Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
PALESTINE: Public Announcement of a Civic Registration for Direct Elections to the PNC
- S/he was born within the borders of Palestine as defined during the British Mandate era, or was entitled to acquire the Palestinian nationality under the applicable laws at that time;
- S/he was born in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territory;
- One of his/her ancestors falls under the application of paragraph (a) or (b) above, irrespective of where s/he was born;
- S/he is a spouse of a Palestinian.
http://palestiniansregister.org/?page_id=6Public Announcement of a Civic Registration for Direct Elections to the PNC
11 November 2011
By the spring of 2012 an internet register for the secure online registration of Palestinian voters everywhere will be completed and ready for use. Palestinians can then register themselves as well as assist others to register through a civic registration drive that will last for 6 months. For the first time it will become possible for every Palestinian, including the refugees in the shatat, to register for elections to the Palestinian National Council (PNC), and to participate in direct elections to the PLO parliament that represents the entirety of the Palestinian people. PNC elections have been officially announced, and are scheduled for the spring of 2012. This civic drive will help make these elections a reality.
The registration model was developed by university-based experts in internet security protocol and elections registration as a public service to the Palestinian people, the majority of whom are not included in the current voter register of Palestinians. The current voter register only covers Palestinians in the 1967 occupied Palestinian homeland, largely excluding Jerusalem, and was created by the Palestinian National Authority for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The PLC is itself incorporated into the PNC, and represents Palestinians from the 1967 occupied Palestine inside of it.
Tools for disenfranchised Palestinians to prepare and carry out a voter registration in all locations are published on PalestiniansRegister, the website of the civic registration drive. The website also explains how every Palestinian can assist in registering Palestinians who have never had the chance to vote in democratic elections to the PNC.
Elsewhere on this website you will find details of Palestinian civic associations’ Campaign for Voter Registration, a decentralized but coordinated campaign building towards the reality of democratic PNC elections, where the voices of each are heard. The immense challenges facing Palestinians in their search for democratic national participation require the dedicated and concerted efforts of civil society to overcome these obstacles. All Palestinians, individuals and associations, can join the civic campaign for voter registration in order to create the first-ever register of Palestinian voters for PNC elections. All the skills, energies and resources of Palestinian society can come together across borders to contribute to this common goal.
The announcement of the creation of a civic mechanism for voter registration is launched today November the 11th, on the anniversary of the death of the late President Yasser Arafat, Chair of the PLO (Abu ‘Ammar). Forty years ago on November 13th 1974, his historic speech at the United Nations paved the way to the international recognition of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and confirmed international recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost the right to return to our homes and properties and our right to self-determination. Today’s announcement builds on this heritage of the PLO as a liberation movement that unites, represents and advances the rights of all Palestinians as one people.
It is understood that a directly elected democratic PNC is the most effective means to affirm and advance Palestinian rights, end internal division, restore and strengthen our national liberation movement, and reactivate the PLO on a democratic basis so that it can represent the will of the entire Palestinian people. Creating a comprehensive register of Palestinian voters is the necessary first step, and the responsibility of all Palestinians to ensure, because Palestinians outside the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have never had a voter register for PNC elections. Those inside the West Bank and Gaza are registered for PLC elections, and the PLC is incorporated into the PNC, representing that part of the Palestinian people in it.
Today’s announcement for the civic voter registration drive is a call for a unique collective Palestinian endeavour that must be accomplished through each Palestinian’s own contribution to the Palestinian national polity. This is neither a campaign nor a `project’ of an NGO funded by international donors, but instead a civic endeavour carried out by civil society to support its national institutions, funded and run entirely by Palestinian civil society. It is not an initiative of a political group or committee that has given itself the mandate to ‘rescue’ or rebuild the PLO. It belongs to all Palestinians, individuals, associations, parties, unions, coalitions and networks, whose skills, energies and resources must contribute in order to enfranchise all Palestinians. Every Palestinian voice counts, and each is needed.
Successful implementation of voter registration requires collective effort to be divided into two phases: a first six-month-period of preparations, beginning today, and a second six-month-phase, beginning in the spring of 2012, when the online registration of voters can actually start, and be undertaken in all locations where Palestinians are not yet registered to vote for the PNC. Public awareness and resources must be raised, and national and international protection and support engaged, in order to achieve a large online register of Palestinian voters.
The facilitation office of the civic registration drive was created by Palestinian individuals and groups as volunteers. It provides basic services and assistance to the registration campaign in order to ensure its success, including technical and logistical support with the set-up of the internet registration system in all locations, civic registration training, basic materials for public information and campaigning, and the search for national and international protection and support.
As safe and secure online registration for PNC elections will soon be possible for all Palestinians, we call upon Palestinians everywhere, in particular our disenfranchised refugees in the shatat and the youth and their associations in historic Palestine and outside of it, to assume an active role in preparation of online voter registration by:
• Raising awareness in Palestinian communities in your area of the forthcoming registration, and the importance of the role of the PLO and of democratic elections to its sovereign body, the Palestine National Council;
• Mobilizing public resources for the registration drive, including volunteers, facilities, equipment and funds;
• Getting in touch with the civil association’s Campaign for Voter Registration in order to join.
• Participating in logistical preparations and training for voter registration in your geographic area.
For enquiries about participation in organising voter registration, please contact: palestinians@palestiniansregister.org
PalestiniansRegister.org is the website of the Facilitation Office for a Civic Registration Drive, an independent civic initiative in support of national efforts for democratic Palestinian elections to the PNC.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
My letter to The Atlantic RE Is Peace Possible? Chapter 3: Refugees
A section of Israel's separation barrier is seen on a hill between the West Bank village of Abu Dis and Jabel Mukaber on the edge of Jerusalem / AP
Resolving the Palestinian Refugee Crisis
Can a peace agreement meet the needs of displaced Palestinians while preserving Israel as a Jewish state? The third in our four-part series on the key barriers to peace in the Middle East.
RE: THE ATLANTIC... Is Peace Possible? Chapter 3: RefugeesDear Editor,
I was delighted to see that you featured such an informative video seeking potential solutions to the refugee situation in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
However I am very concerned that in trying to be balanced and fair you failed to really think about and comprehend the danger of being fixated on empowering Israel's Jewishness. Tragically for all involved, the past sixty years have shown that Israel's interpretation of what it means to be Jewish has created huge problems, exasperated bigotry all through out the region and inspired the worst in many people.
A fully secular two state solution based on full respect for universal basic human rights to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict is a very reasonable, compassionate and intelligent goal.... regardless of any one's supposed race or religion.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
The ongoing Palestinian refugee crisis: Don’t demolish my future! UNWRA: Demolitions and the threat of displacement are ruining people’s lives in the West Bank.
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?
What's God got to do with it? If you want freedom and security, you need the following...
Dialogues in Democracy.... Karen AbuZayd will speak about the plight and promise of refugees
Refugees in the Middle EastUnited Nations Expert to Discuss Middle East Refugees
Stevenson Center on Democracy hosts program at 2 p.m. Nov. 13 as part of its Dialogues in Democracy series in Libertyville.
As part of the Dialogues in Democracy series, the center has invited Karen Koning AbuZayd, expert on the Middle East refugee situation, to share her insights at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Stevenson Center on Democracy, 25200 N. St. Mary’s Road, Libertyville.
AbuZayd, recently retired commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, helped to oversee the education, health, social services and micro-enterprise programs for 4.6 million Palestine refugees from her base in Gaza beginning in 2005.
Before joining UNRWA, AbuZayd worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 19 years. She began her humanitarian career in Sudan in 1981, dealing with Ugandan, Chadian and Ethiopian refugees fleeing from war and famine in their own countries.
From Sudan, she moved to Namibia in 1989 to help coordinate the return of apartheid-era refugees, a repatriation operation which led to elections and independence. A year later, the Liberian civil war erupted and AbuZayd moved to Sierra Leone to head the UNHCR office in Freetown, initiating a new emergency response that settled 100,000 Liberians in 600 villages along the Liberian/Sierra Leone border.
From 1991 to 1993 in UNHCR’s Geneva headquarters, AbuZayd directed the South African repatriation operation and the Kenya-Somali cross-border operation. She left Geneva to go to Sarajevo as chief of mission for two years during the Bosnian war. Four million displaced and war-affected people were kept alive by UNHCR’s airlift and convoy activities, while thousands more were protected from ethnic cleansing by the UNHCR presence.
AbuZayd was awarded the Spanish/Catalonia Peace Prize for her work highlighting the achievements of UNRWA’s education programs.
Information provided by Stevenson Center on Democracy.
STIRRINGS poem by Ibtisam Barakat 2010 on YouTube Video
A poem about WOMANHOOD, GRATITUDE and FREEDOM ..About the poet: Ibtisam Barakat is a Palestinian-American author, poet, translator and educator. Her book, TASTING THE SKY, A Palestinian Childhood, about growing up in Ramallah, Palestine, is winner of the International Reading Association's best non-fiction and is a Book for Global Society, among 20 awards and honors. Tasting the Sky is available in six languages now, and it can be found on Amazon and at all book outlets. You are invited to learn about Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims from Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims!! like you would want others to learn about you from you. Thanks for creating more peace, beauty and healing in the world. -- Ibtisam Barakat.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Martin Luther King Jr. In Palestine
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/589078128/martin-luther-king-jr-in-palestine
NON-VIOLENCE IN A CHANGING PALESTINIAN LANDSCAPE
In March of 2011 I went to Palestine with Clay Carson, who runs the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute, to film his play about King performed by the Palestinian National Theater and an African-American gospel choir. It was presented to audiences all over the West Bank and it was an incredible journey...READ MORE
"... Judith Miller says it it doesn't matter if Sarkozy and Obama dislike Netanyahu, and Jackson Diehl says it doesn't make any sense if they do."
Want a very readable quick summary of relevant Middle East News (& Opinion), plus the links so you can dive right in to read what you want to read in depth?
World Press Roundup
November 9, 2011
November 9, 2011NEWS:
A battle is raging the House of Representatives over US aid to the PA. There are reports of more “price tag” right-wing violence by Jewish extremists, and Israel's Education Minister calls it “a cancerous tumor.” Threats against Israeli peace activists are escalating. A draft UN report says there is no consensus in the Security Council on Palestinian UN membership, with the final report to be issued on Friday. FM Malki admits Palestine cannot get a nine-vote majority. The Quartet will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Nov. 14. Several reporters confirm the accuracy of an overheard discussion about PM Netanyahu between Pres. Sarkozy and Pres. Obama. Netanyahu's poor international reputation is offset by strong domestic popularity. Palestinian businesses in Jerusalem's old city are suffering.
COMMENTARY:
Ronen Bergman looks at the history of Israeli prisoner swap negotiations. Nicholas Goldberg reflects on what the Jerusalem passport case means to him. Ha'aretz says Netanyahu is leading the fight against peace activists. Duncan Campbell says Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu deserves freedom. Walid Choucair says Israel and Iran play off each other to mutual benefit. Gershom Gorenberg proposes three steps to end Israel's international isolation. Helga Tawil-Souri looks at the cyber attack on Palestinian cable-based services. Judith Miller says it it doesn't matter if Sarkozy and Obama dislike Netanyahu, and Jackson Diehl says it doesn't make any sense if they do.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The conclusions from Tunisia's election are that emergent Arab democracy seems more plausible than ever, even with robust Islamist participation....
The conclusions from Tunisia's election are that emergent Arab democracy seems more plausible than ever, even with robust Islamist participation. Islamists are better disciplined and organized than secularists but do not command automatic majorities, and secularists need to focus on articulating their own vision, organizing themselves as an alternative, and appealing to people's social and economic needs. Western societies that wish to see secularists and modernists do well should also move more robustly to help them overcome these deficiencies.
These are tentative baby steps toward the emergence of a real Arab democracy, but they are indispensable ones." Hussein Ibish Two cheers for the Tunisian election
These are tentative baby steps toward the emergence of a real Arab democracy, but they are indispensable ones." Hussein Ibish Two cheers for the Tunisian election
Gender segregation on rise in Israel
In this Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 photo, an Ultra Orthodox Jewish man is reflected on a mirror displayed next to another mirror and a painting, in Jerusalem. Images of women have vanished from the streets of Israel's capital. Women have been shunted onto separate sidewalks. Buses and health clinics have been gender-segregated, and the military has considered reassigning female combat soldiers because religious men don't want to serve with them. This is the new reality in 21st-century Israel, where ultra-Orthodox rabbis are trying to contain the encroachment of secular values on their cloistered society through a fierce backlash against the mixing of the sexes in public. (AP Photos/Sebastian Scheiner) http://news.yahoo.com/gender-segregation-rise-israel-065743297.html
By AMY TEIBEL - Associated Press
For years, advertisers have been covering up female models on billboards in Jerusalem and other communities with large ultra-Orthodox populations. Ultra-Orthodox have defaced such ads and vendors faced ultra-Orthodox boycotts of companies whose mores they deplore.
Gender segregation on rise in Israel
By AMY TEIBEL - Associated PressFor years, advertisers have been covering up female models on billboards in Jerusalem and other communities with large ultra-Orthodox populations. Ultra-Orthodox have defaced such ads and vendors faced ultra-Orthodox boycotts of companies whose mores they deplore.
Recently, the voluntary censorship has gone beyond the scantily clad: Women are either totally absent from billboards, or, as with one clothing company's ads, only hinted at by a photo of a back, an arm and a purse.
Over the summer, Jerusalem inaugurated a long-awaited light rail with a major outdoor advertising campaign. The rail line is touted as a marvel of 21st-century technology, but there are no women's faces on any of the billboards affixed to its sides.
Advertisers acknowledge ultra-Orthodox pressure.
A private radio station went so far as to ban broadcast of songs by female vocalists and interviews with women.
Ohad Gibli, deputy director of marketing for the Canaan advertising agency, confirmed Monday that his company advised a transplant organization to drop pictures of women in their campaigns in Jerusalem and the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak for fear of a violent backlash.
"We have learned that an ad campaign in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak that includes pictures of women will remain up for hours at best, and in other cases, will lead to the vandalization and torching of buses," he told Army Radio.
Barkat told reporters recently that "It's illegal to forbid" advertising women. But "in Jerusalem, you've got to use common sense if you want to advertise something. It's a special city, it's a holy city with sensitivities for Muslims, for Christians, for ultra-Orthodox."
If women are being figuratively erased from the city's advertising landscape, then there are also attempts afoot by the devout to muzzle them.
In September, nine religious soldiers walked out of a military event because women were singing — an act that extremely devout Jews claim conjures up lustful thoughts...READ MOREThe Gallery... a Growing Gardens for Palestine poem by Anne Selden Annab
The Gallery
I dreamedof him again...
We
were at the end,
in a gallery of treasures.
Along every wall were podiums
of all different heights holding
great silver urns and bowls
of all different sizes and shapes
smooth surfaces polished
reflecting ornate details
rims and handles
and flourishes
And he turned to me
spoke gently
And we walked together
slowly through the gallery...
Speaking of what we knew-
what we value
treasure
as we made our way
towards the farthest wall
with wide open doors
revealing the hint
of an exquisite garden beyond.
poem & photo copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab
My letter to CSM RE "How wrangle over Jerusalem is at the core of a US Supreme Court showdown"
RE: How wrangle over Jerusalem is at the core of a US Supreme Court showdownhttp://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/1107/How-wrangle-over-Jerusalem-is-at-the-core-of-a-US-Supreme-Court-showdown
Dear Editor,
Regarding law suits and lobby efforts by misguided American Jews who want Jerusalem to be listed as Israeli on their children's American passports: For decades Palestinians have been enduring the daily trauma and anxiety of losing their homes and livelihoods in Israeli-controlled East Jerusalem as Jews-preferred Israel does all it can to evict the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land... Our Congress should not be empowering Israel's bigotry and apartheid policies.
Israeli 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.
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
Don’t demolish my future! UNWRA: Demolitions and the threat of displacement are ruining people’s lives in the West Bank.
The calamitous toll the [Israeli] settlement project has taken...
Plight of refugees hits close to home for William Salameh
AP Exclusive: Palestinians face steep court fees
4 November 2011 Statement on Israeli Withhold of PA Tax Revenues
The Arab Peace Initiative requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well...
Saliba Sarsar and Hussein Ibish: The Palestinian Statehood Bid - What Comes Next?
Dr Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."
Palestine's Salam Fayyad: "We have been trying to do the very best we can."
In Detroit, ambassador makes case for Palestinian nation
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?
What's God got to do with it? If you want freedom and security, you need the following...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)