rights and freedoms.

I think Palestinians are right to refuse to make peace with that. 

A sovereign nation state in long term and flagrant violation of international law on multiple counts is on the wrong side of history. A recent UN Report points out an obvious place to start righting that wrong: "All settlement activity in occupied territory must cease "without preconditions" and Israel "must immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers", said the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)" http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/31/israel-must-withdraw-settlers-icc#_=_

Two fully sovereign, fully secular states (based on full respect for universal human rights and the rule of fair and just laws) is the best way to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict ASAP- for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Tit-for-tat violence is ‘new normal’ in occupied territory..."The emerging “new normal” – characterised on the Palestinian side by spontaneous acts of violence mainly by youths, and on the Israeli side by settler vigilantes and trigger-happy soldiers – is yet another reminder that the status quo is neither manageable nor containable." Hussein Ibish

The ugly order of free-for-all killings in Israel-Palestine By Rami G. Khouri in the Jordan Times

Ex-U.N. Official John Dugard: Israel’s Crimes are "Infinitely Worse" Than in Apartheid South Africa

Sam Bahour: Palestinians must not fall into this trap, again!  "To cover up its crimes, Israel needs to feed all the western stereotypes of Palestinians as violent and subhuman rather than hungry for freedom and equal rights."

Artists got ‘Homeland is racist’ Arabic graffiti into the latest episode of ‘Homeland’


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

Unclench your fist... Live by the Golden Rule...

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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 Academy of American Poets: Congratulations to Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye on her nomination by the Swedish Arts Council for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature.

“One of the civic responsibilities of the poet in America today is to continue to encourage a sense of civility among us and a sense of curiosity about one another’s lives. ”
—Naomi Shihab Nye, Academy of American Poets Chancellor 


Congratulations to Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye on her nomination by the Swedish Arts Council for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature.


***
Naomi Shihab Nye was born on March 12, 1952, in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Palestine, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas, where she later received her BA in English and world religions from Trinity University.

Nye is the author of numerous books of poems, including Transfer (BOA Editions, 2011); You and Yours (BOA Editions, 2005), which received the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award; 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (Greenwillow Books, 2002), a collection of new and selected poems about the Middle East; Fuel (BOA Editions, 1998); Red Suitcase (BOA Editions, 1994); and Hugging the Jukebox (Far Corner Books, 1982).

She is also the author of several books of poetry and fiction for children, including Habibi (Simon Pulse, 1997), for which she received the Jane Addams Children’s Book award in 1998.
Nye gives voice to her experience as an Arab-American through poems about heritage and peace that overflow with a humanitarian spirit. About her work, the poet William Stafford has said, “her poems combine transcendent liveliness and sparkle along with warmth and human insight. She is a champion of the literature of encouragement and heart. Reading her work enhances life.”... read more

***

a poem by 
Naomi Shihab Nye

Red Brocade


The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.

Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.

No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.

I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.

Copyright © by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Susan Muaddi Darraj's newest book "A Curious Land", short stories about Palestinians and the true meaning of home, wins the prestigious Grace Paley Prize in short fiction

Thanks to the folks at the Aegis for this mention of the new book!

Congratulations to الدكتورة عايدة النجار Dr. Aida Najjar as she launches her new book today (10/19/2015) Her book is on the depopulated and destroyed Palestinian village of ‪#‎Lifta‬.


Congratulations to الدكتورة عايدة النجار Dr. Aida Najjar as she launches her new book today (10/19/2015) at Abdul Hameed Shoman Public Library in Amman, Jordan. Her book is on the depopulated and destroyed Palestinian village of ‪#‎Lifta‬.


Sunday, October 18, 2015

My letter to the Washington Post RE Israelis kill at least 4 Palestinians after reported knife attacks

Flower Thrower- by Banski in Palestine
 RE: Israelis kill at least 4 Palestinians after reported knife attacks
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israelis-kill-3-alleged-palestinian-attackers/2015/10/17/3e411b24-744f-11e5-ba14-318f8e87a2fc_story.html

Dear Editor,

Regarding "Israelis kill at least 4 Palestinians after reported knife attacks": A more accurate and helpful headline would show the big picture.

For instance: "Sovereign county continues to trap, torment, and kill targeted ethnic group"

Or "Front line settlers burn Palestinian baby, followed by formal Israeli military attacks in the illegally occupied territories"

Or "60 years and counting: Israel continues to target, impoverish and kill Palestinian men, women and children"

4 Palestinians were just killed by Israel's formal military on top of more than six decades of Israel cruelly persecuting, impoverishing, and displacing the native Non-Jewish population of historic Palestine

I wish Palestinian youth realized that violence, including stone throwing, is totally counterproductive, as it gives Israelis an excuse to be even more punitive, and it provides Zionist propagandists with a plethora of stories to spin to make Israel look like it has no choice but "defend" itself.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Tit-for-tat violence is ‘new normal’ in occupied territory..."The emerging “new normal” – characterised on the Palestinian side by spontaneous acts of violence mainly by youths, and on the Israeli side by settler vigilantes and trigger-happy soldiers – is yet another reminder that the status quo is neither manageable nor containable." Hussein Ibish


The ugly order of free-for-all killings in Israel-Palestine By Rami G. Khouri in the Jordan Times

Ex-U.N. Official John Dugard: Israel’s Crimes are "Infinitely Worse" Than in Apartheid South Africa

Sam Bahour: Palestinians must not fall into this trap, again!  "To cover up its crimes, Israel needs to feed all the western stereotypes of Palestinians as violent and subhuman rather than hungry for freedom and equal rights."

Artists got ‘Homeland is racist’ Arabic graffiti into the latest episode of ‘Homeland’


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

Unclench your fist... Live by the Golden Rule...

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.
    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.

***