Reactions to story from Opinion - International Herald Tribune

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  Israel Turns 60

  http://alivefrommymind.blogspot.com/2008/05/israel-turns-60....
  78 days ago in la Vida Santiaguina · Authority: 2

  Sixty years ago this week David Ben Gurion gave a wink to all our ancestors, then he icily smiled and gave the finger to Hitler and his Nazis, Torquemada and his inquisitors, the Cossacks, Islamists, Romans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Ancients Egyptians and every other anti-Semite who has ever lived when he announced the founding of the State of Israel. This post is meant to celebrate the Jewish state and all it’s achievements in the last sixty years. I am not attempting to refute anti-Zionists/ anti-Semites, nor condemn anybody for any policies. Nor am I attempting to call Jimmy Carter an asshole (all this, perhaps, will be done another time). TO ISRAEL: L’CHI-AM!! “Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.” –Moshe Dayan “Above all, this country is our own. Nobody has to get up in the morning and worry what his neighbors think of him. Being a Jew is no problem here.” –Golda Meir "Many say the message of the Holocaust is to never forget. I disagree. The message is, it's harder to kill us when we have AK 47's." ------------ There are articles everywhere you look about Israel’s 60th. Why? What makes the Jews so special? Do you know how few Jews there are in the world? There are more Basques than there are Jews. If you're now asking yourself who the Basques are do not feel discouraged, what does the average person know about the Basques? Nothing. There are only 13 million of us Jews the world over, yet our name is known where ever the wind blows. I’ll post my thoughts on this issue another (more sober) time. Here’s a thought provoking piece from Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic (again) on Israel’s future. It’s been much discussed in the blog world, some people love it, others hate it. Here’s an op-ed from the International Herald Tribune.
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  letters

  http://annies-letters.blogspot.com/2008/05/letters_06.html
  78 days ago in Annie's letters · Authority: 84

  RE: At 60, Israel remains true to its mission & The near impossibility of a Mideast peace http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/06/opinion/edyashiva.php http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/06/opinion/edgreenway.php Dear Editor, The best way to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday is to rise up to seriously challenge and denounce the Zionist propaganda war that seeks to promote and protect the idea of "Israel" in the first place. Israel is an investment in institutionalized bigotry and injustice. No one should make peace with that. Diplomats are forcing Palestinians to be their own prison guards with this latest Peace Talks farce that mainly grants racist Israel even more time and reasons to usurp even more Palestinian land, rights and life. Give Israel an inch and it uses that inch to take another mile claiming it has to protect itself. I say pull the plug on the entire Zionist project. Add another wing to every Holocaust Museum world wide explaining The Nakba and how wrong it is to demonize, displace and destroy any human being any where- regardless of religion.... Free Palestine- for everyone's sake, help the Palestinian refugees return home and let real justice and decency build a better way forward for that very troubled region. Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab **************************************************** RE: Israel's 60-Year Test by BRET STEPHENS http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121003365007069313.html?mod=todays_columnists Dear Editor, Bret Stephens wants us to admire Israel because its blatantly racist war on the people of historic Palestine is not as obviously harsh as it might be if Israel weren't using such admirable restraint. Drilling into the statistics he conveniently forgets to mention that mandatory military service puts Israeli females into uniforms as official soldiers - which makes his whole "To be female is a fairly reliable indicator of being a noncombatant" approach a total farce. Israel's existence depends on our stupidity in conjunction with clever propagandists like Stephens, whose work helps sustain the money flow that makes Zionism possible- and a very lucrative deal for those at the top: Israel is a basic pyramid scheme, a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme...there is no end benefit; the money simply travels up the chain, and only the originator (or at best a very few) wins in swindling followers. It's a HUGE scam... Countless people, including each and every American taxpayer, are being coerced into funding and defending "Israel". Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab **************************************************** RE: Arab and Israeli Peace, at Least for Children & Honoring Survival, and Gifts to a Nation http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/arts/television/03glob.html?ref=middleeast http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/world/middleeast/06jerusalem.html?ref=middleeast Dear Editor, Because of Israel, Jews-preferred Israel, the vast majority of Palestinians today are in forced exile, cruelly refused their inalienable right to return to their homes and their true heritage because "Israel" wants to be Jewish- which means it has to get rid of the native non-Jewish people already living there. Arabs (Palestinians) trapped on the far side of Israel's Apartheid-security wall get harassed and shot at by the IDF and starved by racist Israeli policy. Token Arabs (Palestinians) allowed to remain, for now at least, in what is called Israel, get to be PR agents for the Zionist project as they are forced to "make peace" with the ongoing Nakba, the catastrophe that is displacing and destroying the people of historic Palestine. America might be easily beguiled and misled by expensive Zionist PR (for now at least), but the Palestinians know better- and the Palestinians know how to survive no matter what. Palestinian survival is emerging with strength and dignity in art and poetry and films worldwide: If you want to honor survival don't honor Israel- honor the people of historic Palestine. Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab **************************************************** RE: PUTTING AMERICA LAST http://www.nypost.com/seven/05062008/postopinion/letters/sign_of_the_times__putting_america_last_109626.htm Zionist letters are PUTTING AMERICA LAST Dear Editor, On seeing the letters headlined "PUTTING AMERICA LAST" I was expecting something very different - Silly me was even hoping some readers had dared step up to say screw Zionism and that insane investment in institutionalized bigotry and injustice- that expensive and dangerous scam called "Israel" ! Wake up people, stop obsessing about a small irrelevant school in NYC and start noticing the huge nuclear armed Israel fiasco that has been aggressively usurping massive amounts of American money - both public and private funds as it freely " promotes separatism, foments anger and hatred of American values and plants the seed for potential violence and terror in impressionable youth." Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab **************************************************** RE: At 60, Israel remains true to its original mission http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/05/06/at_60_israel_remains_true_to_its_original_mission/ Dear Editor, Yes indeed Israel remains true to its original mission- impoverish and displace the people of historic Palestine: "While the economic situation for Israeli Arabs deteriorated, the Jewish state was undergoing its longest period of uninterrupted economic expansion, from 2003 to 2007." http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080505/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelarabseconomy_080505151718 Arab Israelis left out of economic boom" Israel is a rogue nation in long term and flagrant violation of multiple international laws and the Palestinians' basic human rights. Meanwhile American taxpayers are being forced to fund and idolize the pseudo-religious fiasco called "Israel" as it undermines the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine by intentionally creating and exasperating the largest, longest running refugee crisis in the world today. Israel's neighbors struggle simply to survive while Israel thrives. Our own economy is in shambles while Israel thrives. Any one else see a pattern? PR savvy Israel's real mission is to sell the world the lie that it is "The Jewish State" while Zionists freely usurp Palestinian land, rights and peace... Zionist Israel is nothing but a HUGE scam based on institutionalized bigotry and ignorance. Would you approve of the USA declaring itself a Christian nation with taxpayer funds building and defending heavily armed Christian-only immigration, projects and "neighborhoods" plus a strangulating web of USA-only roads all through out Canada and Mexico? Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab **************************************************** RE: Palestine before and after by Sherri Muzher http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080504/COMMENTARY/569743177/1012/commentary Dear Editor, Thank you for publishing Sherri Muzher's exceptionally good op-ed " Palestine before and after ". I hope you publish many many more articles by this gifted Palestinian-American writer and thinker. For everyone's sake, America needs to hear more such authentic voices- beautifully honest and wonderfully articulate voices honoring and respecting historic Palestine where "the roots are unquestionable and run eternally deep, from archaeological finds to folktales. ". For everyone's sake we need to understand the importance of listening to and respecting the people of Palestine past, present and future. We need to be exposed to true Palestinian perspectives- not more bad translations and interpretations by Zionist ideologues and hate mongers- but the real thing... the real people who know and love Palestine. We need to know that recently the Israeli Government imposed a new travel restriction which has prevented Palestinian Christian children from traveling to Jerusalem for this year's annual Children's Journey to Jerusalem http://annies-letters.blogspot.com/2008/05/israel-blocks-childrens-peace-march.html We also need to seriously listen to and respect own ideals - liberty, justice and equality for ALL ... in other words FREE Palestine ! Free the people and the stories and the land itself, help open hearts and minds so that every refugee can return home with dignity, to help rebuild a better way forward for all God's children. Sincerely, Anne Selden Annab NOTES 5-5-2008 Recent News & Opinions: Middle East refugeesArab Israelis [Palestinians] left out of economic boomShatilla refugees still thinking of home By SANA ABDALLAH (Middle East Times)Small Palestinian village faces slow death...& more from IMEUThere is hope in Gaza - Miko Peled, The Electronic Intifada, 5 May 2008When we returned back to Palestine! By: Salim NazzalI come from there and I remember...This Week in Palestine: Light a candle on May 15 ... ...Demographic tide runs against IsraelUN Partition Plan (1947)Drawing the BordersPalestine before and after By Sherri MuzherUN suspends Gaza food aid againIsraeli government lied about lifting restrictions on movement ...& more from IMEU Theatre practitioners offer their views on a call to boycott Israel...Permenant Issues - RefugeesISRAELIS DENY OFFICIAL CANNES FESTIVAL FILMMAKER ENTRY TO PALESTINEIsrael Blocks Children's Peace March; Palestinian Chrisitan Children Barred from JerusalemlettersUntold stories: Mohammed ButtuA strangled people by Sami Abdel-Shafi ...& more from IMEU from umkahlil: Take Along "The Return Journey"60 Years of Displacement: An Interview with Ziad AbbasLooking at the end of Israel? Jonathan Power...lettersletterCome Togther For Palestine! Welcome To Al-Awda!Boukra: Unconventional campaigns that can be easily replicated all around the worldBook Review: "Palestine Inside Out" by Saree Makdisi by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha ...& more from IMEUPre-order Poets For Palestine- Edited by Remi KanaziIn praise of Palestinian steadfastness: Despite 60 years of hardship, real achievement too.The Mideast Editing Wars by Gershom GorenbergBBC: Israel at 60 (please circulate widely)Break the Silence : Free Palestine!...& more from EIIsraeli occupation: 1948-2008 a history of ethnic cleansing and genocide- Comment by Khalid Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem.United Nations, Palestine refugees discussed during international conferenceInfant dies after being denied medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip ...& more from IMEUThe Bomb Squads: How to survive a Gaza refugee camp By Ramzy BaroudPalestinian story challenges Zionism (Barbican's tribute to 1948 accused of demonizing IsraelWorld's largest key? Right of Return in refugee camp...International Humanitarian Law: The Siege on the Gaza StripUrgent Press Release from Gaza Tuesday, April 29, 2008"What makes me hopeful is that 60 years of catastrophe have not dimmed the will of Palestinians to see justice done" A. AbunimahENTRY DENIED: Palestinian Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, a 21st century casualty of Israeli ethnic cleansing- from Jordan Indie FilmsJoharah Baker for MIFTAH: Behind Israel’s Independence, a Great Injustice'Falafel fuel' powers cars in petrol-starved Gaza ...& more from IMEUSixty years ago in Battir, Hasan Abu Nimah writing from Amman, Jordan, Live from Palestine, 30 April 2008 ...& more from EIBBC News In pictures: Palestinian life in East JerusalemGroup Covertly Backs Palestine at Emory University USALawyer: Israel orders demolition of 35 homes in West Bank Village (IHT) Solution to Mid East Peace must include Palestinian RefugeesWe're not celebrating Israel's anniversaryViolence in Gaza gets the headlines. But the slow suffocation of the West Bank should get more attention too, writes a Middle East traveler (Newsweek)"Language for a New Century": An interview with Nathalie HandalUpdated: Important Al-Awda Convention Deadlines and NoteslettersPalestinian negotiators go home frustrated...& more from IMEUIsraeli Supreme Court, without jurisdiction, rules that Israeli army can destroy village homesBombs, bullets & our daily bread: ID cards split Palestinian families U.S. Aid to Israel Is Funding Our Decline from Alison Weir Boycott Israel's 60th Birthday Celebrations: Nonviolent call to action: boycott Israel at 60 celebrationsAl Nakba: some of us left without our shoesPalestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of IsraelUS playwright Sarah Jones urged to cancel Israel performance: Open letter, PACBI, 22 April 2008 ...& more from EIfrom the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine- An open letter to Nadine Gordimerfrom umkahlil: Appeal to U-2's Bono: It's all About Justice; Don't Honor Israel!Open Letter to the Beatles: 'Time to Give Peace A Chance, Not to Celebrate Oppression" Israel's 60th Independence Day by Yvonne RidleyCheerleading genocide: Israel is gearing up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its birth; six decades of destruction for the Palestinians, writes Khaled Amayreh in Al-Ahram Al-Nakba: Nothing to Celebrate By William A. CookPalestinian plight is flip side of Israel's independence joyKudos to Congressman KUCINICH remembering 194 !This land was theirs by Hannah MermelsteinCommemorating Deir Yassin, Palestine 60 Years Later By Abbas HamidehLEST WE FORGET: COLLECTIVE MASSACRES, LAND THEFT AND DEMOLITION OF HOMES by Nizar Sakhnini.Returning to Palestine: What's in a year? What's in 60? by Aaron LakoffNo Middle East peace without tough love by Henry Siegman (& Addressing the root problem by Edith Garwood)Photo Exhibit on Palestine Censored by Stanford University Administration One of the most enduring and deceptive slogans of Zionism was coined by Israel Zangwill almost 100 years ago: Palestine was a "land without people for a people without land...." Recent Anthologies & reports that help explain the Palestinian perspective: The untold stories from The Institute For Middle East Understanding UNRWA & Partners Commemorate 1948 Introduction: I Come from There and Remember | Overview | Testimonies Palestinian Refugees: Jordan/Lebanon/Syria/West Bank/Gaza (UNWRA photo archives) Destruction & exodus - photos from UNWRA's archive... Raise public awareness and support for a just solution to Palestinian residency and refugee issues: Nakba issue of al-Majdal, issue 36/7, is available at: www.badil.org/al-majdal/2008/winter-spring/majdal36-37.pdf YouTube - Palestinian Women: Stories Of Nakba In Their Villages video The Institute for Middle East Understanding: SPECIAL NAKBA COVERAGE Love and resistance in the Gaza Strip- interview with Dr. Mona el-Farra FACTSHEET: The key to Mideast peace, a just and lasting peace is FULL respect for the Palestinian refugees very real, very right right to return ASAP (ASAP- As Soon As Possible) Please do not forget Palestine's Children & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... PALESTINE: 60 YEARS OF FORCED EXILE - TIME FOR RETURN! Meet Handala Maps of Palestinian Land Loss since 1946 House Demolitions By MIFTAH The Wretched Wall PALESTINE REMEMBERED Birthright Palestine FREEDOM & RETURN: A Rights Based Solution to building a just and lasting peace in the Middle East ... Not just the return (al-awda) of the refugees, but also a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights: For more than five decades Palestinian refugees and internally displaced have struggled for a solution to their plight based on UN resolutions and international law, including the right to voluntarily return to their homes and lands of origin from which they were displaced/expelled during wars in 1948 and 1967 and due to other Israeli policies of forced eviction, deportation, etc.... 60 Years On- Honoring the Struggle for Justice and Dignity...Palestinian Refugees and IDPs Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html "The humanitarian aid and assistance that UNRWA provides to the Palestine refugees can never be enough. But it will be required as long as the issues of statelessness, prolonged military occupation, economic marginalization and vulnerability characteristic of the Palestinian refugee crisis are not addressed." http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.htm?tbl=PUBL&id=4444d3c92f Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html PALESTINE: PEACE NOT APARTHEID Please do not forget Palestine's Children & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... PALESTINE: 60 YEARS OF FORCED EXILE - TIME FOR RETURN! Al-Awda: PALESTINE: 60 Years of Forced Exile - TIME FOR RETURN ! Sixth Annual International Convention May 16-18 2008 "Wherever there are Palestinians, we fight on. Do not allow yourselves to be silenced. Do not allow yourself to just walk off from people who seem indifferent. Make your presence felt. And in the end, we WILL win" - Edward Said at Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition National Rally in New York City, April 7, 2001. Book review: "Not Everyone Can Throw Stones" Pre-order Poets For Palestine- Edited by Remi Kanazi Don't miss this GREAT film review ... "Driving to Zigzigland" by Ali Abunimah of the The Electronic Intifada *********************************************************************************

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