My letter to the Washington Post RE Wading into the Middle East morass By Jackson Diel

Film Forum Emad Burnat is a Palestinian farmer who lives with his wife and four small children in the village of Bil’in in the central West Bank. Teamed with Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi, the two men document Burnat’s experiences with his neighbors, the Israeli army, and Israeli activists as his village is increasingly drawn into a multi-year conflict over the construction of a barrier that will confiscate much of the village’s cultivated land. His “five broken cameras” are all shot or smashed in the course of nonviolent demonstrations by the villagers: olive trees are burnt; buildings are bulldozed and lives are lost.

RE: Wading into the Middle East morass By Jackson Diel
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-wading-into-the-middle-east-morass/2013/01/06/8879ec84-55c6-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html

Dear Editor,

Times change- awareness is raised: 5 Broken Cameras, a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a Palestinian village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements, is up for an Oscar.

Awareness has been raised and continues to rise- that is not a morass, that is a golden opportunity to finally move beyond the extremist rhetoric, militancy, cynicism, religious idiocy, bigotry, ignorance, misinformation and propaganda that has been sabotaging peace in the Middle East for decades.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   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

Palestinian Refugees(1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

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

"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

Empowering Peace & Palestine

"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."

The Arab Peace Initiative

Refugees and the Right of Return
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.