Mideast peace slips to second billing for US

A drought affected corn crop is seen near Paris, Missouri July 13, 2012. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

http://news.yahoo.com/mideast-peace-slips-second-billing-us-213711208.html

JERUSALEM (AP) — Mideast peace, America's defining issue for decades of dealings with Israel and its Arab neighbors, was just a postscript Monday as Hillary Rodham Clinton made perhaps her final visit to the region as secretary of state.

Three years after President Barack Obama declared the plight of the Palestinians "intolerable," his administration no longer sees the failing Arab-Israeli peace efforts with the same immediacy. U.S. interests are focused now on Iran and Syria, though the deep differences between Israel and the Palestinians are not ignored.

"Peace among Israel, the Palestinian people and all of Israel's Arab neighbors is crucial for Israel's long-term progress and prosperity," Clinton said following discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's president, foreign minister and defense minister.

Clinton also met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, but she couldn't report any progress toward an accord that might secure an independent Palestine and an Israel at peace with its neighbors.

In a departure from the usual pattern for top U.S. diplomats, she did not travel to the Palestinian Authority's West Bank seat of government in Ramallah.

The Palestinians said a visit was unnecessary because Clinton had met with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, just a few days earlier in Paris.

Israel has defied Obama's call to halt settlement construction in occupied lands, and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank has refused to resume negotiations, leaving peace hopes in a tense status quo with no breakthrough in sight....READ MORE

ATFP Praises Release of US Aid to the PA, Welcomes New Quartet Statement

Hillary Clinton

 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2012 

Washington DC, April 12 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would be releasing a $147 million package in aid to the Palestinian people. The move overrides some remaining congressional holds on the US aid package to the Palestinians for fiscal year 2011 economic support.

An unnamed administration official told the National Journal that this aid is "critical support to the Palestinian people and those leaders seeking to combat extremism within their society and build a more stable future. Without funding, our programs risk cancellation. Such an occurrence would undermine the progress that has been made in recent years in building Palestinian institutions and improving stability, security, and economic prospects, which benefits Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

The administration move also comes in the context of a new statement by the Middle East Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- that calls on donors to fulfill aid pledges to the Palestinians and "underscored the need for continued international support for the Palestinian Authority’s important institution-building efforts." The statement calls on the parties "to examine possible mechanisms it can actively support going forward, individually and together, to advance peace efforts and strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the full range of civil and security needs of the Palestinian people both now and in a future state." Crucially, the statement calls for “[facilitating] the social and economic development of Area C, which is of critical importance for the viability of a future Palestinian state.”

ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, “We strongly welcome this move by Sec. Clinton to release these vital funds to support the PA institution-building program’s civil and security components. We also urge other donors to fulfill their pledges to the PA. This is in the interests of the United States, the international community, the Palestinian people and Israel, and should not be subject to partisan calculations. International support is vital for preserving and enhancing the gains achieved by the institution-building program led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and preserving the ability of Palestinian security services to ensure law and order and prevent violence. We are gratified that the Quartet has clearly recognized that Palestinian access to Area C is vital for the development of a viable Palestinian state and to help to lay the groundwork for a two-state solution."

http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2012/04/12/1334203200

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

My letter to USAToday RE Oren: Direct talks needed for Mideast peace

RE: Oren: Direct talks needed for Mideast peace
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-01-20-column20_ST2_N.htm

Dear Editor,

Oren and Israel do the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international law, and the future of civilization itself a huge disservice by foolishly refusing to fully understand and respect the Palestinian refugees inalienable legal, moral and natural right to return to original homes and lands: Imagine if you left your home today in the USA and were denied your right to return to your own home and land (or the right to rent an apartment) because you were deemed the 'wrong' race or religion.

The best chance for building a just and lasting peace in the Middle East is to end the Israel/Palestine conflict with a secular two state solution in line with international law.

[Futhermore] I agree that direct talks and negotiations are crucial, but I do not think it is fair to blame official Palestinian leadership (or school books) for Israel's anti-peace anti-Palestine antics... ""We are very concerned about the initiation of demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel," the Secretary of State [Hillary Clinton] declared in Abu Dhabi. She did not mince any words in her outright condemnation: "This disturbing development undermines peace efforts to achieve the two state-solution. In particular, this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of [occupied] Jerusalem."" Colony freeze a must for peace

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

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.

Core Issues

• The returning issue of Palestine's refugees
• Palestine

Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem...

• "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

PLO official: any deal with Israel won't succeed without refugees

ATFP Resources on Palestinian State and Institution Building

"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 Arab Peace Initiative

Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:

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.

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

Growing Gardens for Palestine

Dear Ziad ....in Growing Gardens for Palestine

Growing Gardens for Palestine

Dear Ziad

Dear Ziad,

Thank you and your lovely wife Nailia, and all of ATFP for hosting such an inspiring and interesting Gala. My husband and I very much enjoyed all the art- and the speakers... and the gift bag with zataar and olive oil and Nabulsi soap.

Meeting one of my favorite modern poets in person was a moment I will never ever forget. Naomi Shihab Nye is as welcoming and delightful as her poems.

ATFP's hard work and good intentions are obvious, as is the talent, intelligence, dignity and compassion of all the many people who chose to help support the American Task Force on Palestine... I wish you the best of luck in your collective efforts to help shape a just, lasting and comprehensive peace and a real Palestinian state.

Sincerely,
Annie

Washington DC: The Lincoln Memorial

“In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.” Beneath these words, the 16th President of the United States—the Great Emancipator and preserver of the nation during the Civil War—sits immortalized in marble. As an enduring symbol of freedom, the Lincoln Memorial attracts anyone who seeks inspiration and hope. nps.gov

ATFP 2010 featuring Arab Artwork- promoting Palestine & Peace

For the complete text of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's Keynote Address at ATFP Gala click here. For the complete text of Ziad Asali's introduction click here. For more information about the gala click here.