“Since the start of the cease-fire” ... GAZA. The so called peace plan is allowing Israel to "finish the job": 450 killed; 2,500 structures destroyed; lifesaving aid blocked.

Assal Rad

@AssalRad

 

“Since the start of the cease-fire”

  

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt

@FranceskAlbs

 

GAZA. The so called peace plan is allowing Israel to "finish the job": 450 killed; 2,500 structures destroyed; lifesaving aid blocked. The human rights movement will not allow those responsible to run away from justice. It is not matter of if. It's matter of when. 

 

@ICC

@CIJ_ICJ

 

https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/2010986593155207386 

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"Nothing says “trust us” like a massive propaganda budget." Assal Rad

Assal Rad

@AssalRad

 

Nothing says “trust us” like a massive propaganda budget.

 

https://x.com/AssalRad/status/1997192358933549082/photo/1 

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Assal Rad

@AssalRad

 

If you’re not writing the truth about crimes against humanity, you’re culpable in them. 

 

... “Evictions” makes it sound like they didn’t pay their rent. An indigenous population is being forced out of their homes, off their land, brutalized by security forces & threatened with violence. Call it what it is. #Palestine

 

https://x.com/AssalRad/status/1390843028072402944/photo/1 

 

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@AssalRad

 

“Tested in Gaza” 

 

Genocide as a weapons experiment.

 

https://x.com/AssalRad/status/1996991382444298675 

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 "Why has the impending eviction of six Palestinian families in East Jerusalem drawn Israelis and Palestinians into a conflict that appears to be spiraling toward yet another war? Because of a word that in the American Jewish community remains largely taboo: the Nakba.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic, need not refer only to the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled or fled in terror during Israel’s founding. It can also evoke the many expulsions that have occurred since: the about 300,000 Palestinians whom Israel displaced when it conquered the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967; the roughly 250,000 Palestinians who could not return to the West Bank and Gaza after Israel revoked their residency rights between 1967 and 1994; the hundreds of Palestinians whose homes Israel demolished in 2020 alone. The East Jerusalem evictions are so combustible because they continue a pattern of expulsion that is as old as Israel itself.

Among Palestinians, Nakba is a household word. But for Jews — even many liberal Jews in Israel, America and around the world — the Nakba is hard to discuss... "  PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ THE STORY IN FULL

Palestinian Refugees Deserve to Return Home. Jews Should Understand.

May 12, 2021

By Peter Beinart

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/opinion/israel-palestinian-refugees-right-of-return.html 

Palestinian Refugees in 1948  UNWRA now

My letter to the NYTIMES RE "The Two-State Solution: What It Is and Why It Hasn’t Happened" oped- by Max Fisher & NYTimes Editorial "Is Israel Abandoning a Two-State Solution?

RE: "The Two-State Solution: What It Is and Why It Hasn’t Happened" oped- by Max Fisher & NYTimes Editorial "Is Israel Abandoning a Two-State Solution?" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-two-state-solution.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/opinion/is-israel-abandoning-a-two-state-solution.html?src=me
& a very good letter by IBRAHIM AHMED: "I encourage both parties to negotiate to end this conflict. It can be done." http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/opinion/the-rift-between-the-us-and-israel.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Dear Editor,

Your American letter writer, Ibrahim Ahmed, gets to the right to heart of the matter when he gracefully points out that  "Palestine and Israel should put their religious differences aside..."

Think it through and it becomes quite obvious that the popular argument that Israel needs to make peace with Palestine so that Israel can remain Jewish is a bad argument, as well as an extremely dangerous and cruel decades long status quo that has shaped and exasperated the angst of the Israelis and the very real plight and suffering of the men, women, and children of historic Palestine.

Think it through: Tax payers here and there should not be funding and fueling state sponsored bigotry, injustice and escalating religious conflict.

Golden Rule thinking based on full respect for international law and all Universal Human Rights can and should guide every conversation, every choice, and every negotiation on the way to a just and lasting peace: One state or two, religion needs be a personal, private matter.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

CNN VIDEO: Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi reacts to the UNSC vote calling on Israel to stop building settlements.  https://www.facebook.com/umkahlil?fref=ts 

Growing Gardens for Palestine... #Christmas #Palestine #PalmTrees #Mary... Informative, inspiring and entertaining facebook posts today from my friend Mike 

Putting a Face on the Facts... An Easy to Understand Essay by Nancy Harb Almendras outlining a Global Controversy: The conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinians.

Ibrahim's Estate

Jimmy Carter: America Must Recognize Palestine

Newsweek: Award-winning Palestinian teacher on how to help traumatized kids Baltimore's Susan Muaddi Darraj wins American Book Award for 'A Curious Land'

"We're a really diverse community, actually," Darraj says. "A lot of people think that all Palestinians are Muslims. But, the characters I write about are Palestinian Christians."  American Book Award winner Susan Muaddi Darraj among highlights of Baltimore Book Festival

Freda Hughes' art, created in 2008: Remember Palestine this Christmas

A mural by Norwegian artist, Per Krohg, depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, symbolizing the resurgence of peace, equality and freedom.

"This issue marks the eighteenth year of This Week in Palestine, and we are pleased to present you with another issue filled with articles that attest to Palestine’s cultural wealth. A high level of religious tolerance and the integration of various faiths are defining facets of Palestinian culture, historically and today. Such practice sets Palestine apart in a region where too many people have been immensely traumatized by acts of violence frequently caused by lack of tolerance, greed, and thirst for power and dominance. It is time to remember, in the Holy Land and elsewhere, that the central tenets and pillars of our religions are good will and kind deeds towards our fellow visitors on this planet." Tina Basem, This Week in Palestine editor's message Issue #224, December 2016

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

New York Times July 2016: For Palestinians, Raising Arabian Horses Is ‘the Hobby of the Poor’

Fares Salim, 22, with a white mare out of her stall at a stable above the Garden of Gethsemane in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Tur, with a view of Jerusalem’s Old City and the golden Dome of the Rock.

Photo Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

"Palestinians and Israelis in the business say Arabian horses have another effect that is almost magical: They coax Israelis and Palestinians into the same arenas, where the conflict briefly melts away and everyone admires the horses as they strut, dance, gallop and compete for trophies."

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 For Palestinians, Raising Arabian Horses Is ‘the Hobby of the Poor’

By JAMES GLANZ and RAMI NAZZAL JULY 13, 2016

 

My letter PUBLISHED in the New York Times: Suffering in Gaza: Who Is to Blame?

Gaza Strip - Times Topics - The New York Times: World news about the Gaza Strip. Breaking news and archival information about its people, politics and economy from The New York Times:  Salma Najjar, 64, sits outside a makeshift tent on the rubble of her home in Khuzaa in the southeast of the Gaza Strip. Photo Credit Wissam Nassar for The New York Times

Suffering in Gaza: Who Is to Blame?

Readers respond to a column by Nicholas Kristof.

March 10, 2015

To the Editor:

Hamas opportunists and Islamic Jihad have been horrible for Palestine. They call themselves freedom fighters, but there is no freedom and there will never be justice or peace with religious tyranny, militancy, hatemongering, bully tactics and violence, making the very real plight of the Palestinians substantially worse at every turn.

Religion should be a personal choice, not a mandate and a recruitment tool for criminal enterprises.

Diplomacy and careful negotiations based on full respect for human rights, international law and the Golden Rule in order to create a secular two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the best way forward.

ANNE SELDEN ANNAB

Mechanicsburg, Pa.

original letter sent March 8, 2015  RE Winds of War in Gaza by Nicholas Kristof

My letter to the NYTimes RE The ISIS Theater of Cruelty By HUSSEIN IBISH

Conscientiously refusing to, in any way shape or form, accidentally promote the image and ugliness of Daesh/ISIS/ISIL/The Islamic State (or whatever you want to call it), and I've blogged my unpublished letter with a beautiful painting by Magritte.

The Return (Le Retour) by René Magritte 1940 oil painting... WIKIART: "Rene Magritte’s witty and thought-provoking paintings sought to have viewers question their perceptions of reality, and become hypersensitive to the world around them."

RE: The ISIS Theater of Cruelty By HUSSEIN IBISH
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/the-isis-theater-of-cruelty.html?ref=opinion

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Dear Editor,

Daesh/ISIS/ISIL/The Islamic State (or whatever you want to call it) has viral violent videos as part of their recruiting tool kit, but I think we must also assume they have a plethora of much more subtle propaganda and a whole arsenal of psychological warfare tricks aimed at silencing dissent:  Please don't let any one bully you away from publishing more- much much more- of the brilliant Hussein Ibish's exceptionally relevant and helpful analysis on the situation in the Middle East.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
World Press Roundup: Middle East News

The Net ... a poem

Forwards ...a poem

The Connectors ... a poem

Mideast Quartet calls for speedy resumption of peace talks... "Pending the resumption of negotiations, the Quartet called on both parties to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues."

Global Citizenship... laying the foundation for a culture of peace

To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace : "The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine." Ziad Asali

STAY CONNECTED... Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to: Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

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

... Ibrahim's Estate... The Promised Land: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Peace Day

Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity

Hussein Ibish: Non-violent resistance is Palestine’s most powerful weapon

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

 “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), born in Lebanon, immigrated to the United States in 1895 where he grew up to become a beloved poet and respected writer.

"There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies" Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American minister, humanitarian and social activist- a cherished leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, whose inspiring words continue to influence and empower diplomatic efforts to bring more justice, more security, more peace and more jobs to more people, every one and every where.

"We are brothers. It's not a question of Jews, of Christians or of Muslims. We're all in the same boat, we have to help each other to get out of this crisis." Lassana Bathily

IBISH: Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

"Let’s not feed Islamophobic bigotry... The great divide is not between faiths, but one between intolerant zealots of any tradition and the large numbers of decent, peaceful believers likewise found in each tradition." Nicholas Kristof

Cultural diversity is a driving force of development... an asset that is indispensable for poverty reduction and the achievement of sustainable development:  Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion a facebook page

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/opinion/nicholas-kristof-the-diversity-of-islam.html?ref=opinion

The Diversity of Islam

by Nicholas Kristof

A few days ago, I was on a panel on Bill Maher’s television show on HBO that became a religious war.

Whether or not Islam itself inspires conflict, debates about it certainly do. Our conversation degenerated into something close to a shouting match and went viral on the web. Maher and a guest, Sam Harris, argued that Islam is dangerous yet gets a pass from politically correct liberals, while the actor Ben Affleck denounced their comments as “gross” and “racist.” I sided with Affleck.

After the show ended, we panelists continued to wrangle on the topic for another hour with the cameras off. Maher ignited a debate that is rippling onward, so let me offer three points of nuance.

First, historically, Islam was not particularly intolerant, and it initially elevated the status of women. Anybody looking at the history even of the 20th century would not single out Islam as the bloodthirsty religion; it was Christian/Nazi/Communist Europe and Buddhist/Taoist/Hindu/atheist Asia that set records for mass slaughter.

Likewise, it is true that the Quran has passages hailing violence, but so does the Bible... READ MORE

REZA ASLAN: "No religion exists in a vacuum. On the contrary, every faith is rooted in the soil in which it is planted. It is a fallacy to believe that people of faith derive their values primarily from their Scriptures. The opposite is true. People of faith insert their values into their Scriptures, reading them through the lens of their own cultural, ethnic, nationalistic and even political perspectives." 

NYTimes: "How can a lasting political settlement be achieved if Israel continues refusing both the two-state and the one-state solutions?" Ali Jarbawi

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/opinion/israel-reacts-to-the-kidnappings-in-the-west-bank.html?ref=opinion

The Opinion Pages | Contributing Op-Ed Writer Ali Jarbawi

The Deadly Politics of Revenge

Israel Reacts to the Kidnappings in the West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The murder of three settlers in the West Bank has given Israel the excuse it was waiting for to set a huge military operation in motion. Even before the bodies of the missing young men were discovered on Monday, an Israeli incursion into Palestinian territories was in full swing. There were break-ins at houses, offices and universities, hundreds of arrests and several killings across the West Bank. The action has now expanded to the demolition in Hebron of the homes of two suspects in the case, and extensive bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

This can’t be explained as merely a reaction to the killing of the three Israelis, who were abducted on June 12. Exacting revenge on the entire Palestinian civilian population under occupation, whom Israel is obliged by international law to protect, is extremely disproportionate. The current operation...READ MORE

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The NYTimes Opinion Pages Room for Debate: Weakness or Realism in Foreign Policy?

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http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/11/weakness-or-realism-in-foreign-policy/the-double-standard-for-judging-american-strength

 ROOM FOR DEBATE

What does the Obama administration's reaction to crisis in Ukraine and elsewhere say about its influence in international affairs?

President Barack Obama at the White House in January.  PHOTO CREDIT Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

"Unremarkably, those who advocated a vigorous response to Russian occupation of what before 1954 was Russian territory have been silent about another violation of international law that in June of this year will enter its 48th year. This is Israel’s occupation of the Arab territories it has controlled since the June 1967 war.

The United States is far from sanctioning Israel for this unending occupation, which Secretary of State John Kerry apparently proposes to extend indefinitely, by allowing many years more of effective Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories. One of the key elements of the American approach to this occupation has been in effect to subsidize it with aid and investment not only for the occupying power, but also for the structures that help keep the occupied population from resisting its oppression. Thus a conference in Prague this past weekend chaired by Tony Blair and Madeline Albright touted visions – that are central to the Kerry plan – of new investment and Palestinian growth, without a single word about ending the occupation that has crippled the Palestinian economy and society for generations.

This double standard towards these two occupations is one reason why many the world over take a skeptical view of the moral hyperventilation over the Ukraine of both critics and supporters of the Obama administration." Rashid Khalidi The Double Standard for Judging ‘Strength’

*****

Read the debate in full  

Weakness or Realism in Foreign Policy?

The crisis in Ukraine is being seen as a test of Obama’s foreign policy. Critics are accusing the U.S. president of weakening American power. But Obama and his supporters argue that his approach has enhanced diplomacy. 

Does the Obama administration’s foreign policy reflect weakness or realism about the limits to U.S. influence in international affairs?

Ali Wyne, an associate at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, suggested this forum.

      Join Room for Debate on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/roomfordebate. 

U.N. Denies Altering Image of Palestinian Refugees in Damascus By the NYTimes' Robert Mackey

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http://nyti.ms/1fnM07y 

New York Times

March 11, 2014

The Lede

 Blogging the News with Robert Mackey

 A photograph of food distribution in a Damascus refugee camp for Palestinians released by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in January. Photo Credit UNRWA, via Associated Press

 A spokesman for the United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees rejected claims that an arresting image of thousands of people waiting for food distribution on a ruined street in Damascus recently had been digitally altered. 

Chris Gunness, the spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or Unrwa, said in a statement on Tuesday that the photograph — which is being used in a social media campaign to draw attention to the suffering of refugees trapped by fighting in a camp in the Syrian capital — has not “been ‘photoshopped’ or tampered with in any way. It is entirely genuine.” 

Mr. Gunness, who has expressed his personal outrage at conditions in the Yarmouk Camp, is leading an effort ...READ MORE

"Any claims that the photograph, which was described as “a biblical picture of suffering” in the British tabloid press, was created in Photoshop would seem to be dispelled by what appears to be video of the same scene released by the relief agency." 

U.N. video of food distribution in the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus in January.

A very good column in the NYTimes by Palestinian Ali Jarbawi: Defining the Jewish State

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/opinion/defining-the-jewish-state.html?ref=opinion

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Secretary of State John Kerry is preparing a “framework” for peace and Palestinians are worried. They know it will define the American position and set the new parameters for resolving the conflict. When published, this document — whether Palestinians accept its contents or not — will become the reference point for all future negotiations. 

Each American document that has been published in the past has represented a step back from the one that preceded it. Following this logic, the starting points of the Kerry document will be better than anything any future American proposal could offer. Such is the Palestinian predicament.

Palestinians need a mediator who is simultaneously capable and equitable. The problem is that the only capable mediator, the United States, is not a fair one. Appeasing Israeli concerns, securing its safety and meeting its demands are central tenets of the American approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From a Palestinian perspective, Israel often takes advantage of the passage of time in order to impose new facts, not only on the ground, but also upon the mediator. 

Palestinians believe that the United States does not treat them fairly, despite the fact that they have lost their homeland and are forced to live under a bitter, oppressive occupation. They see themselves as the party that is forced to capitulate over and over again, offering concessions and backing down in order to meet Israeli demands. Palestinians also have concerns, fears and demands.

One example is the current Israeli demand that Palestinians recognize the Jewishness of the Israeli state. This demand has met with automatic American approval, and will likely become one of the focal points of Mr. Kerry’s framework. This demand did not exist in past talks; in fact, it didn’t exist until the thought occurred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, most likely because he was looking for a way to sabotage the peace process, which he could then blame on the Palestinians while continuing to usurp our land. 

It has become both an Israeli precondition of sitting at the negotiating table, and a demand taken up by the American side, which has begun to pressure the Palestinians into accepting it.

But what exactly does the Jewish nature of the Israeli state mean? What are the de jure and de facto definitions of this term? What are the defining lines of this term, so that it does not remain open-ended, free-floating and elastic, allowing Israel to use it in the form and manner it chooses to in the future? And how can the United States, which claims to be unbiased, impose...READ MORE

My letters to CSM & NYTimes RE JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places & Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America

NEWS: The United States and Israel lost their UNESCO voting rights Friday after suspending funding to the organisation for its recognition of Palestine, a source from the UN agency November 8, 2013

RE: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places... by Katrina Lantos Swett, vice-chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/1107/JFK-s-call-for-religious-freedom-can-transform-places-like-Pakistan

Dear Editor,

What an inspiring and uplifting op-ed!  However I can not help but wonder about the elephant in the living room:

True religious freedom would indeed curb sectarian strife and extremism.... and yes American diplomats and forward thinkers should be advocating such freedom worldwide. But how will any countries in the Middle East be able to hear that message, much less understand that message when so many  American newspapers, politicians, businessmen and religious leaders praise and protect Israel as "The Jewish State"?

We can eloquently call on people everywhere "to raise their sights, heal yesterday’s wounds, right today’s wrongs, and aspire to greater things", but our words will be sanctimonious hypocrisy as long as we are arming Israel's "Jewishness" and forcing tax payers to fund Israel's religious scholars and schemes.

Are our current efforts to help end the pernicious Israel-Palestine conflict with a negotiated settlement generating regional respect for real democracy and a fully secular end to that conflict in line with international law and firmly respecting universal basic human rights, or are our efforts being perceived as yet another way to empower Israel's "Jewishness" and the ongoing persecution, impoverishment and forced displacement of Palestinians?

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

*********
RE Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America by Cynthia Kaplan Shamash, a dentist in Flushing, Queens & a member of the board of the World Organization of Jews From Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/opinion/keep-the-iraqi-jews-legacy-safe-in-america.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&ref=international

Dear Editor,

Regarding the trove of Hebrew material rescued from Saddam Hussein's flooded basement in 2003, flown here to be saved... Cynthia Kaplan Shamash's impassioned plea to Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America wisely points out "To suggest that they go to Israel, where many Iraqi Jews live now, might invite venom from Iraq."

She is absolutely right about that. Israel in insisting on being "Jewish" and in a misguided quest to make that a demographic reality, has cruelly persecuted and displaced the native non-Jewish Palestinians and played a large part in instigating and perpetuating sectarian strife and religious extremism all through out the region.

A part- just a part, and that part's actual relevance shrinks as time goes by:  The Buddhas destroyed in 2001 by religious bigots in Afghanistan.... the museums in Egypt looted just last year... the historic mosques destroyed in Iraq and Syria and Timbuktu by Islamists... the calls by Zionist ideologues to destroy the Dome of the Rock in order to build the third temple.... Obviously cultural treasures are easy targets for religious tyrants and harbingers of hate who are thriving on conflict and despair all through out the Middle East.

I very much hope for everyone's sake that negotiations for an actual end to the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular, fully sovereign two state solution based on firm respect for universal human rights takes hold soon, and helps steer everyone in the region towards a more peaceful, compassionate, prosperous and productive future.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
'It is where religious freedom is most dishonored or repressed that the forces of violent religious extremism are likely to thrive.' Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places like Pakistan.

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

Palestinians northeast of the separation wall near Jerusalem face an uncertain future after Israeli authorities issued demolition orders last week which could displace thousands of people

Israel levels Catholic Church property in E. Jerusalem amid ‘massive demolition’ plan

Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family By Edward Said's daughter Najla Said

This Week in Palestine: In Palestine we have no physical control over our borders, and therefore have no say in how anyone could be treated at any given moment in time. But what we do have control of is the Palestine we write about, describe, and photograph in the folds of this issue’s pages.

Support for Mideast peace ...

Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights

NYTimes News October 30, 2013: 1,500 Units to Be Added in Settlement, Israel Says

At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence

Why Are Israelis Tone Deaf to Incitement Against Palestinians?

Ancient stone villages in the occupied West Bank have become trapped in rural poverty, while investors and donors shy away from a zone of seemingly endless conflict... Israel's restrictions affect much of Palestinian economic life. It controls every access point, which enables it to oversee all imports and exports, creating bureaucratic hurdles that Palestinians say stifle or kill entrepreneurship.

The Israelis also impose strict limits on water supply, which affects industry and agriculture. Israel has not allowed Palestinians access to 3G mobile technology, citing security concerns, rendering many smartphone apps largely useless....READ MORE

***

"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

"Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Paine: "Of all of the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny of religion is the worst."

"In every country and in every age, the priest [rabbi/imam/...etc...] has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own"
Thomas Jefferson

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

Why Muslims should love secularism: Though secularism is widely misunderstood as anti-religious and iconoclastic, all it means is the neutrality of the state on religious affairs ...  "Muslims must recognize secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion." Hussein Ibish

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 1

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

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

Live by the Golden Rule

Dear President Obama... Let Freedom Ring

194

Globalizing Martin Luther King, Jr.

"So let us put the narrative of injustice away and find the joy, if it’s the last thing we ever do. " Tala Abu Rahmeh, Palestinian poet and writer

This Week in Palestine Artist of the Month: Yazan Khalili

A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.

Pomegranates in season along the path!

The Arab Peace Initiative

1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:

I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:

I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

We Need to Talk... Ziad Asali has proven that Palestinian-Americans can work within the system as first-class American citizens and Washington has paid attention: The status quo is clear: occupation. Asali's mission is to change that status quo.

Freedom for Palestine - OneWorld