A Palestinian man displays a map showing flags of countries that have recognized the Palestinian state. [AFP/File Abbas Momani]
Thursday, September 1, 2011
American Muslims Call for Gilad Shalit's Release
American Muslims Call for Gilad Shalit's Release
By JTA
Published August 31, 2011.
A group of prominent American Muslims issued a letter urging Hamas to immediately release captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Aug. 26 letter’s 11 signatories include the two Muslim members of Congress – Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN) – as well as Muslim academics and communal figures.
“We believe Hamas’ harsh treatment and five-year detention of Shalit is wrong,” the Muslim leaders wrote in their letter, which was addressed to Khaled Mashal, the Syrian-based chairman of Hamas’ political bureau.
The letter said that Hamas has complained about the conditions under which Israel holds thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Citing the teachings of Muhammad, the letter’s signatories wrote that Muslims are “instructed to ‘repel the evil deed with one that is better.’”
“The struggle for Palestinian human rights and self-determination must be based on this ethical and moral code,” the letter said. “Hamas’ inhumane detention of Shalit undermines the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for human rights and a state of their own, existing in peace and security beside Israel.”
Along with the two congressmen, the letter’s signatories include Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, who was involved initially in the controversial effort to build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero; Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America’s Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances; and Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United Kingdom who now teaches at American University.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Israeli military arms settlers in preparation for Palestinian protests
West Bank settlers are given training before protests predicted to coincide with a Palestinian petition for UN recognition
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/30/israeli-military-arms-settlers-protests
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk,
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk,
The Israeli military is arming and training West Bank settlers in preparation for mass protests by Palestinians that it expects to erupt around the time that the UN is asked to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a leaked document.
Teargas and stun grenades are being distributed and training sessions held with settlement security teams, according to the document obtained by Haaretz.
The army has also drawn lines on maps around Jewish settlements close to Palestinian villages to guide troops, police and settlement security chiefs. Protesters who breach the first line will be subject to teargas and other methods of crowd dispersal. If a second "red line" is crossed, soldiers will be permitted to open fire at protesters' legs.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed it was liaising with settlers over Operation Summer Seeds, its codename for the military response to the expected protests. However, Palestinian leaders vigorously deny that violent protests are planned, and the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, has said he expects September to pass quietly.
In a statement the IDF said: "The IDF maintains an ongoing, professional dialogue with the community leadership and security personnel throughout Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] while devoting great efforts to training local forces and preparing them to deal with any possible scenario.....READ MORE
Monday, August 29, 2011
Don’t demolish my future!...To stay updated join UNWRA on Facebook and Twitter.
Six-year-old Nawal Ead is about to start first grade. "After the Eid I'm going to school," she told us excitedly.
Don’t demolish my future!
Campaign to save a West Bank school from demolition
UPDATE: Alarming developments in the West Bank community of Khan al Ahmar. Settlers from Kfar Adumim have filed a petition against the school, asking for an injunction not to re-open the school this September and pushing for the school to be swiftly demolished.
Though the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the request to close the school, the petition has set the clock ticking for the demolition of the school. Such a demolition would effectively deny the children of the community their education and jeopardise their future.
More on the situation in Khan al Ahmar.
How you can help:
Join our campaign
1) Raise awareness
On Facebook:
We are asking all our friends to donate their Facebook status.
Please share the photo of six-year-old Nawal whose school is under threat and copy and paste the following as your status:
"Don’t demolish my future!
Israel: Stop demolishing Palestinian schools.
http://bit.ly/nKDUN3"
On Twitter:
If you want to show your support for the children and community please write a short message on our Facebook wall (www.facebook.com/unrwa). We will print your messages of support and put them up on the walls for the start of the new school year on the 5th September.
Copy the photo and tweet the following:
"Don’t demolish my future! Israel: Stop demolishing Palestinian schools #stopdemolitions #UNRWA http://bit.ly/nKDUN3"
2) Send a message of support
This campaign is about more than just one school. We want Israel to stop the demolitions of schools, homes and infrastructure in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. 3) Stay informed about the bigger picture
The Israeli practice of demolition, which has increased sharply in the first half of 2011, continues to devastate Palestinian families and communities in Area C – the 60 per cent of the West Bank controlled by Israel. Many of the people affected already live in poverty. Children are often hit hardest.
The UN estimates that there are more than 3,000 demolition orders outstanding in Area C alone, including 18 issued to schools.
Find out more on our demolitions watch section (updated monthly).
More on the alarming increase in West Bank demolitions.
The OCHA report “Displacement and insecurity in Area C of the West Bank” has detailed analysis of the current situation.
4) Support our demand that Israel meet its obligations under international law
• Immediately cease demolitions of Palestinian-owned homes, schools and infrastructure, which cause displacement and dispossession, until Palestinians have access to a fair and nondiscriminatory planning system. This should include community participation in all levels of the planning process;
• Families that have been forcibly displaced must be allowed to return to their homes in safety and dignity, and be given compensation for any harm they have suffered, including the destruction of land, homes and property.
UNWRA: Living with the threat of demolition
A’had, 11, builds a house out of clay at the UNRWA summer camp. “I want to have a house just like this when I grow up,” he says.
Living with the threat of demolition
Khan al Ahmar is a community fighting for survival. The 180-strong community faces the threat of imminent displacement if the Israeli authorities demolish their homes and school as planned. This may well destroy the Bedouin community, one of 20 in the area, who have become victims of creeping settlement expansion.The land the community lives on has been slated for the expansion of settlements in the Ma’ale Adumim municipal area, in the Jerusalem periphery, despite the community’s decades’ long presence. Israeli authorities see Khan al Ahmar and the other Bedouin communities in the area, more than 2,300 people in all, as a hindrance to the planned expansion of Ma’ale Adumim, Kfar Adumim and other surrounding settlements, and to the construction of the West Bank Barrier, which would effectively annex this strategically significant area to Israel.
If implemented, the Israeli development plans would be the culmination of years of settlement expansion at the expense of the Bedouin communities. Since 1991, when large parts of the communities’ living areas were integrated into the expanded boundaries of Ma’ale Adumim, Israeli policies have increased the pressure on the communities to leave their homes.
Home demolitions, evictions and property confiscations, exacerbated by settler harassment and the economic effects of movement restrictions, have left these communities struggling to make ends meet and living in fear. The people of Khan al Ahmar have now exhausted all legal avenues to protect 12 homes and the school building from demolition. If these are destroyed, the community will not only be plunged into deeper poverty but may also be displaced and dispersed.
Click to see photos
Photo credit: Ala’a Ghosheh/UNRWA
Friday, August 26, 2011
How Israel takes its revenge on [Palestinian] boys who throw stones
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-israel-takes-its-revenge-on-boys-who-throw-stones-2344037.html#
How Israel takes its revenge on boys who throw stones
Video seen by Catrina Stewart reveals the brutal interrogation of young Palestinians
Friday, 26 August 2011
The boy, small and frail, is struggling to stay awake. His head lolls to the side, at one point slumping on to his chest. "Lift up your head! Lift it up!" shouts one of his interrogators, slapping him. But the boy by now is past caring, for he has been awake for at least 12 hours since he was separated at gunpoint from his parents at two that morning. "I wish you'd let me go," the boy whimpers, "just so I can get some sleep."
During the nearly six-hour video, 14-year-old Palestinian Islam Tamimi, exhausted and scared, is steadily broken to the point where he starts to incriminate men from his village and weave fantastic tales that he believes his tormentors want to hear.
This rarely seen footage seen by The Independent offers a glimpse into an Israeli interrogation, almost a rite of passage that hundreds of Palestinian children accused of throwing stones undergo every year.
Israel has robustly defended its record, arguing that the treatment of minors has vastly improved with the creation of a military juvenile court two years ago. But the children who have faced the rough justice of the occupation tell a very different story.
"The problems start long before the child is brought to court, it starts with their arrest," says Naomi Lalo, an activist with No Legal Frontiers, an Israeli group that monitors the military courts. It is during their interrogation where their "fate is doomed", she says.
Sameer Shilu, 12, was asleep when the soldiers smashed in the front door of his house one night. He and his older brother emerged bleary-eyed from their bedroom to find six masked soldiers in their living room...READ MORE
Design Elements of the newly built Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Washington DC
Drawing on its location at the edge of the Tidal Basin, water is used as an essential element that builds on King's words and recalls most powerfully the theme of justice. The water appears only on either side of the main entry, not even visible until one has entered the memorial plaza. It is the sound of water “rolling down” that will draw a visitor’s attention. From this life-giving source, Dr. King’s message begins stretching away from the entrance, at once welcoming and yet daring the visitor to follow.
Trees
Along the Tidal Basin, Yoshino cherry blossom trees have thrived since 1912 – a gift from Japan as a sign of peace and unity. For only two weeks each spring, their tiny blossoms surround the Basin in a cloud of delicate pink and white. Spring resonates with the spirit of hope, rebirth and renewal; the King Memorial has added 182 cherry blossoms to the Tidal Basin’s collection. Poetically, each year the peak blooming period for the trees coincides with the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, April 4th.
To prolong the message of renewed hope embodied by the cherry trees, crape myrtles have also been planted in the memorial. Crape myrtles bloom throughout the summer months and into the fall, prolonging the burst of color and encouraging a sense of endurance and faith.
Along West Basin Drive and Independence Avenue 31 American elm trees have been planted, not only as the standard street tree of Washington, DC, but also as a border surrounding the memorial, embracing Dr. King as an American icon...READ MORE
“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” MLK
Palestinians have to be very careful in their approach to the legal implication of the UN bid
"Dr. Hussein Ibish, a senior research fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, said that the opinion suggests that there are numerous important legal implications to the ambitious UN statehood initiative that have not been fully considered, particularly by the Palestinian general public.
One such implication raised by the report is that the PNA was established as a temporary administrative body, and as such it " has limited legislative and executive competence, limited territorial jurisdiction, and limited personal jurisdiction over Palestinians not present in the areas."
Ibish argued that the "Palestinians should be very careful about any action that might prove a symbolic victory but carry serious political, diplomatic and legal consequences."
"A confrontation is not in the interests of any of the parties, " Ibish said."
UN bid may erode PLO's status: Palestinian report
******************
This is an important legal opinion regarding The PLO, the future State of Palestine and the question of popular representation by Guy S. Goodwill-Gill at Oxford. http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/238962-final-pdf-plo-statehood-opinionr-arb.html
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace.... my letters & comments published May- August 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
my letters & comments published May- August 2011
************************
The Daily Star
online comment regarding The ex-spy who stepped into the cold by By Hussein Ibish & Michael Weiss
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2011/Jul-29/The-ex-spy-who-stepped-into-the-cold.ashx#axzz1Vqa51tN7
Anne Selden Annab July 30, 2011
The American Task Force For Palestine (ATFP) is not associated with the U.S. Government. ATFP is independent, funded by donations and from what I have seen of it their work is quite admirable as they take both America and Palestine seriously. It is basically a think tank of educated and concerned American citizens who are trying to influence American opinion (including America's Congress) regarding Palestine. Hussein Ibish is a brilliant analyst and writer who makes a point of thinking about and even occasionally interacting with all different types of people and groups. Read his recent "Debating an extremist Israeli settler" http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=294592 and you can see quite clearly that he does not coddle or idolize Israel.
I found the Ibish/Weiss story of Alastair Crooke's Conflicts Forum quite fascinating... and I have to wonder if Alastair Crooke really believes the propaganda he generates- or is he mainly trying to do what he can to goad Arabs and Muslims into becoming enslaved and crippled by religious tyranny.
***************************
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2804462.html
ABC Drum Opinion
RE "Transitioning from a pro-Palestinian to pro-Israel perspective"
online comment
Anne Selden Annab :
21 Jul 2011 5:50:22pm
The point of this article is to demonize and dismiss the refugees right of return, specifically the Palestinian refugees right of return. Slavery was once popular too- and civilized intelligent people supported it deploying what they perceived as civilized intelligent arguments. I very much doubt this author would take the same stance on the topic of universal basic human rights and respecting refugee return if it was about Jewish refugees from the Nazi Holocaust seeking to reclaim property stolen and the freedom to live and work where their families had lived and worked for generations.
*****************************************http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/20/opinion/la-le-0620-monday-20110620
LATimes letters
Lessons of the 'Gay Girl' hoax
Re "Taken in by 'Gay Girl,' " Opinion, June 14
Foolishly, I too got taken in by the compassionate calls to care about Amina, who turned out to be nothing but a sock puppet for a misguided writer.
However, I do not believe that this well publicized blogosphere incident should be used as an opportunity to discredit and dismiss the Palestinian refugees' very real right to return to original homes and lands, a cause Goldberg points out this "Amina" supported.
United Nations Resolution 194 from 1948, clearly affirming the Palestinian refugees' right to return, is not a figment of anyone's imagination. The photographic records and documents following the plight of the Palestinians for the past 60-plus years are about very real, oppressed, impoverished and displaced men, women and children.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
***************************Washington Times
5-15-2011
comment i posted online
RE: Palestinians storm into Israel, 15 reported killed during unprecedented demonstration
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/15/palestinians-storm-into-israel/?page=1
[Dear Editor,]
Religious tyranny of every type flourishes with the Israel/Palestine conflict: Both Zionists and Islamists are very eager to sabotage reasonable efforts to create a fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the cruelties of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Both Zionists and Islamists seek to turn the Palestinian refugees very real right to return to original homes and lands into a weapon of war- it is not a weapon of war. The refugees right of return is a universal basic human right and a very reasonable expectation as well as a necessary part of civilized life in a modern world. Every time you leave your home to go shopping or to school or to work you know you can return to your home and things. It is a simple as that.
I agree with Dr. Ibish (of the American Task Force on Palestine) that President Obama deserves credit for his efforts so far... I very much hope that Obama (& Ibish) continue to support the idea of empowering real freedom, justice, peace and progress in the Middle East.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
***************************
my most recent letter to my elected leaders
5-14-2011
5-14-2011
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=6892754326&content_dir=congressorg
Dear President Obama,
The Palestinian refugees right of return is not only about what happened in 1948 and 1967 when huge numbers of Palestinian men, women and children were pushed out into forced exile.
The Palestinian refugees right of return is not simply about a distant yesterday.
The Palestinian refugees right of return is totally about today and tomorrow as Israel continues to usurp Palestinian land, rights, freedom and security in multiple ways.
Please do not let manipulative propagandists and clueless advisers push you into undermining universal basic human rights and a just and lasting peace in the Middle East... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not ignore the vital importance of FULLY respecting the Palestinian refugees very real right to return to original homes and lands!
Obviously extremists and outsiders on both sides prefer to portray the Palestinian refugees right of return as something explosive, dangerous and subversive- and hate mongers do a great deal of harm to the idea by trying to turn it into a weapon and way to undermine international law and public support for a two state solution to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict.
The real right of return is ALL about living by the Golden Rule & respecting universal basic human rights:
The real right of return is ALL about empowering peace with the rule of fair and just laws & true democracy here and now in today's world.
The real right of return is about working and living in peace- as a valued part of a diverse community... The real right of return is ALL about ending institutionalized bigotry, injustice and religious tyranny.
Open your mind and your heart and welcome home true return- not more forced transfer. Many, if not most Palestinian refugees will eventually chose to relocate to a real Palestinian state rather than be Israeli- but the refugees themselves need to be the ones that make that individual choice.
Don't let extremists, bigots, religious tyrants and useful idiots destroy civilization in the Holy Land: A fully secular two state solution with both Israel and Palestine doing all they can to honor and respect universal basic human rights (including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees right to return) to once and for ALL end the the Israel/Palestine conflict really is the best way forward- for everyone's sake.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
***************************
SanFranChronicle
5-8-2011
posted online-
RE: Israel's obstacles to peace hurt U.S. by Richard North Patterson
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/08/INRD1JA1TN.DTL&ao=all
Dear Editor,
In Jerusalem alone, and only since 1967, one by one Israeli authorities have revoked the residency rights for more than 14,466 indigenous Palestinians in an ongoing effort to make Jerusalem "Jewish". Richard North Patterson under the pretense of advocating peace wants to help Israel continue on with this myopically cruel and counterproductive trend of investing in institutionalized bigotry by convincing us that the "Palestinians must accept that there will be no huge repatriation of Palestinian refugees and their descendants."
Any one who has seriously studied this problem knows that a refugee's right to return is a universal basic human right already very much honored and implemented since 1948. One obvious precedent is the fact that Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust have been reclaiming property usurped, as well as citizenship and the freedom to work and travel all through out Europe.
Today is Mother's Day here in America. I live in community and a country where it does not matter what my religion is, and I am free to travel across town to have brunch with my daughter in her home. Yesterday I was free to travel to another state to my son's college to cheer his team on. I do not have to worry about my home being usurped in my absence, or my daughter's home being bulldozed, or our residency rights being taken away. That is what the right of return is all about- the rule of fair and just laws empowering decency, dignity, peace, security, possibility and progress for ALL the people.
Currently religious extremists and hate mongers on both sides of the Israel/Palestine conflict are thriving, as are pessimists. Time will only make matters worse: A fully secular two state solution based on honestly respecting universal basic human rights (including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees' very real right to return to original homes and lands) to once and for all end the ongoing insanity and extremism of the Israel/Palestine conflict really is the best way forward- for everyone's sake.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Monday, August 22, 2011
Honoring Heritage, Embracing Originality...The American Task Force on Palestine's 6th Annual Gala
Please save the date and purchase your tickets today!The American Task Force on Palestine's 6th Annual Gala
Honoring Heritage, Embracing Originality
October 19, 2011
The Ritz Carlton
1150 22nd Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
The American Task Force on Palestine is pleased to announce that the theme of this year’s annual gala will be:Honoring Heritage, Embracing Originality
We will honor four distinguished Palestinian Americans: Maha Freij, Hanan Munayyer, Nawaf Soliman and Maysoon Zayid.
We are privileged to crown the event with a Concert of Arab Vocal and Instrumental Music by internationally recognized Palestinian American musician and composer Simon Shaheen and Ensemble.
We are delighted to have the very talented Palestinian American comedian Dean Obeidallah as our MC for the evening.
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