This Week in Palestine: Uniquely Palestinian..."... find your own edge, and your own way of being Palestinian, one that isn’t bound by a certain reality but celebrated with the most random and small details and loves."

October 2015, Issue 210

Uniquely Palestinian

Cover Photo: Elegant Palestinian embroidery.

Photo courtesy of: Purple Threads.

Editor Message

By: Tala Abu Rahmeh

What is uniquely Palestinian? Olive oil? Struggle? Stones? A map hung on every wall of historical importance and rights being constantly re-debated?

Perhaps that’s part of being Palestinian, but it can’t be all of it. We are all so uniquely different and special and terrible in our own little ways, and that is what makes us the most beautiful.

In this lovely new issue, we have so many stories about what makes a Palestinian Palestinian. We present to you “Embroidery as a Source of Palestinian Identity,” by Hanan Karaman Munayyer; “Jerusalem’s Palestinian Identity and Intangible Heritage,” by the ever-brilliant Ali Qleibo; “One border, Two Worlds” by Fida Jiryis, about the worlds on either side of an Israeli checkpoint; two lovely and difficult articles by Mariam Barghouti and Hasheema Afaneh; Al-Shajara al-Mubaraka by Nada Atrash and Sami Backleh; and many other pieces that bring to life the beauty and ordinariness of being Palestinian.

Our personality of the month is Albert Aghazarian, and our artist of the month is Osama Said, both special and inspiring, and a delight to read about

We hope that in these articles you find your own edge, and your own way of being Palestinian, one that isn’t bound by a certain reality but celebrated with the most random and small details and loves.

May you always be free, and may you always be you.

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 http://thisweekinpalestine.com/embroidery-as-a-source-of-palestinian-identity/

Embroidery as a Source of Palestinian Identity

By: Hanan Karaman Munayyer

 "...International museum exhibits of traditional Palestinian costumes are some of the best ambassadors to the world, communicating a wealth of positive cultural information to audiences whose only knowledge of Palestine is usually of war images and violence. More of such beautiful cultural images of Palestine are needed to counteract the negativity faced by Palestinians every day."

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

My letter to the NYTimes RE Mahmoud Abbas Gives Up on Peace

"Gandhi proved that non-violence – the principle and the practice – can change history,” Mr. Ban noted. “His mass campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience helped pave the way for the independence of India, and have inspired countless movements for change across the world.”UN NEWS 10-2-2015 UN Photo: “Non-Violence,” a sculpture by Karl Fredrik Reutersward, sits permanently outside UN Headquarters in New York

 RE Mahmoud Abbas Gives Up on Peace
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/opinion/mahmoud-abbas-gives-up-on-peace.html
Dear Editor,

"But the failure of everyone — Palestinians, Israelis and Americans — to build on the promise of Oslo is a tragedy for all. "  Very very true.

However it is not the details of Oslo or any other road map or plan that is being abandoned, it is the basic premise that state building, diplomacy and negotiations to shape a just and lasting peace for both Israel and Palestine that is being forsaken and rejected.

We are all to blame, everyone of us worldwide weighing in full of passion and rage or indifference. We have all failed- Palestinians, Israelis, Americans; poets and reporters, preachers and politicians, cartoonists and mathematicians, businesses and charities and aide and activists and everyone else. All flawed.

Now what. I say move on forward, knowing that we are all flawed. Move forward calmly and carefully for peace in peace with peace for both Israel and Palestine... for everyone's sake.  A fully secular two state solution based on full respect for universal human rights and the rule of fair and just laws is reasonable and right.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

Palestinians Get Approval to Fly Flag at United Nations in a bid for statehood... "It is a symbolic thing, but another step to solidify the pillars of the state of Palestine in the international arena," said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the UN.

Palestinian man holds a flag during a protest outside the Damascus Gate, east Jerusalem in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood

Palestinian flag set to fly at UN New York HQ

In Paris, Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah on Thursday called the flag vote "a step on the road towards Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations."

Mansour [Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the UN] said the initiative had the potential to "give our people some hope that the international community is still supporting the independence of the state of Palestine.

"Things are bleak, gloomy, the political process is dead, Gaza is being suffocated. This flag resolution is like the small light of a candle to keep hope alive for the Palestinian people."

NYTimes report: Palestinians Get Approval to Fly Flag at United Nations

Iconic Palestine mountain gazelle now endangered, say scientists ...the animals could soon go the same way as their closest relatives who once lived in Syria and Egypt and are now believed to be extinct.

The Palestine mountain gazelle – under threat from loss of habitat, predation and collisions with road traffic. Photograph: Alamy

Numbers of the gazelles, whose habitat is in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – including a population that lives in the hills on the outskirts of Jerusalem – have dropped to about 2,000 identified individuals.... Just 200 of the animals survive in Turkey.

 “The damage to the gazelle population stems from the chopping up of their habitats due to construction, paving of roads and erection of fences."...... "It is therefore vital to maintain contiguous open areas and ecological corridors, especially in gazelle habitats."

My letter to CSM RE Refugee crisis: Israelis invoke Holocaust as they debate how to respond

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Riham Dawabsha, the mother of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha who was burned alive in an arson attack by Israeli extremists on July 31, died from her injuries late Sunday, after fighting for her life for over a month.... Israeli settlers smashed the windows of two homes in Duma, before throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside, killing infant Ali, who was trapped inside the house, and critically injuring the other family members.... Israeli settlers have carried out at least 142 attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the start of this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs... Only 1.9 percent of complaints submitted by Palestinians against Israeli settler attacks result in a conviction, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din reported.

RE Refugee crisis: Israelis invoke Holocaust as they debate how to respond- Israel is building a new fence along its border with Jordan amid widespread soul searching over whether it should allow Middle Eastern refugees to come in.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0911/Refugee-crisis-Israelis-invoke-Holocaust-as-they-debate-how-to-respond

Dear Editor,

Israel's obsession with demographics created and continues to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee crisis which began in 1948 with the Arab-Israel war. UN Resolution 194 from 1948 clearly outlines the expectation that those 750,000 Palestinian men women and children, those refugees “wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date..."   http://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194

Today more than ever, the international community- and American newspapers- need to be more honest about Israel and the huge harm that Israel's demographic obsessions have done to the region.

Israel, in violation of international law, has already built a divisive land grabbing wall on Palestinian land in the West Bank, while at the same time generously subsidizing Jewish settlements in the illegally occupied territories. Palestinians who had hoped to build a Palestinian state alongside Israel on the remnant remaining of what was historic Palestine 70 years ago do not have control of their own land, airspace or borders.

Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict ASAP with a fully secular two state solution that FULLY respects The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, would go a long way towards calming down the entire region, as well as setting a good example as to how modern nation-states based on the rule of fair and just laws are more secure, more prosperous, more sane and a much better alternative than a religious state: Tax payers here and there should not be forced to fund and empower Jewish or Islamic religious "scholars" and schemes- and endless war with escalating refugee crises.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

The Golden Rule : a general rule for how to behave that says that you should treat people the way you would like other people to treat you

PA to pressure Israel to allow refugees seeking asylum into Palestine

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

Palestinian Refugee Camp

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767448
Sept. 5, 2015

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas is hoping to build international pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian refugees seeking asylum into the occupied Palestinian territory, the Palestinian Authority official news agency Wafa reported Saturday.

Abbas reportedly directed the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyadh Mansour, to work with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toward "appropriate and necessary action" to allow Palestinians refugees displaced by conflict in foreign countries to take refuge in the territory.Abbas told Wafa that allowing refugees to return to the occupied Palestinian territory was not only a humanitarian mission, but also a right of every Palestinian refugee.

Wafa reported that Abbas' office "has been making contacts with the UN, EU and other relevant actors, urging them to pressurize the Israeli government to allow Palestinian refugees back into the oPT."

Palestinian refugees living across the Middle East are among millions severely affected by conflict in Syria, Iraq and parts of Lebanon.

While the Palestinian population in Iraq has fallen by more than two thirds since the US-led invasion in 2003, the Palestinian population has seen further devastation in Syria's four-year conflict.

According to Palestinian legal rights group Badil, as of April, around 80,000 Palestinian refugees had fled Syria, while of the 480,000 Palestinians remaining, 280,000 were internally displaced and 95 percent were in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

According to the Action Group for Palestinians in Syria, a rally took place in May where Palestinian refugees in the country demanded that the Palestinian leadership take them out of war-torn Syria and "bring them back to their homeland Palestine."The action group says that at least 228 families, consisting of 884 Palestinian refugees, fleeing Syria were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip between Feb. 2011 and Oct. 2014.

The right of return for all refugees is guaranteed by international law under the Geneva Conventions.

Up to 800,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in modern-day Israel during the 1948 war, and today their descendants number approximately five million, spread across the world.

However, Israel, which disputes the Palestinian right of return, has tightly controlled Palestinian borders since it occupied the territory in 1967.

In late 2012, Abbas called on Ban Ki-moon to help Palestinian refugees in Syria return to the occupied territory, but with no result.

The issue of refugees has come to international attention in recent weeks, with thousands of asylum-seekers making the treacherous journey by land and sea to Europe.

Heart-rending pictures of a toddler's lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach sparked horror on Wednesday as the cost of .... a growing refugee crisis hit home.

Wearing a red T-shirt and blue shorts, the child -- identified as three-year-old Aylan Kurdi -- is believed to be one of least 12 Syrians who died when their boats sank trying to reach Greece.

Istanbul (AFP) - Heart-rending pictures of a toddler's lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach sparked horror on Wednesday as the cost of Europe's growing refugee crisis hit home.

The images of a tiny child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey's main tourist resorts has once more put a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.

From my old friend Palestinian-American Mike Hanini Odetalla's facebook wall:

#Refugees taken in by:
#SaudiArabia: 0
#Qatar: 0
#Kuwait: 0
#Emirates: 0
#Bahrain: 0

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The archaeologist who looked after ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria for 40 years, Khaled al-Asaad, was taken hostage {and murdered by Daesh/ISIS} after IS seized the Unesco World Heritage site this year BBC News 2015

 

A cloud rises above where the Temple of Baal Shamin stood in Palmyra until {Daesh/ISIS}Isis blew it up in August 2015... Isis is destroying the ‘Venice of the sands’ piece by piece – and worse atrocities may be yet to come.

Kidnapping and Sex Slavery: Covering ISIS' Religious Justification for Rape

The New York Times

Aug 14, 2015 - Rukmini Callimachi discusses how she worked to tell the stories of Yazidi women and girls held as sex slaves by the Islamic State.

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FYI

#‎Jordan‬ hosts second largest number of {Syrian} ‪#‎refugees‬ per capita — 2015 report ‪#‎Amman‬ ‪#‎JO‬ #Jordan http://ow.ly/RJ6yP

According to official figures, there are some 1.4 million Syrians in Jordan. - See more at: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/jordan-hosts-second-largest-number-refugees-capita-%E2%80%94-report#sthash.TLNe3Xcq.dpuf

Refugees from 44 nations, including Somalis, Iraqis and Sudanese, reside in Jordan, according to the UNHCR. - See more at: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/jordan-hosts-second-largest-number-refugees-capita-%E2%80%94-report#sthash.TLNe3Xcq.dpu

My letter to the NYTimes RE Roger's Cohen's Middle Eastern Zen

MOHAMMED OMER: Gaza, Gulag on the Mediterranean AUG. 24, 2015

RE: Roger's Cohen's Middle Eastern Zen
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/opinion/roger-cohen-middle-eastern-zen.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Roger's Cohen's Middle Eastern Zen is only possible because his world view totally ignores the part Jews-preferred Israel has played in creating and sustaining a mind boggling long and huge and increasingly complicated refugee crisis.

The Middle East with scarce water and lots of religious extremism goaded on by all who invest in bigotry- including Israel- might only last long enough for many MANY more people to suffer in many MANY more ways as the people there are living thinking feeling human beings who would rather not be stuck in impoverished refugee camps, walled ghettos and jobless quagmires for generations to come.

Daesh/ISIS is decidedly more despicable and cruel than Israel, but that is no reason for foolish Americans to fund, empower, and then excuse or ignore Israel's ongoing persecution, oppression and displacement of the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine.

Now more than ever is a good time to insist that Israel start seriously respecting international law and universal human rights: A just and lasting peace, a fully secular peace shaping fair and just laws, for both Israel and Palestine as two fully separate, fully sovereign nation states, would go a long way towards freeing all the people from perpetual hostilities, escalating pollution and poverty- and crowded refugee camps.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Middle East Refugee Crisis 2013 photo: Syria-Iraq border

 "Tens of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have put to sea this year in the hope of reaching Europe, often dangerously packed into small vessels that were never designed to cross the Mediterranean.

Those who make it ashore and others traveling by land have increasingly tried to make their way north via the Balkans, causing tension among countries along the route... "

8-27-2015: Up to 50 refugees found dead in truck in Austria, European leaders 'shaken'

My letter to the NYTimes RE Naftali Bennett on Israel's Jewish Terrorists

ATFP news link

Obama: Palestinians deserve end to indignity of occupation

Talking to the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, President Obama said that he would never give up hope for "peace between Israelis and Palestinians."... "Palestinians deserve an end to the occupation and the daily indignities that come with it. That's why we've worked so hard over the years for a two-state solution and to develop innovative ways to address Israel's security and Palestinian sovereignty needs"

 

                                    *********

RE: Naftali Bennett on Israel's Jewish Terrorists
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/opinion/naftali-bennett-on-israels-jewish-terrorists.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Believing in the "legitimacy of the settlements in the West Bank" Israel's Bennett does not want a Palestinian state, but he also does not want to give Palestinians full and equal rights: Hiding in plain sight is the fact that Israelis want the land, but not the native non-Jewish population of that land...  Hiding in plain sight is the fact that institutionalized bigotry and injustice shape Israeli policy towards Palestinians, enabling Israel's sovereign violations of international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights to continue on at a rapid pace. 

Knowing how horrifying the headlines are as yet another Palestinian home is attacked and a Palestinian baby is burned alive by an Israeli, Israeli leadership is in overdrive to make excuses and distance themselves from responsibility for this situation.   Bennett's sweet talk in the New York Times about creating economic prosperity for Palestinians (with no mention of the fact Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are cruelly trapped and caged and constantly impoverished by Israeli checkpoints and walls) buys more time for more Israelis to usurp more Palestinian land, rights and life.

Religious extremism on both sides makes a bad situation even worse. Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular two state solution that includes full respect for UN Resolution 194 from 1948 regarding the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right to return to original homes and lands, is the only way to create true equality and peace and "a safe, secure future for all of our children, Israeli and Palestinian, without regard for their religion or sexual orientation."

America was able to acknowledge and dismantle the cruelty of Jim Crow mentality which convinced numerous 'law abiding' white citizens to feel good about being horrible to blacks - Israel can too.

Never forget the universal truth that: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

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

My letter to CSM RE Arson attack in West Bank deepens tensions over Jewish settlements

A man shows a picture of 18-month-old Palestinian toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha who died when his family house was set on fire by Jewish settlers ... Lion's share of attention

RE : Terrorism & Security Arson attack in West Bank deepens tensions over Jewish settlements (+video)

Dear Editor,

It is hard to know how best to respond to more heart breaking news regarding the horrific suffering of Palestinian children as Israel's illegal occupation grinds on and on, day after day year after year.

Insiders who are aware of the very real plight of the Palestinians know that time and time again context gets lost as basic facts are ignored.  FYI 28,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel since 1967.

FYI Israel currently has 261 Jewish-only settlements and ‘outposts’ built on confiscated Palestinian land.... oh and 2,061 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.... furthermore 5,750 Palestinian men, women and children are currently imprisoned by Israel (164 are children (17 under 16.) 

Price tag?  Calculate the sum of the big picture as Jews-preferred Israel, generously subsidized by both private and public funds, continues to harshly persecute, impoverish and displace the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land. 

Calculate the cost, and the cruel ramifications of the Israel/Palestine conflict as Palestinian refugees continue to be denied their inalienable natural, legal and moral right to return to original homes and lands.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

My letter to the NYTimes RE Jewish Arsonists Suspected in West Bank Attack That Killed Palestinian Toddler

 Ali Saad Dawabshe

RE Jewish Arsonists Suspected in West Bank Attack That Killed Palestinian Toddler
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/world/middleeast/west-bank-arson-palestinian-toddler.html?emc=edit_ee_20150801&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=22789767&_r=0

Dear Editor,

Many of the Israeli settlers currently usurping Palestinian land, rights and life are economic opportunists, some are religious zealots. All play a part in making a bad situation much much worse.

Israel's sovereign investments in the ongoing impoverishment, persecution and displacement of the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land generates both motives and opportunities for extremism on all sides to flourish.

Globally both private funds and public money are being funneled into empowering Israel's Jews-preferred policies, actively sabotaging respect for universal basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

A Palestinian family and home targeted for destruction by an Israeli- and an 18 month old Palestinian baby burned alive. This is not an isolated incident, connect the dots: "Since 1967 and the beginning of the Occupation, the Israeli government has demolished over 28,000 houses belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem." http://icahdusa.org/facts/... "Since 2000, at least 8,000 Palestinian children have been arrested and prosecuted in an Israeli military detention system notorious for the systematic ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children." http://www.dci-palestine.org/issues_military_detention

How much more cruel must the Israel/Palestine conflict get before America's media, and our politicians and religious leaders, are more honest about Israel and the part money and bigotry have been playing in perpetuating the very real plight and suffering of the Palestinians?

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

My letter to the NYTimes RE Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?

Bethlehem Behind the Wall

RE: Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?

Dear Editor,

Israel's decades long refusal to respect the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right to return to original homes and lands continues to exasperate the longest running refugee crisis in the Middle East: As things are today, with many Palestinian Christians pushed into poverty and forced exile by Jews-preferred Israel, Christians most certainly do not have an ally in "The Jewish State" with its ongoing quest to displace and destroy the native non-Jewish population of historic Palestine.

Do you think race or religion or gender are a good way to determine who gets citizenship rights and freedoms?

How can American leadership, and lobby groups- and Israel itself, see facts in context and the bigger picture, when news reports on the burgeoning refugee crises in the Middle East totally ignore Israel's sovereign choice to demolish Palestinian homes and impoverish Palestinian communities and individuals day after day after day for decades?   

Expecting Israel to set a better example by fully respecting universal human rights would go a long way towards calming down the entire region. We can't solve all the problems in the Middle East, the people living there have to do that, but we can send the clear message that we believe in the rule of fair and just laws and real democracy.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab