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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

My letter to CSM RE "The Israeli model..."

Palestinian child plants flowers among the debris from Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza. Photograph- Anadolu Agency
RE: "The Israeli model: What airport safety looks like, and what it costs travelers




Models of security. Security measures at Israel's main airport, one of the world's safest, are vastly different from those in Brussels. But there is a tradeoff."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2016/0325/The-Israeli-model-What-airport-safety-looks-like-and-what-it-costs-travelers

Dear Editor,

Is it really fair- or logical- to feature "The Israeli Model" of airport security and assert that "For prospective air travelers, this is what one of the world’s safest airports looks like." 

The vast majority of international airports worldwide have not had a major incident, although all have had to deal with various crazy people and criminals.  Why feature Israel?

Israel does not set a good example, and should not be lauded as a role model for safety and security. Israeli profiling is pervasive- and cruel, and has been for decades with horrible ramifications for countless persecuted Palestinian men, women and children (both Christian and Muslim) who are being profiled, oppressed, impoverished, pushed into forced exile, and refused their inalienable right to return to ancestral homes and lands. 

Hamas and Hezbollah have risen up in response to the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land, and alongside Israel's own state subsidized Jewish religious extremists, have been inflicting huge harm on the Palestinian quest for statehood and an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

And by the way, the quote by an Arab from East Jerusalem, claiming he does not see any discrimination "The security checks can take a long time, but the security is good"... That man is experienced enough to know that if he's been quoted in international publications, or on his Facebook page, pointing out the full and total truth about Israeli discrimination, Israeli authorities are more than likely to refuse to allow him to travel back to return to his home and family in East Jerusalem.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

My letter to the NYTimes RE Overreacting to Terrorism? by Nicholas Kristof

A red rose, symbol of love-  Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
RE: Overreacting to Terrorism?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/opinion/terrorists-bathtubs-and-snakes.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

astutely asks if we are "Overreacting to Terrorism?"... YES- I totally agree!  But while his point about climate change is indeed quite important, I am more concerned about the current social and political ramifications of overreacting to terrorism.  A crime is not more criminal based on the perpetrator's worldview or religion. Paraphrasing Gertrude Stein's 1913 poem: A crime is a crime is a crime!

Kristoff pulls up cogent statistics verifying Obama's belief that "Americans more likely to die from falls in tubs than from attacks by terrorists",  but Kristoff does not look at equally telling statistics showing escalating insults and hate crimes against Muslims here in America.  Nor does Kristoff look at statistics concerning domestic violence, or child abuse, or rape which he is much more aware of than most people... Fact is good people do good things, and horrible people do horrible things. A crime is a crime is a crime, a hate crime is a hate crime is a hate crime, and murder is murder is murder.

The Middle East scourge ISIS/Daesh is quite happy to take credit for, and be empowered by violent crimes perpetrated in the West by lone wolf copy cat criminals.  Don't hand criminals, thugs, murderers, and religious tyrants an ego trip narrative to recruit more lone wolf copy cat criminals.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Cruz wants to patrol Muslim neighborhoods. What happened when N.Y. tried it? (+video)

AIPAC Brings Donald Trump’s Anti-Semitic Fans Out of the Woodwork via


New Islamic State video celebrates Brussels attacks by quoting Donald Trump http://wpo.st/ka4P1

People thought 21% of UK were Muslims actual figure just 5% - fear-mongers succeeding

More media training required to prevent spread of rumours, experts say http://ow.ly/ZV3qP

On trip Ban Ki-moon visits Lebanon where 1/3 of population are from Syria or Palestine.

"Let us renew our resolve to " - Ban Ki-moon on Day

From our occupied capital , we send our best wishes to everyone celebrating

Environment and Climate in the Middle East - Gaza pollution flows to Israel due to power...   ... "Gaza’s water treatment facility not yet online due to electricity shortages, causing wastewater to flow north into Israel; major desalinization plant in Ashkelon shut down as result."
 
Clinton attacked : http://buff.ly/1q4fJ2r Stand 4 free speech w & http://buff.ly/1q4fHrl  ..."“Clinton is unashamedly showing that she has embraced Israel advocacy groups’ talking points wholeheartedly,” Dima Khalidi, the director of Palestine Legal, told Shadowproof. “She is broadcasting her opposition to a broad popular nonviolent movement for Palestinian human rights, and promising to throw her weight behind the concerted suppression of First Amendment-protected human rights advocacy in the U.S.”"


University of California Adopts Policy Linking Anti-Zionism to Anti-Semitism [Robert Mackey]  ... "As Omar Zahzah, a Palestinian-American graduate student at UCLA who spoke against the proposed policy before the regents voted on Wednesday, observed later:
We all agree that anti-Semitism and racism must be combated on campus. Where we disagree is in the claim that anti-Zionism is bigotry. Palestinian and Jewish students alike should have the right to say that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 was morally wrong and that Palestinian refugees should have the right to return home to a state where Palestinians and Jews live in equality rather than in a discriminatory Jewish state.  '

UN database will list businesses operating in settlements in occupied territories https://goo.gl/qYpZKK

The Palestinian ‘Arab Idol’ winner, now a megastar, has a life story worthy of a biopic http://on.ft.com/1XQj53B ... "Assaf’s family remain in Gaza and he regularly returns to visit them. I suggest that he is now a Palestinian icon but he firmly rejects this. “I don’t consider myself an icon. There are more deserving people among the Palestinians who merit that. Hanan Al Hroub, the Palestinian teacher who recently won the Global Teacher Prize, is an icon."

. lifts up the story of how Bassam Aramin became a voice for peace in the Middle East

Israeli settlers use Ibrahimi Mosque loudspeaker to sing racist songs and call for expulsion of ‘Arabs’ from Hebron

Survey: 85% of Palestinian citizens of Israel fear rising levels of racism http://bit.ly/1T7Seks

My letter to the NYTimes RE Art of the Anecdote: Presidential Candidates’ Speeches to AIPAC

Photoshopped meme (depicting an image that evokes a creepy image from a wellknown horror movie coupled with two names from a well known nursery rhyme & Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass)  found flying around on Facebook & Twitter March 2016: "Tweedledee and Tweedledum to headline #AIPAC conference"
RE Art of the Anecdote: Presidential Candidates’ Speeches to AIPAC
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/art-of-the-anecdote-presidential-candidates-speeches-to-aipac/?ref=international&_r=0

Dear Editor,

Presidential candidates speaking at AIPAC wanted free media coverage and more campaign funds... and the New York Times helps hand them exactly that, completing a trifecta of complicity that further empowers Israel's punitively cruel anti-Palestinian apartheid policies by perpetuating a warped "pro-Israel" narrative that totally ignores sovereign Israel's ongoing flagrant violations of international law and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Shedding light on personality? I'd say it is more like shedding light on a lack of character and integrity- and a lack of understanding American ideals of real freedom, justice, equality and democracy...  plus a distinct lack of interest in being an honest broker for peace and the rule of fair and just laws in the Middle East.

Israel clearly wants the land but not the native non-Jewish population of that land. How would you feel if tonight, you were denied your right to return to your family home because the powers that be decided you were the "wrong" religion?!!!

We live in a global world with the internet giving every one the ability to ferret out news and opinion worldwide: How would you feel about negotiations to end the Israel-Palestine conflict knowing that Palestinian men, women and children continue to be harshly oppressed, impoverished, pushed into forced exile, and cruelly demonized by the so-called "Jewish State" while America's presidential candidates tell AIPAC exactly what Israel's state subsidized settlers and religious extremists want to hear. Not what they need to hear, but what they want to hear.

And hey- lets not forget about real terrorists, those criminals of ISIS/Daesh following Israel's lead by arming religion with lethal weaponry and a desire to impoverish and/or kill "others" ... What message does America want to send them?

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

PLO's Hanan Ashrawi's strong condemnation of the events in Brussels بيان صادر عن منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية حول بروكسل

Erekat met US Senate Delegation: Security & peace won't be achieved without justice for the Palestinian people.

Erekat to : To defeat Daesh,is mandatory to end the occupation & establish an independent

Ted Cruz wants to "secure Muslim neighborhoods." How many shawarma restaurants does it take to make it officially a "Muslim neighborhood"?

Trump truly spreading and My Tweets Earned Me So Many Anti-Semitic Haters That I Bought a Gun

Retweeted
If values have any meaning at all, they should disqualify Trump from becoming President.

Please let's stand together against anti-semitism of Trump supporters same way we denounce racism. My

In the cartoonish world of the Simpsons, a presidency was predicted 16 years ago. Fitting.

How does Trump get so much air time? Media ethics under fire. http://trib.al/HM2uOvE

Islamic State: How Iraqi widow's resistance became a symbol of hope

He hated Israel but became a voice for peace--even after Israeli police killed his child. http://www.npr.org/sections/paral

15m15 minutes ago
The time is now to prevent & end conflict. info is here: