Annie's New Letters (& notes)

Saturday, February 7, 2026

In Growing Gardens for Palestine Mother and her child (أم وطفلها), mud on wood, 2000 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Mother and her child (أم وطفلها), mud on wood, 2000 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Mother and her child (أم وطفلها), mud on wood, 2000 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

During the first Intifada (1987 – 1993), Palestinians boycotted Israeli goods as a form of resistance.

Artists, in their turn, boycotted Israeli art supplies.

Four Palestinian artists, Vera Tamari, Nabil Anani, Tayseer Barakat, and myself, formed the “New Visions” group.

Artists turned towards their environment and used wood, leather, mud, henna, natural dies, and found objects.

This new approach helped to develop Palestinian art and formed a link between Palestinian art produced for several decades after Alnakbah and contemporary art created by young Palestinian artists. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162242212696051&set=a.10150390568516051

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

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Bishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna: Resolving the Palestinian issue is the key to peace....

Bishop Atta Hanna

Archbishop of the Orthodox Rome

Theodosios Atallah Hanna

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Resolving the Palestinian issue is the key to peace....

Emptying the Palestinian land from its inhabitants is an old and new colonial scheme, and we have recently noticed an increase in the policy of eradicating the Palestinians from their lands in the midst of the continuous and continuous assaults of the settlers who attack the security citizens and target their lives and livelihood in all its details.

Lately we are seeing an uptick in settlers attacks who seek to intimidate citizens with their barbaric, unacceptable and unjustified ways.

It is a purposeful plan to empty the Palestinian land from its original inhabitants and all Palestinians have the great responsibility to uplift this people and protect them from all attacks, policies and racist practices.

That the issue of arranging the inner Palestinian house is not an intellectual luxury as much as it is an urgent need to preserve the remaining Palestinians in this holy land.

They lied to us when they told us about peace and about two countries for Shaaban, so today we observe that the Palestinian lands are being stolen, and the Palestinian issue is being filtered, and we are certain that all projects to filter the Palestinian issue have failed miserably.

Where are the Arab brothers from all of this, and they who once said that Palestine was their first cause.

That the War of Genocide has clearly shown the reactionary Arab state, and everyone is aware that the occupation could not have fulfilled its conditions, agendas and programs if it were not for the Arab illusion, so if the Arabs were in a better condition, we wouldn't have reached where we have reached in Palestine and other places, despite the gloomy picture, we are We will remain optimistic because the Palestinian issue is a case of right and justice, and it cannot be broken or filtered, no matter how they conspire on it and plan to filter it, but this requires from the Palestinians more wisdom, sobriety, awareness and unity in the face of challenges.

The whole world must realize that peace begins with Palestine and through solving the Palestinian issue, which is the key to peace and conspiring on the Palestinian cause and on the oppressed Palestinian people will not get us anywhere to the real peace we want and desire.

Bishop Atta Hanna
Archbishop of the Orthodox Rome
Jerusalem 31/1/2026

https://www.facebook.com/theodosios.atallah.hanna

Theodosios Atallah Hanna

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We raise our prayers this morning for our people in Gaza, affected, and for our children in the West Bank who are being targeted in a horrific way, in pious and unbiblical ways and methods.

Palestinians are all targeted in their land and in their livelihood and in every detail of their lives. We ask you, O Lord, while we are in our holy city, to be with our people and all our children in their distress, pain and pain.

Our people in Gaza deserve to live with dignity, and to be blessed with life, which is a gift from God, and also our people in the West Bank deserve to live in better conditions, and to enjoy the freedom of movement from one place to another, away from barriers, away from assaults and from compromising.

We pray for our Palestinian people, who are subjected to oppression and terrorism policies in more than one place and in more than one site.

O Lord, have mercy on this oppressed people, and be with them and protect them, and keep them away from all evil.

A STATEMENT FROM THE PATRIARCHS AND HEADS OF THE CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM ON UNITY AND REPRESENTATION OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE HOLY LAND

January 17, 2026

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the ﬂock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our ﬂock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.

Holy Scripture teaches us that “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5). To claim authority outside the communion of the Church is to wound the unity of the faithful and burden the pastoral mission entrusted to the historic churches in the very land where our Lord lived, taught, suﬀered, and rose from the dead.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches further note with concern that these individuals have been welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally. Such actions constitute interference in the internal life of the churches and disregard the pastoral responsibility vested in the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their ﬂock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.

May the Lord, who is the Shepherd and Guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in this sacred land.

—The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/announcements/a-statement-from-the-patriarchs-and-heads-of-the-churches-in-jerusalem-on-unity-and-representation-of-the-christian-communities-in-the-holy-land/

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Human Rights Watch researchers resign after report on Palestinian right of return blocked : The organization claims the report, which finds Israel’s denial of the right of return is a crime against humanity, is ‘paused pending further analysis and research’

Human Rights Watch's Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir, a US citizen, sits at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on 9 May 2018. Photograph: Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images

This story was co-published with Jewish Currents

Two Human Rights Watch (HRW) employees who make up the organization’s entire Israel and Palestine team are stepping down from their positions after leadership blocked a report that deems Israel’s denial of Palestinian refugees the right of return a “crime against humanity”.

In separate resignation letters obtained by Jewish Currents and the Guardian, Omar Shakir, who has headed the team for nearly the last decade, and Milena Ansari, the team’s assistant researcher, said leadership’s decision to pull the report broke from HRW’s customary approval processes and was evidence that the organization was putting fear of political backlash over a commitment to international law.

“I have lost my faith in the integrity of how we do our work and our commitment to principled reporting on the facts and application of the law,” Shakir wrote in his resignation letter. “As such, I am no longer able to represent or work for Human Rights Watch.” The resignations have roiled one of the most prominent human rights groups in the world just as HRW’s new executive director, Philippe Bolopion, begins his tenure.

In a statement, HRW said that “the report in question raised complex and consequential issues. In our review process, we concluded that aspects of the research and the factual basis for our legal conclusions needed to be strengthened to meet Human Rights Watch’s high standards. For that reason, the publication of the report was paused pending further analysis and research. This process is ongoing.”

Shakir said that his experience illustrated that while public opinion has evolved on Israel in the last several years – with “concepts of apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing” increasingly voiced in mainstream circles – the right of return remains a third rail. “The one topic,” he said, “even at Human Rights Watch, for which there remains an unwillingness to apply the law and the facts in a principled way, is the plight of refugees and their right to return to the homes that they were forced to flee.”... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/03/human-rights-watch-researchers-resign-palestine?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

This story was co-published with Jewish Currents. You can find a longer version on their site here

Monday, February 2, 2026

‘A violation of our history’: Palestinian uproar over Israel’s plan to seize historic West Bank site- Residents of Sebastia say heritage project is pretext for massive land grab and expansion of Jewish settlements

The expropriation of the site near Sebastia is the largest ever seizure of land for an archaeological project since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. Photograph: Jason Burke/The Guardian

Jason Burke and Sufian Taha in Sebastia

Mon 2 Feb 2026 06.52 EST

The Byzantine-era church lies half hidden in the shade. Roman columns rise from among the olive trees, even older ruins linked to Israelite kings are overgrown. To the west, the Mediterranean is just visible on the horizon. To the north and south are the hills of the occupied West Bank.

In the small town of Sebastia, a hundred metres or less east of the ruins, everyone is very worried.

In November, Mahmud Azem, the mayor of Sebastia, received a notice from Israeli authorities announcing the seizure of the whole of the sprawling hilltop archaeological site next to the town.

Though there have been reports of an Israeli government project to develop the site for several years, the notice came as a shock. Most of the 3,500 Palestinian residents depend on either tourism at the site or their olive trees for their livelihoods.

The current plans for development of the site involve a visitors’ centre, a car park, and a fence that will separate the ruins from the rest of the town, cutting residents off from the ruins and any olive orchards that survive.

“Unfortunately Sebastia has gone into a dark tunnel,” said Azem, 50. “It is an aggression against Palestinian landowners, against olive trees, against tourist sites and it is a violation of the history and the heritage of Palestine.”

The expropriation of 182 hectares (450 acres) at Sebastia is the largest ever seizure of land for an archaeological project since Israel occupied the West Bank after its victory against Syria, Egypt and their Arab allies in 1967... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/02/palestinian-uproar-israel-plan-seize-historic-site-sebastia-west-bank?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Sunday, February 1, 2026

1940s, Lydda, Palestine

Pals

@palsofnations

https://x.com/palsofnations/status/2017496148458561681/photo/1

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