Dear Elected Leaders- Yes there are still some useful idiots willing to idolize Israel. But good leadership should not.

The Key to Peace

Dear Elected Leaders

We give thanks for so much in this country- our freedom, our homes, our schools, our libraries, our places of worship, our National Parks, our museums...etc... and our rule of fair and just laws which help give all Americans have a chance to live in peace- unmolested by bullies, racist thugs and religious zealots.

Our history does include some horrors- like slavery, and the Trail of Tears, but we know better now.  Or I thought we did. 

We have a strong enough economy to generate taxes which should be fortifying American institutions and infrastructures for all Americans.  But tragically for ALL our money is NOT going towards America's needs, or the needs of the hungry and poor worldwide, instead our money is empowering an Israeli War Machine that has been creating a huge barrage of injustice and cruelty.

Israel claims to be the Jewish State, but that deceptive label was requested by Zionists at a very racist time in World history, and all that tag has done in the years since the horrors of the  Nazi Holocaust is to inspire Zionists worldwide to denigrate, displace and destroy the native non-Jewish men, women and children of historic Palestine.

Meanwhile, our democracy is in serious trouble, not only because our government funnels crucial funds away from the peoples' needs, but also in part because our Fourth Estate is being ditched as fewer and fewer Americans are willing to be brainwashed by Israeli propaganda.  Yup- America's mainstream news is mostly generated by a very foreign country aiming to get more of our money and sympathy.  That same country also interferes with our elections.  

Yes there are still some useful idiots willing to idolize Israel. But good leadership should not.

One state or two to end the Holy Land hostilities, citizenship should not ever be determined by a person's religion or lack thereof.  A just and lasting peace shaped by full respect for international law and basic human rights is the best way forward, for everyone's sake.

Sincerley,

Anne Selden Annab

American Homemaker & Poet

NOTES

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG BY ASKING TO BE TREATED RIGHT

Sliman Mansour- Colors of hope (الوان الأمل), egg tempera, 1980 

Hats off to the artist who came up this! This is genius! If you’re looking at this on a phone, angle it down to see the message. 🍉

A Palestine refugee woman cross-stitching traditional Palestinian embroidery, Gaza, 1967. Source: UNRWA Photo Archives.

Injustice

Keffiyeh Dove of Peace by Palestinian artist Maher Elhajj

Sky in different colors #Palestine #Creative #Flag 

I'd rather be excluded for who I include than included for who I exclude... at the end of the day as well as the beginning and the middle ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY 24/7 FOREVER

"NEVER AGAIN!" Husam Zomlot (Palestinian Ambassador to the UK) speaks at House of Commons at the Voices For Peace campaign.

When Israel kidnaps Palestinians, holding them without charge or trial, no one calls those Palestinians hostages- but we should. 

"Even during the darkest of times, we should not lose hope of a better future with no cruelty and dehumanization." Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Raja Shehadeh: Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza – my father saw it firsthand 

Alison Weir of IF AMERICANS KNEW on America's Bias and Distorted Media Coverage

FROM TURTLE ISLAND TO GAZA by Palestinian-Greek-Canadian artist: Christina Damianos

The very first Christians were in fact Palestinians ...

Sunbird poem by Fady Joudah 

The Western World will be putting up Nativity Scenes in their homes and churches which are about Middle Eastern people seeking refuge & look awful lot like those being bombed in Gaza

Water is life. The denial & destruction of it is genocide. .. Visualizing Palestine

Dear America- STOP RACIST HATE

To quote a well known American hero...  "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."  I Have A Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.  in 1963

Statement on the Celebration of Advent and Christmas in the Midst of War November 10, 2023 The Patriachs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

If you've ever wondered what you'd do during slavery, the holocaust, or the civil rights movement- you're doing it right now

 

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG BY ASKING TO BE TREATED RIGHT

 

Sliman Mansour- Colors of hope (الوان الأمل), egg tempera, 1980

Sliman Mansour- Colors of hope (الوان الأمل), egg tempera, 1980 copy

Hats off to the artist who came up this! This is genius! If you’re looking at this on a phone, angle it down to see the message. 🍉

A Palestine refugee woman cross-stitching traditional Palestinian embroidery, Gaza, 1967. Source: UNRWA Photo Archives.

A Palestine refugee woman cross-stitching traditional Palestinian embroidery, Gaza, 1967. Source: UNRWA Photo Archives.

thetatreezcircle

@mathqaf A Palestine refugee woman cross-stitching traditional Palestinian embroidery, Gaza, 1967. Source: UNRWA Photo Archives.

Caption from @mathqaf post: “Tatreez, a cross-stitch embroidery practice originating in Palestine, has a history spanning 3,000 years. It involves using coloured threads to create traditional motifs, each denoting different Palestinian villages and life events.

Palestinian women have practiced Tatreez as an act of resistance, weaving together their stories of resilience and hope in the face of war, displacement, and ethnic cleansing.

One day, Tatreez will be practiced in a free Palestine.”

Injustice

 

Keffiyeh Dove of Peace by Palestinian artist Maher Elhajj

Keffiyeh Dove of Peace by Palestinian artist Maher Elhajj

 

Sky in different colors #Palestine #Creative #Flag

Palestine Flag

I'd rather be excluded for who I include than included for who I exclude... at the end of the day as well as the beginning and the middle ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY 24/7 FOREVER

At the end of the day as well as the beginning and the middle ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY 24/7 FOREVER

"NEVER AGAIN!" Husam Zomlot (Palestinian Ambassador to the UK) speaks at House of Commons at the Voices For Peace campaign.

When Israel kidnaps Palestinians, holding them without charge or trial, no one calls those Palestinians hostages- but we should.

Pray for the Day protest sign 2023

 RE Hostages in Gaza & Israel

Dear President Biden,

When Israel kidnaps Palestinians, holding them without charge or trial, no one calls those Palestinians hostages- but we should.

Before HAMAS's despicable October 7 attack Israel was holding nearly 5,200 Palestinian detainees, including 170 children, 33 female prisoners... nearly a month later... the number of political prisoners has risen to 7,000, including 200 child prisoners, 100 female prisoners, and 2,070 administrative detainees.  https://www.thenation.com/article/world/war-on-palestinian-political-prisoners/

Those detainee numbers represent real human beings with thoughts and feelings and hopes and dreams of real freedom and justice. 

Israel's state sponsored violence and injustice is pervasive from "the river to the sea" and has been for decades: In addition to numerous home demolitions and land grabs, the arrest and torture of Palestinian men, women and children are just as much a part of Israel’s assault on the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine as any airstrike.

As of yesterday Israel has killed 17,144 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including 7,208 children, 3,716 women, and a total of 15,482 civilians. More than 33,830 Palestinians in Gaza have sustained various injuries.  Meanwhile Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 216 Palestinians in the West bank in the past 6 weeks.

7,208 children dead, and countless more traumatized children whose homes and families have been destroyed by Israeli bombs and bulldozers... Arming religion with taxpayers' funds plus lethal weaponry is a really bad ideal, with devastating consequences.

Your statements on Israel and Palestine prove your inability to see beyond Israeli propaganda. No foreign country should ever have so much influence over these United States of America.

Did you know that Christians made up about 25% of Jerusalem's population back in 1922, but today they number only 2% of the population. Blame Israel, not HAMAS for that.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

"The escalation of Israel’s arrest and torture campaign has been aided by several legal measures taken by the Israeli government to allow for the collective punishment of Palestinians."  November 20, 2023 The War on Palestinian Political Prisoners: The number of Palestinians in detention has soared since October 7. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/war-on-palestinian-political-prisoners/

"Even during the darkest of times, we should not lose hope of a better future with no cruelty and dehumanization." Sliman Mansour of Palestine

To Honor Children Globally

BORN UNEQUAL ABROAD & Zionist Modus Operandi

It’s #WorldChildrensDay on November 20th every year. The 2023 theme for World Children’s Day is “For every child, every right”.

Raja Shehadeh: Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza – my father saw it firsthand

ADC Reminder "Tens of millions in the US are struggling, and will go through Thanksgiving with little to no food on the dinner table..."

From my dear friend Nancy who heard it from Naomi: "Word this morning is that poet Mosab Abu Toha has been kidnapped by Israeli forces"

From my dear & beautiful friend Amal in California - Artist Amo Mahmood Abu Askar donated his work to House of Palestine.

Alison Weir of IF AMERICANS KNEW on America's Bias and Distorted Media Coverage

FROM TURTLE ISLAND TO GAZA by Palestinian-Greek-Canadian artist: Christina Damianos

MC Abdul - The Pen & The Sword (Official Video)

MC Abdul - Shouting At The Wall

The very first Christians were in fact Palestinians ...

Sunbird poem by Fady Joudah

The Western World will be putting up Nativity Scenes in their homes and churches which are about Middle Eastern people seeking refuge & look awful lot like those being bombed in Gaza

Water is life. The denial & destruction of it is genocide. .. Visualizing Palestine

The last Palestinians resisting in the olive groves: ‘The settlers are trying to take away the food we put on the table so they can then take our land’

8-year-old Mohammed from Gaza sits on the rubble of his family's house

Dear America- STOP RACIST HATE

To quote a well known American hero...  "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."  I Have A Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.  in 1963

Palestinians in the West Bank say Israeli settlers attack them, seize their land amid the war with Hamas CBS News with video

Dear world, we see you By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH November 16, 2023

"Do mainstream news outlets like Fox, NBC, CBS etc even have a fact checking department anymore? ..." Susan Muaddi Darraj

Stand for Humanity

For the Palestinian Christians in Gaza who are being ethnically cleansed along with their Muslim neighbors.

Statement on the Celebration of Advent and Christmas in the Midst of War Novemeber 10, 2023 The Patriachs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

If you've ever wondered what you'd do during slavery, the holocaust, or the civil rights movement- you're doing it right now

    

"Even during the darkest of times, we should not lose hope of a better future with no cruelty and dehumanization." Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Sliman Mansour Perseverance and hope (المثابرة والأمل), oil on canvas, 1976 . "Even during the darkest of times, we should not lose hope of a better future with no cruelty and dehumanization."

 

Prisoner's Day art by Sliman Mansour 1980

To Honor Children Globally

 

Children's Day is celebrated on various days in many places around the world, to honor children globally. It was established in 1954 to protect children working long hours in dangerous circumstances and allow all children access to an education. The UN General Assembly recommended that all countries should establish a Universal Children's Day on an "appropriate" day. Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation.

GOD BLESS AND SAVE GAZA CHILDREN

BORN UNEQUAL ABROAD & Zionist Modus Operandi

 

 &

Mike Hanini Odetalla:

"Imbedded journalists? The real problem is imbedded Zionists in US government and institutions!"

It’s #WorldChildrensDay on November 20th every year. The 2023 theme for World Children’s Day is “For every child, every right”.

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.”   - Nelson Mandela

World Health Organization (WHO)

@WHO

It’s #WorldChildrensDay. 

Every child deserves a long and healthy life and that includes a right to:  

 

Health  

Nutritious food to eat  

Safe, clean and secure environments  

Education and early learning  

Protection from harm 

 

 #HealthForAll

 

Precious Palestinian Children Enjoying Watermelons During Happier Times

World Children’s Day is observed on November 20 every year and is dedicated to the little ones who make our life beautiful.

World Children’s Day is UNICEF’s yearly call to action for children, by children, commemorating the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children’s rights are fundamental human rights, yet in many areas today, they face significant challenges.

 

 

 The 2023 theme for World Children’s Day is “For every child, every right”. Originally established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day, it’s observed on November 20 each year to foster global unity, raise awareness about children’s issues, and enhance their well-being. https://www.oliveboard.in/blog/world-childrens-day-2023/

 

Defense for Children

@DCIPalestine

Israeli forces have killed more than 5,000 Palestinian children in Gaza. That's around 9 to 10 classrooms of students being obliterated from the Earth every day by the Israeli military's relentless offensive on Gaza. #WorldChildrensDay

 

United Nations

@UN

As crisis in the Middle East deepens,  @UNHumanRights  chief @volker_turk   calls for adherence to international humanitarian law and greater respect for the basic principles of humanity. https://ohchr.org/en/statements/

 

 

"... Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding,

Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity..."  READ MORE of the 

Convention on the Rights of the Child

ADOPTED

20 November 1989

BY

General Assembly resolution 44/25

Raja Shehadeh: Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza – my father saw it firsthand

"Today, almost six decades after my father’s failed effort to convince the Israeli government to make peace with the Palestinians based on sharing the land, I feel the dreadful consequences of this failure. The killing of 11,000 people by Israeli forces, the attacks taking place in the West Bank by both the Israeli army and Jewish settlers that have led to the deaths of 200 Palestinians, and the failure of the world to deter Israel’s excesses has ushered profound fear into my own life.

The cries of the man with dual Irish-Palestinian nationality who lived in Gaza’s Beach camp on the shore of the Mediterranean still ring in my ears. He said to an Al Jazeera reporter that his camp was being bombed from all sides by Israel, and he wondered whether he would survive. He was in darkness with only a torch lighting his face. He asked how much more suffering we must endure before the world stops this, then most poignantly asked the viewers: “Are you enjoying this?” I wonder whether he survived the Israeli bombings. Or another man who, after informing the reporter, “They’re bombing the camp continuously,” said, “We’re leaving our home. We’re moving to al-Shifa hospital.” He ended with the plea: “Do something. Do something.” I thought of him as the hospital was surrounded by the Israeli army.

Everything that gave me hope that when violence reaches an unconscionable point and excessive violations of human rights are committed, Israel will be made to stop, is shattered now. I used to have faith that we would be protected by international humanitarian law, or by an outcry from the Israeli public against the excesses of their government – yet at this point I see no hope in either. Nor does it seem that there is hope that Israel will wake up from the delusion that war and violence against the Palestinians and its unassailable military strength will give it peace and security. This leaves us Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories vulnerable and with serious danger for our lives and our future presence in this land." 

... READ MORE

Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza – my father saw it firsthand

Raja Shehadeh

Decades after the 1967 war, Israel is still under the illusion that violence against the Palestinians will give it peace and security

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/20/1967-israel-gaza-palestinians-father

Mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza was also not feasible while the world was watching. So other strategies were employed.’ A Palestinian boy at the al-Shati camp, Gaza City, 2020. Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES or quotes IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

ADC Reminder "Tens of millions in the US are struggling, and will go through Thanksgiving with little to no food on the dinner table..."

Abed A. Ayoub

@aayoub

(Dad. Husband. National Executive Director of @ADC. Living in DC via the greatest American City, Detroit. RT =/= Endorsements. Views are my own. Washington, DC adc.org) 

 

"Reminder: Tens of millions in the US are struggling, and will go through Thanksgiving with little to no food on the dinner table. 

 

Thankfully our bought and paid for politicians in this country are doing their part to help by sending tens of billions of your tax dollars to Israel and the Ukraine. 

 

For those of you who are struggling, rest assured that the genocide happening in Gaza may not put food on your kids plates, but it does line the pockets of your elected officials and weapons producers.".

 

 

 & then from a recent video- a doctor, a Palestinian with no name but a very clear voice speaking of Palestine's children:

 

 “They give us a piece of bread and a sandwich, and they give the Israelis tanks, rockets, and warfighters... He saw his father dying, he saw his uncle martyred, he saw his house stolen, he’s living in a tent. How can we remove hatred from the hearts of these children?”

From my dear friend Nancy who heard it from Naomi: "Word this morning is that poet Mosab Abu Toha has been kidnapped by Israeli forces"

Mosab Abu Toha - essayist, poet - has been kidnapped by Israeli army in Gaza as he was fleeing with his family.  Diana Buttu  @dianabuttu

 

NOTEBOOKS

"During night airstrikes, all of us turned

into stones"   

poet Mosab Abu Tohu of Gaza, Palestine

from page 86 in his recent riveting book

2022 copyright

Poetry Foundation

Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, short story writer, and essayist from Gaza. Abu Toha is the author of Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza (2022, City Lights), which won a 2022 Palestine Book Award. Abu Toha is the founder of the Edward Said Library, and from 2019 to 2020, he was a visiting poet and librarian-in-residence at Harvard University.

Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, short story writer, and essayist from Gaza

 

 

2 Poems by Mosab Abu Toha

• my grandfather and home 
•  Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear

&

"Obit," by Mosab Abu Toha | The New Yorker

Nov 6, 2023Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet from Gaza. His début poetry book, "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear," was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won an American...

 

A Poem by Mosab Abu Toha: 'Younger Than War' - The Atlantic

Nov 9, 2023I saw a helicopter firing a rocket. into a tower as far from me as my frightful cries. when I heard concrete and glass fall from high. Loaves of bread went stale. I was still 7 at the time. I was ...

 

 &

poets.org

Mouth Still Open

Mosab Abu Toha

 

Someone’s mouth is still open. He hadn’t finished yawning
when shrapnel
pierced
through
his chest,
stung his
heart.
No wind
could
stop the
flying pieces
of shrapnel. Even
the sparrow on the lemon tree nearby wondered how they

           could
                               move

                               with
        
                      no
wings

 

Copyright © 2022 by Mosab Abu Toha. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 15, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

 

Goodreads Author

 His poems have been published in Poetry, The Nation, The New York Review of Books, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, and Poetry Daily, among others