Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace....
Anne Selden Annab
***************************************************************************
A Few of my Published Letters to the Editor
***************************************************************************
Patriot News
11-16-03
Broken Promises
Once upon a time, perhaps in 1948, a two state solution made much more
sense (news article, Nov 2), but only in complete tandem with the full
implementation of
United Nations Resolution 194, from 1948, the Palestinian
refugees
inalienable right of return to live in peace.
Tragically for all, time has only compounded the very real pain
and
suffering of the native Palestinians.
Reach back into the history of broken promises that have done
irreparable damage to the Palestinians both individually and
collectively. Take for instance 1917's Balfour
Declaration:
"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their
best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being
clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the
civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any
other country."
It
is absolutely obvious to all who have the courage and compassion to
reach beyond Israel's racist propaganda that the Palestinians have
never really been given the opportunity to actually live in
peace: Real peace
depends on real justice.... and a leap of faith away from
the ugly nightmarish realities wrought by Israel's own rampantly racist
laws, walls and blind spots.
One people with full and equal rights for
all-- one land, one people and one peace. Is that really so
unreasonable.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg PA
************************************************************
Pittsburgh Post
Gazette 11-16-03
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03320/240167.stm
Cultivating
caring
Thank you for publishing the wonderful Forum piece "Taking Back
Macho Foreign Policy" by Marlene Nadle (Nov. 9).
And I am thrilled that there was even a very respectful reference to
Rachel Corrie, the young American college student who was cruelly
crushed and killed by an Israeli armored bulldozer while she was trying
to prevent the Israeli Defense Forces from destroying yet another
Palestinian family home.
Many closed-minded and cold-hearted warmongers have been working
hard
to convince the world that Rachel Corrie (along with the rest of the
International Solidarity Movement) put her life on the line in the
occupied territories in order to support and protect terrorism, which
is totally and completely wrong.
The ISM peace activists are amazing modern-day heroes who go to be
human witnesses and shields, bravely leaving comfortable homes and
lives in hopes that their presence will help turn the tide away from
ugly escalating hate and war. They are trained in peaceful protest and
are doing what they can to spread peace not war by using words not
weapons.
What happened to Rachel Corrie was a horrible, horrible thing, but
it
has been made even worse by the lack of a concerned, honest and
thorough investigation by both America and Israel into the situation
surrounding her death.
It gives me great hope to hear that women across the globe are
organizing to do what they can to create a culture of caring worldwide.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg
*******************************************************************************************************
The Day
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/newstand/re.aspx?reIDx=5FD1C244-2AA7-4CDE-96AF-48A176A47E73
Israel's Wall Is One Of Hate,
Not Protection
Published on 11/9/2003
Letters To The Editor:
Isaiah
D. Cooper is the one with a blatantly disturbed view. (“Writer's view
of war crimes disturbing,” Nov. 4.) Mr. Cooper sees Israel's huge
concrete walls of hate as a good thing, or a rational and reasonable
thing, blithely ignoring the obvious fact that not only are Israel's
racist walls quite physically ugly, they are also morally ugly.
Israel's racist walls are an aggressive insult to the Palestinians,
and
it is apparent to any one who can read a map that Israel's awful walls
of hate are being built not to protect innocent Israelis but to protect
a very racist Israel's biased laws and polices that persecute and
impoverish the natives of the land.
Since 1948 Israel has refused to adhere to international law by
respecting the Palestinian refugees inalienable right of return. I'd
call that intentional ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile Israel has been
investing a great deal of time, money and energy in building and
expanding armed Jewish-only settlements through out the illegally
occupied territories. Is it any wonder that neighboring Jordan has been
forced to protect itself from Israel's many aggressive official and
unofficial land grabs?
Israel's own rampant racism has created horrible problems in the
Holy Land, with widespread ramifications for us all.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa
************************************************************************************************************************************
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/30/opinion/L30KRUG.html
The Way to Answer Anti-Semitism
To
the Editor:
"A Willful Ignorance," by Paul Krugman (column, Oct. 28), was
exceptionally good. He dared to mention the fact that there are
moderate Muslims. And he dared to look at the danger of assuming
anti-Semitism in the wrong circumstances.
America has not kept itself well informed about world affairs,
preferring to trust Israel's biased slant, which has thrust us onto a
slippery slope.
The good news is that at least some are finally noticing that there
is
a "perception gap." Hang on to hope where you can, and you're much more
likely to find the momentum to swing right up out of the messiest mess.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
Mechanicsburg, Pa., Oct. 28, 2003
****************************************************************************
New York
Post 10-?-03
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/8905.htm
Why in the world is Daniel Pipes, the man recently "elected" to
the U.S. Institute of Peace, digging up and flinging mud on a
Palestinian Fulbright scholar in Florida? And why should any reasonable
person trust Israel's accusations about who is and isn't a terrorist?
It is in Israel's best interests to completely
oppress any intellectual stirrings that might lead to an actual
questioning of Israel's racist laws and policies - especially peaceful
Palestinian stirrings that might lead to sympathy for the very real
plight of the Palestinian people.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Miftah
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=2470&CategoryId=18
n Honor of Edward Said (A letter to President Bush)
September 27, 2003
By Annie Annab
Dear President Bush,
I am writing you today, in honor of Eward Said, a great and wise man
who spoke out against America's massive support that arms and empowers
Israel's ugly and racist war on the native Palestinians.
Edward Said bravely spoke out to help build a just and lasting peace in
the Middle East. He, like so many others who dare point out the very
real plight of the Palestinian people, was accused of supporting
terrorism- but still he spoke out and encouraged others to do so also.
There is a phrase from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar ... "the
rocks and stones themselves will start to sing".
Edward Said died today and his memory is being lifted up by many on the
internet as all around the world people from many different races and
religions and back grounds join together to mourn the passing of this
amazing man who encouraged us all to speak out for the truth and for
justice and for the inherent dignity of each individual and every
culture and the beauty of music and the possibility of real peace.
Rocks and stones all around the world are protecting the truth
as more and more people touched by wise heroes like Edward Said, see
what Israel really is and how insane and counter productive America's
support of a cruel and brutal and ugly Israel is.
Rocks and stones all around the world are coming together as witnesses
to Israel's war crimes. Rocks and stones all around the world are
speaking out to bash down Israel's walls of hate and neutralize
Israel's poisonous propaganda so that real peace and possibility can
take hold and flourish and fill people hearts and minds with hope.
Rocks and stones all around the world are rising up to protect
both the truth and the Palestinians. We might not be scholars or
wealthy or anything special but we all believe in peace.
There is no power greater than hope.... Hope holds the beauty
of what once was and will be again. Hope holds the power of peace. Hope
joins strangers so that billions of people of all races and religions
and backgrounds can stand unified, mourning one wise man who died
today.
He urged us all to speak out, and in honor of Edward Said, I
urge you too to speak out about Israel's many crimes against humanity.
And I urge every one I know to write their elected leaders and their
newspapers and TV news shows and mourn the passing of Edward Said by
doing what you can with your own voice and your own words and your
hearts and your minds and humanity to prove Edward Said's words that
"All human conflict is created by humans and it can be solved by
humans."
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
LA Times 9-13-03
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-feldman13sep13,1,7486339.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
Targeted Killings Fight Violence With Violence
I commend Walzer for condemning Israel's particular brand of brutal
targeted killings but wonder why he didn't condemn all targeted
killings. The big "if" underlying any targeted killing is what makes a
targeted killing so very wrong: It is far too easy to accuse a person
of a crime and then kill that person — plus any chance he might have to
defend himself in a fair trial. The killer gets to kill not just his
target but his target's personal story and any evidence he might have
to prove his innocence, empowering propaganda rather than real justice.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
****************************************************************************
Patriot News
8-19-03
Wall of oppression
William Safire erred when he described Israel's "fence" as a wire fence
(syndicated column Aug 6). His misinformation is no surprise since our
naive news media has mainly refused to actually show the ugly reality
of Israel's wall of shame.
Israel's monstrously tall wide concrete wall is anything but a straight
line division between black and white- which would be bad enough in an
age when we should know better.
Israel's apartheid wall runs in semi- circles around the Palestinians,
trapping them, rather like a house of one way mirrors built to confound
and confuse the people stuck inside, while the Israelis looking in from
every angle have the freedom and ease to keep living subsidized lives
in armed Jewish-only settlements built on usurped Palestinian land,
able and willing to keep shifting walls and borders on a moments
notice.
Israel's wall is an act of war, one of many Israeli acts of war on the
Palestinians basic human rights.
There is nothing democratic about Israel's 54 year refusal to implement
international law by granting the Palestinians full and equal rights in
the land of their birth. Israel has been ethnically cleansing the
Holy Land rather than welcoming the natives of the land with the
right to live in peace in the land of their birth.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
New York Times
8-09-03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/09/opinion/L09MIDE.html
Can a Barrier Bring Mideast
Peace?
To the Editor:
Ethan Bronner (Editorial Observer, Aug. 8) confronts Israel's wall for
what it is: ugly and cruel.
Real peace and security depend on real justice. Moderates and idealists
who believe in democracy should be speaking out in support of
international law, with the highest priority given to respecting the
inherent wisdom of United Nations Resolution 194 of 1948, the
Palestinian refugees' inalienable right of return.
Israel's newest wall is one of many Israeli walls that have been
imprisoning and oppressing the native Palestinians for generations.
Israel's laws and policies helped build that ugly wall long before a
single strand of barbed wire was strung.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
****************************************************************************
The Day 8/4/2003
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/newstand/re.aspx?reIDx=FD6D0F3E-E4FE-42D4-BA02-581925003242
King Wouldn't Support Brutal Israeli
Tactics
Letters To The Editor:
It was very brave — and very good — of you to publish Hassan Fouda's
eye-opening letter (“Zionists Use Deception To Push Agenda,” July 24).
It's impossible to know for a fact what another person from another
time and place would think, but given all the letters and speeches I
have read by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I cannot help but believe
that Dr. King would be quite horrified if he were to know about
Israel's brutal state-sponsored terrorism of the Palestinian people.
And on further reflection surrounded as I am by the strength and beauty
of dreams leaping up to be realized with full and equal rights for all
people- regardless of race or religion, I am quite convinced that Dr.
King would be publicly condemning a very racist Israel's apartheid
walls
and laws, and firmly calling for America to stop empowering Israel's
persecution and impoverishment of the natives of the land.
Knowing what I know of our own struggles with civil rights, I am
equally convinced that the key to a just and lasting peace is a real
key. It is a large and cumbersome old metal key to a demolished home,
a telling symbol treasured and polished smooth by the tender
caressings of many young children listening to beloved parents,
grandparents, uncles and aunts as they remember carefully-tended
gardens and orchards and wells with cool water, laughter, work, school
and a time when all brothers, sisters, cousins and friends were free
to live and love each other in peace.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Philadelphia Inquirer
8-3-2003
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/6444086.htm
Star of David in Auth cartoon
was upsetting
Tony Auth's July 31 cartoon really stunned me. What a powerful and
surprisingly true image. Auth's sketch of the perfect symmetry of
Israel's state emblem, the Star of David, gives three dimensions to
mimic Israel's "security fence" and shows it as an obvious cage. What
brilliant insight. And such courage, too, since he is sure to be
accused
of being anti-Semitic because he exposed the ugly side of Israel's wall
with his wit.
Israel usurped the Star of David from the Jewish religion, placing the
religious symbol on a political flag. What a shame that Israel has
chosen to wave that flag while flagrantly violating both international
law and the Palestinians' basic human rights.
Anne
Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Washington Times
7-31-93
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030730-091824-9591r.htm
Responding to Suzanne Fields' Op-Ed
column on Monday
"The last acceptable prejudice," the last acceptable prejudice is not
anti-Semitism, it is our easy use of the word 'anti-Semitic,' which
really is a racist word, a tainted remnant from a racist time when
Nazis
felt free to hate and hurt Jews just because the Jews were Jews. Racism
is wrong period.
No one should ever be persecuted or impoverished because of who
their mother was or where and how they pray. We are all human. We are
all fully capable of both love and hate. Race and religion are
arbitrary lines of separation drawn by modern definitions and
reinforced by placing rumors alongside fact. Many of us are products
of more than one race, more than one religion and so it has been
throughout history. Our actual ancestry is more a matter of what we
want to remember than anything else.
Rather than confusing justifiable complaints about Israel's own
racist war on the Palestinians, Mrs. Fields should ponder the fact that
Palestinians are Semites, too, but they are excluded from the word
anti-Semitism in much the same way that Israel excludes the native
Palestinians from full and equal rights in the land of their birth.
Racism might seem harmless or even safe at first, starting out
with low murmurs and mumblings. But it has a habit of quickly becoming
monstrous and ugly and uncontrollable, making enemies out of strangers
and spreading hate, despair, violence, anger and pain in every
direction. Racist walls and words have no place in or even near a
democracy. It should be enough to say that an offensive cartoon was a
racist insult and that racism is wrong.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
***************************************************************************
Patriot News, June 27, 2003
Doonesbury' brilliance
Joel R. Burcat ( Letters, June 20) must be
confusing the sophisticated "Doonesbury" political cartoons of Garry
Trudeau's with work like Peanuts, expecting silly Snoopy antics that
are only meant to make us giggle. Trudeau's creative brilliance
is in his amazing ability to make stunningly brilliant social and
political commentaries with brief glimpses and statements.
He does tend to tackle serious topics, and he does tend to
explore them as honestly as he can, which of cause does accidentally
offend some people at times.
Without a doubt it is a horrible tragedy when any human
being, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation is
killed by a suicide, a suicide bomber, or a bomb. Nowhere
did I see in Trudeau's series on suicide bombers any hint of approval
or delight for suicide, suicide bombers, bombs, or Israeli
snipers. I did, however, see that his main focus was clearly on
the media and stereotypes versus the truth.
I find it odd that the Patriot News chose to publish
a letter that perpetuates the very problems and contradictions that
Trudeau was pointing out.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
The Morning Call -- June
16, 2003
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/letters/all-annabjun16,0,7897952.story?coll=all-newsopinionletters-hed
Congress and Israel need to rethink
practices
Congress needs to rethink its practice of supporting Israel as a racist
nation in the process of ethnically cleansing the Holy Land. I have
been horrified by Israel's use of American-made helicopter gunships to
kill people, including women and children, in crowded Gaza.
Israel really should fully implement international law, including the
Palestinian refugees' inalienable right of return.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Washington Times 6-13-03
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030612-104627-9757r.htm
Dissension and division in the Mideast
Thank you for publishing David Nassar's exceptionally good letter ("No
'zero-sum game,' " Wednesday). He summed it up quite well by saying,
"Peace is not an ethnic birthright." The most important function of the
peace advocates is merely to be witnesses to the horrors wrought by
Israel's racist war on the oppressed and persecuted Palestinians.
Those International Solidarity Movement peace advocates are today's
most valiant heroes in bravely standing up to a well-armed and racist
nation and doing what they can for real justice and a lasting peace.
How dare we accuse any Palestinian or their pro-peace supporters of
being terrorists when Israel sends in helicopter gunships and
"accidentally" kills innocent Palestinian women and children with
brutal
missile attacks.
No one should be discriminated against because of race or religion, and
it is insane that superpower America willingly arms and empowers
Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land.
Zionism really is racism, and pretending it is not has only misled many
otherwise decent people into thinking and doing despicable things.
There is no security in institutionalized racist hatred; there is only
a continuing holocaust and flagrant violations of both moral and
international law. There is nothing but chaos, suffering and pain on
both sides of Israel's apartheid walls.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
****************************************************************************
USA Today 6-5-2003
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030605/5215581s.htm
Mideast peace requires 'full and equal
rights for all'
Commentary writer and rabbi Michael Lerner had some very good points in
his column ''First draw peace map that works'' (The Forum, Tuesday).
However, one vital point was not mentioned: the importance of
implementing internal law, including United Nations Resolution 194, the
Palestinian refugees' inalienable right to return.
As long as Israel is allowed to delude itself into believing that
persecuting and oppressing the native Palestinians are actually
security
measures, there will be righteous indignation and perpetual war.
Full and equal rights for all -- including the right to vote -- are the
basis for a real democracy, and actual justice is the foundation for a
lasting peace.
Without the full implementation of U.N. Resolution 194, any road map is
merely an exercise in driving in circles.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Patriot News 5-30-03
Racist tirade threatens liberty
I was shocked to see Cal Thomas' racist tirade against Muslims
in his bigoted column "The Threat Among Us" (May 23) .
Imagine if the words "Jews" or "Jewish" were swapped
throughout his column for "Muslim" and "Islam". Within living
memory, Nazi propaganda tactics worked once to dehumanize the
Jews and systematically raise the gullible public's level of fear and
hate into a holocaust of pain, suffering and death for many innocent
and decent and good people.
Have we learned nothing from that horrible chapter in world
history? Racist hate really is evil and wrong and only
leads
to increasing ugliness and violence and despair for all. Racist hate
poisons each one of us by imprisoning people with paranoias large and
small spewing from a learned inability to perceive the inherent dignity
of others.
In addition, Thomas' fear- mongering rants against the
inclusive use of the word "Abrahamic" defy both logic and
history. Our civilization is deeply indebted to the Muslim world
for contributing to and preserving a great deal of knowledge and
art during the Western world's Dark Ages. Our Renaissance would
have never flourished with out the enlightening influences of
Islamic scholarship.
The day that our own democracy steps away from fully supporting
freedom justice and equality for all is the day that the tyranny of
hate
wins and every American battle ever fought for freedom becomes a
shackled slave to a state-sponsored war of terrorism on the basic human
rights of each individual.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Christian Science Monitor
5-29-03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0529/p08s01-cole.htm
An exhibit US politicians should see
Thank you for publishing the fascinating article "An artistic 'road
map' to progress" (May 28) concerning the Palestinian art show in
Houston. The details about the difficulties in getting both the art
and the artists here from the occupied territories gave a glimpse of
the difficult circumstances that inevitably can't help but politicize
any artist's work.
Perhaps all our own politicians should convene for talks in the midst
of this telling exhibit of Palestinian art, drink deeply of the
insight and expression found there, and think carefully before
continuing to blindly endorse and empower Israel's war against the
natives of the land.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Ha'artz 5-15-2003
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/LiArt.jhtml?contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0
Attacking the roots
Regarding "Israel to bar pro-Palestinian activists from entering
country," by Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz, May 2
Israel is to bar pro-Palestinian activists from entering country. Isn't
it rather late right now - at a time when even the most obscure detail
can be dug up and spread worldwide on the internet in mere seconds - to
try to stop the work of the International Solidarity Movement?
Wouldn't it be easier, and kinder really, to let the ISM stay, but give
them nothing horrific to witness? Wouldn't it be wiser to stop
challenging the presence of the ISM and start challenging the
circumstances that brought them in the first place?
An armored bulldozer demolishing a civilian home needs no blackening to
make it look bad. Some things just are ... and are a very bad idea in
the first place.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
New York Times 5-1-03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/opinion/L01MIDE.html
Mideast Path: Promise and Agony
To the Editor:
Israel claims to be a democracy, so where are the full and equal rights
for all ("Mideast Hope Meets Its Enemy," editorial, April 30)?
If every Israeli were told that tomorrow he had to trade places with a
Palestinian in the occupied territories, swapping lives and jobs and
homes and even weapons and access to water, what choices would Israel
be
making today?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you would be a higher
priority than it is right now.
That Israel is in long-term violation of international and moral laws,
including the Palestinians' basic human rights, is the major factor in
this terrible nightmare of suffering and rage.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
****************************************************************************
Harrisburg Magazine
http://www.harrisburgmagazine.com/hbgmag_online/0503dept-lttr-2-editr.html
May 2003 Issue
Dear Editor,
Concerning Harrisburg Magazine’s February “Last Paige” column on the
Arab-Israeli conflict: The most sensible thing to do if you really want
to work toward a just and lasting peace is to stop skimming the surface
of the conflict and flinging out racist generalizations such as,
“Perhaps the only way to end this conflict is to deconstruct the
dominant Palestinian culture, which approves of terrorism.”
Israel’s racist laws and policies predate both Hamas and any
Palestinian suicide bombing. Israel is in blatant and long-term
violation of multiple U.N. resolutions … Racism is wrong… No one
should be persecuted, impoverish or imprisoned in a ghetto because of
what is or isn’t on an ID card.
The Palestinians are not the enemy, and neither are the Jews … racist
hate is.
America should be insisting that Israel fully implement all the U.N.
resolutions, including 194, the Palestinian refugees’ right to return.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Advance Titan
The Student Newspaper of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
http://at.mio.uwosh.edu/story.asp?issue=10924&story=2319
Letter to editor commended
4/26/2003
Online,
I accidentally came across Barbara Fink’s letter “Holocaust not sole
tragedy” concerning the current Holocaust in the Holy Land and I
applaud you for printing her insightful letter.
I wish it were
a billboard for all Americans to read because it is utterly insane that
our hard-earned tax dollars are underwriting and arming Israel’s racist
war on the Palestinians.
Imagine having multiple squadrons of
armed “Christian-only” communities reached by “Christian-only” roads
right here in America on every hilltop, leaving everyone who happens to
have the “wrong” religion on their ID cards with little water and no
rights.
Next imagine a select group of “world leaders” deciding
that the solution to the rage and frustration that that racist
“Christian-only” armed fortresses inspire is to shift those
“Christian-only” armed forces to one side of an arbitrary line, leaving
everyone else who happens to the “wrong” religion written on their ID
card still with little water and no rights.
Sound far-fetched? Well that is exactly what is going on right now in
the Middle East.
Israel should fully implement all the United Nations resolutions they
are violating – including U.N. resolution 194, the Palestinian refugees
(inalienable) right to return.
Anne Selden Annab
Pennsylvania
*********************************************************************************************************
The
Christian Science Monitor
4-10-03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0410/p10s02-cole.htm
Watching the
same war from different perspectives
The April 8 Opinion piece "Whose 'truth' is being reported?" by
Mohammed el-Nawawy was utterly fascinating. I envy all who have both
the ability to intelligently comprehend more than one language and
easy access to more than one country's views.
My cable TV offers almost a hundred channels with multiple newscasts
blaring basically the same bright, red-white-and-blue stuff. Being
leashed to a very limited worldview will only make coexistence with the
rest of the world more and more difficult every day.
Winning the peace would be a great deal easier if more Americans
understood how very small this earth of ours actually is, and that our
words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
WASHINGTON POST April 10,
2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1544-2003Apr9.html
Israel's Influence in America
Colbert I. King is sobered by "the realization that there are people in
this country who regard Jews as so dangerous that they bear watching
and keeping tabs on their comings and goings in government and in
other positions of influence in society."
A fascinating observation. However, it is not Jews but Muslims and
Arabs who are being watched by their own government. Muslim and Arab
countries and charities are put on official lists as supporting
terrorism, and rumor, innuendo and secret evidence are used to round
up racially profiled suspects, strip them of their rights and charge
them with being terrorists.
Recently, Robert J. Goldstein was arrested for allegedly plotting to
blow up as many as 50 mosques in the Tampa area. Mr. Goldstein, who is
Jewish, allegedly wanted to make a statement for "his people" after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He had in his possession more than 30
explosive
devices, including light-armor rockets, hand grenades and a gasoline
bomb. But he was not charged with being a terrorist. Apparently, that
privilege is reserved for Arabs and Muslims.
Perhaps if Israel did not receive such massive amounts of U.S. taxpayer
money, weapons and political support; perhaps if Israel were not waging
such a brutal and racist war against the Palestinians; perhaps if
Israel didn't have such a loud voice in America's political process,
sidelining politicians who show even an iota of sympathy for the
Palestinians; perhaps if Israel weren't in the process of bulldozing
Palestinian homes and confiscating Palestinian land and building
apartheid walls -- well, perhaps then the threat of anti-Semitism
would not be rearing its ugly head.
Racism is wrong -- period. The United States' support of Israel has
ramifications worldwide, empowering sick lunatics such as Osama bin
Laden and Saddam Hussein, who hijack the Palestinians' suffering and
just cause for complaint.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
****************************************************************************
Patriot News 3-25-2003
"Beautiful tribute to Ambrose
Klain"
Thank you for publishing "Remembering" the beautiful tribute to Ambrose
Klain the holocaust survivor who made his home in central Pennsylvania
(news article , March 8).
"The Germans are much too civilized to do those things" Klaine's father
said, when told of the death camps...and then Ambrose goes on to say in
his memoirs "the ashes of their incinerated bodies rose from the gas
chambers of Auschwitz to heaven. Their voices still cry to God for
mercy and they are met by silence".
I cringe when I think of the atrocities wrought by racist hate then and
even now, as all the innocent, the good, the decent, the kind, the
gentle, the loving, the generous... as all that actually enriches our
lives and fills our world with beauty and promise is butchered for
political purposes.
I am grateful that Ambrose Klain was able to come make his home in
America and that he hasbeen able to help others like me hear the
warning in the voice of his father who had no idea how much worse
things would quickly become.
Racist hate for anyone is just so very very wrong; it leads to nothing
but escalating despair and suffering and war.
There is no safety in racism, no haven in hate: We must always
remember that Auschwitz, where Klain's family was murdered, is the
real face of racism, and that there is nothing reasonable, much less
civilized, in letting hate win.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Christian Science Monitor
3-19-2003
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0319/p10s03-cole.htm
Palestinians not
free to
enjoy flowers
Helen Schary Motro's March 17 opinion piece "An
erstwhile island of peace" gently evades the very harsh realities of
the situation in Israel, such as the inherent brutality of laws
and policies that have been the driving force behind violence and
suffering and despair on every side.
While Ms. Motro is free to wander most anywhere
she wishes in Israel, enjoying the
wildflowers that gloriously color the Galilee in early spring,
the Palestinians are imprisoned in rubble-filled ghettos by Israel's
apartheid laws and walls, as army checkpoints, curfews, and tanks churn
up and destroy Palestinian homes, villages, and farmland.
As an American lawyer, she should be more aware
than most of the importance of just
laws and civil rights. There is no security in Israel's racist laws,
and there is no hope in empowering racist hate, no matter how gently
it's done.
Israel should fully implement all the UN
resolutions it has been violating, including
Resolution 194, the Palestinian refugees' right of return:
one people, one land, one peace. Anything less is continued apartheid.
Anne Selden
Annab
****************************************************************************
USA Today 3-13-2003
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030313/4942619s.htm
Attack on Iraq would spur worldwide terrorism, war
Young Americans are rising up to voice their opposition to a military
strike against Iraq, and we really need to listen (''Debate over Iraq
fires
passions not seen since the Vietnam War,'' Cover Story, News, March
6).
Pre-emptively annihilating Iraq likely would be the beginning of
worldwide terrorism and war, especially in light of the fact that for
years
America has been planting seeds of despair, pain and righteous outrage
in the Arab and Muslim world by arming and empowering the Israelis
in their conflict with the Palestinians.
How dare we speak of spreading democracy while generously
underwriting Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land? How dare we
speak of freedom when, as far as I'm concerned, most of our elected
politicians and many of our media outlets suppress the truth about the
real plight of the Palestinians? They've been terrorized by Israel's
hate
for more than half a century.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
Washington Times 2- 8- 2003
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030208-15786076.htm#2
Misfired eulogy of Israeli astronaut
It was oddly disjointed how Mona Charen's column,
"One nation ... hails Columbia" (Commentary,
Thursday), went from praising and honoring American
nationhood for encompassing "a continent of different
ethnic, religious and racial groups" right into fully
sympathizing with Israel, which is a place where the
non-Jewish segment of the population has been fiercely
discriminated against for generations.
We simply do not know what was in Israeli astronaut
Ilan Ramon's heart in outer space when he gazed at the
drawing "Moon Landscape," which was made by a
young boy whose life and promise were cruelly usurped
by the Nazis, who imprisoned so many innocent men,
women and children in concentration camps.
Yet, Holocaust relics and stories have been used for
pro-Israel propaganda for years, as Israel is ever eager to
hijack the sick brutality of Adolf Hitler and his
henchmen to justify and expand Israel's racist war on
the Palestinians.
There is always the chance that Israel's "war hero"
abandoned his country's racist notions as he lifted off
from Earth and broke free from our atmosphere.
Perhaps he found his recent years of study in the United
States — where full and equal rights and opportunities
for all are assured by just laws — rewarding and
enlightening. Perhaps Holocaust victim Petr Ginz's
drawing "Moon Landscape" reminded him of all the
rubble and ruin wrought by Israel's racist war and of all
the Palestinian children trapped in impoverished ghettos
in the Holy Land.
Perhaps, as he gazed down at the fragile orb called
Earth, he fully understood that no child anywhere
should be discriminated against because of his race or
religion, and that every child deserves a future full of
possibility ... and peace.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
****************************************************************************
Washington Post
12-7-2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21151-2002Dec6.html
Freedom, Justice, Equality -- for All
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League,
demonized Egypt
for broadcasting a TV series called "Horseman Without a Horse"
[letters, Nov. 26].
If Mr. Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League spent as much energy
insisting that the
Palestinians be treated fairly both on the ground and in the media,
then I would find
his comments more pertinent. But he claims anti-Semitism whenever
anyone questions
Israel's laws and policies.
As a prominent American voice, Mr. Foxman should be emphasizing secular
freedom and
justice and equality for all, even the Palestinians. Egypt's "Horseman
Without a
Horse" would have no audience if the Arab world wasn't witness to the
racist crimes
perpetuated against the Palestinian people.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
***************************************************************************
Philadelphia Inquirer 12-4-2002
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/4659470.htm
Stop hate, don't inspire it
I totally agree with Steven Rosenzweig's letter "Cartoon unfair
to Muslims" (Dec. 3).
In Hitler's Germany, anti-Semitism was part and parcel of the
times, and the media there and in many other
places were filling people's minds with horrible racist stuff.
Bad went to worse as people too easily accepted the
unacceptable and did not understand the ugly ramifications of
racism.
We should know better now.
Thank you for at least printing Mr. Rosenzweig's letter, but I
can't help but think the type of people most swayed
by cartoons need to be reached in the same medium. Auth should
work on stopping racist hate, not inspiring it.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg
****************************************************************************
Patriot News Monday, December 02, 2002
SEEKING REAL PEACE
Israel's latest wall is not a wall of fear- it is a weapon (in response
to Thomas
Friedman's column Nov 28) . A huge churning land confiscating choking
primitive
weapon in a siege attack on the Palestinians' basic human rights.
Anwar el-Sadat declaring "No more war" is simply not enough to make
this very
real nightmare go away. Real peace depends on real justice.
Israel should stop blaming the Palestinians for everything and start
the long
and difficult task of building legal walls against racist
discrimination... fighting
anti-semitism should include fighting for the full and equal rights of
each and every
Palestinian.
In addition, fully implementing international law would go a long way
towards
laying the ground work towards a just and lasting peace. Israel must
fully implement
United Nations Resolution 194, the Palestinian refugee's right to
return; anything
less is continued apartheid.
Peace really is possible.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
New York Times 11-10-2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/opinion/L10RAMA.html
On Being a Muslim in America
To the Editor:
Thank you for "Learning a Lesson for Ramadan," by Asma Gull Hasan (Op-Ed,
Nov. 6). Will this glimmer of truth help usher out all the wild assumptions,rash fears and gratuitous opinions about Islam, which are based mainly on misinformation and ugly stereotypes? I hope so — our democracy dependson it.
ANNE SELDEN ANNAB
***************************************************************************
USA Today 8-7-2002
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020807/4339713s.htm
'
Honest' account depicts reality of Palestinians' lives
Thanks for publishing the brutally honest commentary by Sherri Muzher,
an American of Palestinian descent (''Mideast conflict bores too
many,'' The Forum, Friday).
I am outraged by our media's fixation on Israeli pain and suffering,
especially when compared with the meager and limited information
provided about the plight of Palestinians. I am shocked that U.S.
taxpayers are giving billions of dollars in aid that empowers Israel's
policies of
apartheid.
Despite the ongoing suicide bombings, Jewish Americans are still
eagerly encouraging their kids to study in Israel. Jewish-only roads
lead to Jewish-only settlements occupied by a fair portion of
American Zionists and guarded by American zealots determined to protect
''the Jewish state.''
It is obvious that the Palestinians are not monsters. They have just
complaints about being made into refugees and being impoverished and
persecuted by Israel. It's clear to me that Israel's
continued racism is made possible with U.S. aid.
A two-state solution is no longer possible because of Israel's
state-sponsored terrorism, which includes many illegal settlements.
The only hope now is a secular state with full and equal rights for
all. A good first step would be for the United States to stop
supporting and sustaining Israel and start paying attention to what is
really going on.
Anne Selden Annab
****************************************************************************
*****************************************************
A Small Sampling of My Published Poems
*****************************************************
Poems published at
Moongate Internationale
*****************************************************
Aspens
*****************************************************
Poets
Against The War
Sunrise in Suburbia
in the warmth
of flannel
and a soft sleepy stir of skin
in the warmth
cupping an old white ceramic mug
filled with sugared coffee and cream
my own babies sleep upstairs
snuggled in soft blankets
in rooms brimming with bright toys
while far away from print and film
Palestinian babies shiver with IDF bomb blast
and the grind of military tanks approaching again
My morning their afternoon
My sleep their despair
My silence
more deadly than arsenic or anthrax
as racist insanities obscure
the suffering sweeping our papers, and
films full of fluff as thick as blankets
flicker and dodge bullets so we won't know
of the faraway hunger and hopelessness
Flicker and dodge and deflect justice
wrap our minds with silk and our hearts with stone
so we can rise again to work for this war
our wages taxed to the hilt...
So that faraway children can shiver and bleed to death
glazing pebbles in the rubble of the Holy Land
with bright crimson blood.
Anne Selden Annab
********************************************
