President Obama and King Abdullah of Jordan meet to discuss regional interests

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 12, 2010

Readout of the President’s Bilateral Meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan

President Obama and King Abdullah met today for a bilateral meeting to reaffirm the U.S.-Jordanian partnership and discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest.  The leaders exchanged ideas on ways to advance comprehensive peace in the Middle East, between both Israelis and Palestinians and Israelis and the larger Arab world.  During these discussions, both agreed that Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks should begin as soon as possible, and transition quickly to direct negotiations.  They also agreed that both sides should refrain from actions that undermine trust during these talks. 

President Obama and King Abdullah also discussed Iran's nuclear file.  President Obama stressed the importance of international efforts to pressure Iran to ensure that it upholds its international obligations, including through the imposition of sanctions.  Both leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and holding all signatories accountable to fulfill their treaty obligations.  Both leaders agreed on the importance of securing nuclear material to combat terrorism and agreed to continue cooperation in the area of preventing and detecting illicit trafficking. 

President Obama and King Abdullah also discussed the latest situation in Afghanistan and ways that Jordan could continue to contribute to international efforts to improve conditions on the ground for the Afghan people.  The recent election in Iraq and the current situation in Yemen were also part of their conversation, as well as the current global economic situation.  They also discussed enhancing cooperation in the fields of education, energy, science and entrepreneurship. 

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Principles that should guide Palestinian and Israeli Peace

These are some principles I have fashioned that I hope will become the basis for establishment of Yalla Peace Parties throughout the world to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

1-We can disagree about the past with passion and emotion and still come together for a great future together. We do not have to deny each other's narratives about the past, or challenge them, on order to agree on a mutual future of peace and compromise. This is the first step. Stop using the past as a bludgeon to attack the other side, while closing a blind eye to similar conduct among our own peoples.

2-We apply one principle of fairness, justice, morality to achieve compromise looking within ourselves to find and correct the fault. Israelis must be able to denounce the killing of Palestinians before they can denounce the killing of Israelis. Palestinians must be able to denounce the killing of Israelis before they can denounce the killings of Palestinians.

3-We resist the temptation to blame people for the actions of individuals, and resist the temptation to respond in anger and in kind. This is not about people but rather about politics and government policies that have gone wrong and feed on the suffering, tragedy and confusion of our peoples.

4-We set aside the old paradym of Israelis versus Palestinians and instead define our movement as moderates versus extremists. We use the M Word proudly and reject those who seek to deny it as a means of distracting eyes from their own extremist ways and views.

5-We embrace two-states, Israel and Palestine, and deal with the issues after we achieve a real peace and two states. We create two states on the basis of the bigger principle and later negotiate the final borders, the sharing of Jerusalem, compensation and resettlement of the Palestinian refugees, the dismantling of which specific settlements, the swap of land, etc. Create two states so that Israel and Palestine become equal partners at the negotiating table rather that seeking to achieve the unachievable through an imbalance with Israel as the subjugator and Palestine as the subjugated.

6-We strive to see the bigger picture and not get drawn in to the battle over the "pebble." We see that peace based on compromise is the answer to past violence and terrorism. We don't allow one disagreement to discourage us from seeking the bigger agreement of peace.

7-We resist the rhetoric of hatred. We stop stereotyping Israelis and Palestinians. We reject hate speech, denial of the suffering of others. Palestinians must stop enabling or advocating Holocaust revisionism or questioning the Holocaust. israelis must stop questioning the existence of Palestinians or the facts that they lost many homes and lands as civilians in the 1947-48 war.

8-We view criminal acts (violence, terrorism, all acts of physical injury) not as the consequences of a people but rather as the result of individual conduct. Terrorism and violence must be treated as criminal acts not an excuse to persecute or demonize any other people.

9-We do not allow violence and terrorism to derail compromise and recognize that the more successful we become in reaching peace based on compromise and two-states, the extremists will push harder until it is too late with more violence, and violence of the most despicable kind including suicide bombings and military massacres.

10-We view violence of the past in its context not as a means of defining the future. The massacres in the Gaza Strip are horrendous but the answer is not to respond with violence, but rather to build peace to prevent future events from re-occurring. The same with violence against Israelis. We treat them as horrific incidents, not blanket condemnation of an entire people.

11-We stop blaming others and begin to address the challenges among ourselves. Palestinians stop blaming Israelis and Israelis stop blaming Palestinians. Instead, Palestinians look into themselves and identify their errors, mistakes, misconduct and change them. Israelis look into themselves and identify their errors, mistakes, misconduct and change them.

12-We accept that Peace is the answer and that both sides have injured each other.

-- Ray Hanania

www.YallaPeace.com

Christian leaders urge Obama to make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority

SUPPORT PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND THIS NEW YEAR: SIGN AN ECUMENICAL LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA BEFORE JANUARY 16
JOIN 10,000 CHRISTIANS NATIONWIDE IN URGING HOLY LAND PEACE! Thanks to the incredible efforts of Christians around the country, over 10,000 people have signed an ecumenical letter endorsed by forty major American Christian leaders that urges President-elect Barack Obama "to make achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace an immediate priority" during his first year in office. But there's still time to act in support of peace. Click here now to add your signature before January 16.

WHY IS THIS LETTER IMPORTANT NOW? WHY IS THIS LETTER IMPORTANT NOW? As the New Year begins, our thoughts and prayers are with those in Gaza and southern Israel as they suffer invasion and attack. The current crisis demonstrates that violence cannot bring peace. What is needed is robust U.S. diplomatic engagement to encourage negotiations toward a durable two-state agreement. With the incoming Obama Administration, there is a renewed opportunity for the United States to help achieve a just and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier this week President-elect Obama said, "The loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me...Starting at the beginning of our administration, we are going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflicts that exist in the Middle East." It is critical that Obama hear from American Christians now in large numbers that we support sustained U.S. diplomacy and a meaningful peace process that leads to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. He needs to know that we stand ready to support his peacemaking leadership. WHAT DOES THE LETTER ASK PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA TO DO? The letter, coordinated by Churches for Middle East Peace, urges President-elect Obama to provide immediate diplomatic leadership toward the clear goal of a final status agreement establishing a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. The letter notes that the work for a just peace will not be easy, but stresses that the risk of inaction is far greater. The two-state solution is supported by majorities of Israelis and Palestinians as the best way to end this tragic conflict. However, the prospects for this solution are narrowing and must be seized.
The deadline for signatures is January 16, 2009. A version of this letter signed by national Christian leaders was sent to the Obama transition team on December 1, 2008. The final letter signed by leaders and individual church members, such as us, will be delivered to President Obama upon his inauguration. Sign the letter now. SPREAD THE WORD After signing the letter, please share the letter with your family, friends, and church community and ask them to sign. Church bulletin inserts, a tell-a-friend feature, and other resources to help you spread the word are available at http://www.cmep.org/letter/resources.

Visit the CMEP website: Learn more about our work and how to get involved.
Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace is a Washington-based program of the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Friars OFM (English Speaking Conference, JPIC Council), Friends Committee on National Legislation, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, Moravian Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (GBCS & GBGM).
Contributions to CMEP are tax deductible and can be made by check or online by secure, on-line credit card service.

Churches for Middle East Peace
Email: info@cmep.org
Phone: 202-543-1222
Web: http://www.cmep.org

Arab American Chicago journalist named to host new daily morning radio talk show

Arab American journalist named Chicago morning radio talk show

photo available for download at:
http://www.themediaoasis.com/hananiaformlport300jpg.jpg

(Chicago/Sept. 29, 2008) – Arab American journalist Ray Hanania was named as the morning talk show host for WJJG AM 1530.

An award winning journalist who covered Chicago City Hall politics from 1977 until 1992, and hosted a radio show on WLS AM radio, will host the show weekday mornings, Monday through Friday, beginning every morning at 8 AM.

“Mornings with Ray Hanania” will feature interviews and discussions with listeners on every topic in the news. Hanania will also emphasize local Southwest suburban news and issues in the show along with regional, national and international guests, but will also highlight Arab American and Middle East issues on the program.

Hanania said he expects the show to expand in the near future.

“I am a big believer in community news, community newspapers and community reporting and one important aspect of the show will be inclusion of community perspectives and news in our discussion,” said Hanania who was named “Best Ethnic Columnist in America” by the New America Media.

“I want people throughout the Chicagoland region to engage each other on issues that are of local significance, but that also cross cultural lines. Americans face common challenges and even though the details might be different, they are the same and sharing and discussing is important. It’s very important that Americans also expand their understanding of the Middle East by opening their ears and minds to an alternative views and opinions and perspectives.”

Hanania is also the winner of three Society of Professional Journalism Lisagor awards and was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times in 1990 for a Pulitzer Prize for his 4-part series on the Palestinian Intifada. He also has awards from UPI and two Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild.

The radio show is broadcast live on the Internet off his web page at www.RadioChicagoland.com. Hanania is also a columnist with the Southwest News-Herald newspaper, and with the HuffingtonPost.com. His columns also appear in news blogs and newspaper around the world.

Hanania said he is also targeting Arab Americans.

“People love me. People hate me. But people read my columns,” Hanania said.

“What’s really important is that we open our minds and stop allowing emotion, anger and frustration to force Arab Americans to be predictable and act out of emotion rather than out of strategic communications.”

The show is broadcast on the Internet, and select interviews are podcast and available on iTunes for download to individual iPods. Segments of the radio show are also videotaped and rebroadcast on Hanania’s TV Chicagoland (http://www.tvchicagoland.com/) Comcast Cable TV program every Friday in 145 Chicagoland suburban communities.

Contact Hanania at rayhanania@comcast.net.

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New book challenges Arabs and Muslims to defeat extremism to win a Palestinian State

New book challenges Arabs and Muslims to defeat extremism to win a Palestinian State

Chicago -- Palestinians need to overcome the growing movement of secular and religious extremists in their own community before they can be strong enough to overcome the challenges from Israel and create their own independent Palestinian State, says award winning journalist Ray Hanania in a new book "The Catastrophe: The One-State Solution is the No-State Solution. How Palestinians can stand up to the extremistsand create a Palestinian State."

Hanania, whose writings "define the moderate Arab voice," is an outspoken critic of extremism in the Arab and Muslim community.

Consistently denouncing violence on both sides, Hanania argues in his book that Israelis and Palestinians each face an uncertain future as the extremist secular left partners with the fanatic religious right to use violence prevent peace based on compromise, to advance the so-called "One-State Solution," and to exploit Palestinian suffering as a means of preventing them from the only viable option for statehood, the creation of a Palestinian State in the context of a Two-State Solution.

"We are watching as Palestine is being erased not just from the maps but from reality as Israel's government exploits the failures of our leadership and the uncontrolled emotions of our people," Hanania argues.

"Palestinians are being held hostage by these extremists and fanatics on the left and the right who reject any compromise and who live in a dream of the past that has become our nightmare. To save our people, we must reject the rejectionists, embrace compromise and recognize the reality of our situation in the hopes of someday rebuilding a dream that is the cornerstone of justice."

In the book, Hanania also argues that Palestinians must regain the principled moral stand and cannot succumb to the emotions of their failures over the past 60 years of Israel's existence, writing:

"Being honest about one's mistakes -- and failures -- and acknowledging the reality of history, rather than its myths, is a crucial step towards lifting oneself out of defeat. You cannot make something "better" if you do not honestly acknowledge that things are "bad" or you attempt to do so from a "bad" position. Only those who are "better" can make a situation better. Improve it. Correct it. Bring it back to the moral center.

"But just being 'better,' as a relative statement, is not good enough. You are either pregnant or you are not pregnant. There is no in-between. The road to pregnancy is pregnancy. The road to peace is peace. Either Palestinians have a state or they don't have a state. You either support peace or you don't support peace. Those who use violence to achieve 'peace' are not seeking peace at all. The use of violence is in and of itself a rejection of peace. Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims must answer this important issue correctly. We must clean our own house first before we can insist on cleaning out the houses of others, our 'enemies.' We cannot demand justice from others when we deny justice to others in our actions, in our arguments in our beliefs. Doing so is to deny justice to ourselves."

The book is available directly from the author through his web site at http://www.hanania.com/.

"The Catastrophe"
238 Pages, softcover 7 x 9 trade
$24.95
Ray Hanania Enterprises
PO Box 2127
Orland Park, IL., 60462

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