One really needs maps and photos to understand what is being negotiated between Israel and Palestine this coming month. As many churches and Islamic groups are praying for peace. Here are a set of maps provided by the Jerusalem-based PASSIA (The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs). These are historical mapsCheck out the links on housing demolitions, barrier checks, ignoring of human rights

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APARTHEID MAPS—ISRAEL & PALESTINE BANTUSTANS 

By Kevin Stoda

 

One really needs maps and photos to understand what is being negotiated between Israel and Palestine this coming month.  As many churches and Islamic groups are praying for peace.  Here are a set of maps provided by the Jerusalem-based PASSIA (The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs).  These are historical maps:

 

http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/0_pal_facts_MAPS.htm

  

PASSIA also provides a more up-to-date set of maps showing how obscene the dividing up of Palestinian land has continued under the Israeli regimes since the 1967 War.

 

http://www.passia.org/images/pal_facts_MAPS/WallWeb/index.htm

 

Those maps are from 2006 or 2007 and show the divisions of major townships in the West Bank.

 

Recently, xenophobic anti-Palestinian e-mails have been floating around the web by uninformed or misinformed right wing groups in the U.S. and Israel. They have claimed that Jerusalem will be divided or given up.

 

First of all, Israel and Jerusalem are already divided and have been for some time.  Just look at these maps of Jerusalem.

 

http://www.passia.org/jerusalem/maps/0_M_A_P_S.htm

 

The objective of peace negotiations is too allow more peaceful passages and multicultural ownership of Jerusalem without barbed wire or apartheid fences.

 

Second of all, many Palestinians are Christians and some are Jews.  Therefore, all Christians and Muslims need to pray for people of all faiths.

 

The only way for peace to take place is if everyone is willing to give & take in activities & actions ensuring peace. 

 

It will take Israel giving up a Zionist governmental dream and moving into the age of Democracy, where people who have lived in the land for generations have the right to choose their own government.

 

It will take people of whatever faith or nationality to give up on hateful and depressing dreams as memories.  A future needs to be built—NOW!

 

Moreover, the continuing impoverishment of the Palestinians has had an adverse affect on Israel and wages everywhere in the Middle East. 

 

Check out the links on housing demolitions, barrier checks, ignoring of human rights that make the region politically, socially, economically, and spiritually unstable. See PASSIA’s other links and downloads:

 

http://www.passia.org/index.htm

 

Check out PASSIA’s academic website to get the facts, so that prayers are not made asking for the creation of continued or new future hostilities, injustices, and impoverishment in Israel and Palestine this holiday season.

 

Eid Mubarak, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah!

Authors Website: http://eslkevin.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/3-big-paradigms-hol

Authors Bio:

KEVIN STODA-has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades.--He sees himself as a peace educator and have been-- a promoter of good economic and social development--making-him an enemy of my homelands humongous DEFENSE SPENDING and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues.

"I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' and 'alone' when I write and publish.- I-keep two blogs--one with BLOGGER and one with WORDPRESS.- My writings range from reviews to editorials or to travel observations.- I also make recommendations related to policy--having both a-strong background in teaching foreign languages and degrees in teaching in history and the social sciences.--As a Midwesterner, I also write on religion and living out ones faith whether it be as a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist perspective."

On my own home page, I also provide information for language learners and travelers http://www.geocities.com/eslkevin/-,- http://the-teacher.blogspot.com/-& http://alone.gnn.tv/

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