My letter to the Boston Globe RE Who could confirm statehood on a people riven by internal conflict?

Jericho Located just north of the Dead Sea and near the Jordan River in the West Bank, Jericho (which means “City of the Moon” in Arabic) is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world

RE: Who could confirm statehood on a people riven by internal conflict?
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2011/07/25/who_could_confirm_statehood_on_a_people_riven_by_internal_conflict/

Dear Editor,

No one knows if a sovereign viable Palestinian state can emerge to live side by side in peace with Israel... but I do know for a fact that, no matter what, Israel must fully respect the Palestinians basic human rights including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees inalienable right to return to original homes and lands.

Israel is obviously not going anywhere. It has many loyal citizens and supporters who will continue to do all they can to make sure Israel survives no matter what. A secular two state solution gives Palestinian refugees the ability to opt out of being Israeli and paying taxes to help fund that state. However it has to be an individual choice for the refugees.

According to the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States "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." http://plodelegation.us/palestine/core-issues/

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

"The truth elided by both parties is that the Palestinian and Israeli identities are 20th-century phenomena that emerged in parallel and in contradiction to each other. One hundred years ago, the words “Israeli” and “Palestinian” were meaningless. This is not to say that Arabs and Jews don’t have deep histories, but both political identities are recent constructs, forged in the context of the ongoing conflict." Hussein Ibish: Two Narratives for Two Peoples

FB FYI ATFP's Hussein Ibish is honored and deeply humbled to be included in Foreign Policy's Twitterati 100: A who's who of the foreign-policy Twitterverse in 2011 - http://k7.3x.sl.pt/

ATFP Resources on Palestinian State and Institution Building ATFP's unique collection of online resources on Palestinian state and institution building, including hundreds of relevant documents

Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem...

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

"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

Growing Gardens for Palestine

From Growing Gardens for Palestine... Little Golden Bell... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Little Golden Bell... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Tiny 2,000-year-old golden bell found in Jerusalem: A tiny golden bell which was lost in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple period has been found among ruins near the Old City, Israel's Antiquities Authority has said

Little Golden Bell

Little golden bell
lost
for 2000 years-
a precious treasure
and token
of times gone by

What stories did you hear
when you were first created
bought and sold
and then later- through the ages
as you hid in Palestine?

What songs and hymns stirred
your heart to beat
underground

Did footsteps echo
in your ear
coming and going

Shall we argue now
as to your religion
and rightful heirs...

Fondly remembering the freedom
and the beauty found
in my own American childhood
(and the silly seriousness of children)
I like to think
you belonged to a young girl
A girl with joy in her heart
and a brilliant mind...
even brighter than your gold polished
A girl able to balance on a beam

A girl whose own story
we will never know
She is free to simply be
no ID card- no passport
no prison- no politics
no accusations
no religion
no names

Just life
being lived

little golden bell

perhaps she meant
to drop you.

poem copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab

Maan News- UNWRA kids smashed the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever handprint painting on Thursday

Gaza children break another world record

Over 5,000 children smashed the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever handprint painting on Thursday in a stadium in Khan Younis in southern Gaza during summer games organized by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Children in Gaza are hoping to break four world records this summer. They have already broken the records for the largest number of people dribbling footballs and set the record for the highest number flying parachutes from the ground.

Later in July, over 12,000 children will try to beat the world record for kite flying, UNRWA said.

My letter to the Washington Post RE Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood By Ziad J. Asali

Israel pushes on with settlement plans on annexed land

RE: Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood By Ziad J. Asali
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/palestinians-face-a-dangerous-un-clash-on-statehood/2011/07/19/gIQAJcnhSI_story.html

Dear Editor,

THANK YOU for publishing Ziad J. Asali's thoughtful and honest op-ed Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood. I very much hope that you publish more columns by Asali and his American Task Force on Palestine colleagues for I think both Americans and Palestinians need to hear and seriously think about what they have to say.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Ziad J. Asali: Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/palestinians-face-a-dangerous-un-clash-on-statehood/2011/07/19/gIQAJcnhSI_story.html

Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood

Palestine should avoid a U.N. showdown.

Ziad J. Asali JUL 21

A potentially dangerous confrontation looms in September over the question of Palestinian statehood, one that threatens significant negative consequences for all parties. It is in the interests of all constructive actors to find a compromise that avoids such a confrontation.

Palestinians are impelled by frustration and despair about the impasse in the peace process — a frustration shared by many Israelis, Americans and others. It is, however, Palestinians who live under occupation, which gives them a justified sense that the status quo is intolerable. The diplomatic impasse created a demand for any mechanism for progress; hence the appeal of approaching the United Nations with a request for membership.

But as Palestinians started pursuing this policy, several crucial facts become clear:

First, the United States indicated unequivocally that it would veto in the Security Council a Palestinian application for U.N. membership, making such membership impossible at this time. Moreover, Congress has sent a strong message that U.N. action on Palestinian statehood would result in a cutoff of U.S. aid, and the United States is the single biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority.

Second, Palestinian hopes for securing support for U.N. membership from a unified European community have been dashed by the open opposition of some countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, and by a lack of support from nations such as Britain and France, which hold key swing votes.

Third, Israel is threatening unspecified unilateral retaliation.

Fourth, there is a significant danger of widespread outrage among Palestinians if a U.N. effort fails, with serious potential for unrest. Outrage can also be expected if a U.N. initiative succeeds but produces no improvement or even leads to deterioration in Palestinians’ living conditions.

The significant gains that Palestinians have made recently in building institutions and preparing for their state must not be put at risk. And, regardless of what happens at the United Nations, Israel must cease its policy of publicly adopting a two-state solution while undermining the realization of that outcome with counterproductive actions....READ MORE

ABDEL-FATTAH: Freedom and dignity are basic rights for all, even Palestinians 21Jul11

by Randa Abdel-fattah - The Sydney Morning Herald - 20 July 2011

There was an element of tragicomedy to the situation. Me, the daughter of a dispossessed Palestinian, dressed up as a settler in order to enter the Israeli city of Jaffa.

With me was my American host, Sophie, who in April invited me as a writer-in-residence in Ramallah. An expert in checkpoint avoidance, she has lived with her Palestinian boyfriend for seven years and renews her visa every three months by pretending to have a lesbian Jewish lover.

As we approached the fortified checkpoint, we tied a scarf at the nape of our necks and proceeded to pose as settlers (lose the panicked ”will they let me pass or harass me?” look, sit up tall, act like you own the place).

After days of dehumanising encounters with heavily armed soldiers, this simple act raised us to the ranks of the privileged. The soldier waved us through with a conspiratorial smile – no need to worry, you’re not one of them.

There are many theories as to why a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains elusive. They include the military occupation, Israel’s defiance of international law, US bias, the illegal settlements rendering a contiguous Palestinian state an impossibility, the suffocation of Gaza, the wall, the second-class status of Israeli-Arab citizens, the abysmal Palestinian leadership.

But, after my visit, I would argue that the oxygen feeding such injustices is a pervasive racism that simply sees Palestinians as inferior. I witnessed and experienced it first-hand....READ MORE

ABDEL-FATTAH: Freedom and dignity are basic rights for all, even Palestinians 21Jul11

Randa Abdel-fattah is an author and lawyer.

“Palestinian families are being forced to leave due to restrictive policies of the Israeli authorities. The research also shows that these policies, which include settlement activities, are undermining traditional livelihoods and placing thousands of others at risk of displacement.”child peeking at the ruins

There has been a significant increase in the number of Palestinian homes demolished by Israel in one West Bank village.

That’s what two senior UN officials report following a visit to the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that more demolitions have taken place so far this year than in all of 2009 or 2010.

Israeli demolitions of homes in West Bank on the rise

The Stream - Online debate over Palestinian statehood - P.J. Crowley, Gi...

In the run-up to a possible UN vote on Palestinian statehood, political jockeying has spilled over into social media. On The Stream we had a discussion between former US State Department official P.J. Crowley, journalist Gil Hoffman and Hussein Ibish. http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/vote-on-palestine

John Hughes: Good journalism is responsible

"Good journalism is not Wiki-style journalism, shoveling everything on the web, good or bad, injurious, intrusive, or irresponsible, and letting the chips fall where they may. Good journalism is coverage screened for accuracy, taste, and purpose.

Responsible editors publish long shots of the overturned school bus, not close-ups of the mangled bodies. If the US senator is a drunk, they report it, but anguish over whether the tipsiness of his spouse is relevant to his professional performance. Responsible editors who know that the so-called commercial attaché in a certain US embassy is actually the CIA station chief had better have a good reason for outing that person and endangering his or her life." John Hughes

News of the World: Murdoch’s media mess is a wake-up call for journalism

Rupert Murdoch's News of the World is mercifully defunct. Journalists and readers (or viewers, or listeners) should now reassess the very function of journalism itself.

Hussein Ibish, Ph.D. and Saliba Sarsar: The Long Overdue State of Palestine

"The bottom line is this: in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea -- what has been the de facto Israeli state since 1967 -- there are approximately equal numbers, about 6 million of both, of Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Muslims and Christians. One group has a state, citizenship, self-determination and independence. A small group of Palestinians, about 1 million, are citizens of Israel but subject to significant forms of discrimination. But the large majority of Palestinians live in the occupied territories without citizenship or enfranchisement of any kind, self-determination or independence, and are subject to the arbitrary and typically abusive rule of a foreign military. Moreover, they have watched as their land is steadily colonized by Israeli settlements, which are both a violation of international law and a human rights abuse against those living under occupation according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Nowhere in the world is there any comparable level of separate and unequal as there is under Israeli rule in the occupied Palestinian territories." Hussein Ibish, Ph.D. and Saliba Sarsar

The Long Overdue State of Palestine

UNWRA LOGOS... (& send an e-card)

Send an UNRWA e-card

http://www.unrwa.org/ecard/ecard.php#UNRWA is a humanitarian agency and its mandate defines its role as one of providing services to the refugees. However, UNRWA highlights the international community's obligation to provide a just and durable solution for Palestine refugees.
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various unwra logos from the past several years

unwra logo a few years ago

basic unwra logo



unwra at 60 years
Photo from a few years ago of a Palestinian refugee

Children display Palestinian flags at a rally near Ramallah. A poll found their parents’ priorities were now health, education, water supplies and jobs, rather than talks with Israel. Photograph: Issam Rimami/Rex Features

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/16/palestine-authoirty-state-ramallah-un

Palestine: the flags are already waving but will a declaration of statehood help?

The Palestinian Authority plans to ask the UN to recognise a declaration of independence and statehood. The Arab street may be in favour, but elsewhere opposition is growing. ...READ MORE