Dear America- Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

@UNHumanRights chief @volker_turk urges Governments to put human rights at the core of policy & action to achieve a more peaceful, just & sustainable world. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/09/human-rights-are-our-mainstay-against-unbridled-power  Human Rights are our mainstay against unbridled power

Dear America- letter sent to my Elected Leaders,

Time will tell who gets elected next. 

Meanwhile time has already told that American leadership does not care about the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine. You should.

Israel, heavily armed with American weaponry, freely bombs humanitarian safe zones in Gaza, obliterating refugee tents, leaving huge craters in the sand. 

I remember 9-11 here- and the horror of what happened, and I remember Israeli leadership on our TV authoritatively telling America what to think, exasperating racism and hate on every "side." 

23 years later American puppets and pawns are busy legislating that protest against Israel is "antisemitism".  It isn't. 

Protest and awareness are crucial tools against dangerous Zionist lies and racist cruelty.

Today's modern man made Israel is a dangerous entity with tentacles everywhere as it grows & grows & grows: The Israel Empire ignores borders, international law, human rights, and basic logic.

Please don't let America and all we have achieved be totally corrupted and destroyed:  Arabs and Muslims (and Jews and Christians) are human beings, just like us, and just like us they can be good and bad and everything in between. Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

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

Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied by American leadership & mainstream news.... September 2024

American killed in West Bank was longtime activist ‘bearing witness to oppression’, friends say

“Depth of Kinship”: Zeina Azzam’s Some Things Never Leave You BOOK REVIEW by Deema K. Shehabi

Escalations ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

‘If I would speak, I would start crying’: Our reporters grapple with loss in Gaza war

Omar Badder on America's mainstream media coverage of #Israel VS #Palestine "As you reflect on why only one of these stories is dominating the headlines, there are 5 more things to keep in mind..."

Palestinian journalist Hind Al-Khoudary on her nomination for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

"My grandfather kept the key to his house in Yaffa in 1948. He thought they would return in a few days. His name was Hasan. The house was destroyed. Others built a new one in its place. Hasan died in Gaza in 1986. The key has rusted but still exists somewhere, longing for the old wooden door." Mosab Abu Toha ... From Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear

"Gaza has taught me that a lot of people who claim to be human rights activists are only active when it applies to people of a specific background or ethnicity." Mohamad Safa

Israel is committing genocide and Western media is helping hide the bodies

Ending Discrimination #fightracism #StandUp4HumanRights #NoToHate #UNGA #UnitedNations #HumanRights #HumanBeings #Compassion #GoldenRuleThinking #Kindness

Nelson Mandela grandson Zwelivelile comes out in support of South Africa coal embargo on Israel

The Government of Israel has been running a smear campaign against Palestinians & UNWRA by buying ads on Google

More Than 65 Palestinian Filmmakers, Including Hany Abu Assad, Elia Suleiman and Farah Nabulsi, Sign Letter Accusing Hollywood of ‘Dehumanizing’ Palestinians

August 28 2024: Since last night, the Israeli army has conducted a large-scale military operation in various parts of the West Bank, particularly in the northern regions.

Scholasticide: As the new school year begins, Palestinian students in Gaza cannot access education due to Israel’s systemic attacks on the education system

Dear America, Please Help Stop Institutionalized Bigotry & Injustice

Accusing peaceful pro-Palestine protesters of being "antisemitic" pleases Israel but it does not make any Jews any safer anywhere.

A Guardian report reveals that there are 60,000 Americans living in illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as some 23,400 Americans serving in the Israeli army.

Send an honorable message far and wide- we believe in freedom of and from religion... and we believe in real justice, peace, and security for ALL !

 

"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

 

Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied by American leadership & mainstream news.... September 2024

Mohamad Safa

@mhdksafa

This photo needs to be the front page of every news paper in the world. 20 tents full of displaced families buried alive in Gaza.

Maha Hussaini

@MahaGaza

In an overcrowded camp where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are scattered in makeshift tents, even the smallest bomb can cause immense damage and numerous casualties. Now, imagine the devastation when the Israeli occupation army uses 3 U.S.-made MK-84 bombs on them.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt

@FranceskAlbs

Apartheid Israel is accelerating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and committing acts of genocide on the way. How long will it take to UN Member states to impose sanctions on this serial violator of int'l law?

Dr. Omar Suleiman

@omarsuleiman

The tent massacre of Mawasi. 20 tents full of families buried alive by American bombs that have left literal craters in the earth. This was a humanitarian safe zone. Another site of a war crime that the world can’t stop because of Israel’s effective international immunity.

 

 

Susan Muaddi Darraj 

@SusanDarraj

I am forever changed by this year, by the evil we are witnessing, by the silence of so many, by the acceptance of such horror as normal.

 

António Guterres

@antonioguterres

I strongly condemn Israel’s air strikes on an Israeli-designated zone for displaced people in Gaza. Palestinians had moved to this area in search for shelter & safety, after being repeatedly instructed to do so by the Israeli authorities. I repeat my call for an immediate ceasefire & the immediate & unconditional release of all hostages still held in Gaza.

 

 Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied.

 

Aysenur Eygi- American murdered by Israeli troops 

 

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old American activist killed while protesting in the occupied West Bank, was remembered by friends and former professors as a dedicated organizer who felt a strong moral obligation to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians.

"Eygi, who is also a Turkish citizen and leaves behind her husband, graduated from UW [Seattle Washington] earlier this year with a major in psychology and minor in Middle Eastern languages and culture, Fani said. She walked the stage with a large “Free Palestine” flag during the ceremony, Fani said."

American killed in West Bank was longtime activist ‘bearing witness to oppression’, friends say

 

Mosab Abu Toha

@MosabAbuToha

 

Please amplify: So the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was accidental, unintentional, etc.? 

 

Question for Israel: 

1-Why open fire in the first place? 

 

Two questions for the US: 

1-What about the settlements she was protesting? Are they accidental? 

 

2-What about the killing of children and their families Aysenur was standing in solidarity with?

“Depth of Kinship”: Zeina Azzam’s Some Things Never Leave You BOOK REVIEW by Deema K. Shehabi

 

Photo of the author by Jeff Norman / ZeinaAzzam.com

Book Review

September 10, 2024

by  Deema K. Shehabi  -Deema K. Shehabi is a poet and editor. Her first book, Thirteen Departures from the Moon

In Zeina Azzam’s mesmerizing collection of poems Some Things Never Leave You (Tiger Bark Press, 2023), tenderness means gazing directly at what both cuts and fills you. A universal factor of human existence is the need to enter an expressive space, which distills moments from one’s life into essences. Whether it’s standing at a parent’s deathbed wondering when the next reunion with a dying beloved will be or rejoicing at a child’s ability to enunciate Arabic letters despite truncation from the foundational homeland (Palestine), Azzam deftly parses the threshold of joys and losses and renders them in a breathless lyricism.

In one of the seminal poems in the collection, “You Could Tell Yourself,” Azzam invites the reader into ... READ MORE  https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/book-reviews/depth-kinship-zeina-azzams-some-things-never-leave-you-deema-k-shehabi

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

Escalations ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

 

        

 

 

 

 

            Escalations         

American Churches don't 

get obituaries.

They dwindle

and die decommissioned-

stones intact, doors

and windows

floors, walls and roofs

failing slowly.

Was it location

or belief?

Was it laziness

Was it aging populations

Was it an evolving lack of trust

in mainstream news and worship

as [online] the world watches

Palestinian children

& families

tormented

maimed, wounded and killed

by [American armed] Zionist violence.

 

poem copyright ©2024 Anne Selden Annab

‘If I would speak, I would start crying’: Our reporters grapple with loss in Gaza war

The correspondent's father inspects the rubble that was once their family home, destroyed during an Israeli military offensive, in Deir al-Balah central Gaza Strip, Sept. 2, 2024

• By Ghada Abdulfattah Contributor
• Dina Kraft Contributor

  Sept. 04, 2024, 2:40 p.m. ET | Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip; and Jerusalem

The impact of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip is deeply personal for those living it on the ground, including the Monitor’s correspondents, for whom the intersection of their real lives and news events of just the last few days is a devastating reminder.

Friday Ghada Abdulfattah returned to her neighborhood in the Gaza town of Deir al-Balah after an Israeli military operation left her family home no more than a teetering pile of rubble.

Just weeks ago the house and compound were home to dozens of people in a sprawling, interconnected family. They are all now homeless, rejoining the ranks of the estimated 85% of Gaza residents who have been displaced since Oct. 7.... READ MORE  https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2024/0903/gaza-home-destroyed-israel-hersh-funeral

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

Omar Badder on America's mainstream media coverage of #Israel VS #Palestine "As you reflect on why only one of these stories is dominating the headlines, there are 5 more things to keep in mind..."

Omar Baddar عمر بدّار

@OmarBaddar

 

Sep 1, 2024

2 things have happened in Gaza in the last 24 hours: 

 

1) Israel killed 47 Palestinians 

 

2) 6 Israeli hostages were found dead 

 

As you reflect on why only one of these stories is dominating the headlines, there are 5 more things to keep in mind :

1) The families of the hostages & the Israeli defense minister have accused Netanyahu of condemning their hostages to death by his refusal to strike a deal that brings them home safely.

 

2) Of the thousands of Palestinian hostages that Israel kidnapped & held w/out charge or trial since October, many have been brutally raped, and at least dozens (possibly far more) have been tortured to death in Israeli dungeons.

 

3) In the opening weeks of the genocide, Israel was killing 136 Palestinian children PER DAY. In a brief truce in November, Hamas released more than 100 Israeli hostages, but Netanyahu abruptly cut off these negotiations & prioritized the Gaza genocide over the hostages' lives.

 

4) Beyond valuing Israeli lives more than Palestinian ones, our government doesn't value AMERICAN lives equally: When Hamas kills an Israeli-American, we condemn & promise severe consequences. But when the Israeli gov murders Palestinian-Americans, there's no accountability.

 

 5) The entire concept of this war on Gaza (& our government's insistence on arming & funding it) is an exercise in monstrous moral depravity: We think one side gets to kill 16,000 children from the other side in pursuit of their "safety." 

 

That thinking is despicable, but the reality is even worse: Israel isn't fighting for "safety" (they can get that by ending their brutal occupation & letting Palestinians have rights), they are fighting for the right to dominate Palestinians & hold them captive without rights. 

 

Our government thinks Israel is justified in killing an infinite number of Palestinian children in pursuit of their total domination of Palestinian life. 

 

This is what the so-called "conflict" is all about.

 

Palestinian journalist Hind Al-Khoudary on her nomination for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

Palestinian journalist Hind Al-Khoudary on her nomination for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

"My grandfather kept the key to his house in Yaffa in 1948. He thought they would return in a few days. His name was Hasan. The house was destroyed. Others built a new one in its place. Hasan died in Gaza in 1986. The key has rusted but still exists somewhere, longing for the old wooden door." Mosab Abu Toha ... From Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear

Mosab Abu Toha

@MosabAbuToha

 

I cannot believe I left our house on October 13, 2023 and never grabbed the only photo of my grandfather I had. I cannot believe I never took the photo of my father when was a very young man. 

 

You can see my father’s photo behind the Gaza wooden piece. He is on the left putting oranges in boxes. 

 

Our house was bombed on Oct. 28. The only dear thing I took was my own copy of my poetry book. It was stupid of me, I admit, to take something I could replace, though nothing can be really replaced.

"Gaza has taught me that a lot of people who claim to be human rights activists are only active when it applies to people of a specific background or ethnicity." Mohamad Safa

Mohamad Safa

@mhdksafa

 

Gaza has taught me that a lot of people who claim to be human rights activists are only active when it applies to people of a specific background or ethnicity. 

 

Don’t stop talking about Gaza.

 HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE

Israel is committing genocide and Western media is helping hide the bodies

In Gaza, the distinctive blue flak jackets and helmets of journalists, symbols of the pursuit of truth under dangerous conditions, have now also come to represent Israeli violence and silencing, writes Fatima el Issawi. [GETTY]

Since the start of Israel's onslaught on Gaza, Western media has continuously been complicit in the erasure of Palestinian suffering, says Fatima el Issawi.

For over the last nearly 11 months, mainstream Western media has framed the ongoing onslaught in Gaza as a ‘classic’ conflict between two parties. The Gaza mass killing, is largely bloodless on televised screens. On social media platforms, another story is unfolding; a torrent of horrific accounts of Israel’s war crimes inflicted on civilians surpassing any surreal imaginary of violence, captured by the victims themselves as well as their perpetrators, the latter proudly celebrating their impunity.

Navigating between my social media feeds and my TV screen, it is hard to believe I am following the same story. Gazans’ encounters with their “bare life” are beyond any hallucinations that our imagination can create, including our own living experiences of trauma.

I was born and raised in a conflict zone in South Lebanon where life was punctuated by Israeli attacks and several invasions. However, Western media remains largely indifferent to the victims. The absence of their shredded bodies from mainstream coverage is more perverse than simple apathy due to lack of geographical and cultural proximity, as we teach our students in journalism courses. Indeed, the media is serving to whitewash Israel’s war crimes and therefore partakes in the erasure of those who it violently targets. Victims are denied the basic right to be acknowledged as suffering subjects.

The implicit message is: it is OK to kill them since some of them are potential terrorists, and their children will likely follow suit.

The unsaid

Passive voices and soft wording that steers clear of terms like “massacre”, “crimes” or “killing”, are just a some of the countless examples of erasure used in mainstream Western reporting.... READ MORE  https://www.newarab.com/opinion/western-media-helping-hide-bodies-amid-israels-genocide

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

Ending Discrimination #fightracism #StandUp4HumanRights #NoToHate #UNGA #UnitedNations #HumanRights #HumanBeings #Compassion #GoldenRuleThinking #Kindness

As hate speech, discrimination & xenophobia are on the rise, each of us can #StandUp4HumanRights, and help #FightRacism & hatred.

#NoToHate

Racism and discrimination are the rejection of all that we stand for. 

We must reject and #FightRacism.

Societies around the world are increasingly recognizing the role structural #racism plays in driving social, economic, & political inequalities, but much more needs to be done.

#GoldenRuleThinking

"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

Nelson Mandela grandson Zwelivelile comes out in support of South Africa coal embargo on Israel

Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of former South African president & anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela

As Israel intensifies its bombing of Palestinian people, eminent South Africans led by the likes of Chief Zwelivelile Mandela — the indefatigable grandson of former South African president and anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela — are intensifying solidarity activities in support of the people of Gaza calling for a more serious boycott of Israel.

"The Palestinian people and their struggle were always close to Madiba's heart. He considered it the greatest moral issue of our time," Zwelivelile tells The New Arab.

"I have no doubt that the ongoing genocide would pain him very much — the daily sight of mangled and maimed bodies, the cries of orphans, and the lament of parents burying their innocent babies and young children. These are matters that would weigh heavily on his heart," says Zwelivelile.

"I do not doubt that he would call out the cold-hearted apartheid Israel killing machine, its war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing."

Zwelivelile said his grandfather would condemn the complicity of the West for supplying bombs of mass destruction, stating that Mandela would pressure Netanyahu to withdraw from occupied Palestinian land, release all Palestinian political prisoners, accept the right to return for all Palestinians in the diaspora, and most importantly, recognize Palestinians' right to self-determination.

"We all know that ending the occupation and an immediate comprehensive ceasefire is the only path to finding a lasting solution," added Zwelivelile, imploring that the world should boycott all countries and corporations that are complicit in the genocide in Gaza and all the occupied Palestinian territories.... READ MORE   https://www.newarab.com/features/mandela-would-be-mourning-gaza-furious-israel-grandson

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