International Herald Tribune
12-22-2004http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/21/opinion/edlet.html
Teaching Hatred
Uri Dromi merely wants to demonize the Palestinians as if this mess is all their fault. The fact is that multiple generations of Palestinian children have been traumatized day after day by the violence wrought by escalating Israeli racism.
Anne Selden Annab, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
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Now Toronto
NOW | DEC 9 - 16, 2004VOL. 24 NO. 15
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/current/letters.php
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Anti War. com
December 10, 2004http://antiwar.com/letters
Mainline Protestants Challenge Israel Lobby
I do not usually waste my limited time and energy writing a letter to a well-informed, free-thinking media outlet like Antiwar.com because, well, gosh, there is a huge wall of Israeli propaganda out there that needs to be addressed, BUT today reading "Mainline Protestants Challenge Israel Lobby" I am compelled to write and say BRAVO! And thank you!
Even though this note is as they say preaching to the choir, I figured maybe the choir needs to know they are doing a great job.
~ Anne Selden Annab, homemaker***********************************************************************
The Guardian UK
December 7, 2004http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1367816,00.html
Letters
Behind the boycott
Boycotts are a kinder way of getting people to notice injustice. What a
shame that some Jewish groups spend so much time verbally attacking
Palestinian groups on campus. Peace would be better served if more
people, more governments and even more newspapers directed their energy
into actually exploring the circumstances that have forced Palestinian
groups to feel compelled to call for boycotts.
Peace would also be better served if our media headlined the fact that
not all Jews endorse Israeli racism.
Anne Selden
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
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HAARETZ
November 24, 2004 Kislev 11, 5765
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/LiArt.jhtml?contrassID=2&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0
"Let the Palestinians go"
Israel Zwick of New York [Letters to the Editor, November 18] proposes "the upcoming elections should include a referendum to determine if the Palestinians would be willing to relocate to another Muslim country if given decent living conditions and appropriate compensation."
Somehow I doubt a rather dubiously administered wishful thinking opinion pole on the Palestinian refugees' apparent willingness to relocate to another "Muslim" country will do anything but give Israel yet another excuse to condemn and attack them with more bullets and bombs no matter what the outcome of the "vote."
It is actually much more reasonable to assume that at least some of the four million Palestinian refugees currently imprisoned in impoverished camps understand more fully than other population on earth that there is a reason why the inalienable right of return is respected and even enshrined by international law.
It is also reasonable to realize that many Palestinian refugees and their descendants have already moved away, quietly resettling all over the world - even in America. They are good and decent people and they are raising their children to remember and cherish the key - the real key - to a just and lasting peace: the Palestinian refugees right of return.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, PA
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The International Herald Tribune
Tuesday Novemebr 16, 2004http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/15/opinion/edlet.html
The passing of Arafat
We in the West may enjoy the petty diversion of honoring Yasser Arafat by pondering what would be if at the Camp David meeting in 2000, Arafat had somehow, as you say in the editorial, "found the courage to say yes" to Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel and President Bill Clinton. But it makes more sense to look at the history of the conflict and wonder where we would be now if long ago Israel had fully respected both international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights. Anne Selden Annab, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania***********************************************************************
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2004/11/14/the_power_driving_mideast_conflict/The power driving Mideast conflict
REGARDING THE NOV. 12 editorial, "Yasser Arafat":
Arafat's greatest achievement is that he survived and brought to the world's attention the fact that the Palestinian people exist, despite Israel's best efforts to deny that fundamental truth. The real power driving the conflict all along has not been Arafat, nor even the very much persecuted and impoverished Palestinians individually or collectively. The real power driving the escalating conflict is widespread institutionalized injustice inspired by Israeli bigotry.Israel's rampantly racist anti-Palestinian laws and walls are a terrible crime against humanity, and this terrible crime against humanity has been aided and abetted by our own foolish willingness to arm Israeli racism with a full arsenal of lethal weaponry and then look away while Israel flagrantly violated international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights over and over.
Assigning endless powers and blame to Arafat, the besieged Palestinian leader who spent his last years under house arrest imprisoned in the crumbling rubble of his compound, merely makes us look small-minded and silly.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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New York Times
http://nytimes.com/2004/11/13/opinion/l13mideast.html
Yasir Arafat, Lightning Rod
Published: November 12, 2004
To the Editor:
Despite endless Israeli propaganda to the contrary, the Palestinian
refugees' right to return is not a terrorist threat, nor is it an empty
dream, much less an evil desire.
The right to return is simply and completely an inalienable right and a
vital part of civilization that is completely enshrined and respected by
international law - for good reason.
Neither Yasir Arafat nor Israel ever had the power to trade the Palestinian
refugees' right to return away.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa., Nov. 12, 2004
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The Pitt News
One of America's Great Student Newspapers - Since 1906The University of Pittsburgh
11-13-2004
http://www.pittnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/12/4194388f01603
Topic: Arafat's death hits world
Name: Anne Selden Annab
Location: Mechanicisburg PA
Occupation: homemaker
Comment:
I was thrilled to come across Rania Jubran's wise words
concerning creating a just and lasting peace by ending
the occupation and respecting the Palestinian refugees
(inalienable) right of return.
Neither Arafat, nor Israel ever had the power to trade
the Palestinian refugees inalienable right of return
away. But suppose any one person or political entity
actually did set that legal precedent: Imagine the
chaotic and corrupting consequences from such a
shortsighted investment in tyranny and war, ushering in
an age of unchecked aggression by every nation and
neighbor on earth.... Hence forth all men, women, and
children harassed out of their homes and off their land
at gun point (or even just away on vacation) must
immediately and completely give up any claim to their
land and rights and livelihood and any chance of full and
equal citizenship in the land of their birth.
Civilization would collapse as every country and every
leader on earth would find it far too easy and far too
tempting to create convenient excuses for quietly
usurping its neighbors most valued resources by force,
readjusting national borders bit by bit by and calling it
a security need while rejecting the original home and
land owner's rights because they are a "demographic
threat".
Face the facts, so far a just and lasting peace has not
be created any where on earth past or present with the
reinforcement of apartheid walls and laws and the cruel
segregation and imprisonment of certain people in crowded
and impoverished concentration camps where they are
easily targeted by bullets, and the occasional one ton
bomb, starved, and made into refugees over and over and
over again. That's just a recipe for more of the same
and haven't we all had more than enough !
I also very much liked that wonderful photo of the
Members of Students for Justice in Palestine marching on
Forbes Avenue Saturday... That sign in front " END US
MILITARY AID " sums it up well- If we the American
people want to help shape a just and lasting peace in the
Middle East with both our tax dollars and intellectual
support we should not be blindly investing in Israeli
bigotry and injustice and escalating war and violence and
chaos and pain... and Israel's many flagrant violations
of international law and the Palestinians' basic human
rights.
We should be investing in real democracy with full and
equal rights for ALL, regardless of perceived race or
religion. Under the circumstances our highest priority
should be insisting that Israel fully implement U.N
Resolution 194 from 1948, the Palestinian refugees
(inalienable) right of return to live in peace.
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Baltimore Sun
11-8-2004http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-ed.le.08nnov08,1,3752970.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines
Israel already at war with the Palestinians
Israel has no need to play war games with imagined potential scenarios ("After Arafat," Opinion
Enough with blaming the Palestinians. We need to look at what Israel really is and what Israel really does.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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British Medical Journal
24 October 2004http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7471/924#80335
one of many online responces published in responce to Derek Summerfield's Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes BMJ 2004; 329: 924 [Full text
|    | |||
| Anne Selden Annab, homemaker- devoted wife and mother of three at home Send response to journal:
| Dear British Medical Journal, Thank you for publishing the informative and compassionate article "Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes" concerning the very real plight of the Palestinians. A dear friend of mine is a surgical nurse who has used her vacations from her job here in the States to visit Gaza with a medical team and help out in the badly staffed and equipped medical facilities. She takes suitcases of basic medical supplies because they are so hard to come by for the besieged Palestinians living under a horribly oppressive occupation. It breaks my heart to hear her stories about the suffering of innocent children badly maimed by Israeli attacks. Even the children not physically hurt are terribly traumatized. My friend told me of a toddler who had never walked on grass or in the sand or anywhere outside as her mother was too terrified to let her play outside where she might be shot by "stray" Israeli gunfire. While I know that the most extreme cases of bullet wounds and burns tend to catch our attention and sympathy there is a huge continuum of unnecessary suffering and pain ignored by much of our media: Imagine a child who has spent her entire brief life inside, unable to play outside in the fresh air on a beautiful day for fear of Israeli snipers and tanks and helicopter gunships. As a mother I can not help but wonder if one of the Palestinian children currently persecuted and impoverished and denied basic medical care and even an education by Israeli racism might hold the key to some great scientific discovery such as a cure for chronic pain from nerve damage- but that child will never ever have the opportunity to grow up and get an education and contribute to our world. Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab Competing interests: None declared | |||
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Haaretz
Mon., October 18, 2004 Cheshvan 3, 5765
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/LiArt.jhtml?contrassID=2&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0
Propaganda tricks
I was very much impressed by two letters published in Haaretz - "Disgraceful behavior in Old City," by Mike Odetella and "Knesset needs Einstein's wisdom," by Miriam M. Reik. It is good to see glimmers of light amid so much darkness.
Israel's racist obsession with Jewish demographics has robbed many individuals of grace and dignity and inspired the worst in people rather than the best.
Recently I read of a "pro-Israel" group that has been shipping an Israeli bus all over America to make a point about Palestinian suicide bombers. Imagine how many hungry children could be fed had those "pro-Israel" activists decided to invest in real justice and human dignity rather than expensive propaganda tricks aimed at demonizing the Palestinians.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, PA
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LA Times
Sep 20, 2004http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-boot20sep20,1,171588.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
LETTERS TO THE TIMES
Export Democracy, but Not by Force
The folly is not in the idea of democracy — the folly is in our own democracy giving the neocon lunatics carte blanche to hijack the word "democracy," just the word, not the concept with full and equal rights for all, as the neocons studiously ignore America's own needs (and ideals) in order to arm Israel as a racist nation.
Israel is in flagrant and long-term violation of multiple international laws and the Palestinians' basic human rights. Our response, thanks to neocon nuttiness, is to enthusiastically accept Israeli advice and direction by conjuring up a wide "war on terrorism." Next we systematically dismantle our own democracy with Israeli-inspired secret evidence in order to accuse, arrest and imprison Arabs and Muslims in America. We are well on our way to targeted political assassinations.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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The Chronicle
more on Duke University's PSM conferenceOnline responces from The Chronicle, the independent Daily at Duke University
RE: Anti-Semitism: Past and present
response posted on the the page's web form for feedbackhttp://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/418f711a9b1fd
Dear Editor,
Bigotry is bigotry. Most bigots really don't know or even want to know the history of Jewish suffering, they only know what they want to see and hear, and frankly much of the "Jewish" response to the PSM conference was rather ugly and mean spirited. So much so I still seriously wonder if maybe some non-Jews, perhaps some very nasty white supremacists, posed as Jews writing responses just to make Jews look bad.
Before writing "Anti-Semitism: Past and present" Amanda Zimmerman really should have carefully read the hate filled responses to that "one guy's" column and taken note of the fact that the hate extended even to those who had the wisdom to reach out to that "one guy" to try to explain why his words were hurtful.
Please realize that as a non-Arab, non-Muslim Zimmerman is quite free in today's world to wonder out loud about and perhaps even "question the very right for a Jewish state to exist" (her words) , while Arab and Muslims world wide are quickly accused of being terrorists for even bringing up the subject.
In today's world it is Arab and Muslims who pick up their papers- or just look out their front doors- and see not traces of hatred but full scale attacks.
Niemöller's poem really needs to be updated with
First they came for the Muslims and Arabs
and then they came for the Jews:
First They Came for the Jews
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew....
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Martin Niemöller
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
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The Chronicle
more on Duke University's PSM conferenceOnline responces from The Chronicle, the independent Daily at Duke University
http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/41497ca9132e8
As the parent of two teens who will eventually have the privilege of choosing...
Seventy-four times
Posted 09/17/2004
As the parent of two teens who will eventually have the privilege of choosing what college will help shape their lives and their careers I like to read College newspapers on occasion to see what they have to say on topics that are dear to my own heart as a mother and a citizen of both America and the world.
I have been utterly horrified by the venom and stupidity aroused not by the upcoming PSM conference but by the mindless minions of a Jewish student organization which is obviously much more interested in asserting Israeli interests on an American college campus than in serving the community's actual needs.
Mindlessly para-phrasing Israeli propaganda these Zionist warriors battle on, approaching from every angle they can find, not even realizing how their own anti-Palestinian hate mongering sounds to someone on the outside looking in.
It is obviously quite easy for a self absorbed student to lose sight of the fact that many adults work hard and make endless sacrifices for you to help support your education from beginning to end. Don't take yourself out of context. It does, as Ms. Clinton claimed when you were in grade school, take a village to raise a child.
In the real world we adults carry many financial burdens in addition to the parental privilege of trying to pay for your room and board, books, tuition, clothes, cars and all your other many needs as a student. Our taxes and contributions also help pay for student loans and scholarships for those less financially fortunate. Either way it comes out of our hard earned money, whither we are parents or not.
Some of us tax paying adults have been or are currently soldiers, risking our lives so you can have the time and leisure to invest your intellectual energy where ever you want. It might feel like a free ride but its not.
As American pay checks shrivel and taxes swell, our government is generously arming and aiding a certain foreign country that stands in flagrant violation of multiple international laws and the Palestinians' basic human rights. This blind investment in one very racist Israel has drawn America into a misguided and horrifically expensive war on terrorism.
Any mis-use of American money directly impacts your campus and your life- that alone is reason enough to applaud and support President Brodhead's wise decision to allow the Palestine Solidarity Movement conference to go ahead and studiously engage in what is one of the most important dialogues facing all of America today.
Anne Selden Annab
annie.annab@paonline.com
homemaker
Mechanicsburg PA
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The Chronicle
more on Duke University's PSM conferenceOnline responces from The Chronicle, the independent Daily at Duke University
10/27/2004 - PSM: Imagining Peace
http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/417e3e4b845cb
Bravo Bridget ! " Imagining Peace " is like a breath of fresh air and...
http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/417e3e4b845cb
Bravo Bridget ! " Imagining Peace " is like a breath of fresh air and energy.
It is quite inspiring to see such an exceptional talent for writing combined with a gift for capturing important details, especially as you are using your talent to help create a better world.
Well done and keep up the great work!
Anne Selden Annab
annie.annab@paonline.com
homemaker
Mechanicsburg PA
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USA Today
8-9-2004http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040809/6435489s.htm
Tear down the wall
Regarding Amitai Etzioni's commentary, ''Israel's security barrier could use tweaking, not a wrecking ball,'' in my view, the situation requires major tweaking. The awful wall, along with Israel's anti-Palestinian laws and policies, should be dismantled (The Forum, Wednesday).
Editorials extolling the supposed virtues of Israel's wall neglect to notice that Palestinians in the occupied territories have been pushed into impoverished camps, completely surrounded by Israel's many Jews-only settlements. Roads work with the wall to isolate the Palestinians in every way possible.
Etzioni argues that the numbers illustrate the need for the wall, pointing to reduced suicide bombings in Israel. But he fails to calculate Palestinian pain and suffering -- 56 years' worth. How many Palestinian men, women and children trapped inside the circuitous stranglehold created by ''security barriers'' and checkpoints have been attacked, wounded and even killed by Israel just in the past year? Calling that monstrosity a ''security barrier'' only perpetuates the myth that there is any security, much less any chance of peace, for anyone in a world shaped by racist laws and walls.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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Baltimore Sun
8-1-2004http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-ed.le.03aaug03,1,6383567.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines
I applaud the publication of the two letters concerning The Sun's editorial "Know your enemy" (July 27) - both of which focused on the stupidity of our one-sided, pro-Israeli policy in the Middle East ("Knowing cause of terror threat can protect us," letters, Aug. 1).
We should have been having this conversation a long time ago, instead of reacting as our papers and newscasts and even our politicians did to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - by leaning closer to Israel and turning our backs on the truth.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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The International Herald Tribune
Saturday, July 24, 2004http://www.iht.com/articles/530827.html
Jews and France
As much as I usually enjoy Uri Avnery's insightful and intelligent commentaries - and the excellent work of his organization, Gush Shalon, on behalf of peace and its work toward ending the occupation - I strongly disagree with Avnery's viewpoint in "A clash of civilizations over French Jews," (Views, July 23).
One should not simply shrug off Israel's frequent call for Jews to "return" to Israel, especially as millions of Palestinians have been waiting years to return. This is a central problem that has been ignored or dismissed for far too long. Some peace activists mistakenly believe that Israel's occupation is the central problem of the conflict. While it is a huge problem, with many horrific ramifications, it is not the main problem.
Israel's anti-Palestinian laws, policies and actions are the real obstacles. There can not be real justice much less a lasting peace - or a real democracy - until Israel fully allows for the UN-backed Palestinian right of return. With anything less than full and equal rights for Palestinians, including the right to vote and the right to live free of discriminatory laws and walls, all we will have is more of the same.
Anne Selden Annab,
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
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The Day
7/18/2004
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=2EAFEE82-FA7D-4D0A-B68C-DC72E8FF5311U.S. Should Not Be Arming Israel
Published on 7/18/2004Letters To The Editor:
Bravo! “ Tear Down This Wall “ by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (The Day, July 13) was an excellent and informative essay concerning the truth about America's “friend,” Israel.
Once upon a time, tall polished walls of Zionist propaganda hid the truth from view, but with modern technologies the truth finally has a chance to be both seen and heard. Israel's long history of aggressive anti-Palestinian laws and policies has been wrecking havoc in the region for generations. Enough!
Racist laws and walls are wrong- simply and completely wrong. America should not be arming Israel with words or weaponry, much less supporting Israel's concrete walls of hate. 
Mechanicsburg, Penn.
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Washington Times
6-12-04
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040611-084202-8766r.htm
Ready, aim, demonize
Two letters ("U.N. at gunpoint?" yesterday) staunchly condemn the United Nations in a misguided effort to promote Israel and its folly filled propagandist Michelle Malkin ("Ambulances for terrorists?" Commentary, June 3) as an expert on international affairs.
Israel, in a long-term refusal to respect the Palestinians' basic human rights, has been building walls of hate throughout the Holy Land for years, methodically imprisoning the persecuted Palestinians in ever-shrinking ghettos that can easily be attacked by Israeli warships.
Israel's extensive state-sponsored terrorism against its native non-Jewish population created the Palestinian refugee crisis in the first place. Demonizing the Palestinians, Islam or the United Nations is not the answer. It is the problem. Arming Israel with both words and American-made weaponry only makes matters worse. Enough with the hate-mongering — it might make us feel powerful, but it only makes us wrong.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
6-9-4
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/8874335.htm
Israel's tight grip
Re: "Hardly an occupation," letter, June 7:
Smoke and mirrors and dirty tricks totally obscure reality and the very real plight of the Palestinian people, despite the implication in the letter by the national president of the Zionist Organization of America.
Israel has the weapons, the walls and the checkpoints, the curfews and closures, the armored bulldozers and tanks and troops and helicopter gunships while the besieged Palestinians are expected to be the prison guards for Israel's non-Jewish population.
Yasir Arafat, elected leader of the Palestinians, is surrounded by racist Israeli laws and military maneuverings and can't even leave his compound.
Israel's authority over all the land is made even more clear by the kangaroo court proceedings against political prisoner Marwan Barghouti. Meanwhile, America is totally distracted by the three-ring circus put on by anti-Palestinian Israel mumbling on and on about "withdrawing" and "peace."
Anne Selden Annab
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LA Times
5-28-2004
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-israel28may28,1,6624072.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Gaza Continues as an Intense Issue
Believe it or not, there are Palestinians who know how to read and write and express intelligent outrage at the total injustice of Israel's viciously brutal attacks on Palestinian refugee camps. I find it quite worrisome that the May 26 commentaries, "The Building Blocks of Hope," by Uri Dromi, the director of international outreach at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, and "Demolishing Houses, and Lives," by Jessica Montell, director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, come from Israel, because neither one even noticed the central fact that Israel is responsible for the Palestinian refugees in the first place.
Israel's long-term refusal to fully implement U.N. Resolution 194 from 1948, the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right of return to live in peace in accordance with international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has allowed Israel to become an angst-filled, racist nation. And Israel, as the occupying power, has a responsibility to protect the Palestinians.
It seems to me that many compassionate voices in the Israeli "peace camp" are mainly interested not in real justice but in building better, prettier prison camps for the impoverished and persecuted Palestinians … and that's just more of the same.
Anne Selden Annab
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Published June 2004 issue of Episcopal Life
http://www.episcopal-life.org/26731_41015_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=undefined
Let Palestinians return | |||||
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Patriot News 4-13-2004
Peace is possible
Thank you for publishing "Messages of peace to open film festival" ( Faith & Values section 3-19-4) concerning Israel's Michael Bavly (Jewish) and Forsan Hussien (Palestinian), two friends who firmly believe that peace is inevitable and that "Jews and Palestinians must live together and find a way to share the little piece of holy land."
I was delighted with their website ( www.shalam.org) finding much to inspire and uplift, even some exquisite poetry expressing so much more than newspaper headlines and politicians ever can.
In 1988, the year of the first Palestinian intifada, somehow a stone tossed by a small Palestinian child landed right in the center of my heart, stirring me to wonder and question and seek real answers.
Someday Holocaust museums both here and abroad will open wings to explain and explore the very real plight of the Palestinian people.
Peace (and the Palestinians) needs freedom, just as the triumphant dove needs air both to breath in and to soar through. Real peace really is possible; it has been growing all along inside every child's divine ability to find real friendship and deeply empathetic alliances any where and every where they are allowed to go.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
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USA Today 4-6-2004
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040406/6083683s.htmMothers' struggles captured
Thank you for the very informative and tragic story on Palestinian mothers.It is difficult enough to be a mother in the best of circumstances, and it breaks my heart to think of all of the Palestinian mothers struggling to raise their children while mired in such horrifically ugly and dangerous circumstances.
Israel certainly does have many powerful weapons of war and many ways to traumatize and torment the non-Jewish population of the Holy Land.
Israel's endless anti-Palestinian walls, laws and propaganda won't change the facts as I see them: Israel, as a racist nation, is simply and completely wrong.
Thanks, USA TODAY, for daring to look beyond pervasive Israeli propaganda, which I believe has convinced a very misguided America to arm and empower escalating injustice, chaos, war and worldwide terrorism.
Anne Selden Annab
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Jerusalem Post
3-10-2004http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1078892496402&p=1006953079865
Truth or therapy?
Sir, - Thank you for publishing the letter by the US Embassy's Paul Patin decrying the hatemongering "tribute" you recently carried. Rachel Corrie was an amazing hero who bravely went to help not just the Palestinians, but all of humanity by being a gentle witness and a human shield.
I have been stunned and shocked and sickened by how free so many Israelis feel to hate Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular - and things just go from bad to worse. Long ago Israel really should have fully implemented UN Resolution 194, the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right of return to live in peace.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
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Independent Online
2004-03-08
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=552&set_id=1&letter_id=4170&topic_id=10&anon=n
Israel is not fighting to defend itself : response to Oleh Hadash
Israel is not fighting to defend itself- Israel is fighting to remain a racist nation
Oleh Hadash asks where the hate-mongering was in his letter: The hate-mongering was in his energetic demonising of Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular. Such unchallenged demonising has long permitted the very racist Israel itself to go far beyond the limits of legal and moral codes concerning what is fair and just and right and even civilized.
I believe there is a great deal of psychological pain driving Hadash's obvious disdain for the native non-Jewish Semite population of the Middle East, making it impossible for him to comprehend any humanity and inherent dignity within the Palestinian population, nor is he able to understand the absolute inhumanity of Israel's own rampantly racist laws and policies and extensive state sponsored terrorism.
Israel is not fighting to defend itself - Israel is fighting to remain a racist nation. As such Israel is far too willing to sacrifice the mental and physical health of its own Jewish citizens, human beings like Oleh Hadash, to construct hills and valleys full of hate and despair whereever and however Zionist warriors can, in order to annihilate the "Palestinian threat".
No one is winning this horrible war, no one is safer or happier or healthier. Racism is wrong period - surely the Nazi Holocaust is proof enough of that !
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg PA
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New York Times 2-24-04
http://nytimes.com/2004/02/24/opinion/L24CHOM.html
Does Israel's Barrier Protect or Punish?
To the Editor:Re "A Wall as a Weapon," by Noam Chomsky (Op-Ed, Feb. 23):
Much as I admire Mr. Chomsky's willingness to note the very real plight of the Palestinians, I wish he would also note the Palestinian refugees' inalienable right of return.
When Mr. Chomsky says that "few would question Israel's right to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks," I cannot help but think of the real problem underlying all else — Israel's definition of citizen.
All Jews are welcome, but no Palestinians are allowed to return. The few Palestinians remaining in Israel proper are constantly harassed by racist land and marriage laws while their cousins in the illegally occupied territories are harassed by Israeli bullets, bombs and bulldozers.
We should be supporting real justice and democracy with full and equal rights for all — not delusions about security.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa., Feb. 23, 2004
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JORDAN TIMES
Amman Jordan
2-13-2004
Comparing
ON FEB. 11, The Jordan Times carried a wonderfully insightful column by Rami Khouri, “The American public diplomacy hoax — why do they keep insulting us?”
Compare that please with “Arabs. It's your move”, by Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times on Feb. 12.
One is both informed and informative, the other is actually a tad insulting, condescending and ridiculously obtuse.
If I had to give a party where a just and lasting peace for the Middle East were seriously discussed and determined by a diverse group including Ariel Sharon and a columnist, I think I'd rather ask the gentle, wise and well informed Jordan Times columnist.
Anne Selden Annab,
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Baltimore Sun 1-21-2004
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-ed.le.21jjan21,0,2092658.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines
As much as I appreciate the tiptoe toward the truth in "Not bombers, not barriers" (editorial, Jan. 15), where was there any mention of real justice?
Where was there any mention of Israel's many violations of international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights? Where was any mention of real democracy with freedom and justice for all?
For years - generations now - Israel has chosen to subsidize and support armed fanatics in the many sprawling and spreading Jewish-only colonies that clutter the illegally occupied territories. These front-line zealots in Israel's cruelly racist war have made a viable Palestinian state impossible.
For the sake of all the children in the holy land and beyond, and of a just and lasting peace, we really should be actively advocating one land, one people, one peace - with full and equal rights for all.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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Star Ledger
1-2004
I see nothing secular in Hertzberg's "A secular solution". Growing up in America immersed in freedom, justice, and equality for all I have to seriously question the myopic assumption that Israeli Jews lose if and when in a secular state Arab Palestinians get a voice and a vote in shaping a real democracy with full and equal rights for all.
Are Palestinian men women and children really so inherently monstrous... or is Israel just terrified that the Palestinians given even an iota of actual power will elect to treat Israeli Jews as badly as non-Jews (Palestinians) have been treated by a very racist Israel.
Hertzberg seems confident that idea of transfer, as in ethnic cleansing, is quite remote: But the ugly reality is that Israel has been engaged in a slow motion ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land all along.
America should stop arming and empowering Israel's racist war on the natives of the land. We should be firmly and clearly insisting that Israel fully respect international law, with a special focus on the importance of fully implementing U.N resolution 194 from 1948, the Palestinian refugees inalienable right of return.
Give both peace and the Palestinians a chance... they really are fully human, good bad and indifferent, men women and children just like you and me and every one else.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
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1 comment:
Hi Annie,
Ive been a lurker for a little bit now and I thought you might be able to help me! I found a picture online and I was trying to source it, to no avail, I wonder if I could email it to you and see if you could tell me what it is? (The file name of the picture is nourestani jihadi girl.jpg)
My livejournal tag is empresswu, I have nothing on blogger, so you can see there that Im not some psycho that longs to get your email..
Sheila
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