“The power of the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] is the power of ideas to change the world. It inspires us to continue working to ensure all people can gain freedom, equality and dignity." #StandUp4HumanRights

 United Nations

@UN

 

In every language, everywhere, human rights belong to all of us. They are non-negotiable. Learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: https://ohchr.org/en/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

 

via   @UNHumanRights

https://www.ohchr.org/en/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“The power of the Universal Declaration is the power of ideas to change the world. It inspires us to continue working to ensure all people can gain freedom, equality and dignity."

The original records

The Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 during its 183rd plenary meeting.

• View the original resolution.

• Explore the meeting record for the historic adoption.

• Examine the voting record.

• And for more information about the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, discover research guides and resources.

   

 #StandUp4HumanRights

United Nations Geneva

@UNGeneva

 

Human rights belong to all of us. They are non-negotiable. And they are fundamental to our hopes for a world at peace.  

 

https://buff.ly/ZIr9tBC 

 

 https://www.ohchr.org/en/what-are-human-rights

 

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Universal and inalienable

 

Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UDHR, which turns 75 on 10 December 2023, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights law. Its 30 articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties and other legal instruments.

The UDHR, together with the 2 covenants - the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - make up the International Bill of Rights.... READ MORE 

“There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society's infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations.” Conflicts end when leaders choose dialogue over destruction, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stresses.

“There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society's infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations.”

 

Conflicts end when leaders choose dialogue over destruction, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stresses.   

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1384102327079122&set=a.577863084369721 

 

Founded in the devastating aftermath of World War II, for 80 years, the United Nations has worked on behalf of peace in all corners of the globe.

 

The UN remains steadfast in its commitment to peace with justice; grounded in international law and the inalienable human rights of all people.

 https://www.facebook.com/unitednations

 

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US politics: After years spent documenting state terror, I know it when I see it. And I see it now in the US and Israel. It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned

 Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza

"The true irony is, state terror does not make a state safer. When democratic states adopt the methods of tyrannies, they become weaker. Their global credibility frays. They sacrifice the legitimacy they once held that distinguishes them from the regimes they claim to oppose." 

'WE CAN'T TRUST YOU' witness protest sign as Officers arrest an anti-ICE protester in Minneapolis Minnesota, 30 January 2026. Photograph: Craig Lassig/UPI/Shutterstock

In Syria, where I worked during the years of Bashar al-Assad’s terror, people were often taken away to torture cells before dawn by masked men. The timing was deliberate. It disoriented them at their most vulnerable, ensuring the torture to come would be even more agonising. The testimonies I recorded from survivors almost always contained the same phrase: “The morning they came for me.” One young woman, shattered by rape and violence, later told me that her life had split in two – before and after the masked men came for her.

In Iraq, those who spoke against Saddam Hussein – even abroad, even casually – were punished in cruel ways by a vengeful leader determined to crush any hint of dissent.

In Egypt in 2016, Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian academic researching labour unions, was abducted, beaten and tortured to death, it is thought, by president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s security services. His own mother had difficulty recognising his mutilated body.

During the second Chechen war, I met the journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Chechnya. She repeatedly attacked Vladimir Putin’s policies, documenting human rights abuses during Russia’s military campaigns. To punish her, a bullet was put in her brain on Putin’s birthday – a warning to other truth-seekers. Stay silent or die.

In the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli soldiers, masked and unmasked, kill, torture and imprison Palestinian doctors, journalists, teachers, activists and scholars not for what they have done – but because of who they are.

After decades of documenting state terror, I know how it starts. Governments begin to use words like security, order, deterrence. Every excuse for Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in Gaza is framed as “security”. ICE agents are trained in a language of order in which violence becomes procedure.

What happens when democratic states adopt the methods of the regimes they once condemned? Terror is not only masked men and arbitrary detention. It also operates through fear. Policies are designed to make people more compliant, more submissive. As the historian Timothy Snyder warned in his 2017 book, On Tyranny, this is how societies slide into danger: people obey in advance.

In Donald Trump’s US, I have watched CEOs, academics, journalists and government officials allow fear to override decency and moral authority. I have seen this pattern before. It begins with... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/08/state-terror-us-israel-donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu

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Dear America, A barbaric new era has already begun as Americans are duped into being wage slaves for billionaires who have no respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

letter I just sent to my elected leaders 

Dear America,

A barbaric new era has already begun as Americans are duped into being wage slaves for billionaires who have no respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Twice in recent weeks ICE agents have murdered American witnesses and lied to cover up the truth.  Rather than being held accountable the Trump administration double downs on lies to blame and vilify the victims of ICE violence.

So what happens to our rights & freedoms, to our jobs & our economy, to our future when all news and opinion is pushed online to be stored, sorted, tweaked, and restyled by data centers and hyperscalers owned by billionaires and tyrants who have a vested interest in deceiving We the People. 

This past year the USA has myopically withdrawn funding from UNESCO and other such crucial good works including most recently the World Health Organization.

The United Nations & international law were formed after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust: Holocaust Museums world wide should have been teaching generations of children that racist hate, state sponsored bigotry, injustice and terrorism are all evil and wrong, but instead right now here in America the Holocaust is being exploited to raise funds to help Israel trap, target and kill Palestinian men, women and children.

Global billionaires have formed a 'Board of Peace' that nefariously reinforces Israeli disinformation campaigns and Zionism's cruel policies with the ongoing impoverishment and further displacement of Palestinian refugees.  Orwellian doublespeak obscures the wicked quest to undermine and destroy both Palestine AND the United Nations & international law.  

'Board of Piece' spelled with an 'i' would be a more accurate name for it as a massive real estate swindle is being shaped by people who really should know better.   

Crippling UNRWA [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency of Palestine Refugees] and destroying United Nations aid centers and operations cannot and will not ever erase the fact that every Palestinian refugee has an inalienable and natural right to return to original homes and lands- no matter how you want to spell it.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

"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

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

WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States: As a founding member of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States of America has contributed significantly to many of WHO’s greatest achievements, including the eradication of smallpox, and progress against many other public health threats including polio, HIV, Ebola, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and more. WHO therefore regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.

"A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming and destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff..." Philippe Lazzarini 20 January 2026

1940s, Bethlehem, Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestinian Christian newlyweds in Beit Sahour. In Palestine, the tradition of sticking green leaves and yeast dough to the newlyweds’ home is a folk blessing symbolizing life, growth, and abundance.

‘Impunity won’t last forever’: What gives Francesca Albanese hope

"This is not the first atrocity to have happened in world history, but it is the first to be fully televised. I would like to ask the people in Israel: Do you see what is being done in your name? There have been reports from B’Tselem and other human rights groups, there are soldiers who have broken the silence, and some have even committed suicide. Israelis know what is happening to the Palestinian people, but they seem not to care...."

Israel EXPANDS- erasing Palestine

Kairos Palestine – The Palestinian Christian Initiative
A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide

"Leave Gaza alone. If the goal is truly peace, then the path is simple: end the occupation and help restore the rights that have been taken from Palestinians since 1948. We, the Palestinian people, are the ones who must determine our own future. Peace cannot be imposed while our land is occupied, our lives controlled, and our voices ignored. It cannot be imposed by those who have been contributing to our suffering. You know who I’m talking about! Stop supporting those who oppress us and murder our people." Mosab Abu Toha

Three journalists among 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Reporters had been in car on way to new camp, says media group, as two 13-year-old boys killed in separate incidents ... Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to health authorities.

Israeli prisons continue to function as a network of torture camps for Palestinians, with the systematic abuse even more extensive than before. This includes physical and psychological abuse, inhuman conditions, deliberate starvation and denial of medical care, all of which has led to numerous deaths. Some witnesses also described undergoing or witnessing sexual violence and abuse. The transformation of prisons into a network of torture camps is part of the Israeli regime’s coordinated onslaught on Palestinian society

The demolition of buildings inside the UNRWA Headquarters, a United Nations site, in East Jerusalem that started on Tuesday was unprecedented. Yet it is part of a pattern of deliberate disregard for international law and the United Nations. UN Member States must uphold international law, without delay. This UNRWA compound is a UN facility, and therefore inviolable under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. It was first leased by UNRWA from Jordan in 1952.

"The Holocaust, like all genocides, was not inevitable. Warning signs abounded long before the mass killing, and began with the process of “othering”. The Holocaust cautions us to heed these warning signs and to challenge hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice. We can draw on our knowledge of the past to counter the fear and suspicion spread today through the manipulation of information, hate speech and the distortion of history."

"It was not Hitler or Himmler who abducted me, beat me, and shot my family... It was the shoemaker, the milkman, the neighbor- who recieved uniform and then believed they were the master race." Karl Stojka, Auschwitz survivor

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/id-card/karl-stojka

#ProtectTheFacts

Forbidden Plants of Palestine: Each tatreez [embroidery] motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

1936, Jerusalem, Palestine 🇵🇸 A Palestinian shepherd.

“A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era: after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming & destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff. These statements from officials of a Member State cannot be tolerated by the Member States sworn to the UN Charter. These actions must be referred to the highest level & fought against.” Philippe Lazzarini

These are not just concrete blocks, they are people’s homes. Since the ceasefire, the IDF has destroyed more than 2,500 buildings along the Yellow Line. Far more buildings were damaged beyond repair. “Total loss” is how one of you testifiers describes what they saw in Gaza:

"Then there’s the latest Israeli innovation: the humanitarian gag order. Thirty-seven aid organizations suspended. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) — the very name a promise of medical care for the wounded and dying - expelled from Gaza because they had the audacity to call this what it is: genocide."

Wild flowers of Palestine. Bethlehem-star

Paperback of the week: Righting Wrongs by Kenneth Roth -Roth spent three decades as head of Human Rights Watch. His record of past victories is also a warning for the future

Senior clergy say outside agendas are fracturing Christian unity in the Holy Land and undermining their authority

Jerusalem Patriarch, churches say Christian Zionism threatens Christianity

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have issued a statement rejecting Christian Zionism and warning against unauthorized "representation" of Christians in the Holy Land.

"These shameful tactics are part of the relentless campaign by Israeli authorities to unilaterally prevent UNRWA from executing its #UNGA mandate in occupied East Jerusalem, which does not fall under Israeli sovereignty. The application of Israeli law therein is illegal. In October 2025, the @CIJ_ICJ ruled that Israel is obliged to facilitate relief provided by UNRWA. And yet, the present actions represent the very opposite." Roland Friedrich

Philippe Lazzarini @UNLazzarini: It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV... I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

‘The [ISRAELI] settlers brought the violence’: the ethnic cleansing of a West Bank village... Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja is a small community of about 135 families – and the only one remaining in this part of the Jordan valley

"Almost all of those killed or who die from the cold are forcibly displaced Palestinians whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombardment, as the Israeli occupation continues to block the entry of caravans and reconstruction materials." Maha Hussaini

Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank: Road project, part of blueprint for new illegal settlement in E1 area east of Jerusalem, is considered a tool of annexation

“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.

“From tourism to education to business, Americans have profited enormously from the open global order that international law has enabled. Trump’s return to a world of power politics would mean a more circumscribed and impoverished America.” What would happen if every state acted like Donald Trump’s America? by Kenneth Roth

"As Washington tramples norms, alliances might give way to grudging partnerships, with allies slow-walking their commitments" 

In a might-makes-right world, US allies, not to mention the emerging powers of the global south, would begin to hedge their bets in dangerous ways

USA: International Withdrawals Are a Vindictive Effort to Tear Apart a Global System for Cooperation

As the Israeli bombs fell, my family committed an act of rebellion: we planted a garden in Gaza: Amid constant danger, each planted seed was a tiny act of resistance. As they grew, they offered us food – and a sense of achievement amid the devastation- Taqwa Ahmed al-Wawi of Palestine [In The Guardian]

Growing Gardens for Palestine 

Dear America- Golden Rule Thinking IS GOOD

Dear America, Our land and resources are being gobbled up for AI data centers for what purpose? Is it for the greater good of tax paying citizens- or is it to feed the greed of corporations and companies that already use our data to charge us as much as they can at every turn.

Real freedom, justice, and democracy are being embezzled by corporate greed and political corruption to empower Israel and war.

"ISRAEL SAYS" is not God talking.

Israel has a right to exist, but Israel has no right to starve and displace the men, women and children of historic Palestine.

The vast majority of Americans are not wealthy & the taxes that We The People pay are being diverted into funding religious bigotry and terror via Israel's cruel war on the native non-Jewish men, women, and children of historic Palestine. HAMAS cruelty and stupidity echoes Zionist cruelty and stupidity and on and on it goes. Neither approach will build peace or security.

The weapons industry and a global war machine- AND INJUSTICE- burgeon with American tax payer funds.

Violence is a problem- not the answer.

STOP THE SIEGE- stop funding crazy cruel Israeli schemes & the forced displacement, imprisonment, starvation, torture, and killing of human beings in Gaza and Palestine

"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

Philippe Lazzarini @UNLazzarini: It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV... I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

 

Philippe Lazzarini

@UNLazzarini

 

It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

 

I briefed him on the immense suffering endured by Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as on the political & financial challenges confronting @UNRWA. 

 

I stressed that the attacks on UNRWA are an assault on the multilateral system & a defiance of international law with reverberations far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

 

I also stressed that bringing back to a learning environment the more than 600,000 girls & boys currently living in the rubble of Gaza should be our common priority to avoid a lost generation. 

 

I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

 

https://x.com/UNLazzarini/status/2010787468845728160

 

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