Saturday, March 22, 2025

Please, let Golden Rule thinking and the rule of fair and just laws guide US all towards a better way forward.

$$$

Dear America (letter I just sent to my elected leaders),

We want there to be a happy ending.

BUT private greed generating escalating job losses & cuts to schools, libraries and National Parks undermines happy for a whole lot of hard working good people and their children who deserve better than being wage slaves for the Billionaires Club.

Privatizing the Post Office so that American wage slaves sending Christmas cards can help create another privileged Billionaire Jet Setter who joins The Club by paying less than a living wage to many of their workers is just wrong.

Taxpayers' money should be bolstering crucial services including the Social Security system and Medicare.

Furthermore State Sponsored Violence sends the message that Violence works: Funding weapons of war with taxpayers' hard earned money is counterproductive and only leads to escalating violence worldwide.

Public funds should be for the public good.

Big Business and Government hiding the true cost of electronic anything shifts both pollution and a punitive burden onto the individual citizen in multiple ways. For instance precious farm land is gobbled up by data servers. The individual citizen has to pay for online services, and the batteries & electricity necessary to be online. Meanwhile AI as well as Hackers, Doxers, & Scammers glean as much private data they can grab, abusing personal information for nefarious purposes.

Please, let Golden Rule thinking and the rule of fair and just laws guide US all towards a better way forward.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

No War Please

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac 2025 book tour USA 'Christ In The Rubble' ... Now more than ever, we need to talk about the American Church's role in what is happening in your country and ours, as we all are waking up to terrible news day after day.

"The Holocaust did not start with gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes, and prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanisation and escalatin violence" Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau

From USS Liberty to Rachel Corrie: Israel’s Attacks on U.S. You Probably Didn’t Know About - Israel’s violent history with US citizens reveals a shocking pattern of attacks and impunity.

"I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear." ... I Am a Political Prisoner. A letter dictated by Mahmoud Khalil over the phone from ICE detention in Louisiana. Mahmoud Khalil March 18, 2025

State sponsored violence is not the way to convince vulnerable people to veer away from arming religious tyranny and terrorism.

Hate crimes are escalating here in America with people primed by to think, say and do horrible things...

Slavery, Segregation and Forced Displacement are wrong. Wrong then and wrong now

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..." https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Friday, March 21, 2025

“Far too many states are enabling the genocide of the Palestinians, while turning also repressive toward their own citizens. This is both revolting and scary. We must stop it now.” —UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese

“Far too many states are enabling the genocide of the Palestinians, while turning also repressive toward their own citizens. This is both revolting and scary. We must stop it now.” —UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese

Spring in Palestine by Ismail Shammout of Palestine

Spring in Palestine by Ismail Shammout
http://ismail-shammout.com/

Ismail Shammout was born in 1930 in Lydda – Palestine.

During the Nakba of 1948, he and his family were forced out of their home during the assault of Jewish Zionist militant groups on their town.

A long march on foot allowed them to settle in the refugee camps of Khan Younis in Gaza where he lived under very harsh conditions.

In 1950 he managed to travel to Cairo to study arts from where he later earned a scholarship to study fine arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome.

After he finished his studies, he moved to Beirut in 1959 where he married his fellow arts student from Cairo, the Palestinian artist Tamim El-Akhal (born 1935). Both lived and worked in Beirut until 1983 then moved to Kuwait, then to Germany and finally to Amman in 1994.

Shammout died on July 3rd 2006.

Shammout, who himself experienced expulsion and refuge and accompanied later the birth of the Palestinian Revolution in the 1960s, became since the very early days of his professional live along with his partner Tamam El-Akhal the “artistic face” of the Palestinian Freedom Struggle. He has been long recognized as Palestine’s leading modernist painter.

His experience of dispossession and the memories of beloved Palestine, the dreams of return as well as the dignity and pride of his people formed the soul of his entire art.

The simplicity of the themes and his outstanding artistic skills let his works enjoy a widely spread popularity which significantly shaped modern Palestinian Art. https://ismail-shammout.com/

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

World Poetry Day 2025 with a poem by Mosab Abu Toha (of Palestine)

Mosab Abu Toha

@MosabAbuToha

If we stay in our houses, they bomb us.

If we shelter in a school, they bomb us.

If we run to a hospital, they bomb us.

If we move into a tent, they bomb us.

If we go to a toilet, they bomb us.

If we run from an air strike, they bomb us.

If we do not do any of this, they still bomb us.

If we stay like a tree,

or temporarily leave like a leaf in the fall,

they bomb us.

But spring will come

and they, those who bomb us,

will find no bombs among

the flowers.

We will be on the trees bathing in the sun,

and they, those who bomb us,

will have no sun,

no place to rest,

no legs to run.

UNESCO Held every year on 21 March, World Poetry Day celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity.: Practiced throughout history – in every culture and on every continent – poetry speaks to our common humanity and our shared values, transforming the simplest of poems into a powerful catalyst for dialogue and peace.

"The Holocaust did not start with gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes, and prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanisation and escalatin violence" Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau

"Jude" badge Jewish people were forced to wear early on in the Nazi Holocaust 1939-1945

Kennzeichen für Schutzhäftlinge in Den konz Lagern
Translated: Badges for detainees in the concentration camp

Beginning in 1937, the Nazi party created a system of badges marking prisoners in concentration camps, Ravensbrück included. This system included a classification poster that listed the shape and color of badges for people that the Nazis deemed as “subhuman.” Each color represented a different group of people targeted by the Nazis. These groups included:

Political Prisoners - Red Triangle
Criminals - Green Triangle
Emigrants - Blue Triangle
Jehovah’s Witnesses - Purple Triangle
Homosexuals - Pink Triangle
Asocials - Black Triangle
Romas and Sintesi - Brown Triangle (Not Pictured)

2025 Israeli Military War Crimes While Occupying Hospitals

Denial of Care, Deadly Forced Evacuations, Destruction of Medical Facilities

Palestinians Deliberately Deprived of Food, Water, and Other Necessities

&

Israel Imports Gaza Abuses into the West Bank

Risk of Atrocities as Repression, Displacement Reach Unprecedented Levels

Three weeks ago, in violation of the ceasefire and international humanitarian law, the Israeli government blocked all aid, food, fuel, and shelter from entering Gaza. At the same time, the Israeli government was resisting scheduled talks for the second phase of a more permanent ceasefire agreement. Instead the United States floated a short-term “bridge proposal,”

“Palestinian lives have become so undervalued that reports of 50 children killed barely register... We must speak about it... We must tell the stories.” Ms. Yafa Abu Akar, a Palestinian Journalist in Gaza

People walk by buildings destroyed during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, March 20, 2025. Leo Correa/AP

By Ghada Abdulfattah Special contributor

March 20, 2025, 4:51 p.m. ET | Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip

When Sabah al-Qarra first returned to her home in the Gaza Strip town of Khuzaa seven weeks ago, she was careful not to get too comfortable. There was a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but she didn’t trust it.

But as the days turned to weeks, Ms. Qarra and her family tacked sheets of nylon over the blown-out glass windows and hauled rubble from the bombed-out rooms. They installed solar panels and, when Ramadan arrived, strung twinkly crescent- and star-shaped lights to celebrate the holy month.

It felt, at last, like life could begin again.

Then the bombs began to fall.

On Tuesday, Israel resumed airstrikes in Gaza, killing 500 people, including 200 children, local authorities said, sending Ms. Qarra and her family fleeing once more. On Thursday, after days of calling on the international community to push Israel back to the negotiation table, Hamas responded in kind, launching rockets into central Israel. Meanwhile, Israel began a new ground offensive in northern Gaza.

The developments spelled an end to the stalled ceasefire negotiations, which had tried the patience of both Israelis’ and Palestinians’ allies. But for Gazans, the resumption of fighting simply laid bare their greatest fear: The world had turned its back.

“We were let down and left behind” by the international community, says journalist Yafa Abu Akar. “No one cares.”... READ MORE https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2025/0320/gaza-ceasefire-israel-airstrikes

‘Abandoned by everyone,’ Gazans watch the bombs fall

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Faith endures: A scene from church today in Gaza - 2025

Faith endures: a scene from church today in Gaza

Little angel Naya Kareem Abu Daff, 5 years old, killed by an Israeli airstrike. They are not just numbers—they had names, dreams, and futures that were stolen.

From USS Liberty to Rachel Corrie: Israel’s Attacks on U.S. You Probably Didn’t Know About - Israel’s violent history with US citizens reveals a shocking pattern of attacks and impunity.

Israel’s violent history with US citizens reveals a shocking pattern of attacks and impunity. ((Design: Palestine Chronicle))

https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-attacks-on-us-you-probably-did-not-know-about/

By Robert Inlakesh, Reposted from Palestine Chronicle, January 9, 2025

While it has become normalized for US Presidents to openly avow that they are Zionists and pledge unconditional support to their Israeli ally, most Americans still remain unaware that Israel has repeatedly attacked and killed their fellow citizens.

During the past four years of Joe Biden’s Presidency, Israel has gotten away with murdering five American citizens, for which there have been no consequences for the US’ special relationship with Tel Aviv. Yet Israel’s attacks against America and its citizens go back much further.

In 1954, Israeli intelligence operatives planted bombs in US, British, and Egyptian civilian areas in Cairo, ranging from shopping malls, and movie theatres to diplomatic targets.

The goal was to frame Communist groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other actors to serve Israeli interests, convincing the US and UK to back Israel in taking military action. However, the plot, known as “The Lavon Affair” was thankfully foiled and represented a diplomatic debacle for Tel Aviv.

During the June 1967 war that Israel initiated with its “Operation Focus” surprise attack against Egypt, an American naval vessel called the USS Liberty was deliberately attacked by the Israeli military.

The incident led to the killing of 34 US sailors and the injury of 174 others, miraculously the US-flagged ship did not sink despite Israel having repeatedly assaulted it with torpedoes and even napalm.

Then US President Lyndon B. Johnson covered the event up in order to not embarrass Israel, although the ship’s survivors have campaigned for justice for years and rarely received much media attention. It is alleged that the Israeli intention behind the USS Liberty assault was to create a false-flag attack that justified American intervention in the 1967 war.

On August 28, 1980, Israel almost succeeded in assassinating the US ambassador to Lebanon, John Gunther Dean. Although the American ambassador provided evidence that Israel was behind the attempt on his life, Dean was quickly replaced and the incident swept under the rug.

The official narrative accepted by the US government, despite the material evidence of Israeli involvement, was that the fascist militia group called the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners (FLLF) had been behind it.

Years later, in his book, Rise and Kill First, Israeli investigative journalist, Ronen Bergman, revealed that three Israeli officers – Meir Dagan, Rafael Eitan, and Avigdor Ben-Gal – were responsible for creating the FLLF. Their goal was to pose as an organic anti-Palestinian group of Christian Lebanese extremists.

In the case of the attempted assassination of John Gunther Dean, it was speculated that the reason behind the attack was to replace the American ambassador due to his willingness to speak to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). If this was the objective, they succeeded in replacing the ambassador.

On March 16, 2003, a 23-year-old American peace activist named Rachel Corrie was deliberately crushed to death by an Israeli soldier driving a militarised bulldozer in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. She had been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was attempting to block the Israeli army from destroying Palestinian homes. Her parents are still campaigning for justice.

In 2010, Israeli commandos raided a humanitarian aid convoy in International Waters, violently storming a ship called the Mavi Marmara on May 31. The Israeli soldiers gunned down 10 of the activists on board, who had intended to break the illegal military siege on Gaza and were carrying humanitarian aid, one of those who was murdered was an American citizen.

The Mavi Marmara survivors are still bringing legal challenges in an attempt to hold Tel Aviv accountable.

On May 11, 2022, an Israeli soldier assassinated Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in the Jenin Refugee Camp. The State Department later published a report that contradicted itself and served to whitewash the event. The veteran Al-Jazeera journalist had worked in her role for 25 years and was a household name for Palestinians.

Israeli occupation police forces assaulted mourners at Abu Akleh’s funeral, causing the pallbearers to drop her casket. Israeli police later published a doctored video of that incident to try and blame Palestinians for initiating a clash, which was debunked due to video evidence from multiple angles.

Then-Israeli PM Naftali Bennet initially tried to blame Palestinians for shooting Abu Akleh, using videos widely shared on official Israeli social media pages, which were quickly debunked by Israel’s own top rights group B’Tselem.

There has not been justice for Shireen Abu Akleh’s family, who have been repeatedly let down by an American government that isn’t willing to even force Israel to punish the soldier responsible.

On April 1, 2024, Israel deliberately murdered 7 World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers, including an American-Canadian dual citizen. WCK receives financing from the US government-funded USAID program.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that an Israeli drone launched repeated strikes against clearly marked humanitarian aid vehicles, targeting workers who moved from one vehicle to the next, the US took no action to properly punish Israel.

Israel has not only murdered dozens of US citizens, many of them Palestinian-Americans who receive little to no coverage compared to non-Palestinians, but American citizens continue to be harassed, detained, assaulted, and subjected to pogroms in the occupied West Bank.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes committed against US citizens, Washington repeatedly turns a blind eye and it is rare that even the individual Israelis responsible will be held partially accountable.

Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.

"I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear." ... My Name is Mahmoud Khalil and I Am a Political Prisoner A letter dictated by Mahmoud Khalil over the phone from ICE detention in Louisiana. Mahmoud Khalil March 18, 2025

Protestors show support for pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil on March 15, 2025, at the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Khalil was arrested without a warrant on March 8 by the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images

The contents of this letter have not been edited.

My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law.

Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met, who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing.

Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.

On March 8, I was taken by DHS agents who refused to provide a warrant, and accosted my wife and me as we returned from dinner. By now, the footage of that night has been made public. Before I knew what was happening, agents handcuffed and forced me into an unmarked car. At that moment, my only concern was for Noor’s safety. I had no idea if she would be taken too, since the agents had threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side. DHS would not tell me anything for hours — I did not know the cause of my arrest or if I was facing immediate deportation. At 26 Federal Plaza, I slept on the cold floor. In the early morning hours, agents transported me to another facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. There, I slept on the ground and was refused a blanket despite my request.

My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night. With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.

I was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria to a family which has been displaced from their land since the 1948 Nakba. I spent my youth in proximity to yet distant from my homeland. But being Palestinian is an experience that transcends borders. I see in my circumstances similarities to Israel’s use of administrative detention — imprisonment without trial or charge — to strip Palestinians of their rights. I think of our friend Omar Khatib, who was incarcerated without charge or trial by Israel as he returned home from travel. I think of Gaza hospital director and pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who was taken captive by the Israeli military on December 27 and remains in an Israeli torture camp today. For Palestinians, imprisonment without due process is commonplace.

I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear. My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the U.S. has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention. For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.

While I await legal decisions that hold the futures of my wife and child in the balance, those who enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University. Presidents Shafik, Armstrong, and Dean Yarhi-Milo laid the groundwork for the U.S. government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing — based on racism and disinformation—to go unchecked.

Columbia targeted me for my activism, creating a new authoritarian disciplinary office to bypass due process and silence students criticizing Israel. Columbia surrendered to federal pressure by disclosing student records to Congress and yielding to the Trump administration’s latest threats. My arrest, the expulsion or suspension of at least 22 Columbia students — some stripped of their B.A. degrees just weeks before graduation — and the expulsion of SWC President Grant Miner on the eve of contract negotiations, are clear examples.

If anything, my detention is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation. Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam War, standing on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Today, too, even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.

The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs. In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.

Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-letter-from-a-palestinian-political-prisoner-in-louisiana

Jewish Voice for Peace protest in New York City Trump Tower for FREE SPEECH & Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil

~~~

Timeline: The Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) & Establishment of Israeli Apartheid

1. Prelude to Catastrophe (Late 1800s-1945)

"We shall try to spirit the penniless [Palestinian] population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it any employment in our own country... expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly." - Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, 1895... " READ MORE https://imeu.org/article/the-nakba-65-years-of-dispossession-and-apartheid

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

“Reports and images emerging from the Gaza Strip following today’s attacks are beyond horrifying. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, including more than 130 children, representing one of the largest single-day child death toll in the last year. Some of the strikes reportedly hit makeshift shelters with sleeping children and families, another deadly reminder that nowhere is safe in Gaza...." UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the [Israeli] attacks in Gaza 18 March 2025

UNICEF and partners bring warmth to children in Der Al Balah by distributing winter clothes to 7-year-olds in AL Thapeen Camp, in Der Al Balah, the middle area. 22 December 2024

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the attacks in Gaza

18 March 2025

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-attacks-gaza

NEW YORK, 18 March 2025 – “Reports and images emerging from the Gaza Strip following today’s attacks are beyond horrifying. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, including more than 130 children, representing one of the largest single-day child death toll in the last year.

“Some of the strikes reportedly hit makeshift shelters with sleeping children and families, another deadly reminder that nowhere is safe in Gaza.

“The latest attacks come as lifesaving aid remains blocked from entering Gaza, compounding the risks to children. It has been sixteen days since the last truck delivering humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza. In addition, electricity has been cut to the main desalination plant, significantly reducing the amount of potable water.

“Today, Gaza’s one million children – who have endured more than 15 months of war – have been plunged back into a world of fear and death. The attacks and the violence must stop – now.

“We urge all parties to immediately reinstate the ceasefire, and we call on countries with influence to use their leverage to ensure the situation does not further deteriorate. International humanitarian law must be respected by all parties, allowing the immediate provision of humanitarian aid, the protection of civilians, and the release of all hostages.”

About UNICEF

UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.

Follow UNICEF on X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

Media contacts

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac of Palestine's 2025 book tour USA 'Christ In The Rubble' ... Now more than ever, we need to talk about the American Church's role in what is happening in your country and ours, as we all are waking up to terrible news day after day.

Munther Isaac منذر اسحق

@MuntherIsaac

Now more than ever, we need to talk about the American Church's role in what is happening in your country and ours, as we all are waking up to terrible news day after day. Here's the full list of upcoming events with Munther Isaac STARTING THIS SUNDAY, with registration links: -- March 23, 2025 (Sunday) – Evanston 9:30-10:30 CDT – First Presbyterian Church 1427 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL 60201 -- March 24, 2025 (Monday) – Wheaton College 19:00-20:30 CST – Lecture at Wheaton: The Theology of Sumud Barrows, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College 524 South Washington St., Wheaton, IL -- March 25, 2025 (Tuesday) – South Bend, IN (UND) 17:00-18:30 EDT – Book Series Speaking Event Carey Auditorium, Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame -- March 26, 2025 (Wednesday) – Chicago 18:00-19:00 CDT – Chapel Service at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) 4th floor, Catholic Theological Union 5416 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615 -- March 27, 2025 (Thursday) – Cambridge, MA (Harvard) 17:15-18:30 EDT – Harvard Divinity School James Room East, 120 Swartz Hall 45 Francis Ave, Cambridge, MA FOR MORE INFO: RPL@HDS.HARVARD.EDU -- March 28, 2025 (Friday) – Boston & Yale Morning Event – Downtown Boston TBD -- March 28, 2025 (Friday)18:00-20:30 – Battell Chapel Yale 400 College St, New Haven, CT 06511 Register Here: yaleconnect.yale.edu/ycasa/rsvp_boo

-- March 29, 2025 (Saturday) – Princeton, NJ 14:00-16:00 – Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 177 Princeton Hightstown Rd, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550 -- March 30, 2025 (Sunday) – Brooklyn, NY 10:30-11:30 – Mass at Redeemer – St. John's Lutheran Church (Speak after service about book) 939 83rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11228 -- March 30, 2025 (Sunday) 15:00-16:30 – The Riverside Church 490 Riverside Dr, New York, NY 10027 Register Here (In-person of streaming): trcnyc.org/event/faithami -- March 31, 2025 (Monday) – Philadelphia 19:00-20:30 – Lenten Conversation alongside Noura Erakat, Shane Claiborne, and Lisa Sharon Harper 20:30-21:00 – Book Signing Reception Arch Street Meeting House, West Room 320 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 -- April 1, 2025 (Tuesday) – Washington, DC 18:00-20:00 – Busboys and Poets – Anacostia 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020 Register Here: cmep.org/cmep-events/ch -- April 2, 2025 (Wednesday) – Washington, DC 15:00-16:30 – Georgetown Event: Intercultural Center at Georgetown's Main Campus 37th and O Streets NW, Washington, DC 20057 (Georgetown will provide a registration link) -- April 2, 2025 (Wednesday) 18:30-20:00 – The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church 1313 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005 Register Here: cmep.org/cmep-events/ch --- April 4, 2025 (Friday) Minneapolis Exiles in Babylon conference. theologyintheraw.com/exiles25/

A cry from the heart and a call to action from a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian

In this impassioned and incisive book, Munther Isaac challenges mainstream Christians’ uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel. Speaking from his unique vantage point as a prominent Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, he proclaims a truth that is rarely acknowledged in Christian circles: Israel’s campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people did not begin after October 7, 2023. Rather, the campaign is a continuation of a colonial project with nineteenth-century roots that has, since 1948, established systems of entrenched discrimination and segregation worse than South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Writing from Bethlehem with close-up knowledge of conditions on the ground, and rooted in a commitment to nonviolence and just peace, Isaac urges readers to recognize that support for Zionism’s genocidal project entails a failure to bring a properly Christian theological criticism to bear upon colonialism, racism, and empire. He calls on Christians to repent of their complicity in the destruction of the Palestinian people. And he challenges them to realign their beliefs and actions with Christ—who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war.

No War Please

The United Nations & full respect for Universal Human Rights is the best defense.

State sponsored violence is not the way to convince vulnerable people to veer away from arming religious tyranny and terrorism.

Dear America (letter I just sent to my elected officials)

Support civilization- not bulldozers and bombs destroying homes and farms and families.

Support security for all human beings- not sniper bullets killing children.

Support the rule of fair and just laws with full respect for universal basic human rights- NOT ISRAEL.

NOT ISRAEL! Not the way the political entity called Israel has been as it systemically denigrates, displaces, and destroys the indigenous men, women, and children of historic Palestine.

An extensive echo chamber of dangerous Israeli lies and propaganda clouds your thinking and your ability to be fair or wise. Slow down- stop, look and listen.

I abhor HAMAS and Hezbollah. What they did and do was wrong and evil. Knowing that I also know that state sponsored violence is not the way to convince vulnerable people to veer away from arming religious tyranny and terrorism.

We live in a modern age with computers, maps, books, the internet and citizen journalists with cellphones and so many other advantages, including the tools to shape a just and lasting peace.

Please stop choosing violence and injustice.

Listen to the witnesses, listen to the people who know what they are talking about, and think. Think about how you would feel and what you would think if you were a child in an Israeli prison being tortured.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

Notes https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

James J. Zogby: What investment and freedom would have meant for Gaza

"Yasser Arafat, speaking of Gaza’s future, would say that with investment and freedom from occupation it could become Singapore; if denied both, it could become Somalia. Israel did everything it could to guarantee that Gaza would become Somalia—and they appear to have succeeded."

UNRWA chief confident he is on 'right side of history' Geneva (AFP) – UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini acknowledges that it has been "stressful" leading the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees, but says he is confident he is "on the right side of history".

'The violence in the occupied #WestBank is alarming. Since January nearly 40,000 Palestine Refugees have been displaced by air strikes, armoured bulldozers and controlled detonations. People cannot return and the demography of camps is being permanently altered.' - @UNLazzarini

"Letting @UNRWA implode because of the fierce disinformation campaign, the Knesset legislation, and the suspension of funding by key donors will have grave consequences.

It would create a dangerous vacuum in the occupied Palestinian territory.

It will also send shockwaves through Jordan, Lebanon and #Syria.

This would create an environment in which children are deprived of #education + people lack access to basic services.

Such an environment would be fertile ground for exploitation & extremism.

This is a threat to peace & stability in the region + beyond.

Dismantling UNRWA abruptly will only deepen the suffering of Palestine Refugees, it will not cancel their refugee status."