In perspective... the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms..

A gold cup at the National Museum of Iran, from the first half of the 1st millennium BC

 

1776 Declaration of Independence USA National Archives

 

Cedar Tree of Lebanon

1920 With the end of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies give France a mandate over Greater Syria... France divides Greater Syria into Syria and Lebanon 

1948 End of the Nazi Holocaust & the emergence of The United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international law...

United Nations 

Preamble

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,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms... READ MORE https://www.unonline.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.html

 

 Golden Rule Thinking 

 FREEDOM OF & FROM RELIGION

 

Jesus Christ in Palestine AD 28-29 ancient mosaic from Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Palestine - A crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics, Palestine was among the earliest regions to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.

Iran 559 BC 

America 1776 AD

Lebanon 1920 AD

Israel 1948 AD

Hezboullah 1982 AD

Dear America- You can't win a modern war. You can destroy homes & families, you can usurp land & resources from the rightful owners, and you can undermine & destroy a free press and the fourth estate- but people worldwide have memories, as well as a sense of right and wrong that cannot be bombed into oblivion.

Forget-me-not flowers- A symbol of PEACE 

& Remembrance 

Dear America,

When my children were little I taught them to admit when they were wrong and to apologize.  It takes strength of character to do so.  Strength of character shapes a good person, and a good person helps makes the world a better place.

Lead by example: Greed and corruption are wrong.  Bully tactics are wrong. Insults are wrong. Lies are wrong... AND WAR IS VERY VERY WRONG.

We live in a world filled to the brim with stockpiles of both simple and sophisticated weaponry- all of it is polluting our shared planet earth. From the manufacturing to the deployment of lethal weaponry- bullets- bombs- bulldozers-missiles- jets- drones- molotov cocktails- war pollutes the land & air and war mongering pollutes minds as power hungry tyrants on all sides use bully tactics & bombs as if one can win a modern war.

You can't win a modern war. You can destroy homes & families, you can usurp land & resources from the rightful owners, and you can undermine & destroy a free press and the fourth estate- but people worldwide have memories, as well as a sense of right and wrong that cannot be bombed into oblivion.  

We live in the information age.  When our mainstream news failed to provide fair coverage of the full story for decades, our comics stepped up to say it in jokes, and the internet thrived as people reached out far and wide for more honest perspectives.  Now tech billionaires want to capture it all in massive hyper-scale DATA Centers that they control and can easily infiltrate, manipulate, and fill with AI artificial information/misinformation to empower their favored projects and politicians.

STOP and THINK...

Golden Rule thinking is enlightening: Respect for real freedom and democracy. Respect for UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS and the rule of fair and just laws to shape the best way forward, for everyone. Respect for real history and heritage, respect for differences and diversity, respect for human dignity- and ALL our children.

We are in the wrong to arm Israel as it steals land, rights, and peace from the people of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. 

And we are in the wrong to bomb Iran.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

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

"The Israeli military’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities, along with other practices, involved gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law, which in many cases may have amounted to war crimes and other atrocity crimes..." UN Human Rights Palestine

"For ease and speed, we are degrading our ability to connect and to organise our societies. We must assert our trust in humans over machines" Nesrine Malik

NPR: Israel seizes medieval castle as it expands major offensive in southern Lebanon... "Israel must know that its scorched earth policy, collective punishment and expropriation of villages and towns will not achieve security and stability but will instead deepen the divide with the Lebanese people"

“I have never in my career witnessed the level of atrocities and targeting of my medical colleagues as I have in Gaza,” Adam Hamawy, The doctor who came back from Gaza and is leading a New Jersey congressional race

"Speaking to the Guardian, readers in the US echoed the pope’s concerns, describing AI as an “unregulated” industry increasingly being used to the “detriment of too many people”, while also raising fears about surveillance, labor displacement, war and environmental harm."

"... Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate or even simulate, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom." Pope Leo XIV on AI Artificial Intelligence

"I was just a boy when I learned that my family would soon be leaving my beloved homeland of Palestine to begin a new life in America. To the adults, it was a practical decision—one made in search of opportunity and a better future, away from the suffocating Israeli occupation & oppression. But to me, it felt as though my entire world was being torn away. How could I explain what Palestine meant to a child? It was not merely a place on a map. It was the hills that encircled our small village of Beit Hanina and served as my endless playground. It was the olive and fruit orchards where I wandered freely beneath the sun. It was the caves hidden among the rocky slopes, the handmade kites dancing in the wind, and the familiar scent of earth after the rain. It was home." Mike Odetalla

"The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end? Suspected war crimes happen almost daily as Israel continues its bombardment, which Unicef estimates is killing nearly 14 children a day. We cannot write this off as just another war in a war-torn region"

"The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name..." Nesrine Malik

A network of fake academic journals masquerading as legitimate publications has published more than a hundred AI-generated papers in recent months, in some cases using the names of real professors at top universities without their knowledge- Online academic journals falsely attributed articles, likely written by AI, to several professors, who say the fiasco is a warning about the future of scientific knowledge.

Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt's 1948 letter to the New York Times: They saw the creation of a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine at the expense of its indigenous Muslim and Christian population as a profound injustice and moral catastrophe. Einstein and the other signatories explicitly compared Begin’s Herut (Freedom Party), born from the Irgun, to Nazis and Fascists, warning that their ideology of racial superiority and violent ethnic nationalism posed a grave danger to the moral and political future of the new state.

Ongoing Nakba in Gaza, Palestine: People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike... Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting

"At a moment when Islam is framed as a source of division, it is worth recalling that on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X encountered Muslims of all races, worshipping as equals together, an experience that transformed his understanding of race and human dignity. It revealed an Islam grounded not in fear, but universality, exposing the poverty of racial hierarchies and the distortions that sustain them." Kenneth Mohammed in The Guardian

TIME: The Solemn History Behind Nakba Day ... From 1947 to 1949, 531 towns were destroyed by Israeli militias- Of the 1.4 million-strong Palestinian population at the time, 800,000 were displaced; the massacres of families and towns left enduring scars on the survivors.

"Reducing inequality was “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet”" .......Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds- Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%

Dear Governor Shapiro- The word 'antisemitism' excludes Arabs and Muslims, and has come to mean criticizing Zionism which is a political movement that is shaping horrifically cruel policies and actions here and in Israel and Palestine. So maybe find a better word or phrase to use- like 'bigotry' or 'racist hate' or 'mental illness' to describe hate mongering violations and violence.

 DEAR AMERICA

STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Along the way we learned that slavery is wrong. We learned that domestic violence is wrong. We learned that racist hate is wrong. SO WHY are we funding Israel and why are we bombing Iran for Israel!!!

Violence is a problem- not the answer

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"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

Dear America- STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

 

The ‘Golden Rule’ mosaic is based on a work by US artist Norman Rockwell. It was presented to the @unitednations  in 1985 and is on display at UNHQ in New York.

Dear America

Please stop rewarding greed, corruption and the many manipulative lies told by con-artists who want our money and support, but not our democratic ideals.

Taxpayers' money should be funding peoples' actual needs, not religious fantasies or CEO schemes and false advertising.

END WAR!!! Real life is not a Hollywood movie or a video game with a clear hero saving the day. Real life is the interconnected work and wisdom of many individuals shaping a civilization that includes us ALL... Dialogue and diplomacy and well-informed insights based on factual information are the only way save the day and our planet. 

STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws. 

No more money for weaponry & a global arms race that undermines world peace, pollutes the planet, and pushes countless individuals and families into destitution and pain.

Treat ALL people the way you want people to treat you.  Let Golden Rule thinking and being save the day.  Set the right example with what you say and do.

We don't need bombs. We don't need Ballrooms... and we don't need more Data Centers.

We need fresh air and funds for schools, museums, libraries, healthcare, local police, park rangers, National Parks (plus State and local ones too), and we need serious and sensible efforts to curb pollution. 

FURTHERMORE, no more accepting bribes and bad advice from billionaires who grew wealthy by underpaying workers- and no more pushing funds away from Social Security and healthcare programs that We the People need! 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab 

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

What is Fringe ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

"Reducing inequality was “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet”" .......Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds- Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%

Pentagon quietly shut legally required program to prevent civilian deaths by military, watchdog finds Trump administration accused of cutting military’s civilian harm program in light of US strike on girls school in Iran

Asia's oldest living organism, the ancient Abarkuh cypress tree - at least 4500 years old - is rooted in land that was already known as Iran at the time.

"Given the way things are going in the US, corporations seem to have more freedom of speech than university students. And it might not be long before datacenters have more rights than women."   The Week in Patriarchy  AI (artificial intelligence)

How a New Israeli Policy Cuts Off Humanitarian Aid in Gaza- Months into the ceasefire ["ceasefire"], Israeli officials barred thirty-seven international N.G.O.s. A Doctors Without Borders clinic is carrying on without antibiotics, or even chairs for patients

The True Story of Israel's Creation: Debunking Israel's Foundational Lies from Their Leaders' Mouths

Historical reckoning: The push for the US to acknowledge the Nakba... On the 78th anniversary of the mass expulsion of Palestinians, experts say US ‘political amnesia’ continues.

From the [first] Nakba to Gaza’s ruins: One man’s lifetime of displacement. Nakba survivor in Gaza recounts displacement after 1948 and 2023 and his unwavering attachment to his homeland.

Nakba: Jewish voices are challenging the stories Israel tells about itself A film director, historian and Holocaust survivor speak to Al Jazeera as opinions shift.

6 Things to Know About the Palestinian Nakba by the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) - May 12, 2026

"Living for decades in crowded refugee camps in the West Bank, the elderly survivors who MEE met spoke of their steadfast yearning to return to their former homes. Some said they still have dreams at night of working in the fields. Azza, who now lives in al-Amari camp near the city of Ramallah, recalls how Tell al-Safi used to be a self-sufficient village with an abundance of various crops - fields growing wheat, barley, corn, sesame, tomato and okra, while trees bore olives, apples, figs and almonds. "At the edge of the village, there was a water well and, using animals, water was pumped from the well to water tanks,” she recalled. “We didn’t need anything from outside the village.""

Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe, explained Middle East Eye breaks down the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, which continues to define events in Israel-Palestine today

"What they could not do in 1948, they are doing now...." From Nakba to genocide: A Gaza grandmother’s lifetime of loss and resilience. At 95, Fatema Obaid has survived two massive Israeli assaults, lost 70 family members and endured starvation and repeated forced flight - but still refuses to leave her homeland

TIME: The Solemn History Behind Nakba Day ... From 1947 to 1949, 531 towns were destroyed by Israeli militias- Of the 1.4 million-strong Palestinian population at the time, 800,000 were displaced; the massacres of families and towns left enduring scars on the survivors.

May 15th, 2026 marked 78 years since the beginning of the Nakba ethnic cleansing of Palestine: Zionists displaced more than 750000, including 90000 Christians. Many churches and villages were destroyed to establish the Jewish state of Israel on these ruins

“The past two and a half years have been one of daily horror and fear as Palestinians have watched our families and friends massacred, starved and tortured,” she said, describing this period as the darkest chapter in Palestinian history since 1948: British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist

"It was like being given the choice between suicide or being murdered" Palestinians forced to demolish own homes to make way for Israeli theme park. Residents of al-Bustan district told to make way for Kings Garden, with knocking down own houses cheaper option

The secret mission to rescue the UN’s vital Palestinian refugee archive- Millions of documents chronicling generations of trauma saved from Gaza and East Jerusalem in 10-month Unrwa operation

Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank - United Nations news 12 May 2026 ... Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming a growing number of Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.

Act now: Fund People, Not Bombs .... from Jewish Voice for Peace "This week, the Senate will vote on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the sale of U.S. weapons to the Israeli military. In the coming months, it will also vote on a supplemental request by the Trump administration to fund the war on Iran that may be as large as $80-100 billion. Congress must vote to block these bombs to Israel and oppose any funding for the war. "

Abby Martin exposes the media's role in normalizing genocide.... & The Empire Files premiered its highly anticipated film about the devastating impact our environment and planet are experiencing due to the United States military-industrial complex. Titled “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,”

Know Her Name: Shireen Abu Akleh [a prominent Palestinian-American Journalist] spent 25 years making sure people could not claim they did not know what was happening. Then she was killed by Israeli military fire doing exactly that.

FOUR YEAR AGO Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian Christian journalist, was assassinated by an Israeli sniper while covering the events taking place in the Jenin. Shireen was, and still is, an icon of the free Palestinian voice. May she rest in peace, and may her memory live forever. شيرين أبو عاقلة، شهيدة الحق.

"The moral and political degradation of Israel is the subject of this remarkable book. The author, Omer Bartov, has impeccable credentials for writing it: he was born on a kibbutz, he served as an officer in the IDF, and is currently professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University in the US." Avi Shlaim in The Guardian

“I continue to speak out because the kids are counting on us,” she said. “I continue because I would want people to speak out if it were my kids. It’s my calling to care about all children. It’s just who I am and I can’t not care.”

My Sister Najah (AY) By Mike Odetalla of Beit Hanina, Palestine

Aunt Jameela's Bread. A Story of Food, Family, and Love..... A beautiful new book by Palestinian-American Mike Odetalla about childhood and baking bread in his homeland

" “I think [Palestine] is the moral issue of our time and I believe it’s been used to undermine democratic institutions in the US,” Elghandour said. He referred to the cancelled invitation as a sign or “erosion of free speech and the first amendment”. “We’ve seen a livestreamed genocide,” he added. “And we’re supposed to worry about the feelings of the people who support that.” " Rami Elghandour

"Lethal Israeli attacks on an engineer and drivers transporting water have intensified the water crisis that is fuelling the spread of infectious diseases; Médecins Sans Frontières has called the weaponisation of water supplies a campaign of collective punishment. Never mind the estimated $70bn cost of reconstruction; homes are still being flattened. Families in tents face a rat infestation. Essential medicines are unavailable. Hospitals and schools lie in ruins." The Guardian view on ceasefires that aren’t: Israel never stopped killing in Gaza

NPR- Skeletons in their clothing: Recovering bodies from the rubble in Gaza....An Israeli drone buzzes over a sea of debris in northern Gaza, where homes were turned into mass graves...

The short film “Every Day in Gaza” has won the First Prize in the Short Film category at the 71st edition of the David di Donatello Awards, often referred to as the “Italian Oscars.” Produced in 2025, the film tells the story of a barber from Gaza who narrates, in his own voice, the horrors and devastations of war. To date, the film has been screened in over 90 cinemas worldwide.

This isn't Gaza today, it's Yaffa (Jaffa) in 1948. No H*mas, no October 7. Just the same story repeating itself: erase, then occupy.

In Gaza, reconstruction is urgently needed. Despite the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of displaced people are still living in overcrowded make-shift sites, with nowhere else to go. Thousands of people continue to live in UNRWA buildings, where our teams supply clean water, sanitation staff maintain hygiene, and children engage in learning activities. #UNRWAworks

"When a real and final catastrophe should befall us in Palestine the first responsible for it would be the British and the second responsible for it the Terrorist organizations build up from our own ranks [Jewish]." Albert Einstein April 10, 1948

"They massacred Arab babies" -1948 headline reporting on the Palestinian village of Dier Yassin where Zionist terrorists armed with bayonets slaughted men, women, and children.

"Liberation - Catharsis" by Najat El-Khairy- a collector and lecturer on Palestinian embroidery who uses her art to preserve this cultural legacy.... "The olive grove and doves are prominent features in the artwork. The olive grove with its trees represents peace, while the two doves in the sky symbolize freedom and the right of return."

Jonathan Pollard, a former US navy intelligence analyst jailed for 30 years for spying for Israel, has said he will stand for election to the Knesset this year on a platform of ethnic cleansing.

Dear America- Along the way we learned that slavery is wrong. We learned that domestic violence is wrong. We learned that racist hate is wrong. SO WHY are we funding Israel and why are we bombing Iran for Israel!!!

DEAR AMERICA

Violence is a problem- not the answer

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"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

Dear America- The devastation and cruelty of the Nazi Holocaust proved beyond the shadow of a doubt how modern weaponry and racist hate were a truly evil combination. We now have The United Nations, international law, and Universal Human Rights to steer more sane and compassionate choices for all human beings. Empower that please!

Yaqob's Mission: As a photojournalist, he aims to "share the truth about what is happening in Gaza with the world". His work highlights the deep psychological trauma and instability faced by children, where it is estimated that 96% of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent. Children Not Numbers

letter I just sent to my elected leaders 

Dear America,

Impoverishing America coming & going with misguided foreign policies plus a budget that aggressively funds war and weaponry to destroy faraway homes, jobs, and economies mainly helps destroy families and our future right here in America.

Many Americans already struggle to afford basics like food, housing, healthcare, and transportation. Misguided government spending compounded by corporate greed and corruption only makes this situation worse.

Our tax money should be invested in the people's needs NOT WAR!   Modern war is poisoning the planet. 

It is painfully obvious to me and many others that a large portion of America's leadership have been primed and/or bribed to hate Arabs and Muslims. How else to explain America's continued arming of Israel while Israel bombs refugee camps and apartment buildings filled with children in Gaza.

Don't put the cart before the horse: Long before Hamas or Hezbollah were created Israel was destroying Palestinian homes and communities. 

Israel has been destroying Palestinian homes, communities, farmland, jobs, schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure for decades now. 

But heck even ignoring the Israeli bombs, bulldozers, checkpoints, closures, imprisonment of and cruel attitudes towards the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine- why has America been supporting and arming Israel as it violates international law and all borders, illegally occupying the land that is supposed to be a part of Palestine... Syria... and now Lebanon!

Stealing land and resources is WRONG!  You want the Ten Commandments in our classroom so read them please:

6. Thou Shall Not Murder.

8. Thou shall not Steal.

9. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. Thou shall not Covet.  https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-are-the-10-commandments-their-meaning-and-significance.html

War has always been wrong, but once upon a time people in power were able to influence which voices were heard, how stories were told, and what side "won" and was remembered.... Times have changed.

The devastation and cruelty of the Nazi Holocaust proved beyond the shadow of a doubt how modern weaponry and racist hate were a truly evil combination. We now have The United Nations, international law, and Universal Human Rights to steer more sane and compassionate choices for all human beings.  Empower that please! 

Empower goodness and decency and diplomacy.  Empower the rule of fair and just laws. Empower Golden Rule Thinking at every turn.

Just as Israel's blatantly racist war on the indigenous Palestinians is evil and wrong, Trump's misguided "preemptive" war on Iran is evil and wrong in every way.

America should not be trusting Israel and its Zionist minions to translate and negotiate, or give good advice. 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

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

"It’s no accident, Israel murdered her. From Shireen to Amal, the press vest is a target for Israel." Assal Rad

May 11, 2022: Palestinian American Arab Christian Journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was assassinated by Israeli sniper fire while she was documenting and exposing Zionist violence & Israeli crimes

"Remember this was the Israeli military's first response after murdering Shireen Abu Akleh in broad daylight, repeatedly lying about it and then getting away with it. Doing Journalism was [IS] enough to get you killed by Israel." Yousef Munayyer

Israel’s military “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance”... Journalist Amal Khalil had been buried in rubble after an Israeli strike that also injured another journalist, Zeinab Faraj. In total Israeli strikes killed five people on Wednesday, including Khalil, despite the ongoing ceasefire. Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam said the targeting of journalists and the obstruction of relief efforts constituted “war crimes”.

Trump wants $1.5tn for the Pentagon – and cuts to healthcare and housing. The president’s proposed $445bn increase in military spending would batter popular domestic programs as millions struggle

The TWO BILLION DOLLARS a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday. He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone ages, was very dangerous since it encourages every “wannabe autocrat” to use similar threats and tactics, including the destruction of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

"All they will find is sand" Eyal Weizman on the demolition of Gaza in The London Review of Books April 2026

The terrifying reality of life under US sanctions by Brian Feeny in The Irish Times... & Francesca Albanese responds "Surely my life is not easy. But it is nothing compared to that of the Palestinians under Israeli Apartheid, who continue to be genocided and tortured. With or without sanctions, I will not stop standing for justice. Together we can and we will. #UNA"

News is propaganda everywhere with America duped, taxpayers robbed, & international law ignored while war mongering Israel aggressively gains endless power and resources.

"Israel created the largest group of child amputees in modern history and now blocks prostheses... The cruelty is always the point." Assal Rad

"We're talking about a federal administration that has spent close to $30 billion dollars killing thousands of people at a time when working class people across this country cannot afford the bare minimum," he said. "And to be told that a city-run grocery store is implausible, but spending more than $500 million a day to kill people in Iran and Lebanon is not only plausible but necessary, it speaks to a broken kind of politics." Zohran Mamdani April 17, 2026 NPR interview

The United States is destroying itself - The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

Israeli forces have fired teargas at Palestinian schoolchildren who were staging a sit-in in the occupied West Bank after settlers blocked access to their school.

‘My life has become a rollercoaster’: Francesca Albanese on death threats, danger and dread after accusing Israel of genocide. When the UN special rapporteur published her report Anatomy of a Genocide in March 2024, she was lionised by some and demonised by the Trump government. She describes what happened next...

What Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right really mean when they invoke ‘Greater Israel’ - The concept is about much more than acquiring territory, it is also about Netanyahu’s desire for Israel to become a regional superpower.

Israel’s attack on UNRWA is central to its genocide of the Palestinians: UNRWA’s mandate to provide for Palestinian refugees makes it a direct threat to the Israeli genocidal project.

‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon ... Rights groups fear tactic of ‘domicide’ trialled in Gaza, where entire areas are made uninhabitable, is being used again

We reiterate the urgent need Israel to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure civilians are protected. Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy.

Dear America- Israel's aim is to be THE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER that we once were.

American leadership has been opting to waste billions and now trillions of our tax money on war, all for what?

Please stop funding and fueling Israel's wars and the ongoing destruction of historic Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria... and Iran.

War and terrorism are for tyrants, not for freedom or justice. Bully tactics teach all the wrong lessons.

Billionaires want Ballrooms. The rest of us want clean water; safe neighborhoods; good schools, libraries, & museums; National Parks; playgrounds; PBS; good job opportunities for ourselves and our children; affordable heath-care; AND PEACE.

Real freedom, justice, and democracy are being embezzled by corporate greed and political corruption to empower Israel and war.

Funding and arming terrorism and violence is evil and wrong: America should not be funding, arming, defending, or trusting today's Israel in any way, shape or form.

Violence is a problem- not the answer.

Pope Leo urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to chose peace. This should not be a peace “imposed by force”, he stressed, but one achieved through dialogue – “not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them”.

Red Cross ICRC: Indiscriminate warfare is indefensible and incompatible with law... Deliberate threats, whether in rhetoric or in action, against essential civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities must not become the new norm in warfare. Any war fought without limits is incompatible with the law. It is indefensible, inhumane and devastating for entire populations. Across the Middle East, our teams are seeing the destruction of infrastructure essential for civilian life. Power plants, water systems, hospitals, roads, bridges, homes, schools, and universities have come under fire. Most alarming are potential threats to nuclear facilities. Any miscalculation can cause irreversible consequences for generations to come.

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"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

DEAR AMERICA

Dear America- Israel's aim is to be THE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER that we once were.

United Nations ACT NOW for a peaceful world 

Dear America,

We have been duped & fleeced by a foreign power that wants our money, weaponry, and support in order to undermine real democracy and the rule of fair and just laws.

Israel's aim is to be THE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER that we once were.

Israel has yearned for war on Iran for years, and now, thanks to Trump and his Zionist son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Israel has a two for one deal with America and Iran both undermined, weakened, impoverished- to be eventually destroyed by a war instigated and perpetuated by Israel.

Time and time again our so-called friend Israel leads us into a trap.

Israel does not want peace- it wants targets and excuses to wage war. 

Right now, a U.S. Israeli is Israel’s ambassador to the United States- Yechiel Leiter.  How many other U.S. citizen's first allegiance is to Israel, not America.

Israelis help fund, build, and populate the illegal settlements and armed fortresses that have been stealing Palestinian land, rights and peace for decades. Lebanon and Syria are also being attacked and occupied by Israel. 

The world will not be a safer or saner place with Israel as THE ONE AND ONLY GLOBAL SUPERPOWER. 

Israel used the United Nations and international law to come into being in 1948, and Israel is now doing all it can to destroy the United Nations, international law, diplomacy and real dialogue.

FYI citizenship in Israeli is based on religion, hypocrisy, blatant injustice... and misinformation.  Israel's disinformation campaigns reach worldwide, pitting groups against each other and ramping up racist hate, rage, and war. 

Say no to war, and say NO to Israel.  Bring out all the best in people, not all the worst.

Say YES to the United Nations & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights- for everyone's sake.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

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

"Just when the outcome of a war and the stability of global markets hung in the balance, the president chose spectacle over engagement." The Guardian view on US-Iran talks: Trump’s diplomacy falters as risk of war grows

An American blockade in the strait of Hormuz raises energy-market dangers after failed negotiations – pushing a fragile ceasefire closer to collapse

Israel’s attack on UNRWA is central to its genocide of the Palestinians: UNRWA’s mandate to provide for Palestinian refugees makes it a direct threat to the Israeli genocidal project.

Bright Stars of Bethlehem: "You know when you live in a context like Palestine. Where our lives are being interrupted on a daily or weekly basis. We have almost every other year, a war. You feel everything is falling apart around you. And culture is the art to breathe. When everything around you is falling apart, culture keeps you sane. Culture keeps you going. Culture empowers you with a new vision and strength to continue and to excel in spite of everything. And so it wasn't by chance that we started the first and only university in Palestine with this focus on arts and culture." -Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Speaking to the world's leaders, the pope said, "Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned, and deadly actions are decided!" However, all the world's people also have a duty to reject the violence in their own hearts and minds, and help build a kingdom of peace each and every day in one's own home, school and community, he said. "Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics," he said, urging people to learn more and "get personally involved" in being part of "the mosaic of peace!"

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,"

The New Yorker: Since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire, on Tuesday night, Israel has continued pummelling Lebanon with air strikes, killing more than three hundred people on Wednesday and wounding over a thousand more.

 Israel’s War in Lebanon Has Not Stopped

While America and Iran negotiate a ceasefire, Beirut remains under siege.

‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon ... Rights groups fear tactic of ‘domicide’ trialled in Gaza, where entire areas are made uninhabitable, is being used again

We reiterate the urgent need Israel to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure civilians are protected. Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy.

"Whenever we remember a loved-one Israel killed, the world says they went to a better place, and I only wonder why doesn't Israel just go to a better place?" Mohammed Mousa

“There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society's infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations.” Conflicts end when leaders choose dialogue over destruction, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stresses.

Imagine what we could have done to educate, inspire, and care for our children here instead of spending billions to bomb our children there.... Whatever there you are thinking about right now, there are [& they are] our children, too.

Red Cross ICRC: Indiscriminate warfare is indefensible and incompatible with law... Deliberate threats, whether in rhetoric or in action, against essential civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities must not become the new norm in warfare. Any war fought without limits is incompatible with the law. It is indefensible, inhumane and devastating for entire populations. Across the Middle East, our teams are seeing the destruction of infrastructure essential for civilian life. Power plants, water systems, hospitals, roads, bridges, homes, schools, and universities have come under fire. Most alarming are potential threats to nuclear facilities. Any miscalculation can cause irreversible consequences for generations to come.

"THIS IS NOT AN ABSTRACT THOUGHT. We are standing in the place where the stone was rolled away, yet we know all too well that many stones remain sealed around us. Too many tombs have been dug again by hatred, violence, and retaliation. In this Holy Land, which is the mother of faith and has also become a land of constant conflict, the question resounds with dramatic force: “Where have you laid him?” For it seems that we place the Lord back in a tomb every time we believe that death has the final word over history, every time we resign ourselves to the logic of the enemy, every time we call an armed truce “peace” and the calculation of damage “justice.” CARDINAL PIZZABALLA AT THE HOLY SEPULCHRE ON EASTER SUNDAY

350 Palestinian children are in Israeli prisons on Palestinian Children’s Day, amid escalating, systematic, and direct arrest campaigns targeting them.

Pope Leo urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to chose peace. This should not be a peace “imposed by force”, he stressed, but one achieved through dialogue – “not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them”.

Pope urges world leaders to lay down weapons

On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo appeals to world leaders to choose “not to dominate others, but to encounter them”.

PBS News: Lebanese Christians displaced by war mark Easter far from their homes and churches

Trump’s Iran war has cost Americans at least $11bn already. And that’s just the start- That $11.3bn doesn’t include any estimate of repairing facilities or replacing losses.- Arwa Mahdawi

Dear America- American leadership has been opting to waste billions and now trillions of our tax money on war, all for what?

Centuries before America's Declaration of Independence in 1776 (and our subsequent Bill of Rights)- in 1095 the First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II— with a call to arms for Christians to reconquer Jerusalem from the Muslims.

Please stop funding and fueling Israel's wars and the ongoing destruction of historic Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria... and Iran.

War and terrorism are for tyrants, not for freedom or justice. Bully tactics teach all the wrong lessons.

Billionaires want Ballrooms. The rest of us want clean water; safe neighborhoods; good schools, libraries, & museums; National Parks; playgrounds; PBS; good job opportunities for ourselves and our children; affordable heath-care; AND PEACE.

Funding and arming terrorism and violence is evil and wrong: America should not be funding, arming, defending, or trusting today's Israel in any way, shape or form.

A barbaric new era has already begun as Americans are duped into being wage slaves for billionaires who have no respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Golden Rule Thinking IS GOOD

Our land and resources are being gobbled up for AI data centers for what purpose? Is it for the greater good of tax paying citizens- or is it to feed the greed of corporations and companies that already use our data to charge us as much as they can at every turn.

Real freedom, justice, and democracy are being embezzled by corporate greed and political corruption to empower Israel and war.

"ISRAEL SAYS" is not God talking.

Israel has a right to exist, but Israel has no right to starve and displace the men, women and children of historic Palestine.

The vast majority of Americans are not wealthy & the taxes that We The People pay are being diverted into funding religious bigotry and terror via Israel's cruel war on the native non-Jewish men, women, and children of historic Palestine. HAMAS cruelty and stupidity echoes Zionist cruelty and stupidity and on and on it goes. Neither approach will build peace or security.

The weapons industry and a global war machine- AND INJUSTICE- burgeon with American tax payer funds.

Violence is a problem- not the answer.

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"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

DEAR AMERICA