11-15-09 My candidacy for president of Palestine is a campaign for peace

My candidacy for president of Palestine is a campaign for peace
By Ray Hanania -- In 33 years of political journalism and election campaigning in America, I’ve learned that no one can predict an election outcome. Surprising things that people did not expect usually happens. And longshots with no hope of winning oftentimes do win. So with all that in mind, I am announcing my candidacy for President of Palestine.

Palestine Not Remembered

Palestine not Remembered
By Saffiya Shillo — On the anniversary of the siege of Palestine, Palestinians worldwide forget to remember what is most important when marking this and every other past and future commemoration. They forget to fight for Palestine! They forget to fight the “right” fight.” They forget to raise their voices in unison advocating the noble cause for freedom through justice. They forget what it means to be One Palestinian People.

Holy Week Miracle 04-16-09 Maria Khoury

Waiting for the Miracle

Maria C. Khoury – Every year during Holy Saturday, for many centuries, there is a most magnificent miracle that continues to take place in Jerusalem since the time we were allowed as Christians to celebrate ceremonies in public. Pilgrims from all over the world gather in Jerusalem to witness the greatest of all miracles-the Miracle of the Holy Fire. 

COMIC STRIP: Obama and his “walls” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 26, 2008

Ray Hanania’s World
July 26, 2008
Click comic strip to view larger image
Barack Obama in Berlin vowed to break down the walls that separate people around the worlds. But, not the wall in Israel that separates Palestinians from their lands.

HANANIA: Obama can do more than play politics with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 24, 2008

Obama can do more than play politics with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
By Ray Hanania – Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama did all the “right” things during his tour of the Middle East. It will help better define him in the eyes of Americans as “presidential material” and brush aside any concerns about whether he can or can’t be a commander in chief. He can. But doing the “right things” might not be enough to actually achieve Middle East peace. Obama needs to do more. He’s capable of it.

HANANIA: Bad week for moderate Arab Americans with Obama and Rezko, For Immediate Release, June 5, 2008

Bad week for moderate Arab Americans with Obama, Rezko and PAC
By Ray Hanania – On the same day that two prominent American presidential candidates swore their allegiance to the political agenda of Israel, a foreign country, 12 other Americans swore out a conviction for an Arab American who did what every other political fundraiser has done. Days before, the Palestinian American Congress, once the foundation of a growing moderate Palestinian American movement (which I headed), collapsed in political emotion endorsing the unrealistic demand that all the Palestinian refugees be returned to their homes and lands in Israel, rather than accept compensation and an apology. It was a bad week for the “Moderate voices” in the Arab American community. A bad week for them means a good week for the smaller but more influential high profile and loud-mouth extremists who are now turning to the community and saying, “See, we have to fight and use violence. Talking doesn’t work. We can’t get a fair deal in a country that is unfair.”

KHOURY: Miracle of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem, For Immediate Release, April 26, 2008

Miracle of Holy Fire in Jerusalem

By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D. — April 26, 2008 -  Pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem today to witness the greatest of all miracles-the Miracle of the Holy Fire.  The miracle has turned into a magnificent cultural event but many simply could not get anywhere near the Holy Sepulchre.  The soldiers, the police, the large crowds, the noise, the drums of the Boys Scouts and the Girl Scouts anxiously waiting to receive the Holy Fire from the Life Giving Tomb of Christ is a day long adventure.  It was a miracle in itself that Sam and Janet from our Sister Parish, Annunciation Church in Little Rock attended. 

HANANIA: Facebook defines a policy of fairness in an unfair world, For Immediate Release, March 16, 2008

Facebook defines a policy of fairness in an unfair world
By Ray Hanania – In this age of Israeli domination of the news media, and most of the political debate in the American dominated world, it is refreshing to find an objective face in the crowd. That objective face is Facebook, the popular Internet social networking site that began as a place for college students to gather in Cyber Space, but that has fast transformed into one of the most popular of online gathering places for people of all ages, even surpassing the more political MySpace. No longer restricted to college students, Facebook is open to the entire world. As a result, the “entire world” now has a say in terms of how that “entire world” should be portrayed on the Internet.

HANANIA: Palestinian-Israeli Peace requires courage and compromise, For Immediate Release, 11-04-07

Palestinian-Israeli Peace requires courage and compromise

By Ray Hanania – Israeli and Palestinian efforts to revive peace talks at Annapolis offer a new chance for peace, if courage and compromise on both sides can replace rhetoric and PR. The proposed Annapolis peace conference must not be like the Camp David “talks” where Israel offered its infamous “most generous offer.” Compared to paltry Israeli offers of the past, it was more generous, but not generous enough. But Palestinians need to do more, too.