Tuesday, February 2, 2010
My letter to the Guardian RE A real plan to build Palestine by Hussein Ibish
RE: A real plan to build Palestine, The PA's proposal to unilaterally build the framework of a Palestinian state is a legal, peaceful response to Israel by Hussein Ibish
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/palestinian-state-build-israel
Dear Sir,
Ibish asks the crucial question "Do we really mean what we say about the importance of peace based on the creation of a Palestinian state, and are we willing to act on it?"
And I hope the answer is yes- a heartfelt firm YES that helps create positive momentum for a real Palestine invested in peace and prosperity:
A fully accountable Palestine focused in on being the best it can be- no matter what.
A secular and safe Palestine that strives to be democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts- for armed 'resistance' has only brought haunting sorrow and suffering and painful exile to the children of historic Palestine.
A turn the page Palestine, opening a new chapter with the potential of many happily ever afters.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
FREE ? Stories celebrating human rights... compelling collection to benefit Amnesty International
This title will be released on April 13, 2010.Pre-order now!
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
What does it mean to be free? Top authors donate their talents to explore the question in a compelling collection to benefit Amnesty International.
A boy who thinks that school is "slavery" learns the true meaning of the word when he stumbles on a secret child-labor factory. A Palestinian boy, mute from trauma, releases kites over a wall to a hilltop settlement, each bearing a message of peace. This inspiring, engaging anthology gathers an international roster of authors to explore such themes as asylum, law, education, and faith — from a riveting tale of an attempt to find drinking water after Hurricane Katrina; to a chilling look at a future where microchips track every citizen’s every move; to a hilarious police interrogation involving the London Tower, the Crown Jewels, and a Ghanaian boy with a passion for playing marbles. Features an introduction by British writer Jacqueline Wilson.
With stories by:
David Almond
Ibtisam Barakat
Malorie Blackman
Theresa Breslin
Eoin Colfer
Roddy Doyle
Ursula Dubosarsky
Jamila Gavin
Margaret Mahy
Patricia McCormick
Michael Morpurgo
Sarah Mussi
Meja Mwangi
Rita Williams-Garcia
A boy who thinks that school is "slavery" learns the true meaning of the word when he stumbles on a secret child-labor factory. A Palestinian boy, mute from trauma, releases kites over a wall to a hilltop settlement, each bearing a message of peace. This inspiring, engaging anthology gathers an international roster of authors to explore such themes as asylum, law, education, and faith — from a riveting tale of an attempt to find drinking water after Hurricane Katrina; to a chilling look at a future where microchips track every citizen’s every move; to a hilarious police interrogation involving the London Tower, the Crown Jewels, and a Ghanaian boy with a passion for playing marbles. Features an introduction by British writer Jacqueline Wilson.
With stories by:
David Almond
Ibtisam Barakat
Malorie Blackman
Theresa Breslin
Eoin Colfer
Roddy Doyle
Ursula Dubosarsky
Jamila Gavin
Margaret Mahy
Patricia McCormick
Michael Morpurgo
Sarah Mussi
Meja Mwangi
Rita Williams-Garcia
unwra... The Desert Rose: a new concept of recycling
The Desert Rose: a new concept of recycling
31 January 2010
Gaza
A strict blockade has been imposed by the Israeli government since the Hamas takeover of the Strip in June 2007. The blockade means that no building materials can enter the Strip and only certain basic commodities and humanitarian goods can be brought in.
Wood is among the commodities not allowed in. This is just one of many problems facing Adel and other Gazans. “We needed new pieces of furniture and cannot find wood in the local market. At the same time we were, and are, unable to import it,” Adel explains.
Many shelters were demolished during Israel’s military operation in Gaza in early 2009. This, along with the day-to-day need of growing families, means that furniture is in high demand. However, the ban on imports of raw materials means that there is very little furniture to buy in Gaza.
The eureka moment
Adel has thought of an ingenious way to solve this problem. “I suddenly thought of the wooden pallets on which UNRWA brings in humanitarian goods. I started to explore the possibilities and realised that I had a potential solution,” he says.
To implement his plans, Adel and the KYTC needed two major components: a wooden pallet supply and skilled hands to recycle and transform these pallets into furniture.
Adel turned to Jodie Clark, the UNRWA Procurement and Logistics Officer, who was happy to give the KYTC full access to all the pallets UNRWA receives.
“Growing a rose in the desert”
Khalid Al Haj was chosen after an interview at the KYTC to take the wooden pallets and transform them into furniture as part of UNRWA Job Creation Programme (JCP).
Khalid, who is in his early forties, worked in Israel for more than eight years as a professional carpenter. In January 2001, Khalid, like other Gazans, lost his job when Israel decided to close the Gaza borders following the eruption of the second Intifada. Since then, Khalid has been looking for a job and has only been given short-term opportunities with some old friends.
“It makes me feel very proud when I see what I can make out of something that people throw on the fire. It is really amazing to imagine furniture and then make it into reality from the pallets. It is like growing a rose in the desert,” Khalid says.
Text and photos by Milina Shahin
Monday, February 1, 2010
End of long ordeal for Palestinian refugees as desert camp closes
"I am very happy that this is finally over," said Abu Mohanned, one of the relocated refugees. "We have been waiting for this for such a long time and yet we are anxious about what's next. We have suffered a lot and have been forced to leave with no document in hand after living 60 years in Iraq. We just want a place that welcomes us and recognizes us as human beings."
http://www.unhcr.org/4b67064c6.htmlEnd of long ordeal for Palestinian refugees as desert camp closes
News Stories, 1 February 2010
© UNHCR/B.Diab
Palestinian refugees head towards the buses that will take them to Syria after years in Al Tanf.
DAMASCUS, Syria, February 1 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency closed the Al Tanf refugee camp between the borders of Syria and Iraqi on Monday and relocated the last of the Palestinian refugees who had been stranded in the bleak no-man's land for nearly four years.
UNHCR, working in cooperation with the Syrian authorities, transferred the last 60 camp residents on Monday morning. They will be housed temporarily at another refugee camp, Al Hol, inside Syria.
"I am very happy that this is finally over," said Abu Mohanned, one of the relocated refugees. "We have been waiting for this for such a long time and yet we are anxious about what's next. We have suffered a lot and have been forced to leave with no document in hand after living 60 years in Iraq. We just want a place that welcomes us and recognizes us as human beings."
Al Tanf is a makeshift camp located on a narrow strip in no man's land between the Syrian and Iraqi borders. It was set up in May 2006 for Palestinian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq as no country in the region would accept them.
Their stay was intended to be temporary but lasted nearly four years, during which the residents had to face harsh desert conditions: extreme temperatures, sandstorms, floods and several risks of fire with difficult access to medical services.
UNHCR and its partners – mainly UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – had provided assistance to the refugees to alleviate their suffering. Meanwhile, UNHCR has been actively seeking humanitarian solutions for these refugees by requesting states give them a chance to start a new life.
"Today we were able to close this camp and this is a very important step and achievement in responding on a humanitarian basis to the situation of people who were stranded there as a result of fleeing persecution. This is the result of joint efforts with the Syrian authorities and the resettlement countries," said Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR's deputy representative in Syria.
"However, there are still hundreds of Palestinian refugees from Iraq who are in Al Hol camp in the north-eastern province of Hassake and they also need the same compassion and understanding," he said.
The last moments were filled with emotion and hopes for the future. Families gathered next to the camp's main entrance, taking a last look at the desert site where they had lived. They were relieved to be leaving, but tense about their uncertain future.
Out of the 1,300 Palestinian refugees who had lived at different times in the camp, more than 1,000 were relocated to third countries, including Belgium, Chile, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Although the living conditions in Syria's Al-Hol camp are slightly better, circumstances are not sustainable and a solution is still needed for more than 600 Palestinians from Iraq currently living there.
The exact number of Palestinian who fled Iraq is unknown. Al Tanf is one of three camps that received Palestinian refugees from Iraq. Currently, there are around 2,000 in Al Hol and in Al Waleed camp, which is on the Iraqi side of the border. UNHCR will continue to advocate for a dignified solution for all those Palestinian refugees stranded in camps in 2010.
By Dalia Al-Achi in Damascus, Syria
"Every beautiful poem is an act of resistance." http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/Books/5518353-183/story.csp
WORDS FOLLOW ME: Speech on the Surface of the Night
Jerusalem is Palestinian Too by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
| Date posted: February 01, 2010 By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH | |
| The policy is so obvious that if it were a physical manifestation it would certainly represent itself as a literal slap in the face. Israel’s goal of emptying Jerusalem of its Jerusalem residents has become so blatant even the simplest of minds can see it. This article is inspired by the story of a man who, like so many others, is now facing deportation from his own land. Elias Khayyo, a 41-year old native of Jerusalem, whose entire family comes from the Old City’s Christian quarter, is now being told by Israel’s infamous interior ministry that he is no longer eligible to live in the place where he was born. Apparently, according to a Haaretz article about Khayyo, the young man spent several years in the United States. His Jerusalem ID, the Israelis claim, was revoked from him on a trip back home in 2006 on grounds that he had spent “too much time” outside of Jerusalem and entered the country on his American papers with a promise that his residency would be worked out in Jerusalem. Khayyo is now sitting in an Israeli detention facility in Ramleh inside Israel, awaiting the final decision on his deportation. Khayyo’s situation is, sadly, far from uncommon. Since Israel’s capture of the eastern sector of Jerusalem in 1967 it has worked feverishly towards its declared goal of Jerusalem remaining the unified and eternal capital city of a Jewish Israel. Given the fact that a mass extermination of Palestinians is inconceivable in this time and age, consecutive Israeli governments have proceeded to carry out a stealthily insidious scheme to rid Jerusalem of its non-Jewish residents as effectively as possible under the misnomer of legality. Revocation of residency cards is just one means among many. According to Israeli “law” in Jerusalem, if a permanent resident fails to live in the city for more than seven years their residency rights in the city can be revoked, leaving them virtually stateless. That is why Palestinian residents of Jerusalem scramble to prove that their “center of life” is in the city, including the production of electricity and phone bills, school records and places of work. If these documents are not all in order, if for example a Jerusalem resident lives outside the boundaries of the city (which they often do because of lack of housing), they may be paid a less than cordial visit from an interior ministry employee. Anyway, Khayyo’s case is one of thousands. In 2008, the Israeli ministry stripped 4,577 Jerusalemites of their residency rights, the highest since Israel’s occupation of the city. In all, Israel has stripped approximately 8,558 people of their IDs since 1967 according to Israel’s own interior ministry. It is not only Jerusalem residents who are subject to the racist wrath of Israel’s policies towards Palestinians. Add to this, foreign nationals who either work in Palestine, who are of Palestinian origin or are simply sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Israel denies them entry, raids their homes and night and duly deports them or stamps their passports with “Palestinian Authority only” visas thus banning them from entering Jerusalem or the Green Line. The amazing thing is that Israel does not hide its intentions, not even a bit. Late last year, Israel announced it would stop granting work visas to international NGOs working in Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem. The decision will have ramifications for about 150 organizations working for Palestinians. Already, many international organizations have either moved their offices from Jerusalem to the West Bank to avoid Israeli red tape for their foreign employees. Even international aid giants such as Oxfam and the UN are not immune. One UNFPA employee, who is of Palestinian origin but who holds US citizenship had her work visa (issued by the Israeli foreign ministry) ripped up in front of her at Ben Gurion Airport and duly told that if she wanted to enter Israel, she would have to come as a visitor even though the UN had sent her on an official work mission to Jerusalem. Even UN bigwigs who are bravely vocal about Israel’s violations of Palestinian and international rights, especially in Gaza have been given the boot. Richard Falk former UN Special Rapporteur was denied entry to Israel in December, 2008 after voicing his concerns and criticisms of Israel over its siege on the Gaza Strip and its breaches of human rights in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Recently, Israel also deported Maan news network editor Jared Malsin after denying him entry to the country at Ben Gurion Airport. Malsin was held in the airport’s detention facility for over a week before being sent back to New York. The reason given for deportation? Malsin had apparently “authored articles from the Palestinian territories that criticized the State of Israel.” While the list goes on for miles, including other repressive measures such as home demolitions, land confiscations and denial of access to land because of the separation wall, the one element that is starkly disturbing is how acquiescing the world is to Israel’s policies. How can such racist policies, oppressive against a people on the sole basis of their ethnicity be so acceptable in this day and age? Especially when they are carried out by a country that claims it is the beacon of democracy in the Middle East? It is mind baffling, no doubt. The Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are dwindling by the day, not because they do not want to remain in the city of their ancestors but because Israel makes it increasingly difficult for them to stay. Stories like that of Elias Khayyo are abominable and need to be told, if only to put the rest of the world to shame. Israel is pushing towards the realization of an ultimate goal: making this country a Jewish state. If it cannot push out all of the Palestinians, it is definitely doing its best to vacate them at least from Jerusalem. Because of the world’s compliance, it is unfortunately getting its way. Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org. | |
My letter to the Guardian RE Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's West Bank occupation leading to one-state solution
RE: Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's West Bank occupation leading to one-state solutionhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/31/mahmoud-abbas-israel-west-bank
Dear Sir,
One-state escapism won't solve anything- unless you are an Israeli settler eager to own it all... Dr. Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine pointedly refers to the one state call as the one state agenda- not a solution: What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda? Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal
Writing in This Week in Palestine Queen Rania of Jordan wisely reminds us that "The world needs to hear Palestine’s story: the pursuit for peace … the desire for healing … the craving for education … the longing to rebuild." Education: the Unifier, the Healer
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
"The world needs to hear Palestine’s story: the pursuit for peace … the desire for healing … the craving for education … the longing to rebuild."
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2989&ed=178&edid=178
Education: the Unifier, the Healer
By Rania Al Abdullah Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Divided… partitioned… severed.
Wherever you look, Palestine is a fractured land.
In fact, as you have no doubt experienced, it is impossible to visit Palestine and not be confronted by blockades and barriers. As a visitor, it is likely you will have had the luxury of being delayed only momentarily…a brief hiccup in your journey.
It is a luxury the children of Palestine do not enjoy.
Too many little boys and girls begin their school day negotiating hurdles no child should have to: lengthy queues to be let through checkpoints, brusque demands for their identity papers, armed soldiers searching their school bags and schoolbooks. All they want to do is learn. But their day begins with divisions and segregation, with insecurity and fear.
Left unchecked, these feelings can take root and taint the young minds of a new generation. In a region yearning for reconciliation, we simply cannot risk that happening.
Access to quality education, well-equipped classrooms, and motivated teachers eases those feelings. That is why, against all odds, the people of Palestine - parents, grandparents, teachers, and children - fight for the right to education every single day. They know, more than most, the importance of lifelong learning, critical thinking, and innovation, not just for economic progress, but for social and political peace.
In fact, education is the one thing that unites people in this splintered land. They know that a good education equals justice, and the beginning of healing between nations.
But with a burgeoning youth population, restrictions on building new schools, overcrowding, teachers waylaid at checkpoints, and crippling poverty, ensuring that all of Palestine’s children receive the education that is their right requires a herculean effort.
So, one is mobilised.
When roads are closed and children barred from reaching their schools, teachers hold classes at checkpoints. When schools are falling apart, teachers open their homes to students to provide a space to learn. And when there are no teachers, retirees step in to fill the void.
Pride and dedication extend throughout the whole school community.
Recently, I smiled at the story of one headmaster in Jerusalem who demands that students wear clean and pressed uniforms; shirts tucked in regardless of the fact that they are amid a conflict zone. For him, respect for appearance is respect for education.
Teachers, too, have displayed remarkable grit under conditions unthinkable in the West: some have laboured throughout the school year without pay because of a lack of funds. In thanks, some communities have donated money to the schools to help pay wages. One of the main reasons they don’t give up, according to a teacher in Jerusalem, is because “the students push us to stay and teach them more.”
What drives such determination to educate at all costs? Simple: education is a defining trait of the Palestinian national character; it is integral to their identity, their resilience, and their resistance. It is cohesion. It is the preservation of their culture.
And yet, even this spirit, this commitment, cannot guarantee education for all. Currently there are 108,000 Palestinian children out of school, denied an education, through no fault of their own. Ten years ago, this figure was just 4,000.
Those numbers are rapidly going in the wrong direction if we hope to raise a generation of open-minded, tolerant young people; if we hope to secure a future of justice and stability for Palestine and our region; if we hope to heal.
The world needs to hear Palestine’s story: the pursuit for peace … the desire for healing … the craving for education … the longing to rebuild. That’s why your visit here is important. Even as a traveller, just passing through these blessed lands, you can help Palestine’s children by telling their story … in their words.
Thank you.
Rania Al Abdullah
Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Queen Rania Al Abdullah.
|
By Rania Al Abdullah Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Divided… partitioned… severed.
Wherever you look, Palestine is a fractured land.
In fact, as you have no doubt experienced, it is impossible to visit Palestine and not be confronted by blockades and barriers. As a visitor, it is likely you will have had the luxury of being delayed only momentarily…a brief hiccup in your journey.
It is a luxury the children of Palestine do not enjoy.
Too many little boys and girls begin their school day negotiating hurdles no child should have to: lengthy queues to be let through checkpoints, brusque demands for their identity papers, armed soldiers searching their school bags and schoolbooks. All they want to do is learn. But their day begins with divisions and segregation, with insecurity and fear.
Left unchecked, these feelings can take root and taint the young minds of a new generation. In a region yearning for reconciliation, we simply cannot risk that happening.
Access to quality education, well-equipped classrooms, and motivated teachers eases those feelings. That is why, against all odds, the people of Palestine - parents, grandparents, teachers, and children - fight for the right to education every single day. They know, more than most, the importance of lifelong learning, critical thinking, and innovation, not just for economic progress, but for social and political peace.
In fact, education is the one thing that unites people in this splintered land. They know that a good education equals justice, and the beginning of healing between nations.
But with a burgeoning youth population, restrictions on building new schools, overcrowding, teachers waylaid at checkpoints, and crippling poverty, ensuring that all of Palestine’s children receive the education that is their right requires a herculean effort.
So, one is mobilised.
When roads are closed and children barred from reaching their schools, teachers hold classes at checkpoints. When schools are falling apart, teachers open their homes to students to provide a space to learn. And when there are no teachers, retirees step in to fill the void.
Pride and dedication extend throughout the whole school community.
Recently, I smiled at the story of one headmaster in Jerusalem who demands that students wear clean and pressed uniforms; shirts tucked in regardless of the fact that they are amid a conflict zone. For him, respect for appearance is respect for education.
Teachers, too, have displayed remarkable grit under conditions unthinkable in the West: some have laboured throughout the school year without pay because of a lack of funds. In thanks, some communities have donated money to the schools to help pay wages. One of the main reasons they don’t give up, according to a teacher in Jerusalem, is because “the students push us to stay and teach them more.”
What drives such determination to educate at all costs? Simple: education is a defining trait of the Palestinian national character; it is integral to their identity, their resilience, and their resistance. It is cohesion. It is the preservation of their culture.
And yet, even this spirit, this commitment, cannot guarantee education for all. Currently there are 108,000 Palestinian children out of school, denied an education, through no fault of their own. Ten years ago, this figure was just 4,000.
Those numbers are rapidly going in the wrong direction if we hope to raise a generation of open-minded, tolerant young people; if we hope to secure a future of justice and stability for Palestine and our region; if we hope to heal.
The world needs to hear Palestine’s story: the pursuit for peace … the desire for healing … the craving for education … the longing to rebuild. That’s why your visit here is important. Even as a traveller, just passing through these blessed lands, you can help Palestine’s children by telling their story … in their words.
Thank you.Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Queen Rania Al Abdullah.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Chirpy tweeter
Chirpy tweeter
A few days ago, I was able to follow from New York what may be described as an interesting and welcomed tweeting event that was taking place on the net.
Jordanians were racing to list their 50 favourite things about their country or to use words from some other tweets simply to show why Jordan “rocks” and is “awesome”.
Tweets by Jordanians poured in and went far above the 50-limit line. Included were watching the sunset in Jordan, its open air museum, the feeling of timelessness, the history, the mountains, the sense of security Jordanians are blessed with, the playing of the national anthem at the end of the broadcast day on Jordan TV, how the King writes down peoples’ complaints himself, the fact that if someone gets a flat tyre, there’s a 99 per cent chance someone will stop and help, that people always have something nice to say, whatever the situation, the way the sheep have the right to cross the street just as much as human beings, the fact that all Jordanians were at the moment of sending the tweeps pretty convinced that the next day would be a holiday due to weather conditions, and yes, why not, how Jordanian men are the most handsome on Earth.
In short, what the tweets revealed is how much Jordanians appreciate practically everything about their country.
Many of the things listed were of the kind that make one’s heart laugh, and were as full of sense of humour as of truth.
But whether it was the funny tweets or the more serious ones, one thing is certain, and that is that the tweeting tweeples revealed how much they love their country with all its particularities.
Salma Bandar Al Yousuf,
US
1 February 2010
Jordan Times Editorial: Clear solution- agree to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel
http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=23615
Clear solution
Clear solution
|  |
My letter to the Jerusalem Post RE A dark lining in every silver cloud By Ray Hanania
RE: A dark lining in every silver cloud By RAY HANANIAhttp://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=167317#
Dear Editor,
You should call Ray's column 'The Stand Up Guy". Yup-its a silly pun to call a column "The Stand Up Guy". But keep thinking...its much more then that. "Stand Up Guy" is a common well known phrase with two separate meanings which both describe him perfectly. On one hand he really is a professional comedian who uses humor to try to explain and calm down a very tense and dangerous status quo. On the other hand he is also a very serious writer of very serious columns ... Answer.com defines the serious aspect as " a man who is responsible, loyal, honest, trustworthy, etc.--someone who has good character". All qualities that describe Palestinian-American Ray's very serious quest to be totally honest about and for Palestine.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
*************************
Ray's note to me in responce my letter
Subject: Re: Jerusalem Post 1-31-2010 A dark lining in every silver cloud By RAY HANANIARay's note to me in responce my letter
From: Ray Hanania
Thank you for being so kind, Annie. Good remarks are so rare in the Arab-Israeli conflict when they surface they are so welcome and important … and strengthen peace and justice
http://www.RadioChicagoland.com
WJJG Radio 1530 AM/Monday thru Friday 8-9:30 am/Studio Line: 708-493-1530
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