A century on, the debate over the killings continues.

Patrick Chappatte for The New York Times

Boycotting Israel's Anti-Palestine War Games in the West Bank

"... a settlement boycott—and not just a refusal to buy settlement-produced goods but a prohibition on investing or financially underwriting settlement activity and industries—are really the least that any state or society that sincerely believes in the need for an eventual two-state solution can and should do."  Hussein Ibish

A settlement boycott is the least we can do

Everyone who cares about peace should boycott settlements

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentary/565132-a-settlement-boycott-is-the-least-we-can-do

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PLEASE NOTE

This is not "BDS" which too often veers off into being a podium and publicity for one-state activists, anti-Israel agitators, extremists, hate mongers and Zionists who do not support a negotiated end to the Israel-Palestine conflict.  

This is a reasonable call for reasonable people worldwide (as well as all organizations, NGOs, corporations, businesses, concerned governments...etc...) to uphold and respect international law and a two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Scales of Justice

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood..." The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

*** 

“[The] continued expansion of Israeli illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and other territories occupied by Israel since 1967, threatens the prospect of a just and final peace agreement,”  Foreign ministers from 16 EU countries – including the UK – have signed a letter to the EU’s foreign policy head, Federica Mogherini, requesting she expedite moves to ensure the clear labelling of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements and sold in Europe

My letter to the NYTimes RE U.N. Calls on Western Nations to Shelter Syrian Refugees

Syrian refugees waiting for transportation to a shelter after crossing into Turkey. Nearly four million refugees have poured into the countries bordering Syria — chiefly Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey — straining their resources and plunging displaced people into poverty. Photo Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times

RE U.N. Calls on Western Nations to Shelter Syrian Refugees
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/world/middleeast/un-calls-on-western-nations-to-shelter-syrian-refugees.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Dear Editor,

With the news this week about the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (his family thinks he is innocent and that the attack "was all fabricated by the American special services.")

, as well as recent reports from Italy's police that Muslim migrants had thrown 12 Christians overboard during a recent crossing from Libya it will be hard to convince America to welcome in more Syrian refugees.

We tend to hear and remember the worst news and most titillating stories. The more outrageous and anti-social the crime the more attention it gets.  I can not help but wonder about all the many migrants and refugees from the Middle East who came to America to become loyal citizens contributing positive momentum to American ideals. People like the inspiring poet Kahlil Gibran, and people like Dr. Ziad Asali, a Palestinian American born in Jerusalem who built a successful career here in America and is a Diplomat of the Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, as well as the founder of the American Task Force on Palestine which as been trying to get mainstream America, as well as people in the Middle East, to take Palestinian statehood and peace seriously.

Refugee crises in the Middle East have been going on for more than a century, with many innocent men, women and children losing all because of hate campaigns and bigotry. The situation might  become much much worse, but it does not have to be that way. Compassion and kindness and diplomatic efforts have the power to turn things around: Peace in the Middle East can and will be built by people who have been able to break free from the hate campaigns and bigotry, religious extremism, corruption, crime and conspiracy theories that undermine support for the rule of fair and just laws.  Offering safe harbor for some Syrian refugees here in America will increase the chances that their children will be able to get a decent eduction and a better understanding of how to help create real respect for basic human rights and freedom- and real democracy for the people, of the people and by the people.... for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

American homemaker & poet

NOTES

My letter to the NYTimes RE A Tiny House in Seattle

A hemmed-in house has become Seattle’s shrine to defiance. Photo Credit Ian C. Bates for The New York Times

RE A Tiny House in Seattle
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/opinion/a-tiny-house-in-seattle.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Thank you for publishing Barry Martin's reality check on the story of Edith Macefield and her tiny house in Seattle... "she was neither the “anticorporate crusader” or the “old fool, blinded by stubbornness” that you wrote about, in describing the views of some."

Happily hyping Disney's movie "UP" the original report you published “House That Wouldn’t Budge (or Float Away) Faces a Last Stand” should have at least glanced at Barry Martin's book Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned From a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House.  I haven't read the book yet, but will after seeing Barry Martin's fascinating letter and then reading a very easy to find online description about his book: "The story of Barry Martin and Edith Macefield is a tale of balance and compassion, of giving enough without giving too much, of helping our elderly loved ones through the tough times without taking away their dignity."

Seems to me, at the end of the day, there are many nice people and there are some not so nice people everywhere, in every walk of life, and there are countless personal motives for people to do what they do. Here in America, we have homes and we have businesses that help provide jobs so that people can have homes. We also have local zoning as well as neighborhood associations which help keep some very pleasant neighborhoods family friendly so that, as time passes and some people pass on or move away, other individuals and families are more likely to move in and invest in their earnings as well as their time and energy into maintaining a pleasant home and neighborhood.

Life is much more complex and interconnected than big bad corporate entity VS real people.  Jobs matter, personal effort matters, and so does good reporting by reliable newspapers so that we the people might be motivated to help build support for better policies by corporations, colleges, government, local business, as well as any other organization (and noble character) that influences life today.  Jobs matter, individuals matter, letters to the editor matter, stories matter, attention to detail matters, upholding the rule of fair and just laws matters immensely and so do volunteer efforts and the arts... and how we raise our children- what we teach them to see and explore and think about.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet

April: Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month with Ibtisam Barakat's Tree Day Celebration

in

Growing Gardens for Palestine

For this poem and 155 more (all in English AND Spanish), order your own copy of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations HERE and for more Poetry Celebrations fun, click HERE. And for more on National Poetry Month, click HERE.

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2015/04/april-celebrating-arab-american.html

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April: Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month 

In The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations, we feature DAYS, WEEKS, and whole MONTHS of celebration, too. We've already showcased December 10: Dewey Decimal Day; April 2: International Children's Book Day; and 2nd Week of February: Random Acts of Kindness Week. Today, we're featuring Arab American Heritage Month-- the month of April.

We're so pleased to feature poems by Palestinian American poet, Ibtisam Barakat, who has her own YouTube channel of poem readings here.  Here is her original poem in celebration of Arab American Heritage Month from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. You can listen to her read the poem aloud by clicking here and see it translated into Arabic here. Cool, right?

For a lovely note with more information and details from Ibtisam, click here.
And here are the Take 5! activities that accompany this poem in the book:

1. Introduce the idea that tree-planting traditions are found around the world from Arbor Day to Christmas to the Tree Day Celebration in Arab countries, India, and elsewhere. Then read the poem aloud with a pause between stanzas.
2. Work with children to plan a dramatic interpretation of the poem, with two volunteers (one as child, one as tree) pantomiming the planting, measuring, sleeping, and sharing stories while you read it aloud again. 
3. Share planting experiences (of trees, bushes, flowers, etc.) and talk about the steps involved....READ MORE

Pomelo Books is Poetry PLUS!

The Poetry Friday Anthology series helps teachers and librarians teach poetry easily while meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Texas TEKS for English Language Arts (ELA)/Poetry and Science & Technology. Celebrate Poetry on Fridays—and any day—with The Poetry Friday Anthology!

Comment I posted RE Hussein Ibish: The tragedy in Yarmouk

NOW: A man stands inside a demolished building in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital Damascus on 6 April 2015. Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the camp after ISIS seized large parts of it. (AFP/Youssef Karwashan)

The tragedy in Yarmouk: The Syrian Palestinian refugee camp has become "hell on earth"by
Hussein Ibish
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentary/565103-the-tragedy-in-yarmouk

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[Dear...]

Heart breaking- but a very good column by Hussein Ibish.  I am glad Ibish has not abandoned Palestine and the refugees. 

While I understand Ibish's call is for the international community, I have to wonder what exactly is the international community- is it formal governments worldwide, or is it mainly people speaking out to persuade their peers and elected leaders and newspapers to promote preferred story lines?   I can not help but think of all the many "pro-Palestine" activist individuals who constantly knock support away from diplomacy and state building efforts for Palestine.  Why are one-staters, anti-Israel Jewish activists and Islamists, who all tend to scorn negotiations, never ever held accountable for prolonging the Israel-Palestine conflict?

How many reasonable able advocates has Palestine lost, and how many good arguments for negotiations and statehood simply are not being made because 'pro-Palestine' in America has been hijacked by anti-state activists?

Seems to me the real Imperialism of today is a conglomeration of all the many "pro-Palestine" activist inciters weighing in to exasperate racism, religious bigotry, extremism, escalating conflict... further disenfranchising people connected to Palestine, and alienating America (and donors for UNWRA), rather than giving people concerned about the very real plight of the Palestinians the tools to help build a future with good jobs and real freedom based on a just and lasting peace for both Israel and for Palestine.

I wish more people had given more public support to American Task Force on Palestine efforts... I wish more people understood the vital importance of diplomacy and dialogue... and citizenship. American Task Force on Palestine might not be super active today, but all the many wise words, honest insights and good advice written through the years by Ibish & Dr. Ziad Asali (and others) remain in view providing a glimmer of hope that reasonable arguments for a real Palestine can still be made.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

AP Photo in a field of flowers: “My father and one of my brothers are refugees in Lebanon's camps, my other three brothers are refugees in Turkey and I am, with my husband, a refugee in Jordan,” she says. “The war ripped everything from us. All I wish is to be reunited with my family back in our village.”

FILE - In this Monday, March 9, 2015 file photo, Syrian refugee Montaha Ali hangs her laundry near her tent at an informal tented settlement in Al-Aghwar, Jordan, near the border with Israel. “My father and one of my brothers are refugees in Lebanon's camps, my other three brothers are refugees in Turkey and I am, with my husband, a refugee in Jordan,” she says. “The war ripped everything from us. All I wish is to be reunited with my family back in our village.” (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

"The position of the United States with respect to our long expressed hope, the Republicans and the Democrats alike (and) many presidents of the last 50 years or more, has always been for peace and President Obama remains committed to a two-state solution," Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a press conference at an economic conference, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Saturday, March 14, 2015. Kerry said he hopes Israel elects a government that can address the country's domestic needs and also "meets the hope for peace." Kerry said whatever decision Israeli voters make in the election Tuesday, he hopes there will be the chance to move forward on peace efforts afterward. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell)

US President Barack Obama (centre) looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) shakes hands with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas before a 2009 meeting in New York (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

On Friday, Kerry held talks on the peace process with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

The four discussed creating an environment to "push forward the peace process to reach a comprehensive and just peace in the region," Sisi's office said after they met.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-committed-two-state-solution-israel-palestinians-095413959.html

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Obama 'committed' to two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama is "committed" to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday on the stalled Middle East peace process....READ MORE

My letter PUBLISHED in the New York Times: Suffering in Gaza: Who Is to Blame?

Gaza Strip - Times Topics - The New York Times: World news about the Gaza Strip. Breaking news and archival information about its people, politics and economy from The New York Times:  Salma Najjar, 64, sits outside a makeshift tent on the rubble of her home in Khuzaa in the southeast of the Gaza Strip. Photo Credit Wissam Nassar for The New York Times

Suffering in Gaza: Who Is to Blame?

Readers respond to a column by Nicholas Kristof.

March 10, 2015

To the Editor:

Hamas opportunists and Islamic Jihad have been horrible for Palestine. They call themselves freedom fighters, but there is no freedom and there will never be justice or peace with religious tyranny, militancy, hatemongering, bully tactics and violence, making the very real plight of the Palestinians substantially worse at every turn.

Religion should be a personal choice, not a mandate and a recruitment tool for criminal enterprises.

Diplomacy and careful negotiations based on full respect for human rights, international law and the Golden Rule in order to create a secular two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the best way forward.

ANNE SELDEN ANNAB

Mechanicsburg, Pa.

original letter sent March 8, 2015  RE Winds of War in Gaza by Nicholas Kristof

Palestine pre-1948 (video)

Hussein Ibish: Israel’s new indifference to the occupation is toxic...."Israel’s dominance over the Palestinians has reached a stage where, when they want to, Israelis can actually completely ignore the reality of the Palestinian people and get away with it."

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the US Congress. Mandel Ngan / AFP

Hussein Ibish

March 7, 2015

"The most important thing about the Israeli prime minister’s speech before a joint session of the US Congress was what he didn’t say. Benjamin Netanyahu never uttered a word about the Palestinians. This astonishing evasion has become the standard Jewish Israeli response to the existence of the Palestinian people and of their national movement. Palestinians have simply been written out of the equation in most facets of official and unofficial mainstream Jewish Israeli discourse. A number of leading Palestinians have complained that Israelis have become “blind” to them. It’s an apt metaphor.

Israelis increasingly speak and, presumably, think about their national, strategic and security challenges as if there were not 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, 200,000 more in East Jerusalem and another 1.6 million in Gaza.

It’s a striking change because in the past, Israelis spoke openly, and almost obsessively, about the “Palestinian problem”. Those were times when the dimensions of the “problem” were, in every respect, much less challenging than they are now. Even when their discourse was characterised by rage, Israelis in the 1980s, 1990s and even the 2000s generally recognised that the Palestinians and the occupation were vital national security issues, and indeed existential ones."...READ MORE

Hussein Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on ­Palestine

On Twitter: @ibishblog

***

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My letter to the NYTimes RE Winds of War in Gaza by Nicholas Kristof

Rubble and bombed-out buildings, like these east of Gaza City, dot Gaza six months after the latest war. NYTimes Credit Mohammed Saber/European Pressphoto Agency

RE Winds of War in Gaza by Nicholas Kristof
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-winds-of-war-in-gaza.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

Hamas opportunists and Islamic Jihad have been horrible for Palestine.  They call themselves freedom fighters, but there is no freedom and there won't ever be justice or peace with religious tyranny, militancy, hate mongering, bully tactics and violence making the very real plight of the Palestinians substantially worse at every turn.

Religion should be a personal, private choice- not a tax payer funded mandate and a recruitment tool for criminal enterprises.

Diplomacy and careful negotiations based on full respect for human rights, international law, and Golden Rule thinking to create a fully secular two state end to the Israel-Palestine conflict is the best way forward for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet

NOTES
" Growing up as a person of African descent in Sweden made me hungry for role models, so I read about the fight for civil rights in America with fascination. As I took photos around the world, I saw that I was not alone. Blacks and other minorities I met in Europe, South America and the Middle East looked toward leaders like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as beacons of hope." Revisiting Selma by Malin Fezehai

"So much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher — met on this bridge," Obama told the crowd under a broiling sun. "It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the meaning of America. "

"The attacks of 9/11 and the spreading threat of Islamic extremists have further strengthened American evangelicals’ sense of kinship with Jews in Israel, whom they see as crucial partners in fighting butchers who have recently singled out Christians for slaughter." Benjamin Netanyahu, John Boehner and America’s Evangelicals by Frank Bruni

"Gaza has been compared to an open-air prison, and, in the years I’ve been coming here, that has never felt more true, partly because so many Gazans are now literally left in the open air. But people joke wryly that at least prisons have reliable electricity." Winds of War in Gaza by Nicholas Kristof

Jihadists May Have Wrecked an Ancient Iraqi Site

ISIS Onslaught Engulfs Assyrian Christians as Militants Destroy Ancient Art

"On Nov. 18, 2013, Ms. Badwan said, she was harassed by Hamas officers while helping with a youth arts program. They questioned why she was standing with men. They chastised her for wearing those jean overalls and made her sign a paper promising not to go outside without loosely fitting, traditional Islamic garb."

"The battle against extremism can’t be really joined, let alone won, until the key societies, especially the United States and its key Arab allies, begin to seriously fund, support and promote the moderates in the trenches. Wealthy extremists have been very generous to their allies, which has been a major factor in the growth of terrorism in the Middle East. The mainstream has been a lot less forthcoming. Countless Arab and Muslim organisations around the world are struggling to promote one aspect or another of moderate politics or religiosity, but find themselves unable to secure even the most modest funding. Until that changes, we’re likely to hear more talk about the need for new narratives, but very little movement in that direction." Hussein Ibish We must tackle extremist ideas on multiple fronts

World Press Roundup: Middle East News

Think on: Banksy's tour of a ruined Gaza

"I paint; there are no galleries to show what I paint. A woman and an artist at the same time — this is a catastrophe.” Palestinian artist Nidaa Badwan. NYTIMES: "Ms. Badwan speaks in poetry and moves, in rainbow-striped socks, like a dancer. When a truck rolled by outside blaring Hamas slogans, she made a sour face and yanked the window shut... READ MORE & share the link.

Global Citizenship... laying the foundation for a culture of peace

To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace : "The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine." Ziad Asali

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

STAY CONNECTED... Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to: Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

... Ibrahim's Estate... The Promised Land: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Peace Day

Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity

Hussein Ibish: Non-violent resistance is Palestine’s most powerful weapon

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON ...

 “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), born in Lebanon, immigrated to the United States in 1895 where he grew up to become a beloved poet and respected writer.

"There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies" Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American minister, humanitarian and social activist- a cherished leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, whose inspiring words continue to influence and empower diplomatic efforts to bring more justice, more security, more peace and more jobs to more people, every one and every where.

"We are brothers. It's not a question of Jews, of Christians or of Muslims. We're all in the same boat, we have to help each other to get out of this crisis." Lassana Bathily

IBISH: Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

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