To Rise to the Challenge

To Rise to the Challenge

Easy though it is
to idolize the unknown
and unknowable

Easy though it is
to get totally swept up
by clever hype and spin

Easy though it is
to follow a crowd rallied

I'd rather carefully choose
my own heroes...
preferring to pause to admire
men and women of words
and acts
that stand the test of time
& meritocracy...

Role models working hard
examining actual evidence
Listening learning thinkers
who make clear points
sharpening
my own thoughts

Story tellers who step away
from stereotypes...

Honest people
honorable people
real people
who rise to the challenge
of every day
being a little bit different
newly nuanced...

Golden Rule people
who practice what they preach

poem & photo copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

To be clear: Return... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

To be clear: Return

How many ways
can analysts & experts
(& echo chambers)
misinterpret- misconstrue-
misrepresent
and mangle
a refugee's inalienable
natural, legal, moral
and necessary
right to return...
and the right to live
free of religious tyranny
and institutionalized bigotry
wherever the individual
might chose to go

How many ways
can the idea of return be bullied
into a bellicose demand on both sides
with idiots itching to impoverish
and erase 'the other'

To be clear: Return
to original homes and lands
or resettle elsewhere.

It really is totally civilized
and right: Return
or relocate...

End the plight and impoverishment
of Palestinians... stop disenfranchising
yet another generation.

End the largest,
longest running refugee crisis
in the world today

Stop the Israel/Palestine conflict

To be clear: Return
or relocate, resettle elsewhere

People need passports
and job opportunities
People need peace
and security

People need the protection
of fair and just laws
and true equality
with the ability to earn respect
and a decent living
no matter what their name
no matter what their religion.

To be clear: Return
or resettle elsewhere
one by one in turn

Return and rebuild a new life
or relocate and rebuild a new life
a private life- a personal life
not as a pawn for war
but as a vital seed for peace
and progress... growing gardens
for Palestine...
A person with roots
and rights- and responsibilities:
One by one, family by family
Man and wife
Return to be Israeli
or relocate to be Palestinian
or move on and away: End the conflict
accept two states and many choices
of nationality.

To be clear: Return...
Return or relocate
to help build a Golden Rule Peace
worldwide where do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle and goal
for our parents, for ourselves
for our neighbors
for civilization itself
and for all our children
no matter what their name.

poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

A Spider Silk Cape... a series of three poems by Anne Selden Annab

To create the textiles, spiders are collected each morning and harnessed in specially conceived silking contraptions. Trained handlers extract the silk from 24 spiders at a time. The spiders are returned to the wild at the end of each day Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

A Spider Silk Cape

If humankind
can conceive of
and make
a spider silk cape...

A million times
lithe Golden Orb spiders
living in the forest in the highlands
of Madagascar carefully-gently caught
for a day, harnessed to spin
their bright golden threads
then released alive
as evening falls...
year after year
eventually
a glorious golden
brocade embroidered.

If humankind can cherish art
and build museums for all to enjoy

If humankind
can sow and harvest wheat
make bread, grow grapes-
make wine

If humankind can remember goodness
and create jobs each with a living wage

If humankind can carefully, conscientiously craft
a Universal Declaration of Human Rights

If humankind can raise our children
to nurture their gifts and good relationships

If humankind can envision
and invest in environmentally friendly cities
with greenbelts and rooftop gardens

Surely we can also somehow shape
a just and lasting peace
in and for the Middle East

PART II
Two States: One Israel, One Palestine

Two states
One Israel, One Palestine
to be a modern marriage
making dreams come true:
Two individuals able to each
speak their own language
pursue their own dreams
build their own sanctuaries
and museums and news...

Two states
to be the Golden Rule
whereas do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
is the guiding principle
and cherished goal.

Two states to explore the compelling wisdom
of we, and the pivotal importance of us (and them)
working side by side each in our own sphere
to lovingly parent a future together... or weave a spider silk cape...
or repair a stairway... or build a car... or harvest an orchard...
empowering full and equal citizens and progress as civic rights
and responsibilities become more and more inclusive
and important.

Two states sovereign
each in their own realms
each in their own spheres

Two states to respect
the need for borders
the need for compromise
the need for language
the need for kindness
the need for compassion
the need for diplomacy
the need for honesty
the need for civilized conversations
the need for decent jobs
and the need for the rule of law
fair and just laws... the need for peace
and security
for every home and family.

Let the refugees return
to either be Israeli
or Palestinian
or Israeli-Palestinian or Palestinian-Israeli
or Palestinian-American...etc...
each in turn choosing
who they want to be
and where they want to build a life
for life moves on continuously changing
and our parents' choices
can make all the difference.

PART III
A Golden Rule Peace

In an interconnected
global world
we are the spider silk cape
we are the golden glow
of good intentions
and careful craftsmanship
appreciated...

Art and history and math and science
in dialog- to be synergy
and dedication
as glorious dreams are caught
and recreated
for today's world
with today's tools
sharing bits of light
and shadow
to reveal
the best that we can find
in our own memories
fingering a fabric
and recalling a mood

The forest is in the weave
and the airlines it took
to transport, the sunrises and rainbows
and oceans and streets, the accents
and languages and all
and all earth's beauty caught
strand by strand
woven
and embroidered
to entrance
an audience
willing to believe.

Our parents' choices
(and our own)
can make all the difference.

poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

The Gallery... a Growing Gardens for Palestine poem by Anne Selden Annab

The Gallery

I dreamed
of him again...
We
were at the end,
in a gallery of treasures.

Along every wall were podiums
of all different heights holding
great silver urns and bowls
of all different sizes and shapes
smooth surfaces polished
reflecting ornate details
rims and handles
and flourishes

And he turned to me
spoke gently

And we walked together
slowly through the gallery...

Speaking of what we knew-
what we value
treasure

as we made our way
towards the farthest wall
with wide open doors

revealing the hint
of an exquisite garden beyond.

poem & photo copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab

Admission of Palestine to UNESCO

A Wonderful Gala: ATFP 2011 Honoring Heritage & Embracing Originality

American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad J. Asali: "The pursuit of peace, independence and reform is not a project for cowards..."

Dr. Asali was describing the keynote speaker Salam Fayyad with those words, but I think his words describe everyone attending and supporting the ATFP Gala.

It takes real courage to work towards actually building a real Palestinian state in today's world... AND the Gala was TOTALLY crowded with people, with quiet heroes who have been doing what they can each in their own way to help do exactly that.

There was much to celebrate and enjoy at this year's ATFP Gala.

A good summary of the event itself can be found on ATFP 's website

ATFP Gala Featuring PM Fayyad Highlights Quest for Peace, Palestinian-American Achievements

My favorite speech was by Hanan Karaman Munayyer's daughter Maha Munayyer Kabbash who spoke of her mother's work to collect and preserve Palestinian embroidery.

There was a breathtakingly beautiful display of those traditional Palestinian dresses and Hanan Karaman Munayyer's most recent book was on display too- it is huge!

TRADITIONAL PALESTINIAN COSTUME

Thankfully there are visionaries like Hanan Karaman Munayyer who have carefully collected and preserved the beauty of Palestine for Palestine, to share with all the world.

Thankfully there are also gifted musicians who help lift our spirits with their enchanting music....

Special Performance by Simon Shaheen and Ensemble- A concert of Arab vocal and instrumental music

Thankfully there are also people with delightful senses of humor, to help lighten the mood as we struggle against all odds to do what we can for Palestine in these very difficult times.

Dean Obeidallah and Maysoon Zayid and Omar Baddar ATFP Gala table #33

The crowd at ATFP's Gala was full of talented and highly competent people. Far too many to mention all of them. A very impressive crowd indeed. My husband Jaffar and I enjoyed sitting at table #33 with Hussein Ibish. Ibish is a brilliant thinker and speaker. Dean Obeidallah, a charismatic comic, and Omar Baddar, a talented young writer, were also at our table... I was in awe!

Hussein Ibish with Maysoon Zayid and Dean Obeidallah at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC

Mr & Mrs. Jaffar Annab ATFP Gala 2011

The warmth, wisdom, generosity, good character, true dignity and decency of Dr. Ziad Asali and his charming wife Naila help set the tone for The American Task Force on Palestine's Gala. It becomes easier and easier to believe that Palestine will actually emerge as a free and sovereign and successful nation state with friends and advisers like this.

The American Task Force on Palestine "is strictly opposed to all acts of violence against civilians no matter the cause and no matter who the victims or perpetrators may be. The Task Force advocates the development of a Palestinian state that is democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts..."

The American Task Force on Palestine is convinced that diplomacy matters and that Palestine is worth discussing seriously AND worth investing in. The politicians and people of Palestine do not have to listen to ATFP if they don't want to- they are not forced to follow any one's advice. No one has to. But in my opinion it is a darn good idea to follow ATFP's lead as they are talented and well informed experts in the right place at the right time.

I also believe that Palestine is worth getting all dressed up for- and celebrating. No one knows what will be, but at least we can do what we can to try to help Palestine become a real nation state each in our own way.

Annie all dressed up in a green silk gown for the American Task Force on Palestine's Gala 2011. My jewelry was a gift long ago from my beloved father in law ( hand crafted in the Arab world and given to me on a visit to his home in Amman Jordan many years ago), and my handbag was embroidered by my American grandmother who used to live in Washington DC.

This morning I have been exchanging emails with a charming stranger who asked me several weeks ago if her local garden club could use one of my poems for a bookmark to give to her garden club members as a favor. For me, as a poet, this unexpected compliment is a higher honor than any formal prize or award I can think of. It is also a pertinent reminder to me of what building a state really means. It is not about rally cries or protest slogans or grandiose gestures, nor is it about headlines and newspaper articles. It is about slowly but surely building a community and belonging: It is about the individual efforts and good intentions and creativity and the admirable persistence of real people working together to make connections on a local level to improve our world and our collective future- to help make our world nicer... more safe, more beautiful, more pleasant and more welcoming for more people-for ALL people, citizens or not. A world where every child is welcome and free to grow up knowing what ever might be worth knowing.

On my own Granny's lap, in her garden Washington DC (Eleanor Standish Gamble James with Anne Selden Yellott Annab)

GROWING GARDENS for PALESTINE

ATFP Sixth Annual Gala

Little Golden Bell... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Tiny 2,000-year-old golden bell found in Jerusalem: A tiny golden bell which was lost in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple period has been found among ruins near the Old City, Israel's Antiquities Authority has said

Little Golden Bell

Little golden bell
lost
for 2000 years-
a precious treasure
and token
of times gone by

What stories did you hear
when you were first created
bought and sold
and then later- through the ages
as you hid in Palestine?

What songs and hymns stirred
your heart to beat
underground

Did footsteps echo
in your ear
coming and going

Shall we argue now
as to your religion
and rightful heirs...

Fondly remembering the freedom
and the beauty found
in my own American childhood
(and the silly seriousness of children)
I like to think
you belonged to a young girl
A girl with joy in her heart
and a brilliant mind...
even brighter than your gold polished
A girl able to balance on a beam

A girl whose own story
we will never know
She is free to simply be
no ID card- no passport
no prison- no politics
no accusations
no religion
no names

Just life
being lived

little golden bell

perhaps she meant
to drop you.


.

Some poems

FOR PALESTINEby

Anne Selden Annab

dedicated with love to my family & friends

Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace....

Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace.... Anne Selden Annab's letters & comments published March 2011- July 2009

Cities of Palestine 1868...

Land Day & Liberation... MARCH FORTH!

March 31 2011 Google Image search for Growing Gardens for Palestine

I am growing old. We all are. My children are reaching adulthood and coming into their own. Our home is now a place they come back to from various adventures. Eventually they will all have their own homes and families I hope- and my home and garden will be a place they want come to visit when they can. Life moves on. Spring returns with birdsong and blooms and beautiful days where it just feels good to be alive...

Chickadee in our Maple Tree

Last year, on my Annie's New Letters (& Notes) blog I celebrated Women's History month here in America by blogging about some of my favorite Palestinian-American Artists, Writers & Poets: Artists using their talents- and their beauty inside and out- to empower Palestine and America and the Arts... and civilization itself.

Their order listed here is simply a random who ever popped up first line up as I blogged one and then another last March. All, each in their own creative ways are equally important and fascinating and well worth appreciating:

MARCH FORTH [2010]

Palestinian-American POET Ibtisam Barakat

Palestinian-American POET Naomi Shihab Nye

Palestinian-American ARTIST Samia Halaby

Palestinian-American POET Nathalie Handal

Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa

Palestinian-American ARTIST Emily Jacir

Palestinian-American filmmaker Annemarie Jacir

Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Maysoon Zayid

part-Palestinian-ALL-American NOVELIST Randa Jarrar

Palestinian-American POET: Suheir Hammad

This year I widened my MARCH FORTH net to include women world wide- and men.

We are all in this together, for women's liberation is the first real step towards the liberation of all of human kind.

There are many wise and wonderful voices- too many for all to be heard. My feeble efforts to gather together some should be seen as a beginning only- certainly not the end, and not even the middle. Let a multitude of others step up to gently and compassionately and intelligently help build a positive paper trail for Palestine- and for civilization itself. Let the market place of ideas burgeon with good intentions and positive efforts as we the people everywhere help build a better future for all our children.

Sherri Muzher's new online book ESCAPE TO A WORLD OF PALESTINIAN SURPRISES

This year I have been very excited to see some very inspiring efforts for Palestine. I have watched both the American Task Force on Palestine [ATFP] and the General Delegation of the P.L.O. to the United States taking mainstream media work very seriously, listening and learning how to help redirect the conversation here in America in much more positive and helpful directions. Both compile fascinating daily round-ups of important mainstream news and opinion regarding Palestine, and both are important and reliable resources for people who care about mainstream American efforts and Palestine's future as a real nation state. I hope they both continue on with their good work.

There are also many other organizations and individuals working hard to help gather up support for Palestine- far too numerous to name, and we all have our own personal favorites and preferences. Photographs and posters and stories and songs are passed around and savored. Palestine is becoming more and more real to more and more people worldwide as the global information age opens doors and windows everywhere, in ways that could not even be imagined a generation ago. It is up to ALL of us to either help- or hinder- Palestinian efforts to build a real Palestinian state.


Home and family have been very important to me through out all my life. Luckily I live in a country where our property rights are respected- and the rule of fair and just laws helps keep the peace... AND luckily my hardworking husband has a good job which has helped empower us as parents and as citizens.

"Civic Muscle" is a tag that I started to apply to some of my Annie's New Letters (& notes) posts this past year. I saw the phrase in an article in USA Today about American youth and it really caught my attention- what a perfect way to express a very important concept, and a crucial aspect of real democracy.

Glass vase from Hebron- a gift from a friend who likes my letters & poems

MARCH FORTH! 2011

LAND DAY March 30 PALESTINE

Viewpoint: The Grass is Not Always Greener on the Other Side by Harriet Straughen for MIFTAH

Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality

My Letter to the Washington Post RE In Obama’s push for Mideast peace, whose side is he on? by Jackson Diehl

Israel’s Bent Neck...by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Hanan Ashrawi: "We deserve our freedom, we deserve our state"

German woman devoted to removing Nazi graffiti

Riz Khan - The Arab Street

Women against fundamentalism and for equality | The Elders

Joharah Baker: Palestinian Women Deserve Celebration

Palestinian Women: Narrative Histories and Gendered Memories... & more from This Week in Palestine

Specialized radio station promotes rights of Palestinian women

The Arab Woman You Don't See...

My letter to the Economist RE Israel's Jewish identity. The state we're in

Why Settlements must Go By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Sherri Muzher's ESCAPE TO A WORLD OF PALESTINIAN SURPRISES

Michelle Bachelet: “Think of how much more we can do once women are fully empowered as active agents of change and progress within their societies...”

Kim Barker: "Most journalists just don’t report it"

Professor Hala Nassar leaving Yale: “As for me, if I’ve been persecuted or not,” Nassar said. “I’ll keep it to myself.”

Reem Kelani's ululations ... Tahrir Square, Cairo, Friday 11th February

"International human rights law and international humanitarian law are not negotiable. No individual or state can be considered exempt..."

UNWRA's Isabel de la Cruz: "I take aim and shoot all over the place, looking for the human inspiration for our “Peace starts here” campaign."

Planting Eden

Suheir Hammad: Poems of war, peace, women, power | Video on TED.com

Ask a Name... a poem by Anne Selden Annab in Growing Gardens for Palestine

Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage

[2010] Celebrating Women's History Month by celebrating some GREAT Palestinian-American Artists, Writers & Poets

Yesterday was Land Day for Palestine. I did what I could to help honor and empower Palestine by searching the Internet to find inspiring information and images to blog. And today, in Growing Gardens for Palestine I am celebrating women's liberation as an important part of progress for all people- regardless of race, religion or gender.... or nationality.

Roses- a recent Valentine's Day gift from my husband Jaffar

Long ago, when I was a young and I fell in love with my husband Jaffar I was working full time in a bookstore. I really liked that job. I liked working with books, and I liked helping people find the perfect book. I also liked learning how a business is run- learning many lessons really about life. Lessons I've been able to translate into helping build a good marriage and life for our family. When I married my husband I had no idea what life would bring, both the challenges and the pleasures- nor did I know how much more I would love him as time goes by and we find ourselves growing old together.

Everywhere on earth young people are falling in love, getting married, making a life and a home together. Many (but not all) will soon enough be totally busy with the challenging task of raising children... and growing gardens of their own, each in their own unique way.

• Growing Gardens for Palestine
• Planning a garden is one step towards planting it ...
• "Come, I'll tell you about Palestine"
• Honoring Arabic & Arabic Calligraphy
• Poem in Your Pocket Day is April 17th
• Poetry continued-
• Lavender ...
• Mosaics
• Bulbs & Birdhouses
• Carrots
• Getting distracted by snow geese
• Embroidered keepsakes
• Going Green for St. Patrick's Day
• Seeds of hope and connection
• A good priority
• Poppies & Palestine: 60 years of forced exile-Time for Return
• The Garden Center
• Mid East Market
• In all Connection (Key shaped poem by Anne Selden Annab)
• Perennials
• PERSISTENCE : "And my heart flies..." Mahmoud Darwish 1941-2008
• The Day The Palestinian Poet Darwish Died
• Ibdaa 'to create something out of nothing'
• September flavors - books & films proving that Palestine is real- and Palestine is right!
• A poem on Al-Awda
  
• ...Universal Echo
• Autumn leaves
• It's October- a good time to start thinking about hats
• Discovering our Shared Heritage... & please get out and VOTE!
• Be the change you want- DARE HOPE !
• ...To be True
• Christmas Lights
• Giving Gifts
• Anniversaries- and Accountability
• Christ was a Palestinian
• Rivers of paint...
• Twittering
• Connecting the Human Family Step by Step...
• The Mathematics of Terror
  
• Loyalty
• We need a Golden Rule Peace for Israel and Palestine
• A Palestine To Return To ... poem by Anne Selden Annab
• The Arab Peace Initiative
• Freedom to me is ... (a poem)
• An Eastre Story... a visual poem celebrating Spring
• The American Task Force on Palestine
• "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin...
• Playing God ... poem by Anne Selden Annab
• Ibtisam ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
• Honor
• Darwish & Dickinson
• BUILDING PALESTINE: THE INDISPENSABLE STATE FOR PEACE...ATFP GALA 2010
• Music Therapy
• Dear Ziad
• Internet Tourism
• Garden of Paradise... antique maps, illuminated manuscripts, engravings, art, etc @ ATFP December 7 & 8th Winter Bizarre
• Charity
• This Week in Palestine 2011 Agenda... Celebrating Jericho- Ten Thousand Years of Civilization
• Ask a Name... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
• Land Day & Liberation .... MARCH FORTH!