Please do not demonize and silence or destroy people who speak out peacefully against corruption, injustice, racism, bigotry, and violence of every type.

Semitic languages

 Dear America ,

Criticizing Israel is not Anti-Semitic.  Semites speak Semitic languages. Palestinians are Semites, but they are erased and excluded from the definition of Anti-Semitism... 

 

Palestinians are also being erased, excluded, and silenced by Israeli efforts to seize Palestinian land, rights, peace, and the story itself.   

We know about Anti-Semitism because of the crimes against humanity committed by Nazis who were taught to hate Jewish people and others.

 

The first prosecution for crimes against humanity took place during the Nuremberg trials (1945-1946) against defeated leaders of Nazi Germany, laying the ground work for modern international law.  

 

Nazis had been brainwashed by toxic propaganda to hate Jewish people.  But Nazis were held accountable for their war crimes.  Israelis should be too. 

 

Arming Israel and funding Israel's violations of international law and the Palestinians basic human rights is wrong. 

 

“Never Again means Never Again for anybody!” Every year Holocaust survivors and their descendants speak out about Israel’s cruelty towards Palestinian men, women, and children on Holocaust Memorial Day. It is not a huge crowd, but what they say is hugely important. We should listen.

 

Please do not demonize and silence or destroy people who speak out peacefully against corruption, injustice, racism, bigotry, and violence of every type. 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

American homemaker & poet

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

Jonathan Cook: Thirty years of Middle East lies just keep coming back to haunt us- The West’s ‘war on terror’ was built on a series of deceptions to persuade us that our leaders were crushing Islamist extremism. In truth, they were nourishing it

No To Hate: United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech

“We must condemn antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears – as we must condemn all forms of racism, prejudice and religious bigotry which we see proliferating today.”  @antonioguterres United Nations

Rashida Tlaib: Politicians should not be allowed to profit from war

Tlaib introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act to ban members of Congress and their families from owning defense stocks.

UNWRA 2025- Palestinian children dream of music and peace....

A family from Bethlehem in 1951

“Never Again means Never Again for anybody” Holocaust Survivors speak about Israel's Genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day -January 2025

UNWRA WORKS: In the first week of the ceasefire, 60% of all the food that entered the Gaza Strip was from UNRWA. If the ban on UNRWA is implemented in the next days, it will severely challenge the already fragile ceasefire including the delivery of lifesaving aid in Gaza #UNWRAworks

"I don’t think that God sent us prophets and books of light to fight each other over them. They actually tell us how to live together. " Yusuf/Cat Stevens

Frankly every Holocaust Museum on earth should have a wing added explaining the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish Palestinians. 75 years and counting...

CIVILIANS & their homes MUST BE PROTECTED 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 

America should not help Israel commit crimes against humanity.

Israeli Settlers threw molotov cocktails and rocks, breaking windows and setting several houses and cars on fire in each place they targeted in protest at the release of 90 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

"Since the war in Gaza began, settler violence has intensified further, displacing entire villages for the first time. On many occasions, the Israeli army has been documented failing to stop settler attacks, or even joining in."

"“We can’t even cross the road to our olive trees now or they’ll shoot at us,” he said of the settlers. “This is our land, and our houses, but they want us to leave for good.”"

‘A constant state of panic’: how war in Gaza triggered new wave of depression and insomnia among Palestinian refugees from 1967 war The stress of seeing the destruction of their homeland sent rates of mental illness soaring in Jordan’s Jerash camp – and the ceasefire has brought scant relie

Poet Mosab Abu Toha's January 22, 2025 Statement on the destruction of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza

Dear America- letter sent to my elected leaders: Please understand that our friend Israel already is a one state "solution" that has been oppressing and intentionally displacing the native non-Jewish Palestinians for decades now.

Unrwa may be forced to stop saving lives in Gaza. Will the world let that happen? Outrage over Israel’s attempt to dismantle our UN agency has largely petered out. The stakes are very high now Opinion piece by Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General

"Meanwhile, Hamas accuses Unrwa’s leadership of colluding with the Israeli occupation and opposes the agency’s efforts to promote human rights and gender equality. Far from being a party to the conflict, Unrwa is a casualty of this war." Philippe Lazzarini

CSM ‘Cold is death.’ For Gazans in flimsy tents, a winter of sorrow and loss. 

Human Rights Watch joins with nearly 90 other organizations in a letter opposing US sanctions against the International Criminal Court. It would be a terrible irony if a tool designed to penalize violators of human rights could instead contribute to their impunity. 

"The U.S. provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, a substantial increase from the already $3.8 billion in military aid the U.S. gives Israel annually. "

The best idea is to start with full support for fair and just laws based on full respect for basic human rights.

The United Nations & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Always, no matter what.... Even Wars Have Rules

"If the U.S. had held Israel accountable for the killing of other Americans like Rachel Corrie or Shireen Abu Akleh, perhaps Israeli soldiers would not feel so emboldened to kill Americans, and other civilians, today." Hamad Ali in The Hill 12/14/24

Dear America- Israel and its propagandists claim it is all about self-defense, but Israel is and has been the aggressor and the rule breaker.

Dear Elected Officials- Stop poisoning the land, and undermining international law.

My Letters https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/letters

 

"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

 

In the aftermath of the ceasefire in Gaza, 1.9 million displaced people urgently need shelter, aid, and psycho-social support.⁣ ⁣UNRWA plays a vital role in fostering stability and resilience during this critical time.⁣

Jonathan Cook: Thirty years of Middle East lies just keep coming back to haunt us- The West’s ‘war on terror’ was built on a series of deceptions to persuade us that our leaders were crushing Islamist extremism. In truth, they were nourishing it

Gaza- Palestinian refugees

January 30 2025

The story: Did you believe it 30 years ago when they told you that the Oslo Accords would bring peace to the Middle East? That Israel would finally withdraw from the Palestinian territories it had illegally occupied for decades, end its brutal repression of the Palestinian people, and allow a Palestinian state to be created there? That the longest runing sore for the Arab and Muslim worlds would finally be brought to an end?

The reality: In fact, during the Oslo period, Israel stole more Palestinian land and expanded the building of illegal Jewish settlements at the fastest rate ever. Israel became even more repressive, building prison walls around Gaza and the West Bank while continuing to aggressively occupy both. Ehud Barak, Israeli prime minister of the time, “blew up” – in the words of one of his own main advisers – the US-backed negotiations at Camp David in 2000.

Weeks later, with the occupied Palestinian territories seething, opposition leader Ariel Sharon, backed by 1,000 armed Israeli troops, invaded occupied Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque – one of the holiest places for Muslims in the world. It was the final straw, triggering an uprising by Palestinians that Israel would crush with devastating military force and thereby tip the scales of popular support from the secular Fatah leadership to the Islamic resistance group Hamas.

Further afield, Israel’s ever-more abusive treatment of the Palestinians and its gradual takeover of al-Aqsa – backed by the West – served only to further radicalise the jihadist group al-Qaeda, providing the public rationale for attacking New York’s Twin Towers in 2001.... READ MORE  https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2025-01-30/gaza-middle-east-lies/

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

No To Hate: United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech

Hate speech is rising around the world

Hate speech incites violence and intolerance. The devastating effect of hatred is sadly nothing new. However, its scale and impact are now amplified by new communications technologies. Hate speech – including online – has become one of the most common ways of spreading divisive rhetoric on a global scale, threatening peace around the world.

The United Nations has a long history of mobilizing the world against hatred of all kinds to defend human rights and advance the rule of law. The impact of hate speech cuts across numerous UN areas of focus, from protecting human rights and preventing atrocities to sustaining peace, achieving gender equality and supporting children and youth.

Because fighting hatred, discrimination, racism and inequality are among its core principles, the United Nations is working to confront hate speech at every turn. This mission is enshrined in the UN Charter, in international human rights frameworks and in global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech

In response to the alarming trends of growing xenophobia, racism and intolerance, violent misogyny, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred around the world, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech on 18 June 2019. This first UN-wide initiative designed to tackle hate speech provides a road map on how the Organization can support and complement States' efforts. The strategy emphasizes the need to counter hate holistically, while respecting freedom of opinion and expression, and to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, media outlets, tech companies and social media platforms. In 2021, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 18 June as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.

HATE SPEECH, MIS- AND DISINFORMATION

While there are no universally accepted definitions of hate speech mis- and
disinformation, UN entities have developed working definitions.

Hate speech, according to the working definition in the United Nations Strategy and
Plan of Action on Hate Speech, is “any kind of communication in speech, writing or
behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their
religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor”.

The difference between mis- and disinformation lies with intent.

 

Disinformation is information that is not only inaccurate, but is also intended to deceive and is spread in order to inflict harm. Misinformation refers to the unintentional spread of inaccurate information shared in good faith by those unaware that they are passing on falsehoods.

 

Misinformation can be rooted in disinformation as deliberate lies and misleading narratives are weaponized over time, fed into the public discourse and passed on unwittingly.

In practice, the distinction between mis- and disinformation can be difficult to
determine.

Mis- and disinformation and hate speech are related but distinct phenomena, with
certain areas of overlap and difference in how they can be identified, mitigated and
addressed. All three pollute the information ecosystem and threaten human progress.

The devastating effect of hatred is sadly nothing new. However, its scale and
impact are now amplified by new communications technologies. Hate speech
– including online – has become one of the most common ways of spreading
divisive rhetoric on a global scale, threatening peace around the world

Rashida Tlaib: Politicians should not be allowed to profit from war

Tlaib introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act to ban members of Congress and their families from owning defense stocks.

Rashida Tlaib represents Michigan's 12th District in U.S. Congress.

 

It’s incredibly disturbing that children in our country are drinking lead-contaminated water — while the U.S. Congress passed another record-breaking military budget of $895.2 billion. That’s nearly a trillion dollars going to weapons and war, and the Department of Defense can’t even keep track of where it’s all going. The Pentagon just failed its seventh audit in a row.

Even more disturbing is the fact that some members of Congress who own stock in war manufacturers benefit financially when they vote to pass funding for war.

When it comes to the Pentagon budget, I never hear my colleagues ask, “How are we going to pay for it?” But when it comes to addressing critical issues here at home, like ensuring every American has clean drinking water, fighting the climate crisis, providing universal school meals to every hungry child, ensuring quality childcare for every family or guaranteeing health care as a human right, my colleagues tell me that we just don’t have the money.... READ MORE  https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2025/01/29/rashida-tlaib-federal-budget-war-profiteering-congress-defense-stocks/77854378007/?taid=679a0db8bd13980001f8af50

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

UNWRA 2025- Palestinian children dream of music and peace....

 

Education

UNWRA's students are among the most highly educated in the region. Since the 1960s, girls have made up around half of UNRWA students.

 

Quality education helps young Palestine refugees understand the world in which they live and promotes values of tolerance, cultural identity, and gender equality. Through its education system, UNRWA aims to ensure that Palestine refugee students develop their full potential and become “confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful, and open-minded, to uphold human values and tolerance, proud of their Palestinian identity and contributing positively to the development of society and the global community”  https://www.unrwa.org/what-we-do/education

 

UNWRA provides assistance and protection for registered Palestine refugees 

 

"There is no alternative to UNRWA among UN agencies or NGOs" @‌UNLazzarini  

Without a political solution, UNRWA remains the sole provider of these essential services. A fully empowered Palestinian state is the only viable alternative to take over, but until then, UNRWA's mandate remains crucial for the stability and well-being of refugees across the region.  https://www.unrwa.org/

A family from Bethlehem in 1951

A family from Bethlehem in 1951.

“Never Again means Never Again for anybody” Holocaust Survivors speak about Israel's Genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day -January 2025

 

https://youtu.be/Posmzxqx4HA?si=3zOg7XZVPS3bkXRn

UNWRA WORKS: In the first week of the ceasefire, 60% of all the food that entered the Gaza Strip was from UNRWA. If the ban on UNRWA is implemented in the next days, it will severely challenge the already fragile ceasefire including the delivery of lifesaving aid in Gaza #UNWRAworks

UNRWA

@UNRWA

In the first week of the #ceasefire, 60% of all the food that entered the #Gaza Strip was from UNRWA. If the ban on UNRWA is implemented in the next days, it will severely challenge the already fragile ceasefire including the delivery of lifesaving aid in #Gaza #UNRWAworks

 

"I don’t think that God sent us prophets and books of light to fight each other over them. They actually tell us how to live together. " Yusuf/Cat Stevens

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

@YusufCatStevens

I don’t think that God sent us prophets and books of light to fight each other over them. They actually tell us how to live together. #Peace #Religion #Faith #Unity

Frankly every Holocaust Museum on earth should have a wing added explaining the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish Palestinians. 75 years and counting...

 

                                                                           1/28/205

The White House

Dear President Trump,

I agree that it is very important to stop racism, and hopefully part of that is in remembering the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.

BUT I do not agree with your statement on the National Day of Remembrance ofthe 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, 2025 that "To this day, the Jewish people proudly represent the peak of human tenacity and the pinnacle of human triumph."  Nor do I agree with your misguided support of Israel which claims to be The Jewish State. 

I firmly believe religion should be a personal, private choice, not a state funded project. 

Israel's discriminatory laws and refusal to fully respect the Palestinians' basic human rights, including but not limited to every refugee’s inalienable right to return to original homes and lands has created Apartheid in the Holy Land, and a HUGE refugee crisis.  There is nothing to admire about that, and there is no triumph in the IDF terrorizing and killing Palestinian women and children.

Our mainstream media acts more like a propaganda arm of the Israeli government than a free press or a Fourth Estate, and I am starting to suspect that every politician has his Zionist keepers that keep him in line with Zionist spin. 

True democracy with real freedom and justice depends on true equality. America is still working towards that, but at least we are trying. Israel is not.  Yes, there are some very admirable Jewish individuals, but most of them live in the West, not in Israel.  

Frankly every Holocaust Museum on earth should have a wing added explaining the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish Palestinians. 75 years and counting...

NEVER AGAIN has to be inclusive, or else it is totally meaningless.

International law is worth keeping, and so is UNWRA as long as the Palestinian refugees need it. 

 America's veto should be used for the universal good, not to pardon a foreign country's crimes against humanity.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

American homemaker & poet

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

CIVILIANS & their homes MUST BE PROTECTED 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 

America should not help Israel commit crimes against humanity.

Israeli Settlers threw molotov cocktails and rocks, breaking windows and setting several houses and cars on fire in each place they targeted in protest at the release of 90 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

"Since the war in Gaza began, settler violence has intensified further, displacing entire villages for the first time. On many occasions, the Israeli army has been documented failing to stop settler attacks, or even joining in."

"“We can’t even cross the road to our olive trees now or they’ll shoot at us,” he said of the settlers. “This is our land, and our houses, but they want us to leave for good.”"

‘A constant state of panic’: how war in Gaza triggered new wave of depression and insomnia among Palestinian refugees from 1967 war The stress of seeing the destruction of their homeland sent rates of mental illness soaring in Jordan’s Jerash camp – and the ceasefire has brought scant relie

Poet Mosab Abu Toha's January 22, 2025 Statement on the destruction of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza

Dear America- letter sent to my elected leaders: Please understand that our friend Israel already is a one state "solution" that has been oppressing and intentionally displacing the native non-Jewish Palestinians for decades now.

Unrwa may be forced to stop saving lives in Gaza. Will the world let that happen? Outrage over Israel’s attempt to dismantle our UN agency has largely petered out. The stakes are very high now Opinion piece by Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General

"Meanwhile, Hamas accuses Unrwa’s leadership of colluding with the Israeli occupation and opposes the agency’s efforts to promote human rights and gender equality. Far from being a party to the conflict, Unrwa is a casualty of this war." Philippe Lazzarini

CSM ‘Cold is death.’ For Gazans in flimsy tents, a winter of sorrow and loss. 

Human Rights Watch joins with nearly 90 other organizations in a letter opposing US sanctions against the International Criminal Court. It would be a terrible irony if a tool designed to penalize violators of human rights could instead contribute to their impunity. 

"The U.S. provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, a substantial increase from the already $3.8 billion in military aid the U.S. gives Israel annually. "

The best idea is to start with full support for fair and just laws based on full respect for basic human rights.

The United Nations & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Always, no matter what.... Even Wars Have Rules

"If the U.S. had held Israel accountable for the killing of other Americans like Rachel Corrie or Shireen Abu Akleh, perhaps Israeli soldiers would not feel so emboldened to kill Americans, and other civilians, today." Hamad Ali in The Hill 12/14/24

Dear America- Israel and its propagandists claim it is all about self-defense, but Israel is and has been the aggressor and the rule breaker.

Dear Elected Officials- Stop poisoning the land, and undermining international law.

My Letters https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/letters

 

"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

 

CIVILIANS & their homes MUST BE PROTECTED

No government is beyond scrutiny.

 &

"The protection of civilians during armed conflict is therefore a cornerstone of international humanitarian law. This protection extends to their public and private property. IHL also identifies and protects particularly vulnerable civilian groups such as women, children and the displaced... "  READ MORE  https://www.icrc.org/en/document/protected-persons/civilians-protected-international-humanitarian-law

International Holocaust Remembrance Day