Showing posts with label The Day of Land. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Growing Gardens for Palestine: Land Day & Liberation... MARCH FORTH!

from Growing Gardens for Palestine

March 31 2011 Google Image search for Growing Gardens for Palestine

I am growing old. We all are. My children are reaching adulthood and coming into their own. Our home is now a place they come back to from various adventures. Eventually they will all have their own homes and families I hope- and my home and garden will be a place they want come to visit when they can. Life moves on. Spring returns with birdsong and blooms and beautiful days where it just feels good to be alive...

Chickadee in our Maple Tree

Last year, on my Annie's New Letters (& Notes) blog I celebrated Women's History month here in America by blogging about some of my favorite Palestinian-American Artists, Writers & Poets: Artists using their talents- and their beauty inside and out- to empower Palestine and America and the Arts... and civilization itself.

Their order listed here is simply a random who ever popped up first line up as I blogged one and then another last March. All, each in their own creative ways are equally important and fascinating and well worth appreciating:

MARCH FORTH [2010]

Palestinian-American POET Ibtisam Barakat

Palestinian-American POET Naomi Shihab Nye

Palestinian-American ARTIST Samia Halaby

Palestinian-American POET Nathalie Handal

Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa

Palestinian-American ARTIST Emily Jacir

Palestinian-American filmmaker Annemarie Jacir

Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Maysoon Zayid

part-Palestinian-ALL-American NOVELIST Randa Jarrar

Palestinian-American POET: Suheir Hammad

This year I widened my MARCH FORTH net to include women world wide- and men.

We are all in this together, for women's liberation is the first real step towards the liberation of all of human kind.

There are many wise and wonderful voices- too many for all to be heard. My feeble efforts to gather together some should be seen as a beginning only- certainly not the end, and not even the middle. Let a multitude of others step up to gently and compassionately and intelligently help build a positive paper trail for Palestine- and for civilization itself. Let the market place of ideas burgeon with good intentions and positive efforts as we the people everywhere help build a better future for all our children.

Sherri Muzher's new online book ESCAPE TO A WORLD OF PALESTINIAN SURPRISES

This year I have been very excited to see some very inspiring efforts for Palestine. I have watched both the American Task Force on Palestine [ATFP] and the General Delegation of the P.L.O. to the United States taking mainstream media work very seriously, listening and learning how to help redirect the conversation here in America in much more positive and helpful directions. Both compile fascinating daily round-ups of important mainstream news and opinion regarding Palestine, and both are important and reliable resources for people who care about mainstream American efforts and Palestine's future as a real nation state. I hope they both continue on with their good work.

There are also many other organizations and individuals working hard to help gather up support for Palestine- far too numerous to name, and we all have our own personal favorites and preferences. Photographs and posters and stories and songs are passed around and savored. Palestine is becoming more and more real to more and more people worldwide as the global information age opens doors and windows everywhere, in ways that could not even be imagined a generation ago. It is up to ALL of us to either help- or hinder- Palestinian efforts to build a real Palestinian state.

Home and family have been very important to me through out all my life. Luckily I live in a country where our property rights are respected- and the rule of fair and just laws helps keep the peace... AND luckily my hardworking husband has a good job which has helped empower us as parents and as citizens.

"Civic Muscle" is a tag that I started to apply to some of my Annie's New Letters (& notes) posts this past year. I saw the phrase in an article in USA Today about American youth and it really caught my attention- what a perfect way to express a very important concept, and a crucial aspect of real democracy.

Glass vase from Hebron- a gift from a friend who likes my letters & poems

MARCH FORTH! 2011

LAND DAY March 30 PALESTINE

Viewpoint: The Grass is Not Always Greener on the Other Side by Harriet Straughen for MIFTAH

Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality

My Letter to the Washington Post RE In Obama’s push for Mideast peace, whose side is he on? by Jackson Diehl

Israel’s Bent Neck...by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Hanan Ashrawi: "We deserve our freedom, we deserve our state"

German woman devoted to removing Nazi graffiti

Riz Khan - The Arab Street

Women against fundamentalism and for equality | The Elders

Joharah Baker: Palestinian Women Deserve Celebration

Palestinian Women: Narrative Histories and Gendered Memories... & more from This Week in Palestine

Specialized radio station promotes rights of Palestinian women

The Arab Woman You Don't See...

My letter to the Economist RE Israel's Jewish identity. The state we're in

Why Settlements must Go By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Sherri Muzher's ESCAPE TO A WORLD OF PALESTINIAN SURPRISES

Michelle Bachelet: “Think of how much more we can do once women are fully empowered as active agents of change and progress within their societies...”

Kim Barker: "Most journalists just don’t report it"

Professor Hala Nassar leaving Yale: “As for me, if I’ve been persecuted or not,” Nassar said. “I’ll keep it to myself.”

Reem Kelani's ululations ... Tahrir Square, Cairo, Friday 11th February

"International human rights law and international humanitarian law are not negotiable. No individual or state can be considered exempt..."

UNWRA's Isabel de la Cruz: "I take aim and shoot all over the place, looking for the human inspiration for our “Peace starts here” campaign."

Planting Eden

Suheir Hammad: Poems of war, peace, women, power | Video on TED.com

Ask a Name... a poem by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage

[2010] Celebrating Women's History Month by celebrating some GREAT Palestinian-American Artists, Writers & Poets

Yesterday was Land Day for Palestine. I did what I could to help honor and empower Palestine by searching the Internet to find inspiring information and images to blog. And today, in Growing Gardens for Palestine I am celebrating women's liberation as an important part of progress for all people- regardless of race, religion or gender.... or nationality.

Roses- a recent Valentine's Day gift from my husband Jaffar

Long ago, when I was a young and I fell in love with my husband Jaffar I was working full time in a bookstore. I really liked that job. I liked working with books, and I liked helping people find the perfect book. I also liked learning how a business is run- learning many lessons really about life. Lessons I've been able to translate into helping build a good marriage and life for our family. When I married my husband I had no idea what life would bring, both the challenges and the pleasures- nor did I know how much more I would love him as time goes by and we find ourselves growing old together.

Everywhere on earth young people are falling in love, getting married, making a life and a home together. Many (but not all) will soon enough be totally busy with the challenging task of raising children... and growing gardens of their own, each in their own unique way.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Palestine... Flower of the Land

General Delegation of the P.L.O. to the United States: Land Day for Palestine

March 30^th 2011

On March 30^th 1976, Palestinians that remained in the newly founded state of Israel after 1948, revolted against Israeli discriminatory policies. Six Palestinians were shot dead and dozens wounded. Today, Palestinians all over the world commemorate “Land Day” to sending a clear message to the Israeli government that our bond to the land of our ancestors is unbreakable. This year, Land Day coincides with the approval by the Israeli Knesset of new discriminatory laws against the Palestinian citizens of Israel. These new laws add are compounded by similar laws that have gone into effect over the years which went unnoticed by “advocates" of democracy and human rights here in Washington. One of these recently approved laws bans Palestinians from celebrating national occasions and threatens to deny Palestinians their government privileges if they do not show allegiance to the state’s religious and cultural character, violating basic human and civil rights.

This year's Land Day should be an occasion for all Palestinians to show unity and to end their divisions. Recognizing new changes in the Middle East, there is an urgent need for the Palestinian people to rise to the challenge of uniting their ranks and confront Israeli government policies. There is no better answer to Israel's attempts to undermine our existence in Palestine but through forging a united front. The quest for Palestinian self-determination and independence must be a guiding light for all Palestinians, in Palestine and the Diaspora. It is time that we bury our differences and focus on the threat posed by shameful Israeli policy.

The General Delegation of the PLO to the United States salutes the struggle of our brethren inside Israel who are fighting for equality and dignity. We also salute the struggle of our people in the Occupied Territories, particularly in East Jerusalem, who are standing up to the Israel occupation. Finally, we salute our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip who are under siege by an inhumane occupation which prevents food and supplies from reaching them. Let this year's Land Day be the beginning of the end of all divisions and the beginning of a united Palestinian campaign to establish our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and a just and agreed resolution to the fate of Palestinian refugees based on UNGA resolution 194.

LAND DAY March 30 PALESTINE

LIFE MAGAZINE: DEIR EL-BALAH REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA STRIP - MARCH 31: Palestinian school children plant olive trees in land near the Israeli/jewish settlement of Ghosh Qateef, March 31, 2004 in the refugee camp of Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. The olive planting took place during a protest commemorating the 28th anniversary of Land Day. Land Day marks the series of clashes between Israeli Arabs and Israeli police that erupted on March 30, 1976 when Israeli Arabs protested the Israeli government's confiscation of Arab land.

Land Day poster (1984) by Abdel Rahman Al Muzain

The Day of the Land

Google Images

Land Day is the day when Israeli Arabs hold demonstrations to mark the loss of their land to Israel in 1948.

It is held on 30 March in commemoration of six Arabs killed by Israeli security forces in 1976 during mass protests against the farm confiscations in the Galilee.

Plans to confiscate land near the Sea of Galilee were announced in 1976
BBC Remembering Land Day

A view of Arraba from the road leading to its northern limit

Fellahat from Battir taking produce to market (1910)

“Compared to the large-scale land expropriations from the 1950′s and 60′s, the amount of land actually seized from Palestinians in 1976 was relatively small.” Rabinowitz & Baker, Coffins on Our Shoulders

Land Day - Palestine

Land Day Remembered

Date posted: March 30, 2011
By MIFTAH

Thirty-five years ago, six Palestinians from the Galilee in what is now northern Israel lost their lives in a bid to protect their land from confiscation. Today, Palestinians everywhere commemorate what has come to be known as Land Day.

Since that day, March 30, 1976, thousands of other Palestinians have lost their lives defending the same cause. At the time, Israeli authorities seized and expropriated 5,500 acres of land from Palestinian villages in the Galilee to expand Jewish settlements in the area. Residents of the villages organized a general strike and peaceful demonstrations in protest of the expropriations and the ongoing confiscation and settlement of Palestinian land.

Israeli authorities, wanting to quell any sign of nationalism and resistance, cracked down hard on the protesters, shooting and killing six men. Nearly 100 others were injured and over 300 people arrested that day.

Land Day has since been marked as a day of remembrance for those who were killed and also a day of protest against Israel’s ongoing policy of Palestinian land expropriation. Land Day also marks the first time Palestinians who remained inside the Green Line after Israel was established rose up in unison against Israel’s expansionist policies.

Today, Palestinians continue to fight for their land despite international calls for a settlement to the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state. With the separation wall in the West Bank continuing to grow and taking huge chunks of occupied Palestinian land with it, Palestinians everywhere are acutely aware that the events which set Land Day into motion are still in play today. Still, we remember the fallen and all those before and after them who vowed to defend Palestine and we renew that vow with each anniversary.

A Palestinian school girl plants olive trees

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My letter to the New York Times RE In West Bank, Peace Symbol Now Signifies Struggle

The Day of Land by Tamam Al-Akhal

RE: In West Bank, Peace Symbol Now Signifies Struggle
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/world/middleeast/13olives.html?ref=middleeast

Dear Editor,

I am grateful to see the story "In West Bank, Peace Symbol Now Signifies Struggle". Seems to me, due to the steadfastness of many concerned humanitarians, diplomats, researchers, and writers worldwide, even the New York Times is inching towards generating more revealing and honest stories regarding the Israel/Palestine conflict... and the very real plight of the Palestinians.

Today Palestinian negotiators, very much sabotaged and undermined by both Israeli intransigence and Islamist ideologues, are confronting Israel's asinine refusal to stop its illegal settlement activities by demanding that the US administration and Israel define Israel's borders: ""If this map is based on the 1967 borders and provides for the end of the Israeli occupation over all Palestinian lands... then we recognise Israel by whatever name it applies to itself in accordance with international law," Abed Rabbo said, without providing further details." http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101013/wl_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceus

Investing in a fully secular two state solution really is the only way to end the contentious Israel/Palestine conflict- and the bigotry, injustice, religious tyranny, extremism and angst that are thriving with the continuation of hostilities. A just and lasting peace might seem highly improbable- but then again, not too long ago, so was the idea of putting a man on the moon.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Growing Gardens for Palestine

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

.....A Palestine To Return To

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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wednesday, October 13, 2010