The space for freedom of expression is shrinking dramatically as governments use new technologies to suppress dissent and digital giants manipulate information online to enrich themselves, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, warned today. In her final report to the Human Rights Council, Khan highlighted the conflation of State and corporate interests to exploit vulnerabilities of the right to freedom of expression.

UN Special Procedures

@UN_SPExperts

 

Space for freedom of expression shrinking as govts use tech to suppress dissent & digital giants manipulate info for enrichment, warns @Irenekhan   @UN_HRC. 

 

“Freedom of expression has been privatised, monetised, manipulated & unlawfully restricted.  

 

#UNHRC62 

 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/freedom-expression-must-not-be-treated-fodder-geopolitics-or-commodity-trade

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

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/advance-versions/a-hrc-62-67-aev.pdf 

Dear America- You can't win a modern war. You can destroy homes & families, you can usurp land & resources from the rightful owners, and you can undermine & destroy a free press and the fourth estate- but people worldwide have memories, as well as a sense of right and wrong that cannot be bombed into oblivion.

Forget-me-not flowers- A symbol of PEACE 

& Remembrance 

Dear America,

When my children were little I taught them to admit when they were wrong and to apologize.  It takes strength of character to do so.  Strength of character shapes a good person, and a good person helps makes the world a better place.

Lead by example: Greed and corruption are wrong.  Bully tactics are wrong. Insults are wrong. Lies are wrong... AND WAR IS VERY VERY WRONG.

We live in a world filled to the brim with stockpiles of both simple and sophisticated weaponry- all of it is polluting our shared planet earth. From the manufacturing to the deployment of lethal weaponry- bullets- bombs- bulldozers-missiles- jets- drones- molotov cocktails- war pollutes the land & air and war mongering pollutes minds as power hungry tyrants on all sides use bully tactics & bombs as if one can win a modern war.

You can't win a modern war. You can destroy homes & families, you can usurp land & resources from the rightful owners, and you can undermine & destroy a free press and the fourth estate- but people worldwide have memories, as well as a sense of right and wrong that cannot be bombed into oblivion.  

We live in the information age.  When our mainstream news failed to provide fair coverage of the full story for decades, our comics stepped up to say it in jokes, and the internet thrived as people reached out far and wide for more honest perspectives.  Now tech billionaires want to capture it all in massive hyper-scale DATA Centers that they control and can easily infiltrate, manipulate, and fill with AI artificial information/misinformation to empower their favored projects and politicians.

STOP and THINK...

Golden Rule thinking is enlightening: Respect for real freedom and democracy. Respect for UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS and the rule of fair and just laws to shape the best way forward, for everyone. Respect for real history and heritage, respect for differences and diversity, respect for human dignity- and ALL our children.

We are in the wrong to arm Israel as it steals land, rights, and peace from the people of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. 

And we are in the wrong to bomb Iran.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

"The Israeli military’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities, along with other practices, involved gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law, which in many cases may have amounted to war crimes and other atrocity crimes..." UN Human Rights Palestine

"For ease and speed, we are degrading our ability to connect and to organise our societies. We must assert our trust in humans over machines" Nesrine Malik

NPR: Israel seizes medieval castle as it expands major offensive in southern Lebanon... "Israel must know that its scorched earth policy, collective punishment and expropriation of villages and towns will not achieve security and stability but will instead deepen the divide with the Lebanese people"

“I have never in my career witnessed the level of atrocities and targeting of my medical colleagues as I have in Gaza,” Adam Hamawy, The doctor who came back from Gaza and is leading a New Jersey congressional race

"Speaking to the Guardian, readers in the US echoed the pope’s concerns, describing AI as an “unregulated” industry increasingly being used to the “detriment of too many people”, while also raising fears about surveillance, labor displacement, war and environmental harm."

"... Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate or even simulate, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom." Pope Leo XIV on AI Artificial Intelligence

"I was just a boy when I learned that my family would soon be leaving my beloved homeland of Palestine to begin a new life in America. To the adults, it was a practical decision—one made in search of opportunity and a better future, away from the suffocating Israeli occupation & oppression. But to me, it felt as though my entire world was being torn away. How could I explain what Palestine meant to a child? It was not merely a place on a map. It was the hills that encircled our small village of Beit Hanina and served as my endless playground. It was the olive and fruit orchards where I wandered freely beneath the sun. It was the caves hidden among the rocky slopes, the handmade kites dancing in the wind, and the familiar scent of earth after the rain. It was home." Mike Odetalla

"The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end? Suspected war crimes happen almost daily as Israel continues its bombardment, which Unicef estimates is killing nearly 14 children a day. We cannot write this off as just another war in a war-torn region"

"The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name..." Nesrine Malik

A network of fake academic journals masquerading as legitimate publications has published more than a hundred AI-generated papers in recent months, in some cases using the names of real professors at top universities without their knowledge- Online academic journals falsely attributed articles, likely written by AI, to several professors, who say the fiasco is a warning about the future of scientific knowledge.

Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt's 1948 letter to the New York Times: They saw the creation of a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine at the expense of its indigenous Muslim and Christian population as a profound injustice and moral catastrophe. Einstein and the other signatories explicitly compared Begin’s Herut (Freedom Party), born from the Irgun, to Nazis and Fascists, warning that their ideology of racial superiority and violent ethnic nationalism posed a grave danger to the moral and political future of the new state.

Ongoing Nakba in Gaza, Palestine: People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike... Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting

"At a moment when Islam is framed as a source of division, it is worth recalling that on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X encountered Muslims of all races, worshipping as equals together, an experience that transformed his understanding of race and human dignity. It revealed an Islam grounded not in fear, but universality, exposing the poverty of racial hierarchies and the distortions that sustain them." Kenneth Mohammed in The Guardian

TIME: The Solemn History Behind Nakba Day ... From 1947 to 1949, 531 towns were destroyed by Israeli militias- Of the 1.4 million-strong Palestinian population at the time, 800,000 were displaced; the massacres of families and towns left enduring scars on the survivors.

"Reducing inequality was “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet”" .......Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds- Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%

Dear Governor Shapiro- The word 'antisemitism' excludes Arabs and Muslims, and has come to mean criticizing Zionism which is a political movement that is shaping horrifically cruel policies and actions here and in Israel and Palestine. So maybe find a better word or phrase to use- like 'bigotry' or 'racist hate' or 'mental illness' to describe hate mongering violations and violence.

 DEAR AMERICA

STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Along the way we learned that slavery is wrong. We learned that domestic violence is wrong. We learned that racist hate is wrong. SO WHY are we funding Israel and why are we bombing Iran for Israel!!!

Violence is a problem- not the answer

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

UN asks Israel to end 'unlawful killings' in West Bank & Read more: ‘I was very terrified’: The ordeal of two children detained by Israeli forces in Gaza

[Please notice the trend: Palestinians 

1. in Israel, 

2. in the West Bank, 

3. in Gaza 

all attacked, harassed, & impoverished by racist Israel... day after day, decade after decade]

 

UN asks Israel to end 'unlawful killings' in West Bank

28 December 2023

 A United Nations report issued Thursday said the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank was rapidly deteriorating and urged Israel to "end unlawful killings" against the Palestinian population.

"The use of military tactics and weapons in law enforcement contexts, the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, and the enforcement of broad, arbitrary and discriminatory movement restrictions that affect Palestinians are extremely troubling," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

& Read more: ‘I was very terrified’: The ordeal of two children detained by Israeli forces in Gaza

Children play on the roof of a building in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on 21 December 2023 (Mohammed Abed/AFP) https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-live-gaza-war-hamas-ceasefire

 

A girl, 10, and her brother, six, were detained on Israel’s so-called ‘safe corridor’. They were interrogated...

The so-called “safe corridor”, established by invading Israeli troops in Gaza in October, is used by Palestinians forced to leave northern areas of the strip to the south.

However, scores of eyewitnesses and rights groups say the corridor is anything but safe, accusing Israeli forces of using it to kill, detain, and abuse Palestinians. 

Hundreds of Palestinians have been detained while taking the journey since the start of the war, including doctors, women and children... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-israel-palestine-ordeal-children-detained-israeli-forces

 

& read more 

Occupation

Israeli settlers plan to occupy Armenian Quarter by force in East Jerusalem, say activists

 Armed settlers, backed by Israeli security forces, attempt to occupy almost 25 percent of Armenian Quarter in 'existential threat' to centuries-old community

 

A convoy of Israeli settlers' cars and motorcycles entered the Armenian Quarter in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, looking to usurp the Armenian-held area, the community has said in a statement. 

The Movement for the Protection and Preservation of the Armenian Quarter, in a post on Instagram, warned that tensions were high and that Israeli police had “without probable cause” arrested three Armenians, including a minor, while backing Israeli settlers. 

“Instead of removing the trespassers, the Israeli police permitted a few settlers to continue their presence intended to possess the Armenian property,” said the community in a statement. 

With Israel’s war on Gaza taking much of the world's attention, Israeli settlers in the occupied territories, including the Old City in East Jerusalem, have increasingly used the distraction to press illegal land claims.

The movement said that the attempt by Israeli settlers to overrun the “Armenian Gardens” - known as the “Cows' Garden” in the Old City of Jerusalem, was a “malicious attempt to change facts on the ground”.

“We are fighting now for the integrity of the Armenian and Christian quarters,” said Hagop Djernazian, a co-founder of the movement to save the Armenian quarter, and member of the Jerusalemite Armenian Community.... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-settlers-jerusalem-take-over-armenian-quarter-force

2013: Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues ...Recalling its resolutions 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and 36/146 C of 16 December 1981 and all its subsequent resolutions on the question

2013

Question of Palestine home

http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/9365d5f545357e8785257c2200524d03?OpenDocument

---

UNITED
NATIONS
General Assembly
A/C.4/68/L.15
8 November 2013

Sixty-eighth session Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) Agenda item 51 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Comoros, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Yemen and State of Palestine: draft resolution
 


Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues
The General Assembly,
 
Recalling its resolutions 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and 36/146 C of 16 December 1981 and all its subsequent resolutions on the question,
 
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to its resolution 67/117 of 18 December 2012,¹ as well as that of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine for the period from 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013,²
 
Recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights³ and the principles of international law uphold the principle that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her property,
 
Recalling in particular its resolution 394 (V) of 14 December 1950, in which it directed the Conciliation Commission, in consultation with the parties concerned, to prescribe measures for the protection of the rights, property and interests of the Palestine refugees,
 
Noting the completion of the programme of identification and evaluation of Arab property, as announced by the Conciliation Commission in its twenty-second progress report,⁴ and the fact that the Land Office had a schedule of Arab owners and a file of documents defining the location, area and other particulars of Arab property,
 
Expressing its appreciation for the preservation and modernization of the existing records, including the land records, of the Conciliation Commission, and stressing the importance of such records for a just resolution of the plight of the Palestine refugees in conformity with resolution 194 (III), 
 
Recalling that, in the framework of the Middle East peace process, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Government of Israel agreed, in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993,⁵ to commence negotiations on permanent status issues, including the important issue of the refugees,
 
1. Reaffirms that the Palestine refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of equity and justice;
 
2. Requests the Secretary-General to take all appropriate steps, in consultation with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, for the protection of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel;
 
3. Calls once again upon Israel to render all facilities and assistance to the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;
 
4. Calls upon all the parties concerned to provide the Secretary-General with any pertinent information in their possession concerning Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel that would assist him in the implementation of the present resolution;
 
5. Urges the Palestinian and Israeli sides, as agreed between them, to deal with the important issue of Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues within the framework of the final status negotiations of the Middle East peace process;
 
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

*******

The UN & UNRWA

67/117. Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues

Year: 

2013

Language: 

English

67/116. Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Year: 

2013

Language: 

English

67/114. Assistance to Palestine refugees

Year: 

2013

Language: 

English

GA Resolution, A/RES/302 (IV), (8 December 1949)

 ********

UNRWA assistance in the occupied Palestinian territory

Why did UNRWA continue its operations in the West Bank and Gaza after the Palestinian Authority was established?

The Palestinian Authority falls under the same category as the host governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Until the refugee issue is solved and as long as there is a need for relief, UNRWA will continue providing services to the refugees in these areas in accordance with its mandate from the General Assembly. The Palestinian Authority strongly supports the continuation of UNRWA’s operations in support of the refugees.

How is UNRWA responding to the current humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip?

UNRWA has launched a series of emergency appeals for emergency food, employment and cash assistance. The emergency programme serves over one million people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have been impoverished by the conflict, violence and restrictions. Emergency assistance consists of food assistance (flour, oil, rice, etc.), employment assistance (temporary job creation), shelter rehabilitation and reconstruction for those whose homes have been destroyed or are in need of repair, and some cash assistance.

UNRWA provides this emergency assistance in addition to its regular programme services in the areas of relief and social services, education and health and other assistance.

Is UNRWA now closing down its services in anticipation of the imminent closure of the Agency?

No, UNRWA services are not being closed down. However, the Agency has been forced to implement austerity measures over the last few years due to lack of funds: financial contributions have not increased sufficiently to keep pace with inflation and a rising refugee population. This has resulted in a reduction in services as is evident in the fact that average annual spending per refugee has fallen from about $200 in 1975 to around $110 today. Nevertheless, UNRWA’s commitment to Palestine refugees remains undiminished, and the Agency will continue to serve them pending a just resolution of the question of the Palestine refugees.

********

An Nabi Samuel: “We are living inside of  a prison"

Refugees, 65 years later

The story of a tree and a barrier

Immediate impacts of the Barrier

Environmental impacts of the Barrier

Forced displacement

Living with the threat of demolition

Education: a basic right

Flying High

UNRWA photography competition 2012       ......VIEW MORE