Human Rights Day:

Realising the healthy international relations can be created only among populations made up of individuals who themselves are healthy and enjoy a measure a independence, the United Nations elaborated a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 1948. - Albert Einstein

 

We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind, that is the approval by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. - Eleanor Roosevelt

 

America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America. - Jimmy Carter

 

Norman Rockwell's celebration of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

My letter to CSM RE The two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians needs a big boost

Freedom of Worship illustration by Norman Rockwell
"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which…means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world..." President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941

RE The two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians needs a big boost: Those on the extremes of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict don’t see a two-state solution as viable ­– or preferable. Secretary of State John Kerry and those in the center with practical ideas about how to achieve two peaceful states must strengthen their voices.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0627/The-two-state-solution-for-Israel-and-Palestinians-needs-a-big-boost?nav=87-frontpage-entryCommentary

Dear Editor,

The one state situation is what already is and has been for decades, with a Jews-preferred Israel easily able to find more and more excuses (and ways) to usurp more and more Palestinian land, liberty, and life.  Making a cruel situation even worse Islamists have been thriving on the Israel-Palestine conflict, ensuring that Israel perceives Palestinians as terrorist threats rather than as real people.

Noticing and hopefully strengthening reasonable voices is a good idea- but only if those reasonable voices firmly respect universal basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

The goal must be a just and lasting peace: A fully secular two state solution is the best way forward and for everyone's sake religion should not be- and can not be- the determining factor as to who gets full citizenship, freedom, respect, job opportunities, subsidies and security in any sovereign nation state.

America survived the end of slavery- Israel can survive the end of its own institutionalized bigotry.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Live by the Golden Rule

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

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

What is an Israeli settlement.... it is a tax payer plus charity investment in highways, housing, freedom, jobs, security, and respect for Jewish Israelis, while the native non-Jewish Palestinians are persecuted, impoverished, pushed into forced exile- and demonized for objecting to such institutionalized bigotry and blatant injustice.

From Palestinians' point of view, the law [Israel's Absentee Property Law] has always been controversial. The rights of refugees are a core issue in their conflict with Israel.

Leaders must seize opportunity for peace and security... "The Arab League's peace initiative has regained relevance. The initial position between the parties is bleak, but the status quo is not an alternative. The Israelis and the Palestinians must now seize what is perhaps the last opportunity to create peace and security."

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat

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

American Task Force on Palestine Alarmed by "Price Tag" Violence, Welcomes Israeli and Jewish-American Condemnation

From the archives... 1971 & 1967

“Were you really shot in a fight over water?” He winces out his answer: “It wasn’t about politics. It wasn’t about the Muslim Brotherhood. It was about water.”

This Week in Palestine: Palestinian Institutions A Story of Perseverance ... Salam Fayyad "This was not about roads, buildings, or infrastructure, despite their importance. This plan was about statehood, citizen participation, and enfranchisement. It was based on the vision of establishing a functional framework where government is accountable and citizens participate in the widest and most effective way possible in decision-making and governance."

Palestine now recognised by greater power than US or Israel – Google

"I come from there and I have memories... "

*******

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine....

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

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

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

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

Empowering Peace & 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.

UN Resolution 194 from 1948  : The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours 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.

"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

Great works of literature, theater, dance, fine art, and music reach us through a universal language that unites us regardless of background...

The problem we all live with — by Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), depicting an incident in the American Civil Rights struggle of the early 1960s, when Ruby Bridges entered first grade on the first day of court-ordered desegregation of New Orleans, Louisiana, public schools (November 14, 1960). Originally published in Look magazine.The painting is currently displayed in the West Wing of the White House, just outside President Obama's Oval Office.

"Like Rockwell's painting, art in all its forms often challenges us to consider new perspectives and to rethink how we see the world. This image still moves us with its simple poignancy, capturing a moment in American history that changed us forever. This is the power of the arts and humanities -- they speak to our condition and affirm our desire for something more and something better. Great works of literature, theater, dance, fine art, and music reach us through a universal language that unites us regardless of background, gender, race, or creed...

We must recognize the contributions of the arts and humanities not only by supporting the artists of today, but also by giving opportunities to the creative thinkers of tomorrow. Educators across our country are opening young minds, fostering innovation, and developing imaginations through arts education. Through their work, they are empowering our Nation's students with the ability to meet the challenges of a global marketplace. It is a well-rounded education for our children that will fuel our efforts to lead in a new economy where critical and creative thinking will be the keys to success."

The White House: Presidential Proclamation -- National Arts and Humanities Month, 2011

My letter to the New York Times RE The Arab Gdansk by Roger Cohen

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978). Freedom to Worship, 1943

RE: The Arab Gdansk by Roger Cohen
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/opinion/18iht-edcohen18.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

Fostering the rise of extreme Islamism, Cohen foolishly advocates endorsing political Islam with the caveat that "Islamist parties must commit to democracy rather than exploit democracy for despotic ends."

Martin Luther King Jr. led America towards becoming a more real democracy with his own personal volunteer service to the civil rights movement. No one was forced to fund his speeches or pay his expenses.

Cohen gives no warning about the unfairness, much less the dangers, of forcing all citizens to fund and thus empower an 'elected' religion and institutionalized bigotry.

Furthermore, the responsibility of government has certainly not curbed the "seductive illusion" of political Judaism: "The Israeli Government has ignored the international community's repeated calls for a complete cessation of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which are illegal under international humanitarian law and constitute a major obstruction to the efforts to resume the peace process towards achievement of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the question of Palestine." Alarmed by Surging Construction Activity, Palestinian Rights Committee Supports Call for Israel to Choose between Peace, Settlements
Source: United Nations General Assembly

Arabs and Muslims (and Jews (and Christians)) deserve our best advice: Religion should be a personal private matter.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

"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

NOTES

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law , general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

Growing Gardens for Palestine

The Golden Rule