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Saturday, November 9, 2013

U.S. 'working tirelessly' to restore UNESCO funding... UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova: "This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development,"


PARIS (Reuters) - The U.S. government is working hard to get Congress to restore its UNESCO funding, Washington's ambassador to the U.N. cultural arm said on Saturday, after its voting rights were suspended over failure to pay up.

UNESCO's granting the Palestinians membership two years ago led to the United States stopping its dues and, on Friday, the organization suspended U.S. voting rights as well as Israel's.

Both Israelis and Palestinians have made grim assessments of the lack of progress in peace talks, which the United States helped revive last July after a three-year gap, and the UNESCO funding furor has not helped.

U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion told delegates at UNESCO's biennial general conference in Paris, after the suspension was announced officially, that Washington was "working tirelessly" to restore funding.

Also addressing the conference, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova voiced regret at the loss of the U.S. voting rights, insisting that Washington had a vital role to play in the organization.

"This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development," she said.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, is responsible for designating World Heritage sites, promoting global education and supporting press freedom, among other tasks.

The withdrawal of U.S. funding - which totaled about $240 million, or some 22 percent of UNESCO's budget - has plunged it into a funding crisis and forced it to cut programs.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Louise Ireland)

UNWRA ... a crucial lifeline for Palestinian refugees

THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE AT THE UNITED NATIONS

 The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on or around 29 November each year, in accordance with mandates given by the General Assembly in its resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted by the General Assembly on the question of Palestine. This year's observance at United Nations Headquarters in New York will take place on Monday, 25 November 2013. Observance at the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna will take place on 29 November 2013.

 The date of 29 November was chosen because of its meaning and significance to the Palestinian people. On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II), which came to be known as the Partition Resolution. That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”, with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime. Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.

The Solidarity Day has traditionally provided an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine is still unresolved and that the Palestinian people is yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.

In response to the call of the United Nations, various activities are undertaken annually by Governments and civil society in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. These activities include, among other things, the issuance of special messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the organization of meetings, the dissemination of publications and other information material, and the screening of films.

At United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People each year holds a special meeting to observe the Solidarity Day. Invited speakers include the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council, and representatives of relevant United Nations bodies, intergovernmental organizations and Palestine. NGOs are invited to attend and a representative of the international community of NGOs accredited to the Committee addresses the meeting. The special meeting is webcast live.

A special bulletin containing the statements delivered and messages received on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity is published annually by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat.

Other activities organized in New York in connection with the observance of the Day of Solidarity include a Palestinian exhibit or a cultural event sponsored by the Committee and presented by the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, and the screening of a documentary film.

Meetings in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People are also held at the United Nations Offices at Geneva (ungeneva.ngoliaison@unog.ch) and Vienna (protocol@unvienna.org).

The United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) worldwide are available to assist Governments, NGOs and others wishing to organize special activities in connection with the observance by providing information and documentation.

Show details for 2011 Observance2011 Observance
Show details for 2010 Observance2010 Observance
Show details for 2009 Observance2009 Observance

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Palestinian children from UNRWA school

Photo Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation 

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November 2013 Vatican's UN spokesman: spare no effort to re-start Israeli-Palestinian talks

Speaking on November 7 to a UN session in New York, the Vatican’s permanent observer said that international leaders should “spare no effort in facilitating negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

The goal of such talks, said Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, should be “to to secure through negotiation and reasonable compromise two viable and stable states which give each of the parties independent and secure states for their peoples.”

Archbishop Chullikatt made his remarks in an address to a session on the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). He pointed out that the Catholic Church has a special interest in the plight of Palestinians because of the “ever- shrinking presence of traditional Christian communities in the very birthplace of Christianity.”

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Who We Are

UNWRA


We provide assistance and protection for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees to help them achieve their full potential in human development.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.
The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.
Establishment
Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, UNRWA was established by United Nations General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949 to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees. The Agency began operations on 1 May 1950.

In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2014.
> Read the UN Resolution
Palestine refugees
UNRWA is unique in terms of its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees. It has contributed to the welfare and human development of four generations of Palestine refugees, defined as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are also eligible for registration.

UNRWA services are available to all those living in its areas of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance. When the Agency began operations in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees. Today, some 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services.
> More on Palestine refugees

Arab-Israeli War

1940s
April - August 1948: More than 700,000 Palestine refugees are displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli War.
Resolution 194

Resolution 194

11th December 1948
The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “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, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

Resolution 302

1940s
Resolution 302
UNRWA is created by General Assembly resolution 302 (IV), with the initial mandate to provide “direct relief and works programmes” to Palestine refugees, in order to “prevent conditions of starvation and distress… and to further conditions of peace and stability”. UNRWA takes over from the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR), established in 1948.

READ MORE re Mandate:
In response to developments in the region, the General Assembly repeatedly extends and expands the UNRWA mandate, requiring the Agency to engage in a wide variety of humanitarian, development and protection activities based on the needs of beneficiaries.

General Assembly resolution 614 (VII), in 1952, notes a need for “increased relief expenditures” in the UNRWA budget. In 1955, resolution 916 (X) notes the "serious need of other claimants for relief […] namely, the frontier villagers in Jordan, the non-refugee population of the Gaza Strip, a number of refugees in Egypt, and certain of the Bedouin”. General Assembly resolutions in 1958 and 1959 recommend that the Agency increase programmes relating to education, vocational training and self-support, an emphasis that will become an important blueprint for the Agency.

Following the hostilities of June 1967, in which 300,000 people, including some 120,000 Palestine refugees, are rendered homeless or leave their homes, resolution 2252 (ES-V) asks UNRWA to “continue to provide humanitarian assistance… on an emergency basis, and as a temporary measure, to persons in the area who are currently displaced and in serious need of continued assistance”. In later years, the General Assembly repeatedly restates the Agency’s mandate for those displaced in 1967, and, after the invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 1982, extends it to encompass those displaced by “subsequent hostilities.” In the same year, resolution 37/120 (J) explicitly adds protection to the list of UNRWA responsibilities, urging the Agency to “undertake effective measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and human rights of the Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories.”

From 1992 to 2002, UNRWA collaborates with the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and other specialized agencies of the United Nations system to contribute to the development of economic and social stability in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). In 1993, after Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, UNRWA begins developing its Peace Implementation Programme, which works “to meet Palestinian requests for assistance and priorities” during the interim period; General Assembly resolution 49/35 (1994) notes its “significant success.”

While other agencies and actors have the central role in arriving at a resolution of the Palestine refugee issue, UNRWA is mandated to work with governments on interim measures and to provide relief and assistance to Palestine refugees “pending the just resolution” of the Palestine refugee question.  The role UNRWA plays in the region has evolved to reflect the needs and pressures of the times, but the Agency’s central mandate remains largely unchanged: UNRWA protects and assists Palestine refugees, seeking to help them achieve their full potential in human development.

Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank

 
Peace accords divided the West Bank into three areas controlled by Israel, the Palestinians or the Palestinian civil authority with Israeli military control. Some in the Israeli government have advocated plans for Israel to unilaterally annex Area C and leave areas A and B to be administered by the Palestinian Authority, with oversight by Israeli security forces. Read related article.

Israeli Settler Violence Map

Map
from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village
Occupied Palestinian Territory: Ramallah: Al Mughayyir Village Settler Violence Incidents 2006-2013 (October 2013) - See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
Occupied Palestinian Territory: Ramallah: Al Mughayyir Village Settler Violence Incidents 2006-2013 (October 2013) - See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
Occupied Palestinian Territory: Ramallah: Al Mughayyir Village Settler Violence Incidents 2006-2013 (October 2013) - See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
Occupied Palestinian Territory: Ramallah: Al Mughayyir Village Settler Violence Incidents 2006-2013 (October 2013) - See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.
- See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.
- See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.
- See more at: http://reliefweb.int/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-ramallah-al-mughayyir-village#sthash.SjvjLwlR.dpuf

Israeli police seized computers and detained 25 Palestinians because of Facebook posts in East Jerusalem on Thursday

File photo of a Palestinian protester by Damascus Gate in East
Jerusalem.(MaanImages/file)
[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] 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=645448
Israel detains 25 Palestinian activists over Facebook posts
 09/11/2013

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police detained 25 Palestinian social media activists in East Jerusalem on Thursday, a prisoners rights group said.

Nasser Qous, head of the Jerusalem branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told official news agency Wafa that Israeli forces raided the homes of 25 Palestinian activists and detained them on charges of "incitement" due to their posts on Facebook.

Israeli police also seized their computers.

Fifteen of the activists were later released and 10 will be brought before an Israeli court, Qous said.

In October, Haifa resident Razi al-Nabulsi, 23, was arrested and kept under house arrest for a week as a result of Facebook posts Israeli authorities argued constituted "incitement."

Lawyer Aram Mahameed explained that the charges stemmed from "a number of comments on al-Nabulsi's Facebook page concerning issues like normalization (with the State of Israel), as well as the Prawer Plan," a proposed Israeli plan that if carried out with displace 40,000 Bedouins from the southern Negev.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel 112th in the world for press freedom in its 2013 report, arguing that while Israeli journalists enjoy freedom of expression, there are major structural barriers related to military control and security issues that prevent a free press more generally.

Friday, November 8, 2013

"Can you imagine the world today without letters or without music?"


Malek Jandali, the renowned Syrian-American composer and pianist, gave a breathtaking performance of his work based on ancient Mesopotamian musical notes entitled "Echoes of Ugarit" at the ATFP 10th Anniversary Gala. He also performed several other of his noted compositions. He was accompanied on 'oud by Prof. Abdulrahim Alsiadi.

"Can you imagine the world today without letters or without music?" Jandali asked, saying how proud he was that alphabet and the musical notations were invented in Mesopotamian civilization. "Imagine people, in 3000 B.C., singing to this melody, on the Mediterranean coast of Mesopotamia," he added.

http://www.americantaskforce.org/atfp_gala_2013_malek_jandali_concert

ATFP Mourns the Passing of Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed great sorrow at the death of long-serving ATFP Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid, who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness.
Dr. Shadid was the Deputy Director-General for Operations at the Welfare Association and head of the Consortium managing the World-Bank-funded PNGO-Project in Palestine. Since 1987, he worked with the Welfare Association on social and economic development programs involving needs assessment studies, grant-making, and monitoring & evaluation of projects. Dr. Shadid was a founder and/or co-founder of a number of economic and social development institutions in Palestine, in addition to serving on several Boards of civil society organizations.
Dr. Shadid published extensively on social and economic developments in the West Bank and Gaza as well as on regional and international issues of the Middle East. Among his most notable books was a landmark study on "The United States and the Palestinians" published by Palgrave Macmillan in 1981. Dr. Shadid held a PhD in political science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He worked as a professor of political science at several universities in the United States, as well as at An-Najah University in Nablus.
ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, "Mohammad was a man of wisdom, integrity and commitment. He provided tangible help to Palestinians as he advanced the cause of peace. We will miss him greatly as a friend and an ATFP Board Member. With great sorrow, we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Sanaa and the rest of his family."
- See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2013/11/06/1383714000_0#sthash.RffgjGqi.dpuf
ATFP Board of Directors | The American Task Force on Palestine
ATFP Mourns the Passing of Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed great sorrow at the death of long-serving ATFP Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid, who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness.

Dr. Shadid was the Deputy Director-General for Operations at the Welfare Association and head of the Consortium managing the World-Bank-funded PNGO-Project in Palestine. Since 1987, he worked with the Welfare Association on social and economic development programs involving needs assessment studies, grant-making, and monitoring & evaluation of projects. Dr. Shadid was a founder and/or co-founder of a number of economic and social development institutions in Palestine, in addition to serving on several Boards of civil society organizations.

Dr. Shadid published extensively on social and economic developments in the West Bank and Gaza as well as on regional and international issues of the Middle East. Among his most notable books was a landmark study on "The United States and the Palestinians" published by Palgrave Macmillan in 1981. Dr. Shadid held a PhD in political science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He worked as a professor of political science at several universities in the United States, as well as at An-Najah University in Nablus.

ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, "Mohammad was a man of wisdom, integrity and commitment. He provided tangible help to Palestinians as he advanced the cause of peace. We will miss him greatly as a friend and an ATFP Board Member. With great sorrow, we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Sanaa and the rest of his family."
The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed great sorrow at the death of long-serving ATFP Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid, who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness.
Dr. Shadid was the Deputy Director-General for Operations at the Welfare Association and head of the Consortium managing the World-Bank-funded PNGO-Project in Palestine. Since 1987, he worked with the Welfare Association on social and economic development programs involving needs assessment studies, grant-making, and monitoring & evaluation of projects. Dr. Shadid was a founder and/or co-founder of a number of economic and social development institutions in Palestine, in addition to serving on several Boards of civil society organizations.
Dr. Shadid published extensively on social and economic developments in the West Bank and Gaza as well as on regional and international issues of the Middle East. Among his most notable books was a landmark study on "The United States and the Palestinians" published by Palgrave Macmillan in 1981. Dr. Shadid held a PhD in political science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He worked as a professor of political science at several universities in the United States, as well as at An-Najah University in Nablus.
ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, "Mohammad was a man of wisdom, integrity and commitment. He provided tangible help to Palestinians as he advanced the cause of peace. We will miss him greatly as a friend and an ATFP Board Member. With great sorrow, we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Sanaa and the rest of his family."
- See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2013/11/06/1383714000_0#sthash.RffgjGqi.dpuf
The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed great sorrow at the death of long-serving ATFP Board Member Dr. Mohammed K. Shadid, who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness.
Dr. Shadid was the Deputy Director-General for Operations at the Welfare Association and head of the Consortium managing the World-Bank-funded PNGO-Project in Palestine. Since 1987, he worked with the Welfare Association on social and economic development programs involving needs assessment studies, grant-making, and monitoring & evaluation of projects. Dr. Shadid was a founder and/or co-founder of a number of economic and social development institutions in Palestine, in addition to serving on several Boards of civil society organizations.
Dr. Shadid published extensively on social and economic developments in the West Bank and Gaza as well as on regional and international issues of the Middle East. Among his most notable books was a landmark study on "The United States and the Palestinians" published by Palgrave Macmillan in 1981. Dr. Shadid held a PhD in political science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He worked as a professor of political science at several universities in the United States, as well as at An-Najah University in Nablus.
ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, "Mohammad was a man of wisdom, integrity and commitment. He provided tangible help to Palestinians as he advanced the cause of peace. We will miss him greatly as a friend and an ATFP Board Member. With great sorrow, we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Sanaa and the rest of his family."
- See more at: http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2013/11/06/1383714000_0#sthash.RffgjGqi.dpuf

U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row

A Palestinian girl holds her sister as they sit outside their dwelling in al-Mugraga in the central Gaza Strip November 7, 2013. photo Credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-unesco-idUSBRE9A70I320131108

(Reuters) - UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the U.N.'s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians.

The U.S. decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on U.S. laws that prohibit funding to any U.N. agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians' demands for their own state.

Israel also pulled its funding, objecting to what it called unilateral attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition of statehood.

Both countries missed a 1100 GMT Friday deadline to provide an official justification for non-payment and a plan to pay back missed dues, a UNESCO source told Reuters. That automatically triggered suspension of their voting rights.

Asked for his reaction, the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said Washington considers UNESCO a "critical partner in creating a better future."

"We intend to continue our engagement with UNESCO in every possible way," Killion said.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, is responsible for designating World Heritage sites, promoting global education and supporting press freedom, among other tasks.

FUNDING CRISIS

The withdrawal of U.S. funding - which totalled about $240 million (£149,737,958.57), or some 22 percent of UNESCO's budget - has plunged it into a funding crisis and forced it to cut programs.

UNESCO made no comment on the matter. The list of countries whose voting rights are suspended will be announced at a UNESCO meeting on Saturday, after which Director-General Irina Bokova is expected to issue a statement.

The body's 15-day general conference, which unites member state representatives every two years, began on Tuesday in Paris.

The U.S. loss of voting rights comes as Washington tries to keep peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians afloat.

Both parties have signalled poor progress in the talks, which were revived in July after a three-year hiatus but recently became stymied over Israeli plans to continue building Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Israel that it could face a third Palestinian uprising if the talks fail.

The Palestinians have so far failed in their bid to become a full member of the U.N., but their UNESCO membership is seen as a potential first step towards U.N. recognition of statehood.

The United States has characterized UNESCO's move as a misguided attempt to bypass the two-decade old peace process. Washington says only a resumption of peace talks ending in a treaty with Israel can result in Palestinian statehood.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage and Marine Pennetier; editing by Mark John and Mark Trevelyan)

My letters to CSM & NYTimes RE JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places & Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America

NEWS: The United States and Israel lost their UNESCO voting rights Friday after suspending funding to the organisation for its recognition of Palestine, a source from the UN agency November 8, 2013
RE: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places... by Katrina Lantos Swett, vice-chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/1107/JFK-s-call-for-religious-freedom-can-transform-places-like-Pakistan

Dear Editor,

What an inspiring and uplifting op-ed!  However I can not help but wonder about the elephant in the living room:

True religious freedom would indeed curb sectarian strife and extremism.... and yes American diplomats and forward thinkers should be advocating such freedom worldwide. But how will any countries in the Middle East be able to hear that message, much less understand that message when so many  American newspapers, politicians, businessmen and religious leaders praise and protect Israel as "The Jewish State"?

We can eloquently call on people everywhere "to raise their sights, heal yesterday’s wounds, right today’s wrongs, and aspire to greater things", but our words will be sanctimonious hypocrisy as long as we are arming Israel's "Jewishness" and forcing tax payers to fund Israel's religious scholars and schemes.

Are our current efforts to help end the pernicious Israel-Palestine conflict with a negotiated settlement generating regional respect for real democracy and a fully secular end to that conflict in line with international law and firmly respecting universal basic human rights, or are our efforts being perceived as yet another way to empower Israel's "Jewishness" and the ongoing persecution, impoverishment and forced displacement of Palestinians?

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

*********
RE Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America by Cynthia Kaplan Shamash, a dentist in Flushing, Queens & a member of the board of the World Organization of Jews From Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/opinion/keep-the-iraqi-jews-legacy-safe-in-america.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&ref=international

Dear Editor,

Regarding the trove of Hebrew material rescued from Saddam Hussein's flooded basement in 2003, flown here to be saved... Cynthia Kaplan Shamash's impassioned plea to Keep the Iraqi Jews’ Legacy Safe — in America wisely points out "To suggest that they go to Israel, where many Iraqi Jews live now, might invite venom from Iraq."

She is absolutely right about that. Israel in insisting on being "Jewish" and in a misguided quest to make that a demographic reality, has cruelly persecuted and displaced the native non-Jewish Palestinians and played a large part in instigating and perpetuating sectarian strife and religious extremism all through out the region.

A part- just a part, and that part's actual relevance shrinks as time goes by:  The Buddhas destroyed in 2001 by religious bigots in Afghanistan.... the museums in Egypt looted just last year... the historic mosques destroyed in Iraq and Syria and Timbuktu by Islamists... the calls by Zionist ideologues to destroy the Dome of the Rock in order to build the third temple.... Obviously cultural treasures are easy targets for religious tyrants and harbingers of hate who are thriving on conflict and despair all through out the Middle East.

I very much hope for everyone's sake that negotiations for an actual end to the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular, fully sovereign two state solution based on firm respect for universal human rights takes hold soon, and helps steer everyone in the region towards a more peaceful, compassionate, prosperous and productive future.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
'It is where religious freedom is most dishonored or repressed that the forces of violent religious extremism are likely to thrive.' Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places like Pakistan.

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

Palestinians northeast of the separation wall near Jerusalem face an uncertain future after Israeli authorities issued demolition orders last week which could displace thousands of people

Israel levels Catholic Church property in E. Jerusalem amid ‘massive demolition’ plan

Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family By Edward Said's daughter Najla Said

This Week in Palestine: In Palestine we have no physical control over our borders, and therefore have no say in how anyone could be treated at any given moment in time. But what we do have control of is the Palestine we write about, describe, and photograph in the folds of this issue’s pages.

Support for Mideast peace ...

Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights

NYTimes News October 30, 2013: 1,500 Units to Be Added in Settlement, Israel Says

At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence

Why Are Israelis Tone Deaf to Incitement Against Palestinians?

Ancient stone villages in the occupied West Bank have become trapped in rural poverty, while investors and donors shy away from a zone of seemingly endless conflict... Israel's restrictions affect much of Palestinian economic life. It controls every access point, which enables it to oversee all imports and exports, creating bureaucratic hurdles that Palestinians say stifle or kill entrepreneurship.


The Israelis also impose strict limits on water supply, which affects industry and agriculture. Israel has not allowed Palestinians access to 3G mobile technology, citing security concerns, rendering many smartphone apps largely useless....READ MORE
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"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt


Thomas Paine: "Of all of the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny of religion is the worst."

"In every country and in every age, the priest [rabbi/imam/...etc...] has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own"
Thomas Jefferson

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

Why Muslims should love secularism: Though secularism is widely misunderstood as anti-religious and iconoclastic, all it means is the neutrality of the state on religious affairs ...  "Muslims must recognize secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion." Hussein Ibish

  • 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.

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


"So let us put the narrative of injustice away and find the joy, if it’s the last thing we ever do. " Tala Abu Rahmeh, Palestinian poet and writer

This Week in Palestine Artist of the Month: Yazan Khalili

A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.

Pomegranates in season along the path!

The Arab Peace Initiative
1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.
2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:
I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.
II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.
III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:
I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.
Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.



Thursday, November 7, 2013

Palestinians northeast of the separation wall near Jerusalem face an uncertain future after Israeli authorities issued demolition orders last week which could displace thousands of people

A general view shows a section of Israel's controversial separation
barrier in the West Bank village of Al-Ram on the outskirts of
Jerusalem on December 7, 2012.(AFP/File Ahmad Gharabli)
Thousands face uncertainty over Jerusalem demolition threat
by Charlie Hoyle
Published yesterday (updated) 06/11/2013

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinians northeast of the separation wall near Jerusalem face an uncertain future after Israeli authorities issued demolition orders last week which could displace thousands of people, a rights group said Wednesday.

A local Palestinian official said last Thursday that officers from Jerusalem's municipality issued demolition orders for Palestinian homes in the neighborhoods of Ras Khamis and Ras Shahada.

Jamil Sanduqa, who chairs a local committee to develop the Ras Khamis neighborhood, said that over 15,000 Palestinians live in the buildings slated for demolition.

Ronit Sela, East Jerusalem project director from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, told Ma'an Wednesday that representatives from Jerusalem's municipality had toured Ras Khamis in July and noted the coordinates for properties they claimed were built without permits.

The officials could not determine who lived in the properties and approached a local court to ask for permission to demolish the homes.

The Jerusalem Local Affairs Court stated that homeowners would have 30 days to file an appeal from the date the orders were finally issued on Oct. 31, or the court would accept the municipality's request to demolish the buildings.

Residents must now decide whether to remain anonymous or challenge the orders in an Israeli court, Sela says, which still risks the possibility that Israeli authorities could issue heavy fines or demolish the homes.

"The displacement of so many families is devastating. We are surprised that it is of this magnitude," Sela said, adding that residents were confused and anxious about how to proceed.

Jerusalem's municipality has said that 11 buildings are officially slated for demolition, but Sela says the number of people facing displacement could be in the "thousands."

Ras Khamis official Jamil Sanduqa said last week that the demolitions orders were issued a week after Nir Barkat was re-elected as Jerusalem's mayor.

An NGO worker also told Ma'an that the demolition orders may have faced a three-month delay from the municipality's initial request in July to wait until Jerusalem municipal elections had taken place in late October.

'No man's land'

In 2006, the construction of Israel's separation wall in northeast Jerusalem separated the Ras Khamis and Ras Shahada neighborhoods from the rest of the city.

Tens of thousands of residents, who carry Israeli identification cards, must cross through a single checkpoint serving Shufat refugee camp, Ras Khamis, Ras Shuhada and the town of Anata to access the city.

Sela says residents in Ras Khamis and Ras Shuhada constructed large residential buildings in the area as they assumed Israeli authorities had no interest in entering the neighborhoods.

"They are all in an area on the West Bank side of the Jerusalem barrier and the assumption was that with such a complete neglect of this area since the wall was built that Israeli authorities would not touch you."

Israeli police almost never enter the area and Sela says the neighborhoods have become "lawless," have problems with drugs, and are effectively a "no man's land."

Sari Kronish, an architect from Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, said in a statement Tuesday that residents of Ras Khamis and Ras Shahada "are trapped in a planning deadlock – on one hand, the lack of suitable planning is one of the major reasons why building permits are refused, and on the other hand, people live under the constant threat of home demolitions and constant neglect."

In response to a petition to Israel's High Court against the route of the barrier, Israel promised that normal life would be maintained in Palestinian communities living beyond the separation wall, ACRI says.

Yet Sela says that Israeli authorities have done nothing for the residents of the area.

"Roads are in terrible shape, sewage and garbage collection is neglected, and water connections are terrible. There is severe neglect of tens of thousands of people."

Israel has destroyed more than 500 Palestinian properties in the West Bank and mostly East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, displacing 862 people, according to UNOCHA.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Israel levels Catholic Church property in E. Jerusalem amid ‘massive demolition’ plan

Children look on as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal (C) stands amongst the ruins of a Palestinian home, on November 5, 2013. (AFP Photo / Ahmad Gharabli)
http://rt.com/news/israel-palestinian-homes-demolish-323/

The Catholic Church has lashed out at the Israeli government, after its property in East Jerusalem was bulldozed to the ground. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinian flats were marked for demolition just before US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit.

Last week Israeli security forces arrived with bulldozers at a piece of property owned by the Catholic Church in east Jerusalem, close to the West Bank city of Bethlehem. They said it had been built without a permit and proceeded to destroy it.

This provoked a backlash from the head of the Catholic Church in Israel who said the demolition was carried out without any prior warning.

“This act is against the law, against justice and humanity, against any ideology upon which peace can be built and increases segregation and hate,” Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Faud Tawwal told AFP at the site of the demolition on Tuesday. The property had been standing before Israel annexed the area after the 1967 Six-Day War, he said.

This comes amid rumors of Israel mulling its biggest demolition plans in years, as over 15,000 Palestinian flats in east Jerusalem are under threat.

The demolition of flats in the Ras Hamis area, which is next to the Shuafat refugee camp, was announced by posters put up on the apartment buildings themselves last week.

...READ MORE

My letter to CSM RE Nazi art cache revealed two years after discovery. Why the delay?

AP / Police Rotterdam
The 1919 painting "'Reading Girl in White and Yellow" by Henri Matisse. Other works by Matisse and other artists were among almost 1,500 discovered in a German apartment.
RE: Nazi art cache revealed two years after discovery. Why the delay?
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/1105/Nazi-art-cache-revealed-two-years-after-discovery.-Why-the-delay

Dear Editor,

I very much enjoyed reading the news about the newly discovered trove of art and the efforts to reunite original owners with their lost treasures which were stolen by the Nazis during WWII. I hope that in addition to originals being returned to rightful owners, photos of all the art are shared far and wide so that we all might savor and enjoy the art...  I also very much hope that someday soon Palestinian homes in Israel will be understood by every one to be every bit as precious and valuable as art on a canvas.  Palestinian homes and property seized by Israelis during the Nakba should be returned to the rightful Palestinian owners as soon as possible.

Furthermore since Israelis with American citizenship are easily able to go back and forth in addition to voting both in American and in Israeli elections, Palestinians originally from what is now officially Israel should have equal freedoms and rights as citizens in Israel as well as in the newly formed sovereign Palestinian state or wherever they might chose to resettle.

Legal precedents are everywhere, illuminating the best way forward for a just and lasting peace. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

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

Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family By Edward Said's daughter Najla Said

This Week in Palestine: In Palestine we have no physical control over our borders, and therefore have no say in how anyone could be treated at any given moment in time. But what we do have control of is the Palestine we write about, describe, and photograph in the folds of this issue’s pages....

Support for Mideast peace ...

Dr Zogby: Focus on Palestinians’ Rights

NYTimes News October 30, 2013: 1,500 Units to Be Added in Settlement, Israel Says

At ATFP Gala, White House Reaffirms Commitment to Palestinian State, Opposition to Settlements and Settler Violence

ATFP Video: "I CAN SEE PALESTINE..."

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye is this year's recipient of the 2013 Neustadt Prize for Children's literature... keynote and poems by Ms. Nye, with music and a discussion of Palestinian culture

U.S. Mideast czar at ATFP Gala: Settlements, settler attacks not ‘conducive’ to peace

Why Are Israelis Tone Deaf to Incitement Against Palestinians?

Ancient stone villages in the occupied West Bank have become trapped in rural poverty, while investors and donors shy away from a zone of seemingly endless conflict... Israel's restrictions affect much of Palestinian economic life. It controls every access point, which enables it to oversee all imports and exports, creating bureaucratic hurdles that Palestinians say stifle or kill entrepreneurship.


The Israelis also impose strict limits on water supply, which affects industry and agriculture. Israel has not allowed Palestinians access to 3G mobile technology, citing security concerns, rendering many smartphone apps largely useless....READ MORE

We Need to Talk... Ziad Asali has proven that Palestinian-Americans can work within the system as first-class American citizens and Washington has paid attention: The status quo is clear: occupation. Asali's mission is to change that status quo.

Why Muslims should love secularism: Though secularism is widely misunderstood as anti-religious and iconoclastic, all it means is the neutrality of the state on religious affairs ...
  "Muslims must recognize secularism as the only real path to religious freedom, rather than confusing it with an attack against religion."Hussein Ibish

A new report says Israeli settlement construction on the Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank has increased by about 70 percent.

Hanan Ashrawi on Oslo, Academia, and Women in Politics

CSM: Israel increases rate of home demolitions as peace talks chug along- Human rights activists say home demolitions show that protection for Palestinian human rights is missing from the peace process.

What 20 years of the "Peace Process" has meant for Palestinians... September 1993- September 2013

Attack on Jerusalem graves unnerves Christians

Israel-as-a

Jerusalem life: 'Are you aware? Women should not be strolling outdoors'


"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt



Thomas Paine: "Of all of the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny of religion is the worst."

"In every country and in every age, the priest [rabbi/imam/...etc...] has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own"
Thomas Jefferson

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:


Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries


  • 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.

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


"So let us put the narrative of injustice away and find the joy, if it’s the last thing we ever do. " Tala Abu Rahmeh, Palestinian poet and writer

This Week in Palestine Artist of the Month: Yazan Khalili

A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.

Pomegranates in season along the path!

New Video Previewing ATFP's 10th Anniversary Gala

ATFP Galas: Palestine's Washington Showcase... "One of the most crucial aspects of ATFP's mission has been to change the image of Palestine and Palestinians in Washington, moving beyond the traditional binary stereotypes of menacing terrorists or wretched refugees. There is an all-American story to be told about Palestinian immigrants to the United States, and a need to celebrate their contributions to our country and to the world."
The Arab Peace Initiative
1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.
2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:
I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.
II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.
III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:
I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.