Annie's New Letters (& notes)

Palestinian bookshop owner celebrates Jerusalem residency ruling Munther Fahmi's campaign to be allowed to stay in his birth city

2012-01-28T04:39:00.005-05:00

was backed by eminent literary figures

Inside the American Colony hotel in Jerusalem where Munther Fahmi has his bookshop. Photograph: Dan Balilty/AP

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/27/palestinian-bookshop-owner-jerusalem-residency
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 January 2012 11.57 EST

The Palestinian owner of an celebrated Jerusalem bookshop patronised by politicians, diplomats, authors and activists has won a rare victory in a six-year battle to be allowed to remain in the city of his birth.

Munther Fahmi, the proprietor of the small but well-stocked bookshop at the legendary American Colony hotel, said he was overjoyed at the news, received on Thursday, that he had been granted a temporary residency permit by the Israeli authorities. He and his lawyer are optimistic it will be made permanent after two years.

Fahmi's campaign to be allowed to remain in Jerusalem is backed by eminent literary figures including the Israeli authors Amos Oz and David Grossman and British and Irish writers including Ian McEwan, Roddy Doyle, John Banville and Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Following the reprieve, his immediate plan was to book a trip to the London Book Fair in April, he told the Guardian, confident he would be admitted back into Israel. "This has been a huge strain. I have been living with uncertainty for 15 years, unable to plan my life. Every time I left the country, I didn't know if I could come back."

The threat stemmed from Fahmi's absence from Jerusalem for almost 20 years, which resulted in him losing his residency permit. Despite having been born and brought up in Jerusalem, he had been forced to rely on a series of tourist visas since returning in 1997.

Thousands of Palestinians have lost the right of residency in the city under similar circumstances. According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, in 2006 there were more than 1,300 revocations...READ MORE

My letter to CSMonitor RE "As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction"

2012-01-27T09:07:00.007-05:00

Yaffa Palestine...Circa 1930's (Vintage Palestine ALBUM)

RE: As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0126/As-Israeli-Palestinian-talks-sink-fringe-ideas-gain-traction

Dear Editor,

Regarding "As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction" the warning is wise- but this is not new news. This has been the trend for decades, with the disenfranchised and disconnected following any lead they can find that might help give voice to the very real plight of the Palestinians.

It is totally tempting and frankly quite easy to get caught up into the one state fantasies which are packaged to look compassionate, intelligent, pro-human rights and totally pro-Palestine, but really are nothing but a call to endorse a terrible status quo that enables Israel to easily continue to usurp more and more Palestinian land, rights and peace.

Building support for a real Palestinian state in order to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict with a fair and just negotiated settlement is not an easy task, but there are many good and decent people on both sides who have been dedicating all their best efforts towards that goal.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"... there are analysts, both in the Arab world and outside it, with a solid grounding in the region who try to act as a compass on the path to a better understanding of events.... For a lively and challenging take on events in the region, there is a regular blog by Hussein Ibish, Senior Research Fellow at the Washington-based American Task Force on Palestine and a tireless Tweeter." NYTimes blogs Harvey Morris Attempting to Answer the Arab Question
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/attempting-to-answer-the-arab-question/

"Understanding individuals as citizens, and not subjects or wards of states, reframes the state as the guarantor of the individual and collective rights of the citizenry rather than the solution to all social challenges. The idea that governance requires legitimacy that can only be achieved through the consent of the governed has become widespread in the Arab world." Ziad Asali, founder of The American Task Force on Palestine: Arabs deserve a party of the citizen
http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/01/16/1326690000_0

"The grass isn’t much greener on the other side of the wall, though. Israel is supposedly the sole democracy in the Middle East (even if this seems to be changing), and yet gender segregated streets and buses is becoming more and more common. It has been estimated that 500 bus journeys in Israel are segregated daily, which means that women are expected to sit in the back." Julie Holm for MIFTAH: Gender Divides on Both Sides of the Green Line http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=24363&CategoryId=13

"This year at Davos, I want to talk about social and economic equity. I want to see the needs and aspirations of women, young people, our poorest and most marginalised brothers and sisters on the global agenda. It is the responsibility of each one of us to make their voices heard and to build a world that is worthy of them - a world worthy of all of us." Desmond Tutu Elders blog: Time to close the gap
http://theelders.org/article/time-close-gap

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

(Guardian Photo)

Israeli demolitions leave 1100 Palestinians homeless in 2011

2012-01-27T07:44:00.004-05:00

Palestinian refugees

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http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/01/israeli-demolitions-leave-1100-palestinians-homeless-in-2011/

There’s been a dramatic rise in the number of Palestinians who have been made homeless following demolitions by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

The UN’s humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) says almost 1,100 Palestinians were displaced in 2011, that’s 80 per cent more than the previous year.

Half of those people were children.

Reem Abaza asked Ramesh Rajasingham Head of OCHA in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for more details about the demolitions.

Duration: 3’09″

Listen / Download

PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks

2012-01-27T07:33:00.004-05:00

A protester holds a Palestinian flag next to extreme right wing Jewish settlers during a weekly protest in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Dec. 30, 2011. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=455762

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PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO meetings with Israeli envoys have not been able to restart negotiations, a Palestinian presidential spokesman said Friday, after Israel said it had fulfilled its obligation to the Quartet-sponsored talks.

Israel did not provide anything to build upon, while the issue of borders and security is still pending, Nabil Abu Rdeineh told Ma'an.

PLO officials held five exploratory meetings with Israeli negotiators in the Jordanian capital during January. The diplomatic Quartet had called for the sides to give their positions on the borders and security by Jan. 26.

At the first summit on Jan. 3, the PLO gave Israel a proposal for resolving border and security issues, and Israel promised to respond in future meetings, Jordanian Foreign Minster Nasser Judeh said at the time.

Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said negotiators handed a 21 point proposal to the meetings, which PLO official Nabil Shaath said lacked any detail and was "rather a composition about peace done by a high school student."

In the final meeting before the Quartet deadline, Israeli delegate Yitzhak Molcho on Wednesday gave a verbal presentation on borders and security, which an Israeli official said was to meet the Quartet request.

But a PLO official told Reuters that no maps were presented at the meeting and the presentation "killed the two-state solution, set aside previous agreements and international law."

The idea presented by Molcho "does not include Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and includes almost all (Israeli) settlements", he said.

"Basically, the Israeli idea of a Palestinian state is made up of a wall and settlements," he said.

The Jordan valley makes up around 30 percent of the West Bank, and occupied East Jerusalem is roundly considered as the capital of a future Palestinian state...READ MORE

Fayyad: Building Palestinian state requires cooperation from Israel

2012-01-27T07:28:00.002-05:00

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/fayyad-building-palestinian-state-requires-cooperation-from-israel
Frank Kane

Jan 27, 2012

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND // A lasting peace deal between Israel and Palestine "might happen very quickly," Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"We are sorry it has taken so long but we are nearer, at the final stage," Mr Peres said during a debate with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, at Davos, the Swiss town hosting the annual gathering of the world's leading decision-makers.

Mr Fayyad said: "There must be a hope for peace but it has to be a product of conscious decision-making."

Both politicians were critical of the actions of the Middle East Quartet of powers - the US, European Union, Russia and the United Nations - which have been mediating peace negotiations between the two sides since 2002.

The Quarter "are putting the parties in a position where they have to respond under pressure," said Mr Fayyad.

"They keep setting dates which are too arbitrary and we might make mistakes under pressure," said Mr Peres.

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the Davos forum, posed the question: "Is there still reason for hope we will have reconciliation between Israel and Palestine?"

Mr Peres answered: "I am convinced there will be peace based on a two-state solution. We have not been standing still. At the same time as carrying on with diplomacy, the Palesinians have done a good job in two ways: they have started to build a state, they are building a modern city in Ramallah. And they have built a security force, with 15,000 people trained in Jordan by the US. For the first time, [the Palestinians] can provide for their own security."...READ MORE

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To be clear: Return... a poem by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

2012-01-26T07:39:00.003-05:00

Growing Gardens for Palestine
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

To be clear: Return

How many ways
can analysts & experts
(& echo chambers)
misinterpret- misconstrue-
misrepresent
and mangle
a refugee's inalienable
natural, legal, moral
and necessary
right to return...
and the right to live
free of religious tyranny
and institutionalized bigotry
wherever the individual
might chose to go

How many ways
can the idea of return be bullied
into a bellicose demand on both sides
with idiots itching to impoverish
and erase 'the other'

To be clear: Return
to original homes and lands
or resettle elsewhere.

It really is totally civilized
and right: Return
or relocate...

End the plight and impoverishment
of Palestinians... stop disenfranchising
yet another generation.

End the largest,
longest running refugee crisis
in the world today

Stop the Israel/Palestine conflict

To be clear: Return
or relocate, resettle elsewhere

People need passports
and job opportunities
People need peace
and security

People need the protection
of fair and just laws
and true equality
with the ability to earn respect
and a decent living
no matter what their name
no matter what their religion.

To be clear: Return
or resettle elsewhere
one by one in turn

Return and rebuild a new life
or relocate and rebuild a new life
a private life- a personal life
not as a pawn for war
but as a vital seed for peace
and progress... growing gardens
for Palestine...
A person with roots
and rights- and responsibilities:
One by one, family by family
Man and wife
Return to be Israeli
or relocate to be Palestinian
or move on and away: End the conflict
accept two states and many choices
of nationality.

To be clear: Return...
Return or relocate
to help build a Golden Rule Peace
worldwide where do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle and goal
for our parents, for ourselves
for our neighbors
for civilization itself
and for all our children
no matter what their name.

Desmond Tutu: "It is time to talk about making real changes so that the world becomes a more equitable place."

2012-01-25T08:58:00.006-05:00

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights. They were brought together in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, who is not an active member of the group but remains an Honorary Elder.

Elders blog

Desmond Tutu, 24 January 2012

Time to close the gap

.... We can no longer ignore this growing distance between rich and poor – we risk undoing all the progress we’ve made, and making the world even more uncertain and volatile. It is time to close the gap. It is time to talk about making real changes so that the world becomes a more equitable place.

Putting equity on the agenda

What does ‘equity’ mean? It means fairness. It doesn’t mean that everyone lives equally - after all, we all choose different paths and our rich diversity is to be treasured. But it does mean equal opportunity - equal access to healthcare, to education, decent work, and a fair wage.

I know I will meet many powerful men and women in Davos. They have worked hard, put their God-given talents to good use, and become some of the most successful entrepreneurs, politicians and change-makers in the world. But when we consider the world we have created for our children, we do not look to these illustrious figures. No, when we judge our success, we must look to the least of us.

The world as seen from Davos seems very far away from the suffering and degradation in the poorest countries and communities. It may be hard to see how the concerns of those people who struggle to survive directly affect the lives of the rich and powerful gathered here. But not one of us lives or acts in a vacuum. The concept of ubuntu teaches that my humanity is bound up in yours - that we are all connected. In this era of globalisation, this interdependence is more evident than ever before.

When there are millions of educated young people out of work; when the poorest among us are the worst-hit by the effects of climate change; when millions of children every day are denied their right to the basic necessities of life, food and water - what does this say about the world we have built? Can anyone really claim ‘success’, when the great rift between the haves and the have-nots is causing even greater stress, unhappiness and violence in our societies? A more equitable world means a more stable and prosperous world - for everyone.

This year at Davos, I want to talk about social and economic equity. I want to see the needs and aspirations of women, young people, our poorest and most marginalised brothers and sisters on the global agenda. It is the responsibility of each one of us to make their voices heard and to build a world that is worthy of them - a world worthy of all of us.

PALESTINE: "We will continue the dialog and we will continue the (peace) talks because we consider this to be the only way to a peaceful resolution,"

2012-01-24T21:38:00.006-05:00

Palestine ready to continue talks with Israel: Abbas Xinhua e
January 23, 2012 - 12:00am
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/23/c_131373594.htm

MOSCOW, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas said here on Sunday that the Palestinian authorities are ready to continue peace talks with Israel.

"We will continue the dialog and we will continue the (peace) talks because we consider this to be the only way to a peaceful resolution," Abbas told reporters after his meeting with Russia's chief Mufti Ravil Gainutdin.

Meanwhile, he blamed unconstructive policies adopted by the Israeli authorities, saying they are hindering the peace talks between the two sides.

"As ever, obstacles are made by the Israeli part and their policies," Abbas said. "If the talks fail, this will happen through Israel's fault," he added.

Abbas arrived in Moscow on Thursday for a six-day visit to Russia. He had held talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, when the two sides discussed ways of restarting the stalled Middle East peace process.

Direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel were suspended in Oct. 2010, after Israel failed to renew a ban on settlement building in the West Bank, which prompted Palestine to leave the talks.

ATFP
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UN official urges Israelis and Palestinians to intensify efforts to resolve conflict

2012-01-24T20:29:00.005-05:00

“Neither the international community nor the parties can afford to let this opportunity pass by. The Secretary-General continues to call on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to show vision, courage and determination to reach a historical peace agreement that would meet the legitimate aspirations of the people on both sides,” said Mr. Fernandez-Taranco."

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41032&Cr=palestin&Cr1=

24 January 2012 –
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A senior United Nations political official today urged Israel and the Palestinians to redouble efforts to resolve all their permanent status issues, end the conflict and establish an independent and democratic Palestinian state that will exist peacefully alongside Israel.

“Leadership is needed to ensure that the process moves forward with the support of the regional and international partners,” said Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, as he briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

He told the Council’s open debate, which heard from over 40 speakers, that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had started meeting on 3 January under the facilitation of King Abdullah of Jordan and the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, in the presence of envoys of the so-called Quartet – the diplomatic grouping bringing together the UN with the European Union, Russia and the United States. It was the first time both parties had held direct talks in 15 months.

“The parties began discussing important issues related to territory and security,” said Mr. Fernandez-Taranco. “They are also discussing ways to build confidence and create a positive environment for these talks to succeed,” he added.

Actions on the ground, however, continue to contribute to tensions, he told the Council. Settlement activity, including in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, continued during the reporting period. Violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians also remain troubling.

On the continuing bloody unrest in Syria, Mr. Fernandez-Taranco told the Council that the bloodshed and human rights violations must stop for a credible, inclusive and Syrian-led political process to start in that country.

“We hope that the international community will act in a concerted and coherent manner in support of ongoing efforts for a peaceful resolution of the crisis,” he said.

The UN also continues to monitor the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, he said, adding that both the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Lebanese Government had registered 5,660 Syrian refugees. The significant increase in number is largely due to intensified refugee registration, he added.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Ban welcomes meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators

It can be done... giving peace a chance

2012-01-24T11:20:00.004-05:00

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http://jordantimes.com/giving-peace-a-chance
THE JORDAN TIMES

Giving peace a chance

by Peter Millett | Jan 24,2012 | 22:39

As has been widely reported, His Majesty King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together for the first time in 16 months. They have held three meetings in Amman, choreographed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

Comments in the international press have seen a wide range of optimism, pessimism and cynicism. It is easy to be pessimistic and say that nothing will come of it. I prefer realism: no one should pretend that reaching a deal is easy. It has eluded negotiators for years. But as the King himself has said, it is better to talk than not to.

Conflict resolution is both a science and an art. There are certain obvious principles that should be followed. But they need to be adapted to circumstances. What is important is that the end goal is kept in sight.

The Palestinians have a right to a state. And Israel has a right to security. The two objectives are inter-linked: the best guarantee of Israel’s security is through peace with a Palestinian state.

What are the basic factors for resolving conflict? Here are my top five:

— Mutual respect and trust. Unless the negotiators trust each other, progress will not be made. I cannot count how many times the two sides proclaimed that “it takes two to tango”. That is no doubt true, but the only way you’ll find out is by getting onto the dance floor.

— Compromise. Any gain for one side is seen as a loss for the other. This is completely counterproductive. Any solution will require a balanced set of compromises. Give and take by both sides is essential.

— No threats or violent actions. As Gandhi said: “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”

— Avoid the blame game. Playing to the international gallery is attractive, but it holds back constructive compromise. It is good news that the two sides have agreed to radio silence with the media. They should stick to it.

— People-to-people contact. Top-level representatives can negotiate, but it has to be underpinned by trust between people. If people are not permitted or discouraged from meeting each other, then it will be very hard to convince them that the risk is worth it. That is the theory. And of course it has been tried before. The history of the Middle East peace process is full of special envoys, initiatives and agreements. Little has been achieved on the ground. The reasons are well-known. So why try again now?

The fact is that the current situation is stark and deeply worrying. If settlement building continues, a two-state solution will be impossible.

The international community regularly condemns settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. The British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last week called settlement building “deliberate vandalism”. And settler violence against Palestinian villages and mosques is growing.

Peace is not an easy option — it requires greater bravery than war. Perhaps the most important quality needed at all levels is courage and determination.

I recall a quote: “Conflict is inevitable; combat is optional.”

We all know that compromise is hard. For political leaders it means courting unpopularity and sparking accusations of betrayal and treason. It is easy to camp out on nationalistic slogans and pander to extremists. It is much harder to live up to your own rhetoric and make the hard decisions to reach the objective that the silent majority probably favour.

Many of these principles were deployed with success in Northern Ireland in the last 10 years. Of course, the circumstances are different, but the fact is that leaders and communities whose positions were miles apart are now sharing power. To achieve that result both sides had to realise that violence does not work and that a solution would bring peace and economic benefits all around.

It can be done.

The writer is British ambassador to Amman. This article is reprinted [in The Jordan Times] with permission from the British embassy

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

2012-01-24T10:35:00.004-05:00

To create the textiles, spiders are collected each morning and harnessed in specially conceived silking contraptions. Trained handlers extract the silk from 24 spiders at a time. The spiders are returned to the wild at the end of each day Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab

If humankind
can conceive of
and make
a spider silk cape...

A million times
lithe Golden Orb spiders
living in the forest in the highlands
of Madagascar carefully-gently caught
for a day, harnessed to spin
their bright golden threads
then released alive
as evening falls...
year after year
eventually
a glorious golden
brocade embroidered.

If humankind can cherish art
and build museums for all to enjoy

If humankind
can sow and harvest wheat
make bread, grow grapes-
make wine

If humankind can remember goodness
and create jobs each with a living wage

If humankind can carefully, conscientiously craft
a Universal Declaration of Human Rights

If humankind can raise our children
to nurture their gifts and good relationships

If humankind can envision
and invest in environmentally friendly cities
with greenbelts and rooftop gardens

Surely we can also somehow shape
a just and lasting peace
in and for the Middle East

PART II
Two States: One Israel, One Palestine

Two states
One Israel, One Palestine
to be a modern marriage
making dreams come true:
Two individuals able to each
speak their own language
pursue their own dreams
build their own sanctuaries
and museums and news...

Two states
to be the Golden Rule
whereas do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle
and cherished goal.

Two states to explore the compelling wisdom
of we, and the pivotal importance of us (and them)
working side by side each in our own sphere
to lovingly parent a future together... or weave a spider silk cape...
or repair a stairway... or build a car... or harvest an orchard...
empowering full and equal citizens and progress as civic rights
and responsibilities become more and more inclusive
and important.

Two states sovereign
each in their own realms
each in their own spheres

Two states to respect
the need for borders
the need for compromise
the need for language
the need for kindness
the need for compassion
the need for diplomacy
the need for honesty
the need for civilized conversations
the need for decent jobs
and the need for the rule of law
fair and just laws... the need for peace
and security
for every home and family.

Let the refugees return
to either be Israeli
or Palestinian
or Israeli-Palestinian or Palestinian-Israeli
or Palestinian-American...etc...
each in turn choosing
who they want to be
and where they want to build a life
for life moves on continuously changing
and our parents' choices
can make all the difference.

PART III
A Golden Rule Peace

In an interconnected
global world
we are the spider silk cape
we are the golden glow
of good intentions
and careful craftsmanship
appreciated...

Art and history and math and science
in dialog- to be synergy
and dedication
as glorious dreams are caught
and recreated
for today's world
with today's tools
sharing bits of light
and shadow
to reveal
the best that we can find
in our own memories
fingering a fabric
and recalling a mood

The forest is in the weave
and the airlines it took
to transport, the sunrises and rainbows
and oceans and streets, the accents
and languages and all
and all earth's beauty caught
strand by strand
woven
and embroidered
to entrance
an audience
willing to believe.

Our parents' choices
(and our own)
can make all the difference.

"From Homer to Chaucer, Primo Levi to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, literature has constantly taught us this: life goes on...."

2012-01-23T07:08:00.004-05:00

A general view of Jerusalem's Old City. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/23/arab-israeli-book-review

The Arab-Israeli Book Review: Common ground in contested territory

In focusing on the shared culture straddling the Middle East's great divide, this new journal is a hopeful step towards mutual understanding

Toby Lichtig

guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 January 2012 06.37 EST

The Israel-Palestine struggle has not prospered from scrutiny. Few modern conflicts have caused more columns to be written, solutions proffered, hands wrung, bile spent or vengeance waged – and vengeance it so often is, even when dressed up as justice. (In the words of the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti, "start your story with 'secondly', and the world will be turned upside-down".)

Amid the denunciations and counter-denunciations, counsel and complaint, from the Middle East to the west and beyond – not to mention the televised grief of Israeli occupation, Hezbollah rockets and the like – what tends to get bypassed is daily life, common culture, the actual stuff that comprises the societies the commentators spend so much of their energy trying to bring together (or keep apart). This normality is usually more important to the people who experience it than anything the rest of us witness in the news. From Homer to Chaucer, Primo Levi to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, literature has constantly taught us this: life goes on.

I was talking about this to the London-based Palestinian author Samir El-youssef last week, just before the official launch of his new online literary magazine, the Arab-Israeli Book Review. "I grew up in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon," he told me. "Do you think we talked about politics every minute of the day? My grandmother was more interested in whether I had brushed my teeth!"

Samir's new project helps to redress the narrative imbalance, away from policy and nationhood, towards people....READ MORE

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"The new conversation about Israel has yet to make its way into Congress and the executive branch, but that day may be coming...."

2012-01-23T07:02:00.003-05:00

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http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article565012.ece
or http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/01/19/1326949200_21

By JORDAN MICHAEL SMITH

The media consensus on Israel is collapsing

Across the political spectrum, once-taboo criticism is now common

With Hamas and Fatah meeting in Cairo, reconciliation between the rival Palestinian political parties is likely only a matter of time. Official US policy holds that Hamas is only a terrorist entity, and any agreement between the two factions jeopardizes continued US aid. There is reason to believe, however, that more flexible, productive positions will be expressed in the US media. Slowly but unmistakably, space is opening up among the commentariat for new, critical ideas about Israel and its relationship to the United States.

Freedom of this sort was visible in the pages of the New York Times last week. Thomas Friedman, the paper's foreign affairs columnist, wrote that American leaders were betraying the country by outsourcing their foreign policy to Israel. A standing ovation given to the Israeli prime minister by the US Congress this year was "bought and paid for by the Israel lobby," he wrote. Phrased bluntly as it was, Friedman's sentence was startling. As the quintessential establishment columnist, Bill Clinton's favorite pundit and a thrice Pulitzer Prize-winner, Friedman is often seen in the US as authoritative on the Middle East and rivaled only perhaps by the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg in the influence of his writing on popular discussion.

Not surprisingly, Friedman's piece elicited furor from those policing the conversation about Israel. The Israeli ambassador, American Jewish Committee, Jerusalem Post and even members of Congress gang-swarmed Friedman, accusing him of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. It was not the first time in recent months Friedman has been critical of Israel policy. In September, he wrote of the Obama government that the "powerful pro-Israel lobby in an election season can force the administration to defend Israel at the UN, even when it knows Israel is pursuing policies not in its own interest or America's." A more damning critique of Israel and the lobby would be difficult to make.

Even so, Friedman is not the only Times-man to let go the pro-Netanyahu line. Columnist Roger Cohen is even more critical of Israel than is Friedman, and like Friedman he is notable for being a liberal supporter of the Iraq War - not exactly a radical, in other words. Cohen now regularly writes about Israel's "illiberalism," says US foreign policy has been "Likudnized," and calls opposing Israeli oppression of the Palestinians the most important task currently facing diaspora Jews.

Cohen believes the new conversations he has contributed to represent "changes going on in the US Jewish community," he said in a phone interview. "Jewish identity in postwar America was built very much on the Holocaust and support for Israel, and for younger American Jews that may have less resonance. There may be a rethinking of that form of attachment to Israel."

J Street, the organization devoted to lobbying for Israel from a liberal perspective, is both reflective of, and a stimulant to, a more balanced conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Cohen says. If he is right, J Street is performing its job well. Public discussion about the Mideast conflict is still nowhere near evenhanded in the United States, but it is more so than it used to be.

Three academics, Tony Judt, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, deserve a lot of credit for expanding the permissible. Whatever one thinks of their analyses or prescriptions, they endured opprobrium and ostracism, to state the obvious: The unconditional US-Israeli relationship is good for neither the US nor Israel. Walt has an important perch at Foreign Policy's website, which he uses to regularly espouse his once-radical views on Israel.

Criticism of the special relationship, once rare, is now frequent. Newsweek/Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan has become a regular source of attacks on the unqualified US support for Israeli policy. Time magazine's Joe Klein has been similarly outspoken. "If you don't think that the Israel Lobby has an enormous influence on the Congress, you're deluding yourself," he wrote recently.

Peter Beinart, also of Newsweek/Daily Beast, inspired headlines with his critique of the "Failure of the American Jewish Establishment." He has a forthcoming book sure to get a lot of attention called "The Crisis of Zionism." Former New York Observer writer Philip Weiss has created a one-stop shop for critics of Israel and US policy. And, of course, Salon's own Glenn Greenwald regularly questions the bipartisan consensus on Israel.

As one would expect, these developments are causing a great deal of consternation from those determined that views favorable to the Palestinians never get a hearing. In 2006, the American Jewish Committee released its infamous report accusing these new critics of Israel of being simply anti-Semitic. Last year, Lee Smith of Tablet magazine made the odd charge that publications like the Atlantic and Salon encourage Jew-hating writers in the hopes of increasing page views. Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol has lamented that charging Israel's critics with "anti-Semitism" doesn't effectively silence them any longer. And last week Iran-Contra convict Elliott Abrams criticized Friedman and Klein because they exemplify the mainstreaming of Walt and Mearsheimer's ideas.

But it isn't only pundits and academics. Diplomats and the people who would be on the center-right of American politics (if such a thing still existed) have been vocal about their alienation from US discussion of Israel. Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, an adviser to three presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues, told me in an e-mail that "Fear of angering extreme evangelicals and the old lobby still inhibit real debate about Israel in American politics."

Paul Pillar, former CIA bigwig, has become a stark critic of Israel for the National Interest. He has defended the comparison of Israel's occupation policies with apartheid South Africa, and says that he agrees with all of Walt and Mearsheimer's analysis, including the most incendiary charge - that the Israel lobby was instrumental in pushing the US to invade Iraq.

Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for Colin Powell, has been similarly outspoken about the power of what he calls "the Jewish lobby." Jack Matlock, Ronald Reagan's ambassador to the Soviet Union, has written that by far the greatest threat to Israel's security and well-being is the policies of its own government. And in 2009 longtime diplomat Chas Freeman blasted the Israel lobby for successfully ending his nomination to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

For all the discussion-widening in the chattering classes, official US foreign policy has changed little, if at all. Obama has overseen unprecedented military deals between Israel and the United States, and all but abandoned the Palestinians in the international diplomatic arena. Newt Gingrich's historically discredited claim that the Palestinians are an "invented people" shows that American politicians still take some of the most extreme positions in the Israeli polity as gospel.

Still, at the outset of his term Obama made the biggest rhetorical push against Israeli settlement policy that any US president ever has, only to back down in the face of Israeli objections. The resulting animosity between Netanyahu and the administration is no secret. Democratic rank-and-file voters are also less supportive of Israel than they used to be, and less so than Republicans are now. The new conversation about Israel has yet to make its way into Congress and the executive branch, but that day may be coming.

- Jordan Michael Smith is a writer living in Washington, D.C. He has written and blogged for numerous print and online publications, including the Huffington Post, the New Republic, the American Prospect, the American Conservative, In These Times and the Columbia Journalism Review. He has written for the New York Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post.

(Courtesy: MY CATBIRD SEAT)

The only escape is to the interrogation room where children are shackled, by hands and feet, to a chair while being questioned, sometimes for hours...

2012-01-22T16:39:00.005-05:00

"Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, mostly accused of throwing stones. Since 2008, Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected sworn testimonies from 426 minors detained in Israel's military justice system.

Their statements show a pattern of night-time arrests, hands bound with plastic ties, blindfolding, physical and verbal abuse, and threats. About 9% of all those giving affidavits say they were kept in solitary confinement, although there has been a marked increase to 22% in the past six months.

Few parents are told where their children have been taken. Minors are rarely questioned in the presence of a parent, and rarely see a lawyer before or during initial interrogation. Most are detained inside Israel, making family visits very difficult.

Human rights organisations say these patterns of treatment – which are corroborated by a separate study, No Minor Matter, conducted by an Israeli group, B'Tselem – violate the international convention on the rights of the child, which Israel has ratified, and the fourth Geneva convention.

Most children maintain they are innocent of the crimes of which they are accused, despite confessions and guilty pleas, said Gerard Horton of DCI. But, he added, guilt or innocence was not an issue with regard to their treatment.

"We're not saying offences aren't committed – we're saying children have legal rights. Regardless of what they're accused of, they should not be arrested in the middle of the night in terrifying raids...READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

Israeli soldiers with arrested Palestinian youths. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/22/palestinian-children-detained-jail-israel

The Palestinian children – alone and bewildered – in Israel's Al Jalame jail

Special report: Israel's military justice system is accused of mistreating Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones

Harriet Sherwood in the West Bank

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 January 2012 15.00 EST

In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

2012-01-22T05:14:00.009-05:00

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
The Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, is seen from the Mount of Olives, Tuesday. An Israeli government plan to create parks around Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, is seen by Palestinians as a land grab. Ammar Awad/Reuters

In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

Seven existing and planned parks in sensitive East Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, would expand areas of Jewish control where Palestinians envision a future capital.

By Ben Lynfield, Correspondent / January 20, 2012

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0120/In-Jerusalem-national-parks-seen-by-Palestinians-as-a-land-grab

Jerusalem

An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem, preserving the ancient city's natural beauty and archaeological wealth, is fueling opposition among Palestinians and their supporters as the project moves into a critical stage.

Israel says the parks plan is necessary for the public's benefit. It also fits into Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's vision for bolstering tourism in Jerusalem, which, despite its storied history, gets only a fraction of the visitors of Paris or New York.

But critics say the parks amount to a land grab that consolidates Israel's grip on disputed East Jerusalem. The territory was annexed by Israel after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and declared part of its "eternal, undivided capital." But it is envisioned by Palestinians as the capital of their future state.

"People say, 'It's just a park,' but these parks change totally the political scope of Jerusalem and have a direct impact on the lives of Palestinians," says Hagit Ofran, who monitors Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas for the dovish Peace Now movement.

Efrat Cohen Bar, an architect at the progressive Israeli planning group Bimkom, which recently conducted a study of national parks in East Jerusalem, terms them "green settlements," which have the same effect of keeping Palestinians off the land and expanding Israeli control. Israel denies that as a motive behind the project.

The battle for East Jerusalem

The national parks strike at the heart of the battle over East Jerusalem because they are on or near territory with nationalistic, religious, or strategic resonance. Together, they could link and expand areas under Jewish control, from the old city through the heart of East Jerusalem to the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim.

The next phase of the parks plan would turn East Jerusalem's largest remaining open area into Mount Scopus Slopes National Park, overriding Palestinian objections that the land is vital to relieve a housing crunch. It is to be created on what residents say is the only land available for the expansion of the crowded Palestinian neighborhood of Isawiya.

"This park will choke the people of Isawiya into a given area and prevent them from having a natural life," says Isawiya leader Darwish Darwish....READ MORE

Cameras catch human view of Palestinian village

2012-01-21T13:37:00.002-05:00

Emad Burnat presented "5 broken cameras" at the Sundance film festival this weekend (AFP/Getty Images)

http://news.yahoo.com/cameras-catch-human-view-palestinian-village-155111624.html

Cameras catch human view of Palestinian village

By Romain Raynaldy

Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat spent five years filming his village's resistance to Israeli settlers -- and brought his intimate but powerful documentary to the Sundance film festival.

Co-directed with Israeli Guy Davidi, "5 broken cameras" was shown in competition on the first weekend of the world-renowned independent film festival, which runs until January 29 in the US ski resort of Park City, Utah.

The West Bank village of Bilin, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of Ramallah, made headlines when its inhabitants demonstrated in 2005 against an Israeli settlement on their land.

The same year Burnat, an olive picker, received a small camera as a gift for the birth of his fourth child. He rapidly developed from family home movies to filming the resistance of Bilin.

"Emad .. started filming what was happening, but he didn't think about making a film," Davidi, who met the Palestinian in 2005 when he was making a film about the West Bank and the problem of water.

"It took a long time, for what he said, until he started thinking of making a film with the footage he got."

It was only in 2009 that Emad called him saying he wanted to make a documentary out of his footage, even though many films had already been made on the subject.

"I had the feeling that we could do a film from his point of view if we could use the footage that he had shot in a very personal way," said Davidi.

Emad agreed to the idea -- a courageous decision, said the Israeli.

"He took a big risk in revealing himself. For a Palestinian, to make a personal and intimate movie, filming his wife, or himself, fragile and vulnerable when he's arrested, for example, is very delicate," he said.

The result is powerful both narratively and emotionally, as he reveals the intimate link between his personal life and events in Bilin -- his brothers' arrest, the death of one of his brothers under Israeli fire, his own arrest, his wife's reproaches, or the daily risks to film protests.

Risks illustrated by the title of the film itself: he needed five cameras, all of them destroyed during rallies or in clashes with the Israeli armed forces, to make the whole movie.

"For Emad, filming is a way to survive and to keep going. The minute we begin to do the film, I knew that it would be a film about persistence," said Davidi.

While there is lots of footage of the violence of the Israeli Defense Forces set against peaceful resistance by villagers, "we didn't want to create a picture just manipulated to some kind of ideology," he said.

"We had to confront all of the events that are part of a human life."

So for example Israeli soldiers are show evacuating Emad to an Israeli hospital. "In that sense, these soldiers saved Emad's life. If you ask Emad, he will tell you there is nothing personal (against) the soldiers.

"Some of them can be very violent, and some of them can be kind."

And he said: "I'm not optimistic or pessimistic. I don't have unrealistic expectations. I think there are many undercurrents in Israeli society that can surprise anyone, that are very important.

"This is how I feel. There are many people, emotionally, that are on the verge of changing completely their views. I am sure that there will be a window of opportunity for change.

"But what will happen during that window, that's the big question."

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

When it comes the matter of belligerent occupation, there are three key international arbiters that determine the legal reality in such matters....

2012-01-21T12:23:00.002-05:00

"On some matters there are arbiters authorized to distinguish between opinions and established legal and political facts. When it comes the matter of belligerent occupation, there are three key international arbiters that determine the legal reality in such matters: the UN Security Council, the United Nations more broadly, and the consensus of the international community, all in that order of relevance." Hussein Ibish

We do not want theories, we want practical solutions...

2012-01-21T12:18:00.001-05:00

"We want to help everyone. We do not want theories, we want practical solutions, our people need social and economic security and we are working hard to get rid of the occupation and everyone should help us to obtain our goal" Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

To Build A State

2012-01-21T10:59:00.006-05:00

(AP) - A Palestinian activist holds up a banner reading 'No to negotiations`' during a protest against the against peace talks with Israel n the West Bank city of Ramallah Saturday, Jan. 21

People hold Palestinian flags and a placard during a demonstration against the peace negotiation talks between Palestinians and Israeli in front of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office in Ramallah, January 21, 2012. REUTERS/ Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

To Build A State

How do you build a state
when some of your supposed supporters
(thanks to many an energetic academic
getting speaking fees and book tours and applause
on all sides of every argument)
have been trained to undermine
serious state building efforts
at every turn...

Right, left and center
Jobs jobs jobs some paid some not...

How do you build a state
when information overload
buries basic facts
blurs basic trends
buoys bad arguments...

Right, left and center...

How do you fight poisonous pervasive propaganda
in a globally connected world where jobs can easily be lost
for speaking out and careers are sidelined
and wiser people learn
to simply drift gently politely away
seeking citizenship elsewhere...

How do you dismantle institutionalized bigotry
and an oppressive military occupation
when your own supposed supporters are lured into endorsing
isms
and ists and angsts which foolishly arm religion
with tax payers' money and pestilent weaponry...

Missiles and bombs and bullets aimed
at instigating endless battles and bickerings...

How do you stop the day by day by day
by day disenfranchisement- impoverishment
home demolitions- evictions- rejections- nihilist rage
and ongoing decimations and insults now joined by
the apparent self destruction of a nation state
known as Palestine.

How do you stand strong- firm
for justice and peace
for Palestine...

Honest and noble
for Palestine...

Dignified and realistic
for Palestine...

Alive and aware- for Palestine
and modern maps.

Report: EU delegates say PLO should return to Jerusalem

2012-01-19T06:29:00.002-05:00

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=453456
Orient House.(MaanImages/file)

Report: EU delegates say PLO should return to Jerusalem

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- A report by European Union delegates has called for the re-development of PLO institutions in Jerusalem, stressing that Israeli polices are undermining the two state solution.

"Without Jerusalem as the future capital of two states, a sustainable peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will not be possible," a copy of the EU report obtained by Haaretz on Wednesday said.

The report states that Israeli policies in East Jerusalem contradict its stated commitment to the two state solution. It adds that "attempts to emphasize the Jewish identity of the city [...] threaten its religious diversity and provide fuel to those who want to further radicalize the conflict."

Several recommendations were put forward by the report, Haaretz said. The measures included information sharing on violent settlers in East Jerusalem to assess whether they can enter EU member states, the development of a PLO presence in Jerusalem, EU legislation to prevent investment in support of settlement activity, and that EU delegates do not meet Israeli officials in their East Jerusalem offices.

In August 2011, the EU released a statement condemning a decision by Israel to extend the closure of the Orient House and Chamber of Commerce in East Jerusalem.

"These institutions have now been closed for ten years. The EU firmly believes that these institutions should be allowed to re-open and resume their operations as focal points for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, as required under the Roadmap," the statement said.

Orient House had served as the PLO's unofficial headquarters in Jerusalem before being seized by Israeli forces in 2001.

The property belongs to the Husseinis, a prominent and well known Palestinian Jerusalemite family.

ABDULLAH BIN HUSSEIN: The Palestinians and the Arab Spring- The Palestinian right to statehood remains the Arab people's foremost cause.

2012-01-19T06:11:00.006-05:00

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204468004577168763221534288.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

OPINION
JANUARY 19, 2012

By ABDULLAH BIN HUSSEIN [King Abdullah II of Jordan]

Amman

A year has passed since the Arab Spring began to change our region, showing the determination of Arab men and women, especially youth. But a key issue remains unresolved: peace between Palestinians and Israelis. This month, in Amman, the parties sat across the negotiating table for the first time in 16 months. What message will the United States now send to them and to the people of the region?

I've heard it said that with all the regional change and uncertainty, there's no point in restarting talks right now. This "wait-and-see" argument joins a long line of false excuses for why the parties can't get negotiating. A changing region doesn't preclude a settlement, it demands one. It is now, not tomorrow, that a settlement can show that political processes of negotiation and agreement can deliver what people want. It is now, not next year, that young people, Arab and otherwise, need to see the U.S., Europe and the rest of the democratic world mean what they say about justice for all.

Make no mistake about it: The Palestinian right to statehood and their cry for justice and a homeland free of occupation remain the Arab people's foremost cause. In Jordan, the "final-status" issues—including borders, refugees, security and Jerusalem—are at the heart of our priorities. This means making real the promise of a viable, independent, sovereign Palestinian state, as part of a two-state agreement that resolves all final-status issues and guarantees security for Israel....READ MORE

http://jordantimes.com/palestinians-and-the-arab-spring

PWA chief: World must act on Israel's water apartheid

2012-01-18T20:57:00.004-05:00

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=453288
PWA chief: World must act on Israel's water apartheid
A boy fills buckets with drinking water at the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (MaanImages/Hatem Omar, File)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The head of the Palestinian Water Authority on Tuesday said the international community must act on Israel's "apartheid" water policy in the West Bank.

In January, the French parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee issued a report which found that Israel's water policy constituted "a weapon serving the new apartheid." It noted that Jewish settlers used more than five times as much water as Palestinians and were given priority during droughts.

PWA chief Shaddad Attili said the World Bank, the UN and other international organizations had issued similar reports on Israel's denial of Palestinian water rights.

Growing awareness must be translated into international pressure on Israel to end its water apartheid, Attili said in a statement.

"Israel controls all the water resources in the occupied West Bank. It exploits these resources for near exclusive Israeli use, allocating a mere fraction of the available water supply to Palestinians. While Israelis enjoy some of the highest water consumption rates in the world, Palestinians continue to face a series of crippling water shortages artificially engineered by Israel as a matter of policy," Attili said.

The official added that Israel used water to target vulnerable Palestinian communities.

"This includes its systematic demolition of Palestinian rainwater harvesting cisterns and wells used as a means to forcibly displace Palestinian communities who depend on them for their basic water needs. The number of demolitions continues to increase, with at least 25 Palestinian wells and 32 Palestinian cisterns demolished in 2011 alone.”

Negotiations to resolve the allocation of water have failed, he said, adding that the Joint Water Committee established in the Oslo Accords effectively gave Israel veto power over all Palestinian water projects.

Water is one of the six final-status issues to be resolved in a peace agreement, alongside settlements, refugees, borders, security and Jerusalem.

"Without water, and without ensuring Palestinian water rights, there can be no viable or sovereign Palestinian state," Attili warned.

Supporting Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth

2012-01-18T16:01:00.005-05:00

Mennonite Church USA responds to appeal from Palestinian Christians: Congregations encouraged to read and discuss Kairos Palestine document

From the Mennonite Church USA

http://www.mennoniteusa.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8QJdsFMIKRg%3D&tabid=55

October 5, 2011
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ in Palestine,

We in Mennonite Church USA have received your statement “Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth.” Though it has been nearly two years since you made this appeal the urgency of your situation remains and we feel compelled to respond even at this late date.

For more than sixty-five years, Mennonites have lived, studied and ministered in Palestine and Israel. Some of us have developed deep friendships and bonds of faith with brothers and sisters there. Our faith has been challenged and nurtured by you.

We open our hearts when we again hear of the suffering you experience in an occupied land as homes are taken from you, families and communities are separated by walls and checkpoints, and countless large and small indignities and humiliations are visited upon you each day.

We are challenged and inspired by the way you cling to hope and love, even in a situation you describe as a dead-end tragedy with no room for positive expectation. We are moved by the way you maintain hope because it comes from God. We are humbled and grateful for the way, even in your situation, you trust in the power of love as modeled and inspired by Jesus Christ. We are deeply moved by your testimony that even in the midst of cruel circumstances, you bear the strength of love rather than that of revenge. We are inspired by your continued vision that the only way forward is for Palestinians and Israelis to see the face of God in each other.

We hear in your call the appeal of Christ to us. Therefore, we welcome your invitation to come and see your reality. We commit ourselves to promote and expand opportunities for our leaders and members to visit you and learn firsthand about your suffering. We pray God will continue to open our ears and soften our hearts.

We also seek to study scripture together within our own church and with you, that we may be released from the grip of unjust ideology and may grasp more fully what God desires for your part of the world and for all of us. Further, we will continue to wrestle with the way our lives are enmeshed in the policies and implementation of occupation through our economic practices and seek to turn from them.

In the Kairos document, you again remind us that the way of the cross binds together great love for every person and courageous resistance to injustice and sin. We pray that as we journey together we will grow in our faithfulness to the one who leads the way and whom we proclaim as Lord and Savior.

In the peace of Christ,

Ervin Stutzman
Executive Director, Mennonite Church USA

*******************

Kairos Palestine

Letter I sent to my elected leaders objecting to the upcoming legislation regarding internet 'anti-piracy'

2012-01-18T09:24:00.008-05:00

Wikipedia goes dark for 24 hours to protest web piracy bills http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/18/wikipedia-goes-dark-for-24-hours-to-protest-us-web-piracy-bills/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CongressLookup?zip=17050

Call your elected officials.
Tell them you are their constituent, and you oppose SOPA and PIPA.
Why?
SOPA and PIPA put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

In a world in which politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money, Wikipedia — and sites like it — cannot survive.

Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they will fatally damage the free and open Internet.

Dear Rep. Todd Platts [R, PA-19], Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA], Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]

Today I went to Wikipedia to research red deer and up popped the warning about upcoming legislation that might have a huge impact on my own ability to practice free speech- and my ability to blog photos and news and opinion and insights and inspirations that might actually help end the Israel/Palestine conflict... I believe that the anti-piracy act will too easily empower all the wrong people and seriously harm the average citizen's ability to research, keep accurate public notes as well as make intelligent contributions to the global conversation on important topics such as the Israel/Palestine conflict or ecology or even tourism and economics.

My own blogs and efforts are certainly not as professional or popular or entertaining as many of the multiple Jewish activists and writers who contribute to popular newspapers, blogs and list serves, exploring every aspect and perspective of the Israel/Palestine conflict, deftly arguing every side plus some... but I like to think my careful notes and my own pro-America/pro-Palestine contributions to the conversation help steer at least some free thinkers, inquiring minds and compassionate strangers away from the rampant hate mongering and anti-American rhetoric and the ugliness that tends to dominate non-mainstream forums focused in on using Palestine as a fulcrum for their rage.

I fear that anti-piracy laws can too easily be misused by well funded but misguided organizations and individuals who seek to harass targeted individuals in order to silence ideas and facts they want to oppress and hide, steering the general public away from seeing larger truths and trends.

I am a lowly unpaid blogger, poet & American homemaker who very much believes in free speech, the marketplace of ideas and the vital importance of paper trails made possible by the internet... I also believe in Palestine and the importance of supporting serious state building efforts. Already many very rational and well informed people here in America are reluctant to speak out publicly about the importance of ending the Israel/Palestine conflict with a just and lasting peace based on international law and respect for basic human rights because they have been harassed into silence by religious extremists and various well funded organizations that actually thrive on the continuation of the conflict. Please don't arm petty tyrants and big business with yet another weapon to use against vulnerable and conscientious individuals and NGOs.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Growing Gardens for Palestine

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

Google Search 2010

Red deer roam...

2012-01-18T06:48:00.007-05:00

Red deer roam on a foggy day in the Golan Heights, near Israel's border with Syria January 17, 2012. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Despite the fact that the two countries have never made peace, the Golan frontier has largely been quiet. A U.N. force patrols the demarcation line between the Golan Heights and Syria. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS)

Red deer stand in a rain puddle on a foggy day in the Golan Heights, January 17, 2012 REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS SOCIETY)

Spotted deer roam on a foggy day in the Golan Heights, January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS)

A spotted deer drinks water from a puddle on a foggy day in the Golan Heights, January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

EU should consider legislation to prevent or discourage companies and organisations in member states doing business which supports Israeli settlements

2012-01-18T06:32:00.004-05:00

"Successive Israeli governments have pursued a policy of transferring Jewish population into the oPt [occupied Palestinian territory] in violation of the fourth Geneva convention and international humanitarian law," the report says. The EU says East Jerusalem is occupied territory and was illegally annexed.

It says Israel is "actively perpetuating its annexation by systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in the city" by imposing planning regulations in Palestinian neighbourhoods, house demolitions, evictions, archaeological activity in the "historic basin" around the Old City, the revoking of Palestinian residency rights, separate bypass roads for Israelis and Palestinians and the construction of the separation barrier.

The report says Israel uses different methods to gain control of Palestinian land and property, including the recent designation of privately-owned land for a new national park at Mount Scopus. The plan would halt any expansion of Palestinian neighbourhoods.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/18/eu-report-israeli-settlement-growth

EU report calls for action over Israeli settlement growth

Diplomats in Jerusalem say states should consider law to discourage 'financial transactions in support of settlement activity'

A Palestinian shepherd near the Israeli settlement of Har Homa. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

• Nick Clegg, the UK deputy prime minister, describing settlement construction as "an act of deliberate vandalism" that was doing "immense damage" to the prospects for peace. "The continued existence of illegal settlements risks making facts on the ground such that a two-state solution becomes unviable," he said.

• A French parliamentary report accusing Israel of "apartheid" policies in its allocation of water resources between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.

• An internal EU report strongly criticising Israeli policies in Area C, the 62% of the West Bank under full Israeli control, saying they were jeopardising prospects for a two-state solution....READ MORE

"UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor, the United States recognizes the critical role the Agency plays in assisting Palestinian refugees... "

2012-01-17T06:41:00.009-05:00

http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1209

United States contributes $55 million to UNRWA

3 January 2012

Washington, DC

The United States is pleased to announce an initial 2012 contribution of $55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The $55 million contribution will provide critical health, education, and humanitarian services to five million Palestinian refugees in the region. Of this contribution, $29 million will support UNRWA’s core services in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza; $24 million will support UNRWA’s emergency programs in the West Bank and Gaza; and two million will support UNRWA’s ongoing relief assistance in Lebanon for those displaced during the 2007 conflict in Nahr al Bared refugee camp.

As UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor, the United States recognizes the critical role the Agency plays in assisting Palestinian refugees and maintaining regional stability and calls upon other donors to enhance their support for UNRWA. The United States encourages UNRWA to maintain the neutrality of its operations, expand its donor base, enhance its strategic communications, and maximize programmatic efficiencies in order to better serve refugees.

In 2011, the United States provided just under $250 million to UNRWA, including $146 million to its General Fund, $75 million to its West Bank/Gaza emergency programs, $15 million to emergency programs in Lebanon, and $10 million for the construction of five new schools in Gaza, which will serve an estimated 10,000 schoolchildren.

Fida Jiryis: Reality versus Image A Return to Galilee

2012-01-17T06:28:00.004-05:00

The village of Fassouta in the Galilee.
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3599&ed=202&edid=202

Reality versus Image A Return to Galilee
By Fida Jiryis

As a Palestinian who was born and grew up in the diaspora, I always had a powerful notion of Palestine in my mind and emotions, yet it had no physical association. It was difficult to imagine a place I’d never seen but only heard of. The Oslo Accords in 1993 changed all that. A year later, I visited Palestine for the first time and, in June 1995, relocated with my family to my parents’ native village of Fassouta, in Galilee.

We were the exception and not the rule: out of the entire Oslo process, fewer than fifty people were allowed to return to inside Israel, and they were all Palestinians who had been issued Israeli IDs when the state was formed, and subsequently left the country to join the resistance movement abroad. When they returned after the Oslo Accords, very few of their families came with them, so my case of coming to Israel for the first time in my early twenties was unique.

Few words can express the magnitude of emotions of someone who grew up a Palestinian then found herself, overnight, an “Israeli citizen” who had to learn Hebrew, find a job, and integrate into Israeli society. To call this social schizophrenia would be an understatement.

I floundered in this new, alien, hostile environment, wondering where I was, wondering, even more, how I could survive. To be face to face with those who had taken our country, to have to learn their language, to have to seek work in their institutions - and to have to do all this while somehow pretending that everything was fine and that I was just going through the process of a normal relocation - was too much. Again, Palestine had only been a fleeting concept to me before. I knew it was under occupation; I knew my village had become a part of “Israel,” but what that meant in concrete terms was, at best, cloudy and elusive until I experienced it.

A close friend of mine felt the same when she returned with her family to Ramallah and shortly after, went to visit Jaffa, her father’s hometown. My friend was ecstatic: after a childhood and adolescence spent in one refugee domicile after another, she was finally making the return home. Her visit to Jaffa, though, hit her like a bullet in the stomach. With her own eyes, she was witnessing the foreign occupation of her city, her father’s birthright and her emotional anchor for so many years - the peg upon which she, like so many millions of other Palestinians, had hung her dreams and identity to maintain her sense of belonging and homeland when the rest of the world was just one large diaspora.

It is heart-breaking to dream of a place for so long and then to find a reality that is so different, so wretchedly painful, that one almost wishes it had stayed as a dream....READ MORE

James J. Zogby : Arab opinion matters

2012-01-16T20:33:00.001-05:00

"Our polls show that the Arab public still supports the Arab League’s peace initiative for a two-state solution, but a majority of Arabs in every country no longer believes that Israel has any interest in making peace." James J. Zogby

http://jordantimes.com/arab-opinion-matters

Arab opinion matters

Ziad Asali: Arabs deserve a party of the citizen

2012-01-16T05:31:00.002-05:00

"The Arab world is heterogeneous, diverse, multiethnic and multi-religious. This often both is seen and serves as a source of division and tensions. This diversity can be turned into a source of political, cultural and economic strength if Arab societies empower and protect the rights and responsibilities of individual citizens, including ethnic and religious minorities and women." Ziad Asali

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/Jan-16/159968-arabs-deserve-a-party-of-the-citizen.ashx#axzz1jaIvh5nH

Arabs deserve a party of the citizen

AFP: UN chief urges end to Israeli occupation

2012-01-15T09:22:00.003-05:00

Israeli soldiers stand guard during a weekly demonstration against the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on January 13. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying the illegal building of settlements works against a two-state solution. (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

http://news.yahoo.com/un-chief-urges-end-israeli-occupation-132016168.html

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying the illegal building of settlements worked against a two-state solution.

"The Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories must end. So must violence against civilians," Ban said in a keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world.

"Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state," said the UN secretary general.

"A two-state solution is long overdue. The status quo offers only the guarantee of future conflict."

Ban arrived in Beirut on Friday to attend a conference entitled "Reform and Transitions to Democracy" organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)....READ MORE

The Vast Danger of Narrow Minds By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

2012-01-02T07:16:00.005-05:00

"If we are smart, we will take this opportunity to learn from others. It is not about any religion and how much you choose to practice the rites and rituals of your faith – that should always be left up to the individual. It is a matter of imposing this faith or at least one group’s narrow interpretation of it that is so dangerous. Hopefully, we will not have a Beit Shemesh in our future state. Because we would have worked far too hard to sabotage it with our own hands. " Joharah Baker

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=24280&CategoryId=3

The Vast Danger of Narrow Minds

Date posted: January 02, 2012
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

It is absolutely true that fundamentalism begets violent behavior and discrimination; we have all seen this in action. Muslims are forever being burned at the proverbial stake for their extremist views and their violent ways. However, it has come to pass that extremism has reared its ugly head in Israel, this time for the whole world to see.

The fact is, no one in their right mind could take pleasure at the sight of a traumatized seven-year old girl scared to walk to school for fear that she might get spit on. That was the image that shook Israel last week. Naama, who immigrated from the United States and moved with her family to the Jerusalem-area town of Beit Shemesh is constantly spit on and cursed on her way to school for what the ultra-orthodox deem as her “immoderate” clothing.

The incident sparked riots and a sharp divide in Israeli society between secular and ultra-religious. “There is only one law, the law of the Torah,” one Beit Shemesh resident defiantly told an Israeli television cameraman, thus justifying the terrorizing of women for their so-called immodest dress, even a seven-year old.

This kind of manic fundamentalism is not foreign to any of us, no matter with what religion we associate. If secular Palestinians are worried about anything in this upcoming election, it is not about the political ramifications of a Hamas win but about the social changes that might take place if the Islamic movement is in control. We have already been given a hint of things to come in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas officials banning women from smoking water pipes in public, demanding marriage license from couples walking together in the street and imposing Islamic dress codes on girls in elementary and middle school. Recently, Hamas police cracked down on shop owners, ordering them not to display naked mannequins, lingerie or so-called indecent advertising.

If Hamas were to win the elections, Palestinians, who are largely secular and also have a Christian community, just might be up against some fierce social battles, ones that can be very hard to win.

The social clashes currently taking place in Israel also point to another critical juncture in any society – that is, whether a self-proclaimed democracy tolerates the clash of ideologies as freedom of expression or oppresses it to better fit the democratic makeup of that society. For Israel, this is an obvious conundrum because the only reason the situation even came to blows is because of the violent nature of the clashes, in Beit Shemesh particularly. But Israel is keen on not compromising the democracy it boasts of being, at least for Israeli Jews.

That is something we Palestinians must consider in the next phase. Hamas is an integral part of our society and we have fought long and hard to defend the notion of national unity and democracy. But there is a fine line between respecting differences of opinion and ideology, and allowing those ideologies to run the democratic foundations that brought them into power straight into the ground.

For the Palestinians, it is all about baby steps. We need to complete the reconciliation agreement first and then plan elections and form a unity government afterwards. Perhaps, though, what is happening in Israel is a reminder of how extremism can drive wedges between members of the same society and threaten the democratic fabric which holds it together.

If we are smart, we will take this opportunity to learn from others. It is not about any religion and how much you choose to practice the rites and rituals of your faith – that should always be left up to the individual. It is a matter of imposing this faith or at least one group’s narrow interpretation of it that is so dangerous. Hopefully, we will not have a Beit Shemesh in our future state. Because we would have worked far too hard to sabotage it with our own hands.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

My letter to my local newspaper The Patriot News RE Harold R. Piety's EXCELLENT letter "Palestinian refugees didn't [voluntarily] leave their land"

2012-01-01T10:59:00.007-05:00

"I come from there and Remember"

RE: Palestinian refugees didn't leave their land letter by Harold R. Piety
http://www.pennlive.com/letters/index.ssf/2012/01/palestinian_refugees_didnt_lea.html

Dear Editor,

Such a delight and a pleasure to see the compassionate and well informed letter by Harold R. Piety regarding the fact that the Palestinian refugees didn't voluntarily leave their land.

Piety is wise to point out too that "the ancestors of many of the Palestinians might well have been Jews who converted to Islam, which recognizes the same patriarchs."

All three Abrahamic faiths are tightly tied to Jerusalem. While religion can and does bring great comfort to many, it can also do huge harm as religious tyranny, intolerance and corruption are a very real danger no matter who you are.

As Monty Python accurately quipped a while ago "No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Tax payers (here and there) should not be forced to fund religious scholars and religious schemes. Hopefully a fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict will help shape a better future for all kith and kin, however they might want to define themselves as the rule of fair and just laws helps bring peace, progress and potential prosperity to every family and every community and every refugee: Israel and Palestine side by side in peace and for peace- for every one's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

My lettter to the Washington Post RE today's letters headlined "Missing pages from the Palestinian history book"

2012-01-01T09:33:00.008-05:00

RE: Letters headlined "Missing pages from the Palestinian history book "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/missing-pages-from-the-palestinian-history-book/2011/12/28/gIQA85O0SP_story.html
(responding to Maen Rashid Areikat's We the Palestinians)

Dear Editor,

Ending the Israel/Palestine conflict requires that both Israelis and Palestinians (and all their many various supporters) look forward- look forward to find ways to live alongside and with each other not as enemies, adversaries and scapegoats, but as independent citizens of a modern world with each person and every family responsible for building one nation or the other.

Your anti-Palestine letter writers most likely totally believe the story lines that inspire them to dismiss Palestine, just as anti-Israel activists totally believe the story lines that inspire them to dismiss peace: Obviously neither notice that injustice, bigotry, and religious extremism all thrive with the continuation of the Israel/Palestine conflict, forcing matters to go from bad to worse.

A fully secular two state solution with a sovereign and independent Palestine living in peace alongside a sovereign and independent Israel will provide policy makers, story tellers, citizens, investors, researchers, religious leaders, bureaucrats, merchants, school teachers (..etc..) with a firm incentive to be more compassionate, more inclusive as well as more intelligent and honest about what they decide to notice and remember- and more careful and conscientious about where they invest their time, talents, and taxes.

A Golden Rule peace firmly based on full respect for The Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be a win-win situation, a beacon of hope, and a good example for the entire region as Israelis and Palestinians, each in their own way, step up to become obvious proof that "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."

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

Growing Gardens for Palestine

American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."

Hussein Ibish: How national identities are really formed: "There's nothing transhistorical or metaphysical about Palestinian nationalism, any more than there is about Zionism, or any other nationalism. This is so blindingly obvious even small children should have no difficulty grasping that whatever aspects of history, traditions, myths or legends a contemporary political movement wishes to privilege, foreground, highlight or deploy in order to legitimate it's agenda, what it is responding to is not anything ancient, transhistorical, metaphysical or inevitable, but rather the contemporary, immediate needs of constituencies that are themselves modern, and indeed "imagined," and the products of recent developments, not ancient history."

Good Citizenship

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

This Week In Palestine Artist of the Month: Nidal Khatib

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T14:47:00.002-05:00

Indian artist Harwinder Singh Gill displays a creation made with 250 small flags of different countries reading "Happy New Year 2012" in Amritsar. Spectacular fireworks burst over Sydney Harbour to ring in the New Year at midnight, kicking off noisy celebrations for billions around the world to mark the end of 2011 YAHOO! World News AFP photo

Palestinians say to seek UN, Arab league talks on settlement

2011-12-31T14:32:00.003-05:00

The Palestinian flag is held up in the Arab east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan against Jewish settlement activity in 2010. Palestinian leaders decided on Saturday to seek sessions of the UN Security Council and the Arab League, hoping for action to halt Israeli settlement. (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-seek-un-arab-league-talks-settlement-175557925.html
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

Palestinian leaders decided on Saturday to seek sessions of the UN Security Council and the Arab League, hoping for action to halt Israeli settlement.

A statement by the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation said continued settlement growth in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem was liable "to destroy all chances of a peace process and the two-state solution."

"We shall go to the Security Council to discuss (it)," said the statement, read by PLO Secretary General Yasser Abed Rabbo. "We shall invite the Arab League at the highest level to follow up on this matter.'

It did not say when it hoped the bodies would convene.

The international peacemaking Quartet of the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union has given the parties until January 26 to submit comprehensive proposals on territory and security.

Earlier this month Britain, France, Germany and Portugal led condemnation by Security Council members of increased settlement construction in the occupied territories and growing attacks by settlers on Palestinians.

That enraged Israel, which said the Europeans were in danger of making themselves "irrelevant."

Israeli construction of settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank is one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, scuppering direct negotiations between the sides that began in September 2010 and ground to a halt shortly afterwards when a 10-month Israeli settlement freeze ended...READ MORE

Christmas in Palestine 2011 - families torn apart by Israeli walls, checkpoints and restrictions

2011-12-31T06:37:00.003-05:00

"What was supposed to portray Israel as generous and trusting ended up looking more as a joke. Can there even be such a thing as a generous occupier? This occupier was to allow up to 500 Palestinian Christians from the Gaza Strip to travel to the West Bank to see their families and visit holy sites (oh, the generosity). The thing is though, only people under the age of 16 or over the age of 35 would get this permission which in many cases means that if the parents of a family can go, the children can’t and if the children are the right age, the parents aren’t. In the end what was supposed to look like a gesture of goodwill and tolerance became just another example of how Palestinian families are kept apart by walls, checkpoints and restrictions. " Julie Holm

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=24261&CategoryId=13
All I Want for Christmas…

Date posted: December 28, 2011

By Julie Holm for MIFTAH

This year I spent my first Christmas away from home, away from my family, snow, Scandinavian Christmas dinners and everything else I usually associate with Christmas. This year I spent Christmas in Bethlehem, not so much for religious reasons as for the fact that this seemed the place to be for the night. For me, Christmas has very little to do with religion and everything to do with people coming together and spending the evening with loved ones. Being away from my family, I truly appreciated the company of my close friends; old and new, Muslims, Christians and atheists alike. They filled my first Christmas in “the Holy Land” with love and joy and laughter, just like every Christmas should be.

Nevertheless, as living in Palestine has taught me, no celebration, however joyous and merry, can escape the realities of the Israeli occupation and Christmas in Bethlehem was no different. A good way to put this into perspective is the fact that if Mary and Joseph had come to Bethlehem this year, instead of some 2000 years ago, they would most likely not have been let into the city. As Bethlehem is surrounded by the wall on three sides, Mary and Joseph would have been stopped at the checkpoint by young, armed Israeli soldiers, their donkey would have been searched thoroughly and their ID papers would have been subject to close inspection. The fact that Mary was pregnant, almost about to give birth, would not have made a difference. Every year Palestinian women are forced to give birth at checkpoints, on their way to the hospital, at the risk of their own health and that of their unborn children. Just imagine the Christmas songs and nativity scenes if Jesus was born at an Israeli checkpoint.

The truth is, however, if Mary and Joseph were alive today chances are they wouldn’t even have started their trip to Bethlehem, knowing that the Israeli restrictions on mobility would prevent them from going very far. A couple of weeks ago, in the spirit of Christmas, Israel announced that they would ease travel restrictions for Palestinian Christians during the holiday. What was supposed to portray Israel as generous and trusting ended up looking more as a joke. Can there even be such a thing as a generous occupier? This occupier was to allow up to 500 Palestinian Christians from the Gaza Strip to travel to the West Bank to see their families and visit holy sites (oh, the generosity). The thing is though, only people under the age of 16 or over the age of 35 would get this permission which in many cases means that if the parents of a family can go, the children can’t and if the children are the right age, the parents aren’t. In the end what was supposed to look like a gesture of goodwill and tolerance became just another example of how Palestinian families are kept apart by walls, checkpoints and restrictions.

On Christmas Eve in Denmark when all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas preparations are over and the family is gathered around Christmas dinner under the lights from the decorated tree, we have an expression which, if literally translated means, “how Christmas peace is settling.” These words are also very relevant when celebrating Christmas in Palestine. The difference, however, is in the double meaning of “settling”. In Palestine, Christmas peace is not “settling” the country but Israel is, with their continued settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Even though I spent this Christmas in the place where all Christmases are said to have their beginning, I could relate very little to the way I usually spend Christmas. Next year I am wishing for more peace and fewer settlements (if any at all), fewer walls and checkpoints and more families being united over Christmas dinner. It might be a little naïve and cliché but if there is any time of year to wish for more love, tolerance and (true) generosity, Christmas would be it.

US Congress frees up $40 million for Palestinians

2011-12-29T19:49:00.003-05:00

A Palestinian boy holds a coffee mug in Gaza City as part of the campaign promoting the Palestinians' bid at the United Nations for statehood recognition, in September 2011. The US State Department said Congress has released $40 million in aid to the Palestinians, part of the nearly $200 million that was frozen over their bid for full UN recognition. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
http://news.yahoo.com/us-congress-frees-40-million-palestinians-235656135.html

US Congress frees up $40 million for Palestinians

The US State Department said Congress has released $40 million in aid to the Palestinians, part of the nearly $200 million that was frozen over their bid for full UN recognition.

"We have been working with Congress for some time, because we don't think it's in US national interests to keep this money frozen," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, saying US diplomats were "gratified" by the move.

The monies, provided through the Economic Support Fund, are targeted for economic and humanitarian support.

"We will continue to work with Congress when they come back in session to secure additional funding for these programs, because we think they're important," Nuland said.

"We think they aid in stability and security and development for the Palestinian people. That's in our interest, it's in their interest and we believe it's also in Israel's interest."

In November, officials said US lawmakers lifted a hold on nearly $200 million in aid to the Palestinians, mainly money for the police force, that had been suspended in response to the Palestinian bid for full UN membership.

However, officials also said lawmakers were maintaining a block on some $192 million in aid for infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, and the Fatah-controlled West Bank.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Congress in October to preserve the aid to the Palestinian Authority, warning that Hamas militants could otherwise try to fill the void....READ MORE

Israel must choose between settlements and peace

2011-12-28T18:46:00.003-05:00

"As Abbas stated in his address to the United Nations: We are facing a “moment of truth.” If the resolution to the conflict the international community seeks is two sovereign, viable and democratic states framed by the 1967 border, we all know what has to be done. If, on the contrary, the goal is to facilitate Israel’s confiscation of as much of Palestinian land as possible and to consolidate Israel’s settlement enterprise, then it would make no sense to waste our people’s trust and patience by participating in such a failed exercise." Xavier Abu Eid, an adviser to the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?ID=251178&R=R1

Israel must choose between settlements and peace

By XAVIER ABU EID
12/28/2011 21:53

2011 showed the world that creating positive momentum in support of Palestinian self-determination is possible

The year 2011 showed Palestinians and the rest of the world that creating positive momentum in support of Palestinian self-determination and statehood is possible. After years of trying to make Palestine disappear from the world map, Israel witnessed an unstoppable wave of recognition for the state of Palestine on the 1967 border, with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Today Palestine is a member of UNESCO, and the international community now has a clear mandate to protect our national and cultural heritage in addition to its responsibility and obligation to support Palestinian state-building. This international support for Palestine is an investment in peace that does not contradict the fact that a two-state solution is predicated on negotiations.

On the contrary, it strengthens and preserves the prospects for a two-state solution on the 1967 border ...READ MORE

The last straw for Palestinian Bedouin in Jerusalem's periphery.... Israel's grave breaches of international law

2011-12-28T07:30:00.006-05:00

UNRWA

‎"It's quite clear that the plan for mass forcible transfer relates to settlement expansion, which is not just illegal under international law but also condemned by powerful U.N. member states, including some of Israel's closest allies," warned UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.

The last straw for Bedouin in Jerusalem's periphery? by Jonathan Guyer

mideast.foreignpolicy.com

KHAN AL-AHMAR, WEST BANK-- United Nations officials have issued a warning that the Government of Israel's plans for Palestinian Bedouin communities living in Jerusalem's periphery could constitute "mass forcible transfers" and "grave breaches" of international law. A pending plan in the West Bank threatens to displace Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village of refugees originally from Israel's south, pushed off their indigenous land in the early 1950's. Khan al-Ahmar lies on the side of a major West Bank thoroughfare and is sandwiched between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumin and Jerusalem. This area is known as E1, an especially controversial 12 km patch of land where East Jerusalem would expand as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

It is impossible for Bedouins living here to obtain building permits from Israeli planning authorities, a situation that is not unique to Khan al-Ahmar. That Israeli officials consider Khan al-Ahmar's local community school, which educates over 70 children from surrounding villages, to be illegally constructed might spell its imminent destruction.

Over tea -- and then coffee -- Id al-Jahalin, Khan al-Ahmar's spokesman, described the perilous nature of day-to-day life in his village. There is neither running water nor electricity from a central grid here, and trash is burned as there is no waste pick-up by Israeli public services. Provocations from neighboring settlers punctuate daily routines in this pastoralist community....READ MORE

My letter to the Washington Post RE We the Palestinians by Maen Rashid Areikat & Fighting Islamophobia with jokes

2011-12-28T07:15:00.004-05:00

RE We the Palestinians by Maen Rashid Areikat & Omar Elba, Dean Obeidallah, Negin Farsad, Maysoon Zayid Fighting Islamophobia with jokes (& Religious limits on women roil Israel )

Dear Editor,

A new year is in sight, beginning with a much more positive and productive start in seeing Maen Rashid Areikat's marvelous We the Palestinians as well as the brilliant comedians Omar Elba, Dean Obeidallah, Negin Farsad, Maysoon Zayid Fighting Islamophobia with jokes headlined in the Washington Post.

I hope this helpful trend continues with more and more people willing to use compassion, good humor, good intentions and intelligent tactics to challenge and disarm misinformation and negative stereotypes. Diplomacy can and should win the day, with more and more people worldwide figuring out the vital importance of curbing bigotry and actually ending the Israel/Palestine conflict for everyone's sake.

Focusing in on actively empowering peace with a fully secular two state solution in line with international law and based on full respect for The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights really is the best way forward.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

"You have two peoples with real legitimacy in this land... and both must recognize it. The zero-sum game has gone on for too long." Forsan Hussein Worldview: A linkage of faiths at YMCA in Jerusalem

"Sherman claims that Palestinian refugees “are denied citizenship of the countries in which they have lived for decades.” This is often the case, but the greatest offender is Israel. The largest group of refugees includes the stateless people living under the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Worse still, Israel has made all the Palestinians of the occupied territories, not just refugees, stateless by simultaneously denying them citizenship and independence..." Hussein Ibish: Sorry, but Palestinians won’t be bribed

"Late Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a meeting of Christian leaders that he is committed to reaching peace with Israel...."I hope they will come back to their senses and understand that we are seekers of peace, not seekers of war or terrorism," said Abbas, a Muslim like most Palestinians. "The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land." " The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land.

American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

Growing Gardens for Palestine
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt

Palestine, a history rich and deep By Maen Rashid Areikat

2011-12-28T05:53:00.007-05:00

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/palestine-a-history-rich-and-deep/2011/12/21/gIQALJ6GLP_story.html

Palestine, a history rich and deep

By Maen Rashid Areikat, Published: December 27

Maen Rashid Areikat is the Palestine Liberation Organization’s chief representative to the United States.

The issue of Palestinian identity and national history has become a source of controversy, with many Americans making deeply disturbing and alarming statements. As the representative of my people to the United States, I would like to tell you what the Palestinians, as a people, are all about.

We go far back, much further than those doubting our existence can remember. Jericho, my home town, goes as far back as 10,000 B.C., making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. We Palestinians also happen to live in a place that many consider important, at the crossroads of three continents and containing a site of holy reverence for more than half of the world’s population. It has been a mixed blessing: Palestine managed to draw the good and the bad from what the world has had to offer. We lived under the rule of a plethora of empires: the Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Israelites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Mongols, Ottomans and, finally, the British. This has made our region rich in history, culture and heritage. Indeed, if our olive trees could speak — some are centuries old — they would have a lot to say.

This makes us very proud and appreciative of our special place in this world. That is why we are so attached to our land and to our identity. I can’t think of a place that is quite like it. Yes, it is tumultuous, incomprehensible and, at times, very dangerous, but for us it is home. Centuries of rule by an eclectic assortment have taught us that empires come and go but legacies and values remain....READ MORE

Fighting Islamophobia with jokes

2011-12-28T05:29:00.003-05:00

“Most people are more open-minded and not that concerned about Muslims,” Obeidallah said. “It’s really the fringe that’s driving that narrative.”
Omar Elba, Dean Obeidallah, Negin Farsad, Maysoon Zayid.

Fighting Islamophobia with jokes

VIDEO | In an era of increased suspicion of Muslim Americans, four comedians take their show on the road through the South to help dispel rumors.

Muslim American comics stand up for tolerance

First, the good news: Bad news does not define the human race.... The State of the World (It's better than you think!)

2011-12-27T09:07:00.002-05:00

This is the lead article in a package of stories for the Dec. 26th weekly edition of The Christian Science Monitor. Photo illustration by John Kehe & Ann Hermes/Staff

First, the good news: Bad news does not define the human race.

Yes, awful things happen in the world. Somewhere militias are settling political scores with AK-47s. Somewhere a tyrant is compiling a list of dissidents to arrest. Somewhere – too many somewheres – children don't get the food and health care they need, and their mothers remain oppressed as the property of men.

But here's something you'd never guess from watching cable news: There is progress in mankind's affairs as well. Consider these indications...READ MORE

Ibtisam Barakat 2011: The mystery of life is beautiful . .

2011-12-27T08:50:00.002-05:00

Author Ibtisam Barakat - Palestine الأديبَة إبتسَام بَركات
Happy new December to all. The mystery of life is beautiful . . in ways people cannot understand . . I think it is meant to be seen as a mystery, as poetry, not as a shopping list and things that one understands . . . Have fun noticing the beauty in life..
-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

To Uplift.... Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921)

2011-12-27T08:43:00.005-05:00

Charter for Compassion
"May you become as the waves of one sea, stars of the same heaven, fruits adorning the same tree, roses of one garden in order that through you the oneness of humanity may establish its temple in the world of mankind, for you are the ones who are called to uplift the cause of unity among the nations of the earth." -`Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921)

Hussein Ibish: Sorry, but Palestinians won’t be bribed

2011-12-27T07:28:00.005-05:00

"Sherman claims that Palestinian refugees “are denied citizenship of the countries in which they have lived for decades.” This is often the case, but the greatest offender is Israel. The largest group of refugees includes the stateless people living under the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Worse still, Israel has made all the Palestinians of the occupied territories, not just refugees, stateless by simultaneously denying them citizenship and independence..."

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=346508&MID=0&PID=0

Sorry, but Palestinians won’t be bribed

Hussein Ibish, December 27, 2011

"...It is not only reasonable for everyone to be frustrated at the lack of progress in the moribund “peace process,” it is unreasonable for anyone not to be. But to allow such frustrations to degenerate into childish daydreams that essentially outline the political elimination of the national rival, or delusional fantasies this can be achieved by financial pressures, is the height of irresponsibility.

Ultimately, the only plausible alternative to conflict remains two states, no matter how unattainable irresponsible policies and rhetoric have made that only truly workable solution seem." Hussein Ibish

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Palestine Celebrating Hope

2011-12-27T05:35:00.000-05:00

Come on World, it can’t Get Clearer Than This by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

2011-12-26T07:47:00.005-05:00

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http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=24252&CategoryId=3 Come on World, it can’t Get Clearer Than This

Date posted: 26/12/2011

By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

If it were not so tragic, our situation would actually be funny. Someone like Jon Stewart could have a ball with the Israelis (and he does at times). Just imagine a show dedicated to Israel’s statements about peace. If it were not so unfortunate, it would be a laughing riot.

Take Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We have all known that the internal Palestinian split suited Israel just fine. It gave them an excuse to further vilify Hamas and more importantly, to say that they could not negotiate with President Mahmoud Abbas because he did not represent all of his people. "If Hamas joins the Palestinian government we will not hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authority," Netanyahu said yesterday.

So, the Palestinians battled their own demons and those thrown at them by Israel and the international community, which chided them for not working hard enough for peace, for not getting their own house in order and for not being resilient enough to sit back at the negotiating table.

Well, here’s some news. The Palestinians are getting themselves together again, finally. Turns out, Israel is not liking this at all. We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t apparently. If we’re split, no negotiations, and if we’re united, no negotiations again.

And if anyone thinks Netanyahu doesn’t mince his words, they haven’t met his foreign minister, Mr. Avigdor Lieberman. He says peace is “unachievable” anyway, so why bother. The most this Russian immigrant will give us is a possible formula to “manage the conflict” rather than solve it.

At the risk of being misunderstood, most of us Palestinians agree with him at least on principle. Peace certainly is not achievable with the likes of these two. Lieberman says settlements are neither illegal nor are they an obstacle to peace. He does live in one, so his stance is understandable.

So, what is the world waiting for? The Palestinians have accepted negotiations, which ultimately led to nowhere. The leadership has made concessions, which at times have landed them in hot water with their own people, all for the sake of peace. They have accepted western standards for peace in a Middle Eastern world and have accepted them without complaint. They have convinced their people that for the sake of preserving any of Palestine we would have to accept only a portion of it.

No doubt, they have made mistakes along the way, armfuls of them. But all said and done, they have played by the game fair and square.

Alas, for Israel, nothing is ever enough. President Abbas has been subject to a slander campaign in the Israeli media. Israeli officials slammed him for meeting with freed Palestinian prisoners exiled to Turkey and say he is showing his “true colors” by reconciling with Hamas. Oh, and by the way, turns out Abbas has been the “greatest obstacle to peace” all along.

So, the question remains, how much more does Israel have to say and do to prove it is not interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict? We Palestinians will continue with our struggle regardless of Israel’s intransigence and the international community’s lack of political will to change the status quo because a free Palestine is our ultimate goal. But nonetheless, it would be nice to see these powers-that-be [the US and Europe mostly] call Israel out on their obvious lack of good intentions and then follow their words with actions. If we’re lucky, Israel will force their hand with their ridiculous positions. Hence, it is our final hope that 2012 will be the year that Israel pushes its “friends” just a little too far.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

MIFTAH VISION

An independent, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state, which grants Palestinians their basic rights, preserves their dignity, and enjoys international recognition and respect.

MISSION

Established in Jerusalem in December 1998, with Hanan Ashrawi as its Secretary-General, MIFTAH seeks to promote the principles of democracy and good governance within various components of Palestinian society; it further seeks to engage local and international public opinion and official circles on the Palestinian cause. To that end, MIFTAH adopts the mechanisms of an active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of information and ideas, as well as local and international networking.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

To disseminate the Palestinian narrative and discourse globally to both official and popular bodies and decision-makers
To empower effective leadership within all components of Palestinian society in order to enhance democracy and good governance and raise public awareness concerning the rights and responsibilities of good citizenship
To influence policy and legislation to ensure their safeguarding of civil and social rights for all sectors and their adherence to principles of good governance
To bolster MIFTAH's capacity and its capability to achieve its objectives and mission efficiently and effectively

Maan News In photos: Bethlehem celebrates Christmas

2011-12-25T20:26:00.010-05:00

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447656

Palestinian Authority officials say attendance at the annual Christmas eve tradition was the highest in decades. The Israeli army estimated that 100,000 visitors entered the city.

"The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land."

2011-12-25T10:35:00.008-05:00

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal leads the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem early Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammedl)

Most visitors entering Bethlehem, including the top Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, had to cross through an Israeli-controlled checkpoint to reach the town on Christmas Eve.

Twal, a Palestinian citizen of Jordan, celebrated Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity. In his homily, he referred to the Arab Spring, imploring Arab leaders to have "wisdom, insight and a spirit of selflessness toward their countrymen" and praying for reconciliation in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa.

He also noted the Palestinian campaign to join the United Nations, and complained that the U.N. was "less than united" in its support for the now-stalled initiative. With peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians are seeking membership as a state in the United Nations and recently gained admission to UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency.

The patriarch criticized the international community for pushing the Palestinians to "re-engage in a failed peace process" which has "left a bitter taste of broken promises and of mistrust."

The Palestinians have subtly tried to draw attention to their plight with this year's Christmas slogan, "Palestine celebrating hope," a veiled reference to U.N. recognition bid.

Late Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a meeting of Christian leaders that he is committed to reaching peace with Israel.

"I hope they will come back to their senses and understand that we are seekers of peace, not seekers of war or terrorism," said Abbas, a Muslim like most Palestinians. "The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land."

http://news.yahoo.com/bethlehem-christmas-joyful-crowded-rainy-145225489.html

Bethlehem Christmas joyful, crowded, rainy

By DALIA NAMMARI | AP

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Worldview: A linkage of faiths at YMCA in Jerusalem

2011-12-25T07:23:00.006-05:00

"You have two peoples with real legitimacy in this land... and both must recognize it. The zero-sum game has gone on for too long." Forsan HusseinThe Jerusalem International YMCA. Its tower looks down on the Old City.

Founded in a bookstore near the Old City in 1878, the YMCA was shut down by the Turks during World War I and later reopened by the British. It moved several times before construction of the current building began in the 1920s after a $1 million Christmas donation from James Jarvie of Montclair, N.J., who was inspired by plans to make the institution a center for people of all faiths.

Designed by Arthur Loomis Harmon, architect of the Empire State Building, the neo-Byzantine-style stone complex is covered with decorative elements that represent the three monotheistic faiths. The phenomenal carillon bells in the tower are played by a Jewish Israeli professor and a Mormon American.

When the building was dedicated in 1933 by British Gen. Edmund Lord Allenby, he had these words inscribed on the front in Hebrew, Arabic, and English: "Here is a place whose atmosphere is peace, where political and religious jealousies can be forgotten . . . " (For more on the building, visit www.jerusalemymca.org.)

Worldview: A linkage of faiths at YMCA in Jerusalem

This was a bleak year for anyone who dreams of Middle East peace or Arab-Jewish coexistence. So, on Christmas Day, I'd like to write about an institution in Jerusalem that brings Christians, Jews, and Muslims together, and about its director, who has bridged divides that seem insurmountable. »Read story

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Palestinian Christians: Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem (photos)

2011-12-24T14:31:00.002-05:00

Palestinian Christians † المسيحيين الفلسطينيين

Album:Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem · 28 of 132

Lacoste

2011-12-24T08:55:00.004-05:00

FB tweet from

Daoud Kuttab

Cartoon depicting @lacoste censorship of a Palestinian artist
كاريكاتير رقابة شركة لاكوستا لمنع فن فلسطيني ياريت توزعو
http://t.co/UjgRaQzg

[Swiss art prize cancelled after sponsor Lacoste's objection to pro-Palestine art]

[Born in Jerusalem [Palestinian] Artist Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project censored by French firm for being 'too pro-Palestinian']

My letter to the Washington Post RE There’s no reason to redefine ‘pro-Israel’

2011-12-24T08:21:00.005-05:00

Letter to the Editor Published: December 23 There’s no reason to redefine ‘pro-Israel’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-no-reason-to-redefine-pro-israel/2011/12/20/gIQAQxMMEP_story.html
& What ‘pro-Israel’ should mean By Jeremy Ben-Ami, Published: December 16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-pro-israel-should-mean/2011/12/15/gIQAlbaCzO_story.html

Dear Editor,

So far, from what I can see, you have had 'pro-Israel' argue with 'pro-Israel' in your opinion pages- with both one-staters and two staters doing what they can to dismiss the Palestinian refugees inalienable right to return to original homes and lands. All empower Israel each in their own way.

Be good to see someone who is honestly and intelligently pro-Palestine and pro-peace be given a chance to help empower Palestine... and peace.

Might I suggest you contact the American Task Force on Palestine (no I don't work for them, I just very much admire their pro-Palestine/pro-America efforts) in order to help shape a more relevant and helpful round up of perspectives focused in on actually ending the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

Press Release about ATFP's Mission
ATFP President, Ziad Asali September 30, 2011 The raison d'être of the American Task Force on Palestine
E-mail: info@atfp.net

Sign up for ATFP's daily World Press Roundup

American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."

Hussein Ibish: How national identities are really formed: "There's nothing transhistorical or metaphysical about Palestinian nationalism, any more than there is about Zionism, or any other nationalism. This is so blindingly obvious even small children should have no difficulty grasping that whatever aspects of history, traditions, myths or legends a contemporary political movement wishes to privilege, foreground, highlight or deploy in order to legitimate it's agenda, what it is responding to is not anything ancient, transhistorical, metaphysical or inevitable, but rather the contemporary, immediate needs of constituencies that are themselves modern, and indeed "imagined," and the products of recent developments, not ancient history."

Palestine
Refugees and the Right of Return
Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed upon them.

10 December is International Human Rights Day... Many Palestinians have no freedom of movement

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt

The Question of Palestine

KEY ISSUES IN A PERMANENT SETTLEMENT

Inalienable rights of the Palestinian people

Jerusalem

Refugees

In 1947, the United Nations proposed the partitioning of Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized (General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947). One of the two States envisaged in the partition plan proclaimed its independence as Israel and in the 1948 war it expanded to occupy 77 per cent of the territory of Palestine. 750,000 Palestinians, over half the indigenous population, fled or were expelled. In the 1967 war, Israel occupied the remaining territory of Palestine, until then under Jordanian and Egyptian control. The war brought a second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at more than half a million. (DPR study: The Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1988) General Assembly resolution 194 of 11 December 1948 states that: "...The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible." Decades later, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) continues to provide education, health care, relief and development assistance and social services to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Living standards in refugee communities remain poor, and are characterised in some fields by high unemployment, falling household income, overburdened infrastructure, and restrictions on employment and mobility. See also: Reports of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, The Right of Return of the Palestinian People - a DPR study.

Israeli settlements

Water

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

Growing Gardens for Palestine

Christmas Angel made by hand with natural sheep's wool from Bethlehem

Live report: Christmas in Palestine

2011-12-24T06:29:00.002-05:00

Published today (updated) 24/12/2011 12:49

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- 1240: Maan's live coverage is streaming here: http://www.ctspal.com/

1211: The Palestinian National Initiative is distributing pamphlets in Arabic, English, Russian and French calling for boycotting Israeli products. PNI activists are dressed as Santa Claus.

PNI activist Mazin al-Azza tells us the PNI is also behind two Christmas tree displays depicting hardships imposed by Israel's occupation. One of them, by designer Rana Bishara, is modeled after the wall.

Live report: Christmas in Palestine
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447440

Hundreds of children march to Nativity Square

2011-12-24T06:19:00.002-05:00

A reenactment of the arrival of the Three Kings

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447339

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Over 1,000 children have marched through Bethlehem to mark the start of Christmas in the West Bank city.

The “Children Without Borders” event is held annually, and this year they walked to Nativity Square from the John Paul II Institute.

Clowns and Santa Clauses were in attendance, as well as members of clergy and Palestinian Authority officials. Even a few camels were brought in.

Bethlehem mayor Victor Batarseh welcomed the children and told them “you are the leaders of the future, we gather you every year to learn the message of peace and love”.

The head of the John Paul II institute, Father Ibrahim Faltas, said that the aim of the festival was to draw joy on the faces of children during Christmas.

New 'wall museum' tells women's stories

2011-12-24T05:58:00.005-05:00

A "wall museum" displays stories told by Palestinian women, on Israel's separation barrier in Bethlehem (MaanImages/Jenny Baboun)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447156
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A unique museum has been set up on the path of Israel's wall, which snakes through the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

An initiative of the Sumud Story House, it is designed to communicate Palestinian women’s stories about the "truth of Palestinian life which the wall tries to hide and kill," a statement said.

Each panel contains a story that was either written or chosen by Palestinian women’s groups who convene at the Sumud Story House.

During Christmas, 25 posters are being attached to the wall on the northern side of Rachel’s Tomb. Through individual sponsorship, the museum will gradually expand.

The Sumud Story House is part of the Arab Educational Institute in Bethlehem.

Thousands visit Bethlehem on Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T05:48:00.002-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-visit-bethlehem-christmas-eve-083937402.html

Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh said he hopes this year's celebrations will bring Palestinians closer to their dream of statehood. With peace talks stalled with Israel, Palestinians this year made a unilateral bid for recognition at the United Nations and were accepted as a member by UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency.

"We are celebrating this Christmas hoping that in the near future we'll get our right to self-determination our right to establish our own democratic, secular Palestinian state on the Palestinian land. That is why this Christmas is unique," Batarseh told The Associated Press.

Bethlehem is today surrounded on three sides by a barrier Israel built to stop Palestinian militants from attacking Israel. Palestinians say the barrier damaged their economy.

The number of Christians in the West Bank is on the decline. While some leave for economic reasons, many speak of persecution...READ MORE

CSM Occupy Christmas ... in your heart

2011-12-23T15:22:00.001-05:00

Bethlehem Lights- a symbol of Christmas peace.

2011-12-23T15:08:00.002-05:00

Scouts hold lamps lit from a flame which originated in Bethlehem, after transporting the so called "Bethlehem Lights" by train back to the Czech Republic from Vienna, in Brno. The tradition of the Bethlehem Light, carried from the birthplace of Jesus Christ by a child and collected from Vienna by delegations from other European cities, is said to be a symbol of Christmas peace. (AFP Photo/Radek Mica)

Christmas around the globe

Christmas preparations are under way as countries around the world gear up for the holidays.

Best of Banksy

2011-12-23T14:44:00.004-05:00

A Palestinian boy walks past a creation by Banksy along part of the controversial Israeli barrier near the Kalandia checkpoint in the West Bank in 2005. (REUTERS/File)

Best of Banksy

30 photos

The Question of Palestine

2011-12-23T11:22:00.009-05:00

http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/home.htm

The United Nations has been working on the question of Palestine since the first special session of the General Assembly on 28 April 1947, which established a body to investigate the issue and return with its recommendations. Over 60 years later, the range of the UN's work on the issue has continued to adapt to meet new challenges and address changing realities on the ground.
HISTORY
History of the question of Palestine
The question of Palestine and the United Nations (pdf)
Monthly chronology of events (1998 to present)
UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE
Key issues in a permanent settlement
UN system's response
Basic facts and figures
RESOURCES
UNISPAL library of documents
UN map collection
UN events on the question of Palestine

ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS The United Nations is central to global efforts to solve problems that challenge humanity. Coperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated organizations, know together as the UN system. Day in and day out, the UN and its family of organizations work to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease and reduce poverty.

RELEVANT UN RESOLUTIONS General Assembly Security Council Economic and Social Council Human Rights Council

KEY ISSUES IN A PERMANENT SETTLEMENT

Inalienable rights of the Palestinian people

Jerusalem

Refugees

Israeli settlements

Water

Time Magazine: At Christmas, a Maronite Christian Village in Israel Revives the Language Spoken by Jesus Christ

2011-12-23T10:29:00.004-05:00

Their song sheets are in Aramaic script, which predates both Hebrew and Arabic and looks a little like both:
“When he sings the language, for me, it’s very emotional,” says Khalloul. “I feel like, ‘Why are we losing this language?’ A nation without its heritage will not exist. Let’s hope a few years from now we’ll be able to revive it, and revive our identity.”

The hope is real — almost all Maronite students in Jish opt to study the language — yet the odds of full revival might best be described as mixed. On the positive side, Maronites have the example of Israel’s revival of another ancient tongue. “Look what the Jews did with Hebrew 100 years ago,” Khalloul says. When the first Zionist Jews arrived in what was then a section of the Ottoman Empire, they decided to update their ancient language, which was barely spoke aloud outside of worship. Within 15 years, a generation was speaking it as their native tongue; polls today record Hebrew as perhaps the one aspect of Israeli life its Jewish citizens value most.

'If Jesus were to come this year, Bethlehem would be closed' A strip of settlements built on what was northern Bethlehem threatens to cut the city off

2011-12-23T10:10:00.004-05:00

from its historic twin, Jerusalem

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/jesus-the-year-bethlehem-closed

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A Palestinian shepherd watches his flock near the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, near Bethlehem. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

Phoebe Greenwood, Bethlehem
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 December 2011 12.03 EST

If Joseph and Mary were making their way to Bethlehem today, the Christmas story would be a little different, says Father Ibrahim Shomali, a parish priest in the town. The couple would struggle to get into the city, let alone find a hotel room.

"If Jesus were to come this year, Bethlehem would be closed," says the priest of Bethlehem's Beit Jala parish. "He would either have to be born at a checkpoint or at the separation wall. Mary and Joseph would have needed Israeli permission – or to have been tourists.

"This really is the big problem for Palestinians in Bethlehem: what will happen when they close us off completely?"

Bethlehem is the heart of Christian Palestine and it swells with pride every Christmas. Manger Square is transformed into a grotto of lights and stalls crowned by a towering Christmas tree. Strings of illuminated angels, stars and bells festoon the streets. But just a few minutes' drive to the north, the festive atmosphere stops abruptly.

A strip of Israeli settlements built on 18 sq km of what was once northern Bethlehem threatens to cut the city off from its historic twin, Jerusalem....READ MORE

Countering exploitation and oppression: Resolutions from World Archaeological Congress Inter-Congress on Structural Violence, Ramallah, Palestine

2011-12-23T08:49:00.012-05:00

"We call on all people, archaeologists and non-archaeologists alike, to use the power of the past in support of equality, justice, and a fulfilling life for all as well as to counter exploitation and oppression."

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]
http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/component/content/article/1-latest/563-resolutions-from-world-archaeological-congress-inter-congress-on-structural-violence-ramallah-palestine

Wednesday, 21 December 2011 18:51

Preamble

These resolutions emerge from the Inter-Congress of the World Archaeological Congress “Overcoming Structural Violence,” which was held in Ramallah, Palestine, 8-13 August, 2009. The WAC Executive has acted, and is acting, on these recommendations.

Resolution 1

We recognize that the past is a powerful resource for groups in the present. Connections to the past have been used to establish identities and to legitimize claims to land, monuments, and objects. Rival claims have too often led to violence, both physical and structural, in the present. We cannot carry out archaeological and cultural heritage research without recognizing its political implications.

We call on all people, archaeologists and non-archaeologists alike, to use the power of the past in support of equality, justice, and a fulfilling life for all as well as to counter exploitation and oppression.

We call on those in positions of power to refrain from imposing their interpretations of the past. In particular, we call on all governments and professional groups to propose laws, regulations and ethical codes of conduct that would prohibit support, whether with financial or other means, for archaeological excavations that result in the displacement of people from their homes.

We support the rights of oppressed groups in the present to criticize abuses of the past by others and to be assured of a public forum in which to put forth their own interpretations of the past. Any attempt to overcome structural violence must provide opportunities for all interested parties to debate interpretations of the past on an equal footing as long as their aims support equality, justice and an end to oppression.

Resolution 2

We call upon all Palestinians, both individuals and institutions, that have a stake in the field of cultural heritage to coordinate their efforts, cooperate between themselves and their local communities, and ensure the protection and preservation of the endangered cultural heritage of their country. We are deeply concerned about the ongoing destruction and damage of major archaeological sites, specifically Tell Jenin, Tell et-Tell, and Tell es-Sultan, by construction activities and illicit digging.

We acknowledge that an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory is essential to effectively countering the structural violence inherent in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recalling the provisions of the International Conventions for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and their related Protocols we express our deep concern over the harm suffered by Palestinian civilians and cultural heritage sites during the Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009.

Furthermore, we note the destruction of infrastructure, and a significant deterioration of basic services, and damage to schools and universities that this military attack caused. We call upon all concerned parties to respect and protect cultural heritage sites during military actions.

We express deep concern regarding the Israeli authorities’ excavations in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, a protected site on the World Heritage List, contrary to the provisions of the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention on Cultural Property. We also express again our deep concern with the destruction wrought upon cultural heritage and civilians by the building of the Israeli Separation Wall.

We also condemn the damage caused by the Israeli military to the cultural heritage of Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, and other heritage sites listed on the "Inventory of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites of Potential Outstanding Universal Value in Palestine“ prepared by the Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in 2005.

We call upon WAC's Executive to take all necessary measures with the concerned parties to preserve and protect Palestinian heritage sites in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and to assist the concerned Palestinian institutions in developing capacity in the protection, preservation and management of heritage sites and cultural property, including support for:

a. Awareness raising initiatives for local communities (publication and distribution of information material, consultative workshops).

b. Institutional capacity building and sharing of knowledge (training courses on information management, site management and risk preparedness).

c. Logistical and training support to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

d. Education programs at Palestinian educational institutions.

e. Assist the Palestinian Authority in assembling a database of cultural property removed from the occupied Palestinian territory.

Resolution 3

Noting that since Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967 millions of artifacts have been taken from Museums, excavated and removed from Palestinian territory by Israeli authorities we call upon Israel to repatriate all of those objects to the Palestinian Department of Antiquities without further delay. This includes all sensitive materials including the Dead Sea Scrolls

We express concern that in June 2009, the Royal Ontario Museum, in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority, illegally imported into Canada and put on display Palestinian artifacts, including the portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in violation of international customary law and UNESCO conventions and protocols. And we thus call on the WAC Executive and the President to take the following action:

a. Issue a letter to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) calling on the ROM to respect its ethical and legal obligations by ensuring any exhibit of Palestinian artifacts removed from the Palestinian territories are displayed with the explicit approval of the Palestinian National Authority.

b. Issue a letter to Canada's Minister of Heritage calling on Canada to honor its international legal commitments under UNESCO conventions and related protocols by taking custody of the Scrolls and holding on to them in trust until the conflict between the Palestinian Authority and Israel is resolved.

c. Issue a letter to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) calling on the IAA to stop its practice of exporting and exhibiting Palestinian cultural property without explicit approval from the Palestinian Authority.

Resolution 4

WAC encourages the establishment of a professional organization for Palestinian archaeologists that would serve as a forum for communication. The organization should comprise government officials, academics and students, as well as heritage professionals from Palestinian non-governmental organizations. It should serve as a platform for archaeologists, historians and art historians, architects and engineers to share their ideas, expertise and scholarship about the preservation, protection and management of archaeological and cultural heritage. The participants of the Ramallah WAC Inter-Congress call on the Palestinian Authority to reactivate the Palestinian Archaeological Council. This Council should function as an open forum for communication and sharing ideas and comprises of representatives of governmental, academic, and non-governmental institutions.

Resolution 5

The departments of archaeology at Palestinians universities lack adequate teaching personnel to train the next generation of Palestinian archaeologists and cultural heritage professionals. We call upon WAC to launch a program to support foreign visiting teachers to interested Palestinian archaeology departments. During the Ramallah Inter-Congress, it also became apparent that there is a need for library resources in the West Bank and Gaza. For the purpose of this discussion, electronic reference refers to PDF files, e-books, links to valuable reference material and possibly image files. Once again, the most important thing here is to have specific needs addressed by the faculty and students of universities in the Occupied Territories. We propose establishing a central location on the web, from which each university in the Occupied Territories could access the various resources. An electronic repository eliminates some of the problems that are inherent in hard copy references. For example, universities in Gaza could simply log on and access files without having to wait for those files to be delivered from the West Bank. Also, if there is one book or one article that is particularly useful a number of people could use it at the same time.

Resolution 6

WAC is an association that encourages dialogue and cooperation between archaeologists and cultural heritage specialists from around the world. WAC emphasizes the promotion of mutual understanding not only of archaeologists but of all peoples. The Ramallah Inter-Congress participants encourage all archaeologists around the world to take an active role in the WAC and its activities.

Resolution 7

Ramallah Inter-Congress participants would have liked to visit archaeological sites together and we deplore the fact that most Palestinian attendants were not permitted to visit East Jerusalem. We object to all border restrictions that prevent the free movement of particular ethnic, political, social and religious populations, including scholars and students. We equally object to all archaeology that is done on the backs of subaltern people, who are often forced out of their homes and other spaces for the sake of researching the past. An archaeology that impinges in this way on the daily lives of communities is unethical.

Further Information: Issued by the Executive of the World Archaeological Congress. Contacts: Claire Smith, WAC President (Claire.smith@flinders.edu.au); Jon Price, WAC Executive Member (jonprice955@btinternet.com); Hamdan Taha, Assistant Deputy Minister, Sector of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Palestinian National Authority (htaha99@yahoo.com); Adel Yahya, Head of the ONG Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange, PACE (pace@p-ol.com); Reinhard Bernbeck, Freie Universitaet Berlin and Binghamton University (rbernbec@zedat.fu-berlin.de).

World Archaeological Congress

The World Archaeological Congress (WAC) is an international forum for discussion for anyone who is genuinely concerned with the study of the past. WAC is based on the need to recognise the historical and social role and political context of archaeology, and the need to make archaeological studies relevant to the wider community.

The World Archaeological Congress has particular interest in:

education about the past
archaeology and indigenous people
the ethics of archaeological enquiry
the protection of sites and objects of the past
the effect of archaeology on host communities
the ownership, conservation and exploitation of the archaeological heritage
application of new technologies in archaeology and in archaeological communication

Palestinian family... We refuse to be enemies

2011-12-23T08:41:00.003-05:00

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/12/10/opinion/doc4ee28e9a101f1715533309.txt?viewmode=fullstory

FAITH MATTERS: Palestinian family afflicted, yet committed to peace

By Allie Perry

SINCE 1916, a vineyard on a fertile hilltop southwest of Bethlehem has been the home of the Nassars, a Palestinian Christian family.

On this 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I am thinking of Daoud and Daher Nassar, brothers who carry on their grandfather’s legacy. In the face of daunting challenges, the Nassars are exemplars of dignity and faith. Painted on a stone at the vineyard’s entrance gate is a greeting — in Arabic, Hebrew and English — that says it all: We refuse to be enemies.

The West Bank vineyard is surrounded by Israeli settlements atop encircling

hills. Despite papers documenting their ownership, the family has spent the past 20 years and more than $150,000 in courts defending their claim to the acreage. Israel continues to contest their claim.

All the while, the Nassars have faced intimidation and isolation. Electricity and public water have been cut off. The government has denied permits for new construction and repeatedly has threatened to demolish the modest existing structures.

Settlers have uprooted or cut down hundreds of the Nassars’ olive trees. With guns in hand, some settlers have come to the vineyard and said, “God gave us this land and that’s why it is ours, not yours.” The access road has been blocked by huge boulders and rubble.

I met Daoud and Daher Nassar last month during a trip. The night before my visit, Israeli soldiers bulldozed yet more boulders to refresh the barricade. These brothers impress me as living icons of St. Paul’s words to the church in Corinth: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken.” (2 Cor. 4:8)

But they refuse to be enemies and are committed to love without borders or barricades. When settlers appear with guns, the Nassars tell them to leave their guns outside the fence and invite them into the vineyard. For every olive tree that settlers cut down, the Nassars plant 10 seedlings donated to them by European Jews for a Just Peace.

When removed from the power grid, they turned to a diesel generator, solar panels and, soon, a wind turbine. Lacking public water, they have built composting toilets and several cisterns. Their goal is self-sufficiency. Prohibited from building up, they dig down, living in caves the family lived in during the early decades and, now, in newer ones.

The Nassars’ wisdom is expressed through the name they have chosen for the peace and justice institute they have started at the vineyard: Tent of Nations. They envision all respecting the rights of all, sharing bounty and at peace and unafraid.

“Any day you want to, come here,” Daher Nassar said before I left. “This place is open for all people. This is your place. You are welcome.”

May we all learn to practice such all-embracing hospitality.

The Rev. Allie Perry is the worship coordinator of Shalom United Church of Christ, New Haven, and a member of the steering committee of Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. Write to her in care of the Register, 40 Sargent Drive, New Haven 06511. Email: allie.perry@gmail.com.

Swiss art prize cancelled after sponsor Lacoste's objection to pro-Palestine art

2011-12-21T15:34:00.006-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/swiss-art-prize-cancelled-sponsor-lacostes-objection-194631301.html

The organisers of a 25,000 euro ($32,000) art prize said on Wednesday they have cancelled this year's competition after sponsors Lacoste objected to an entry by a Palestinian photographer.

Jerusalem-born artist Larissa Sansour said she was told the luxury clothing brand deemed her photo series "too pro-Palestinian".

The Elysee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, had offered 25,000 euros to the winner of the Lacoste Elysee Prize for a work with the theme of "joie de vivre".

A jury was set to award the cash to one of eight candidates in January but the museum said this year's award had been suspended.

"The private partner's wish to exclude Larissa Sansour, one of the competition candidates, is behind the Elysee Museum's decision," the museum said in a statement.

Conceived in the wake of the Palestinian bid for UN recognition, Sansour said her photo series "Nation Estate" "envisions a Palestinian state rising from the ashes of the peace process."

The artist said she was told by the museum last week that her nomination had been revoked by Lacoste who thought her project, although not directly anti-Israel, was "too pro-Palestinian" for the company to support.

"As a politically involved artist I am no stranger to opposition, but never before have I been censored by the very same people who nominated me in the first place," said Sansour in a statement.

"Lacoste's prejudice and censorship puts a major dent in the idea of corporate involvement in the arts. It is deeply worrying."

The Elysee Museum said its decision reiterated its commitment the "fundamental value" of freedom of expression and that it had offered to exhibit Sansour's work outside of the competition, which was established in 2010.

Lacoste was not immediately available for comment.

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Born in Jerusalem [Palestinian] Artist Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project censored by French firm for being 'too pro-Palestinian'

2011-12-20T16:00:00.013-05:00

20 December 2011 Larissa Sansour: Absolutely shocked to see Lacoste revoke my official nomination for the Lacoste Elysée Prize 2011. My Nation Estate project censored for being 'too pro-Palestinian'. Deeply disturbing.

http://www.larissasansour.com/nation_estate.html
Nation Estate (2012)
Photo and video

The Nation Estate project is a sci-fi photo series conceived in the wake of the Palestinian bid for nationhood at the UN. Three preliminary sketches have been developed especially for the Lacoste Elysée Prize 2011 - an award I was nominated for until Lacoste decided to censor my work and revoke my nomination.

Set within a grim piece of hi-tech architecture, this narrative photo series envisions 'la joie de vivre' of a Palestinian state rising from the ashes of the peace process.

In this dystopic vision, Palestinians have their state in the form of a single skyscraper: the Nation Estate. Surrounded by a concrete wall, this colossal hi-rise houses the entire Palestinian population - finally living the high life. Each city has its own floor: Jerusalem, third floor; Ramallah, fourth floor. Intercity trips previously marred by checkpoints are now made by elevator.

Aiming for a sense of belonging, the lobby of each floor reenacts iconic squares and landmarks - elevator doors on the Jerusalem floor opening onto a full-scale Dome of the Rock. Built ouside the actual city of Jerusalem, the building also has views of the original golden dome from the top floors.

The Nation Estate project consists of 8-10 large-format photos. It is scheduled for production in early 2012.

In addition to the photo series, a sci-fi video version of Nation Estate is currently in production.

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UN powers 'dismayed' by Israeli settlements

2011-12-20T13:16:00.002-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/un-powers-dismayed-israeli-settlements-175728452.html

UN Security Council powers on Tuesday launched a strong condemnation of Israel's increased settlements in the occupied territories and growing attacks by settlers on Palestinians.

European Union members of the 15-nation body demanded strong action by the Israeli government to halt the attacks and said the settlements "send a devastating message" about Israel's intentions.

India, Brazil and South Africa launched their own condemnation after a Security Council meeting on Israeli-Palestinian developments. Russia's UN envoy questioned Israel's commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal -- EU representatives on the council -- said in a statement that they were "dismayed by these wholly negative developments."

They said Israel's move to accelerate the construction of settlements in the occupied territories "send a devastating message. We call on the Israeli government to reverse these steps.

"The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements," added the statement read after the meeting by Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.

"We condemn the disturbing escalation of violence by settlers including the burning of the Nebi Akasha mosque in west Jerusalem and the Burqa mosque in the West Bank. It is clear that these deliberately provocative attacks on places of worship were designed to aggravate tensions."

This Holy Land battle focuses on tourists' wallets

2011-12-20T05:46:00.004-05:00

Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority compete for Christian pilgrims' business in Bethlehem, where scores of buses arrive each day to visit Jesus' birthplace.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-christians-tourism-20111220,0,510422,full.story

A Muslim woman takes a picture of the Nativity scene at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. (Abed al Hashlamoun, European Pressphoto Agency)

By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times

December 20, 2011

Reporting from Bethlehem, West Bank— A 45-foot-high artificial Christmas tree towers over Manger Square, and downtown Bethlehem is festooned with sparkling decorations. There's even a picture of a saxophone-playing Santa Claus.

But Nabil Giacaman, co-owner of a souvenir shop called Christmas House, isn't feeling the holiday spirit.

The third-generation woodcarver, who sells handmade likenesses of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, sees as many as 200 tour buses arrive every day from Israel to visit the Church of the Nativity, just a few steps from his store.

But the tourists are escorted directly from the bus to the church and back again. They're rarely given time to browse the shops nearby and almost never spend the night in Bethlehem.

"My total sales the other day were $4.13," said Giacaman, 27. "My shop is in the middle of it all, but it gets worse every year. We have tourists, but not profits."

Parallel to the decades-old political conflict over the Holy Land, an economic battle is heating up between Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority over the market for Christian tourism.

At 1.1 million a year, the number of Christian pilgrims — those who describe their visit as chiefly spiritual in purpose — now surpasses Jewish tourism to Israel. Many of the top Christian sites are in the West Bank, and tourists have been returning in droves thanks to a recent lull in violence.

Many Christian pilgrims belie the image of austere travelers sleeping in religious hostels. These visitors, mostly Catholics and Christian evangelicals, spend about $200 a day on hotels, restaurants and souvenirs, compared with an average of $140 for all tourists, according to Israeli figures.

All this would seem to be only good news for Giacaman and other Palestinian businesspeople.

The reality is more complicated. Most visitors to the Holy Land arrive by air in Israel and join Israeli-led tours. So even when pilgrims visit Palestinian territory, local businesses do not necessarily profit....READ MORE

Palestinian wins EU photo competition: Winning image by Mahmoud Illean shows children lighting candles on the steps of Saint Mary's Church Jerusalem

2011-12-19T17:38:00.007-05:00

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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=446360

The winning image by Mahmoud Illean shows children lighting candles on the

steps of Saint Mary's Church in Jerusalem. (MaanImages/Mahmoud Illean, HO)

19/12/2011
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A young Palestinian photographer won first prize in a European competition celebrating images of Mediterranean cities, a press statement said Monday.

Mahmoud Illean, from Jerusalem, was awarded for his photograph of Saint Mary's Church in the city by the EU-funded Euromed Heritage programme and the Rehabimed Association.

"We have selected this picture because of its aesthetic and artistic value... It is a rich composition of people in ritual," jury member Christiane Dabdoub Nasser said.

The jury received 266 pictures from 23 different countries, and also commended an image by Mohamed Badarne, from Haifa.

We are Palestinian Christians!

2011-12-18T15:37:00.000-05:00

Jordan to complain to UNESCO over Israeli appropriation of the Dead Sea scrolls discovered between 1948 and 1957 by Jordanian archaeologists

2011-12-18T09:33:00.007-05:00

The scrolls were discovered between 1948 and 1957 by Jordanian archaeologists following the first find by Palestinian Bedouins in 1947.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445886
Report: Jordan to complain to UNESCO over Dead Sea scrolls
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the River Jordan shows Jordanian
soldiers securing an area on their side of the border in 2009. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)

18/12/2011
AMMAN (Ma'an) -- Jordan may complain to UNESCO over Israel's exhibition of the Dead Sea scrolls in the US, Jordanian media reported on Sunday.

Faris al-Hamoud, Director of the Department of Antiquities in Jordan, told Jordanian daily Al-Arab Al-Youm that his office plans to notify UNESCO of the international exhibition currently on tour, and complain of Israel's use of stolen Jordanian artifacts.

The scrolls were discovered between 1948 and 1957 by Jordanian archaeologists following the first find by Palestinian Bedouins in 1947.

The West Bank was under Jordanian administration between 1948-67 and the scrolls were kept on display in a Jerusalem museum administered by the Jordanian government and under international conventions protecting cultural heritage items.

A year after Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, the Jordanian government filed complaints to UNESCO complaining of Israeli appropriation of the manuscripts, which include religious and secular texts over 2,000 years old.

The scrolls went on display in New York for the first time on Friday.

Jordan, which registered the Old City of Jerusalem on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1981, is already lobbying the body to protect an access bridge to the Dome of the Rock compound that Israeli municipal authorities slated for destruction citing safety concerns.

Now that Palestine has joined UNESCO as a full member, it can apply to classify its monuments as World Heritage Sites, including a pending application for the city of Bethlehem and its Church of the Nativity.

When the scrolls went on display in Canada in 2009, the Palestinian Authority wrote to the government saying the seizure of the artifacts from Palestinian territories was illegal.

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER PALESTINE AND PEACE]

Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Choir from Bethlehem Returning from a Carol Concert in Nablus

2011-12-18T09:07:00.008-05:00

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445857
Settlers attack carol singers near Nablus
Bethlehem Bible college choir performs next to Israel's separation wall in
Bethlehem. (MaanImages/Munther Isaac, HO)

18/12/2011
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Settlers attacked a Palestinian choir bus returning from a carol concert in Nablus on Saturday evening, choristers told Ma'an.

The singers, from Bethlehem Bible college, said five men attacked them on a quiet road outside of the northern West Bank city.

"A rock smashed through the window, and glass shattered everywhere inside," chorister Saleem Anfous told Ma'an, adding that none of the 25 carol singers was injured.

"We kept driving and starting singing to cheer ourselves up and encourage the choir members," he said.

"Tomorrow we will continue our carol tour of the West Bank in Jenin, using the same road, and we are afraid. But we are trying to convince the families that God will protect us."

Hardline settlers have torched mosques near Ramallah, Jerusalem and Salfit since last Wednesday. The latest string of attacks included a rampage on an army base, sparking condemnation in Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu to vow stronger enforcement against lawlessness.

But he rejected a recommendation to classify the Jewish extremists as terrorists, and Israeli lawmakers were set to discuss a law to legalize settlement outposts built on land owned by Palestinians on Sunday.

Extremists amongst Israel's 500,000 strong settler population in the West Bank and Jerusalem reference Israel's measures against outposts in their revenge 'price tag' attacks, usually directed at Palestinians in the West Bank, but recently spilling over into Palestinian sites in Israel and army targets.

Israel distinguishes between state-sanctioned settlement building on occupied Palestinian land and the wildcat outposts, but the international community says all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem break international law.

When I Return: What will you do when you return to a liberated Palestine?

2011-12-17T20:04:00.006-05:00

photo credit United Nations Relief & Works Agency

Kassem Ahmad, Lebanon, Oak Lawn

Reem, Egypt, Nablus

When Palestine is liberated I will go straight to the old city of Nablus with my mum and sister, as we haven’t been able to do for years now, and we will buy sweets and fruit and of course tanajir and she will show us around without the fear she once felt. But then we will go on a trip to see all of Palestine, which I have never been able to do. I will get to know every town and village, every cafe and bookshop and market and every neighbourhood’s customs and reputation and resistance. Also my cousins and I will drive along the coast and I will stick my head out of the car window, just like I do in Cairo after I’ve just landed, and breathe in free air with loud music and Palestinian jokes in the background. And after the fun, I will help with something, I can’t say what yet, but maybe teach a course, establish a cinema or help found a museum. Maybe I’ll even work for the Free State..! And I will invite my family and friends from other Arab countries to Palestine to see the liberation and celebrate it, because they will have played a part in realising it for sure.

When I Return

When I Return is a participatory campaign that features simple notes by Palestinians, Arabs and allies describing what they hope to do when Palestine is free and/or they return to Palestine. When I Return evidences the daily resonance of the Nakba, as not only a vanishing memory to be commemorated, but as a persistent moment binding us to our past, our present and to each other.

When I Return What will you do when you return to a liberated Palestine?

Right of Return - Doc Jazz

2011-12-17T19:47:00.002-05:00

LYRICS

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

Palestinian bookshop owner celebrates Jerusalem residency ruling Munther Fahmi's campaign to be allowed to stay in his birth city

My letter to CSMonitor RE "As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction"

Israeli demolitions leave 1100 Palestinians homeless in 2011

PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks

Fayyad: Building Palestinian state requires cooperation from Israel

To be clear: Return... a poem by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

Desmond Tutu: "It is time to talk about making real changes so that the world becomes a more equitable place."

Time to close the gap

PALESTINE: "We will continue the dialog and we will continue the (peace) talks because we consider this to be the only way to a peaceful resolution,"

UN official urges Israelis and Palestinians to intensify efforts to resolve conflict

It can be done... giving peace a chance

Giving peace a chance

by Peter Millett | Jan 24,2012 | 22:39

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

"From Homer to Chaucer, Primo Levi to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, literature has constantly taught us this: life goes on...."

The Arab-Israeli Book Review: Common ground in contested territory

"The new conversation about Israel has yet to make its way into Congress and the executive branch, but that day may be coming...."

The media consensus on Israel is collapsing

The only escape is to the interrogation room where children are shackled, by hands and feet, to a chair while being questioned, sometimes for hours...

The Palestinian children – alone and bewildered – in Israel's Al Jalame jail

In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

In Jerusalem, national parks seen by Palestinians as a land grab

Seven existing and planned parks in sensitive East Jerusalem, chosen in part for their archaeological significance, would expand areas of Jewish control where Palestinians envision a future capital.

The battle for East Jerusalem

Cameras catch human view of Palestinian village

Cameras catch human view of Palestinian village

When it comes the matter of belligerent occupation, there are three key international arbiters that determine the legal reality in such matters....

We do not want theories, we want practical solutions...

To Build A State

Report: EU delegates say PLO should return to Jerusalem

ABDULLAH BIN HUSSEIN: The Palestinians and the Arab Spring- The Palestinian right to statehood remains the Arab people's foremost cause.

Amman

PWA chief: World must act on Israel's water apartheid

Supporting Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth

From the Mennonite Church USA

Letter I sent to my elected leaders objecting to the upcoming legislation regarding internet 'anti-piracy'

Red deer roam...

EU should consider legislation to prevent or discourage companies and organisations in member states doing business which supports Israeli settlements

EU report calls for action over Israeli settlement growth

"UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor, the United States recognizes the critical role the Agency plays in assisting Palestinian refugees... "

United States contributes $55 million to UNRWA

Fida Jiryis: Reality versus Image A Return to Galilee

James J. Zogby : Arab opinion matters

Arab opinion matters

Ziad Asali: Arabs deserve a party of the citizen

AFP: UN chief urges end to Israeli occupation

The Vast Danger of Narrow Minds By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

My letter to my local newspaper The Patriot News RE Harold R. Piety's EXCELLENT letter "Palestinian refugees didn't [voluntarily] leave their land"

My lettter to the Washington Post RE today's letters headlined "Missing pages from the Palestinian history book"

Happy New Year!

Palestinians say to seek UN, Arab league talks on settlement

Christmas in Palestine 2011 - families torn apart by Israeli walls, checkpoints and restrictions

US Congress frees up $40 million for Palestinians

US Congress frees up $40 million for Palestinians

Israel must choose between settlements and peace

Israel must choose between settlements and peace

2011 showed the world that creating positive momentum in support of Palestinian self-determination is possible

The last straw for Palestinian Bedouin in Jerusalem's periphery.... Israel's grave breaches of international law

‎"It's quite clear that the plan for mass forcible transfer relates to settlement expansion, which is not just illegal under international law but also condemned by powerful U.N. member states, including some of Israel's closest allies," warned UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.

My letter to the Washington Post RE We the Palestinians by Maen Rashid Areikat & Fighting Islamophobia with jokes

Palestine, a history rich and deep By Maen Rashid Areikat

By Maen Rashid Areikat, Published: December 27

Fighting Islamophobia with jokes

First, the good news: Bad news does not define the human race.... The State of the World (It's better than you think!)

Ibtisam Barakat 2011: The mystery of life is beautiful . .

To Uplift.... Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921)

Hussein Ibish: Sorry, but Palestinians won’t be bribed

Palestine Celebrating Hope

Come on World, it can’t Get Clearer Than This by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Maan News In photos: Bethlehem celebrates Christmas

"The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land."

Bethlehem Christmas joyful, crowded, rainy

Worldview: A linkage of faiths at YMCA in Jerusalem

Palestinian Christians: Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem (photos)

Lacoste

Cartoon depicting @lacoste censorship of a Palestinian artistكاريكاتير رقابة شركة لاكوستا لمنع فن فلسطيني ياريت توزعوhttp://t.co/UjgRaQzg

My letter to the Washington Post RE There’s no reason to redefine ‘pro-Israel’

Live report: Christmas in Palestine

Hundreds of children march to Nativity Square

Cartoon depicting @lacoste censorship of a Palestinian artist
كاريكاتير رقابة شركة لاكوستا لمنع فن فلسطيني ياريت توزعو
http://t.co/UjgRaQzg