My heart sinks on reading respected New York Times columnists
who toy with the topic of Israel-Palestine by foolishly
insisting that Israel needs a two state solution in order to
remain Jewish.
There is a much better argument, a more civilized imperative and
a much more righteous as well as sensible way to build a just
and lasting peace: Both Israel and Palestine need a two state
solution to actually end to the Israel-Palestine conflict... A
fully secular end to the conflict based on full respect for
international law and universal basic human rights.
Religion should be a personal private choice as well as a
cherished inheritance, not a state sponsored project. Tax payers
here and there should not be forced to fund & empower
religious scholars and schemes.
This Week in Palestine:
Palestinian Institutions A Story of Perseverance ... Salam
Fayyad "This was not about roads, buildings, or
infrastructure, despite their importance. This plan was
about statehood, citizen participation, and
enfranchisement. It was based on the vision of
establishing a functional framework where government is
accountable and citizens participate in the widest and
most effective way possible in decision-making and
governance."
".... it being clearly understood that nothing
shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine....
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.
UN
Resolution 194 from 1948 : The refugees wishing to return
to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours
should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable
date, and that compensation should be paid for the
property of those choosing not to return and for loss of
or damage to property which, under principles of
international law or in equity, should be made good by the
Governments or authorities responsible.
"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
On July 18th a unique gathering of college
students and recent graduates discussed how to constructively talk
about Israeli-Palestinian relations on campus. American, Israeli,
Palestinian and international students sat in a circle at the Washington
Center
They are united by facial hair, frayed jeans and a love of heavy
metal – plus a belief that music is above politics, religion and
conflict. Now the Israeli band Orphaned Land is joining forces with the
Palestinian group Khalas to take a message of coexistence through
rock'n'roll across Europe.
An 18-gig tour will see the bands
perform in six countries, including Britain, this autumn. The musicians
will share both a stage and a tour bus for three weeks, proving in
practice that their "metal brotherhood" overrides differences of
religion and national identity.
At a concert to launch their
European tour in Tel Aviv last week, Orphaned Land's lead singer, Kobi
Farhi, and Khalas's lead guitarist, Abed Hathut, explained their
mission.
"We can't change the world, but we can give an example of
how coexistence is possible," said Farhi. "Sharing a stage and sharing a
bus is stronger than a thousand words. We'll show how two people from
different backgrounds who live in a conflict zone can perform together."
"We
are metal brothers before everything," said Hathut. But, he added,
"there is no bigger message for peace than through this tour".
Coexistence
ventures may be new in the world of heavy metal, but precedent was set
in the high-brow realm of classical music more than two decades ago,
when Jewish conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian
intellectual Edward Said co-founded an orchestra of young Israeli,
Palestinian and Arab musicians.
The members of Khalas, which is
the supporting act on the tour, and Orphaned Land have "become
soulmates" since meeting at a radio station and realising they have more
in common than divided them...READ MORE
Brotherhood’s fiasco in Egypt will change future of Islamism
By Hussein Ibish
With
the removal of the Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, the future of
the Muslim Brotherhood, and Islamism in general, is undoubtedly at a
turning point. The question is typically being cast as a binary: is this
“the beginning of the end” or “the end of the beginning” for the
Islamist movement? Even if, in the final analysis, this proves a
misleading question, it nonetheless articulates a precise and
instructive framework for what is at stake.
Many observers have no doubt that this is the beginning of the end of
the Islamist movement, at least as it has been traditionally structured
and as a dominant ideology in the Arab states. According to these
observers, if the oldest Muslim Brotherhood party cannot maintain
popular legitimacy in Egypt after only one year in office, then the
ideology itself simply isn’t a practicable model for governance
anywhere.
Sunni Islamists will invariably fail in power because Islam is a
religion and not an actual political ideology. Islamism doesn’t have the
intellectual heft, breadth or depth to suggest any answers to most
policy questions. It essentially boils down to a set of religiously
conservative social attitudes. It only takes a short while in office to
reveal that.
Moreover, the very qualities that made the Brotherhood so effective as
an opposition group – secrecy, discipline, streamlined hierarchy and a
paranoid suspicion of all outsiders – proved crippling in office... READ MORE
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"The grassroots approach is challenging and circuitous, and peace is
slow to come. Dialogue groups are fighting fire with water, but every
Palestinian home that gets demolished, every missile that comes over
from Gaza, is like a shot of gasoline. As an American, I believe in the
power of the popular will, and that every person who can come to see the
other side for all their humanity helps build a coalition for peace" Kelly Payne
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Finding peace for Israelis and Palestinians among people – not policies
John Kerry or the Arab League may prod a peace deal into place, but
nothing can last unless ordinary people living under the policy see that
every Israeli is not a settler and every Palestinian does not begrudge
Israel a right to exist. I've seen the groundwork of that dialogue at
work.
Secretary
of State John Kerry meets with members of the Arab League Peace
Initiative in Amman, Jordan, July 17. Mr. Kerry is on his sixth visit to
the region, seeking to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to resume
direct negotiations, frozen for almost three years. Op-ed contributor
Kelly Payne writes: 'Politics make issues impersonal. To create or
loosen personal convictions...people have to share their real-life
narratives.'
Mandel Ngan/AP
T el Aviv, Israel
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a perennial feature of the
Middle Eastern political scene. Students of international relations like
me find it intriguing, but also tiring – and static. Issues that can
change, developments that are fluid, trends that are dynamic – that’s
where I see students’ interests pulled instead. I myself almost began to
forget how much this conflict mattered until a very personal
association forced me to confront its intractable reality. I began to
date a student at Yale from the Palestinian territories. Even to me,
that sounds like a really silly way to find your political conscience...READ MORE
April 25, 1988: White House correspondent
Helen Thomas (2nd L) takes notes as former U.S. President Lyndon B.
Johnson faces reporters during a news conference in the White House Oval
Office. Source: REUTERS
Blunt Chronicler of Presidents From Kennedy Era to Obama
Thomas was also the first woman to be elected an officer of the White House Correspondents’ Association
and the first to serve as its president. In 1975, she became the first
woman elected to the Gridiron Club, which for 90 years had been a
men-only bastion of Washington journalists.
Ms. Thomas’s career bridged two eras, beginning
during World War II when people got their news mostly from radio,
newspapers and movie newsreels, and extending into the era of 24-hour
information on cable television and the Internet. Photo Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
ATFP is strictly opposed to all acts of violence against civilians no
matter the cause and no matter who the victims or perpetrators may be.
The Task Force advocates the development of a Palestinian state that is
democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts.
"There is every
reason to be pleased that talks are likely to resume, but also to be cautious
about the likelihood for any immediate progress on final status issues. It is
therefore essential that a set of parallel, bottom-up tracks be developed that
support diplomatic efforts and can help mitigate any potential frustrations..."
Why John Kerry's Middle East peace push isn’t a fool's errand.
BY HUSSEIN IBISH|JULY 18, 2013
It was a tall
order, but Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts seem to be paying off: We
now appear to be on the cusp of renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The
formula for achieving this is still largely shrouded in secrecy, but whatever
emerges is likely to be, at least at first, essentially "negotiations about
having negotiations." The prospects for a major breakthrough in the immediate
term seem remote. Yet this achievement, in and of itself, should not be
underestimated...READ MORE
-Israel has a long history of harassing, detaining, and deporting
American citizens of Arab and/or Muslim background attempting to enter
Israel and Palestine.
-US laws mandate that all US citizens be afforded equal protection
while traveling abroad, and therefore, Israel's engagement in racial,
ethnic, and religious discrimination against US citizens is unacceptable
and should not be codified in law.
-Permitting Israel into the Visa Waiver Program and exempting it from
affording the same reciprocal rights to US citizens will effectively
sanction its discriminatory practices and would send the wrong message
that Congress is prioritizing the wishes of a foreign government over
the rights of US citizens.
-(Important: if you are an American citizen who has personally
been discriminated against when entering Israel or Palestine, include
that in your letter.)
Please note that both the "Recipient" and "Your Name" fields will automatically be filled out for you.
Both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation that will grant
visa waiver status to Israel. If enacted, these bills will allow Israeli
citizens to enter the US without a visa despite Israel's decades-long
history of engaging in racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination
against US citizens of Arab and/or Muslim background attempting to enter
Israel and the occupied territories. The Senate bill includes a very
troubling exemption that would make Israel the first country not bound
to extend the reciprocal visa waiver status to American citizens, which
is in direct violation of US laws barring discrimination, and will
undermine the US government's policy of calling for equal protection of
all its citizens traveling abroad.
We're being told that H.R. 938, "United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013,” which currently has more than 300 cosponsors, could be brought up for a vote in the House before the August recess. S. 462 is expected to be considered in September. We need to raise awareness about this legislation now. ACT Today!
The Arab American Institute is collecting stories of American citizens
who have been harassed, detained, or deported when attempting to enter
Israel or Palestine. If you've personally experienced such an incident,
please provide details ... All personal information will
be kept private and stories will not be distributed without your
expressed permission.
The European Union has banned its 28 member states from signing agreements with Israel without an explicit exclusion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank or
East Jerusalem, in a directive described by an Israeli official as an
"earthquake".
The EU guidelines, adopted on 30 June, will
prohibit the issuing of grants, funding, prizes or scholarships unless a
settlement exclusion clause is included. Israeli institutions and
bodies situated across the pre-1967 Green Line will be automatically
ineligible.
The Israeli government will be required to
state in any future agreements with the EU that settlements in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem are outside the state of Israel.
The
binding directive, part of the 2014-20 financial framework, covers all
areas of co-operation between the EU and Israel, including economics,
science, culture, sports and academia. It does not cover trade, such as
produce and goods originating in settlements.
An EU
statement said the guidelines "set out the territorial limitations under
which the commission will award EU support to Israeli entities …
Concern has been expressed in Europe that Israeli entities in the
occupied territories could benefit from EU support. The purpose of these
guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the
occupied territories when it comes to EU support."
The
move follows a decision by EU foreign ministers last December that "all
agreements between the state of Israel and the EU must unequivocally
and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories
occupied by Israel in 1967". All Israeli settlements are illegal under
international law...READ MORE
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"Although zaatar
is unique in Palestinian cooking, it is more than just something to
eat. It is a powerful cultural symbol; and it is the aroma in every
Palestinian home. It is the wild thyme that is handpicked as it
flourishes on the mountains of occupied Palestine during spring. It
conveys the smell of Palestinian soil, leaving me with many indefinable
memories. Palestinians adore it. Palestinian travellers always take it
with them as a gift to pass on, the scent of their luggage betraying the
contents. It is said that you can identify Palestinian travellers by
the smell of zaatar and meramiya (sage) amongst their
belongings. These scents have an effect on the Palestinian people and
have become the anchors of memory that signify their lost villages and
homes." Rana Abdulla
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We begin this story
with the search for the best Palestinian recipes, weaving the
traditional culinary palette into a tantalising experience. This later
becomes a search for personal cultural identity. When pondering on my
childhood experiences, I remember my mother’s lovely features and her
delicate soft skin as she began her day early and ended it late,
completing all her housework. Amongst my warmest memories, I recollect
how she sang as she cooked. As a child I observed her in her solitude
picking stones from the lentils with joyous care, as if picking flowers
from the garden, giving her fulfilment. My mother, Fatme Hamshari, loved
to cook alone. Every day she baked a fresh loaf of homemade bread in
the taboun, our mud-and-clay hearth oven used by the fellaheen.
She taught me how to mix the flour and water, the yeast and sugar, then
knead the dough, cover it with a clean cloth, and let it rise in a warm
place; afterwards it would be cut into round pieces and covered again
to protect its face. She made sure that I cleaned my hands with dry
flour after preparing the bread dough. She never allowed me to touch the
oven or to cook or bake.
My
mother taught me primarily by example how to run an organised home -
ironing our clothes and taking care of the many other household duties;
most important of all, personal cleanliness. Growing up in our family
environment, I learnt self-discipline. I was able to defer gratification
and never just accept the status quo. The smell, presentation, and
taste of the fresh bread and zaatar that she prepared inspired
me. Everything she did gave her enjoyment and invigorated her spirit.
Every move she made in the kitchen was accompanied with a smile, an
expression of tremendous love that charmed me completely. She taught us
about Palestinian folklore by memorising people’s stories and linking
them to our life events. She had the ability to weave dynamic, accurate
accounts of life and past events that are still alive in my mind as if
they were happening at this very moment. She knew every village of
Palestine.
My
grandmother influenced us a lot with her tasty recipes. She would
prepare the most incredible salads and cook nutritious, flavourful
dishes, which would be both tasty and, at the same time, packed with an
assortment of elements good for the body and soul. Zaatar, for
example, is an herb that is strongly associated with the Palestinian
identity. Poets, writers, and artists often refer to it in their works.
Although zaatar
is unique in Palestinian cooking, it is more than just something to
eat. It is a powerful cultural symbol; and it is the aroma in every
Palestinian home. It is the wild thyme that is handpicked as it
flourishes on the mountains of occupied Palestine during spring. It
conveys the smell of Palestinian soil, leaving me with many indefinable
memories. Palestinians adore it. Palestinian travellers always take it
with them as a gift to pass on, the scent of their luggage betraying the
contents. It is said that you can identify Palestinian travellers by
the smell of zaatar and meramiya (sage) amongst their
belongings. These scents have an effect on the Palestinian people and
have become the anchors of memory that signify their lost villages and
homes.
Zaatar
is dried in early summer, mixed with sumac and sesame, and stored for
later use. It can be added to chicken dishes, baked into plain dough, or
put on salads. This herbal condiment has been made this way for
generations. Well-known for its salty, tangy taste, zaatar is an
excellent savoury complement to salads, cheese, and biscuits, as well as
a delicious appetizer before almost any evening meal. It is perfect as a
seasoning for meat, fish, or vegetables, or simply made into a paste
with Palestinian extra virgin olive oil. No preservatives or additives
are used in any part of its creation. Zaatar is high in anti-oxidants.
Zaatar,
sometimes translated as hyssop, is a stout, many-stemmed grey, fuzzy
shrub, about two feet tall. In summer its white, rather small flowers
are grouped in dense spikes on the upper part of the branches. The taste
of zaatar is similar to oregano. It is part of the marjoram family. Its Latin name is Origanum syriacum. Zaatar
belongs to the Labiatae (or Lamiaceae) family, which includes mint,
sage, basil, rosemary, thyme, and many other aromatic plants. A
distinctive feature of all the plants of the Labiatae family is the
flowers with petals resembling upper and lower lips. Many plants of this
family are aromatic and have square stems when cut crosswise, but this
is not universal. Zaatar bread - also known as fatayer fallahi,
which means villagers’ pie - is a typical Palestinian pastry that is
usually made in spring, which is the official season for collecting
fresh wild thyme. It is flatbread, oily but crunchy, and stuffed with
fresh zaatar leaves, onions, and sumac.
Fatayer Zaatar Recipe Dough: 3 cups white flour 1 teaspoon instant yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 cup olive oil
Dough:
In a medium-size bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and olive
oil. Rub the mixture together until the oil is well combined with the
flour. Gradually add one cup of warm water while kneading using one hand
(add more water if the dough is dry or more flour if it is too sticky).
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and place it in a warm place for
about 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
Filling: In another bowl, combine zaatar (thyme) leaves, chopped onions, sumac, salt, and olive oil. Mix all together and set aside.
Cut
the dough to form three or four balls. Using a rolling pin, roll out
each ball on a hard surface that is greased with olive oil until you
make a paper-thin sheet of dough. Another option is to use your hands to
punch down the dough until it becomes so thin that you can’t punch it
further (don’t worry if the dough ends up with some holes).
Add a pinch of zaatar stuffing and a pinch of olive oil to the dough sheet, fold two sides of the dough to the middle. Add another pinch of zaatar stuffing and fold the dough. Keep adding a pinch of zaatar and folding the dough until you can’t fold it any further.
Place
stuffed dough pieces on an oven tray greased with olive oil. Flatten
the dough pieces with your hands. Place the tray in a preheated oven for
about 10 minutes or until they become slightly brown or golden. Flip
them over and leave them for another 5 minutes. It’s best when served
hot to enjoy the crunchiness of the bread. This is usually served with
fresh yogurt or tea.
Palestinian
girls, including myself, were eager to marry young and have children as
did our mothers and grandmothers before us. My mother raised me with a
sense of duty and love for the family. However, I didn’t grow up cooking
and didn’t realise that cooking was part of the many responsibilities
of marriage. I moved into my husband’s home with only one recipe in my
culinary repertoire: fried eggs. My first cooking experience was with
rice. I filled the pot with the full 10-pound bag of rice not realising
that it would double in size. The rice rapidly expanded while it cooked,
resulting in lots of foam and an explosive boil-over. I slumped into a
chair and cried about my lack of culinary skills. The stove and the
kitchen floor took hours to clean and the rice ended up in the garbage
bin. To my surprise, I was assured I’d be taught how to cook. This
formed part of my cultural identity. I still learn something new in the
Palestinian kitchen every day.
My
grandmother made many elaborate recipes in a flash; she was a fast and
efficient cook. Her ability to produce traditional dishes amazed us. She
added her own hints and touches to the dishes, which never failed to
mesmerise us.
My mother and grandmother live on through me and their recipes.
Rana
Abdulla is a Palestinian Canadian from the village of Bal’a, Tulkarem.
She is a Canadian Certified Public Accountant who graduated from
Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia and St. Lawrence College
in Ontario. Her career has been a blend of taxation, auditing, and
refugee advocacy. She also taught accounting for college students at
Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. In addition to Arabic, she is
fluent in French and English.
Ms. Yousafzai stressed in her speech that it was “not my day” but
“the day of every woman, every boy and girl who have raised their voices
for their rights.”
“Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions
have been injured,” she said. “I am just one of them. So here I stand,
one girl among many. I speak not for myself but for those without
voice.”...READ MORE
