Letters to the Editor, November 3, 2004

Politicians' Religious/Ethnic Background

The Public Needs to Know in order to CONTROL (yes - They're Supposed To) Public Policy

The Religious Background/Affiliation of Political Candidates and Elected Officials appears to offer much information about their Political Viewpoint and more importantly their Political Actions once in office. Since the US Congress stopped publishing such information in their summary biographies of their Members years ago, I have not been able to track down such information. Can your recommend such a source? Namely, where can the public find the Religious Affiliation, present and/or past, of Political Leaders of USA and other large countries, and also of their Parents (important because of frequent change of religion by candidates)?

As an example of the importance of the Religious Belief Affiliation and Ethnic Background of our Political Leaders in understanding their possible future political moves, consider:

(1) former Mayor of New York City, Mr. Ed Koch. A life long Democrat, he now supports Republican President/USA because of latter's adoption of the Militant pro-Israel politics of the, so called, Neocons/Ziocons, in his "Defense" Department.

(2) Irish Members of the Federal Government support Policies favorable to Ireland - Greeks/Greece, Jewish/Israel, Poles/Poland - etc.

Knowledge of the Religious/Ethnic Affiliation of Politicians is very important for the Voters, as they ponder their Election Ballot Choices, and should not be withheld from the Public - under false accusations of bigotry - it's bad for the voters, bad for our Country, bad for The Ideal of Democracy, thus Bad All Over.

Thanks for your attention. Hope you can help me crack this here Inner Sanctum of Ignorance.

Mario Conseco,

Research Coordinator, CPOD:

Editor: Readers are invited to provide such information.

Six weeks of anniversaries

BADIL, E/38/04 3 November 2004

The Balfour Declaration

On 2 November, Palestine began six weeks of anniversaries: the event that brought the

Palestine issue to the forefront of world concern/disruption, the Balfour Declaration,

2 November 1917; the UN Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP); the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the partition and right of return resolutions.

The period ends 11 December with demonstrations and calls for boycotts, santions,

disinvestment against Israel resulting from the recent meeting of the European

Coordinating Committee of NGO’s Working on Palestine (ECCP) and the European Social

Forum. A main element of the campaign will be to demand the suspension of the

European Association Agreement with Israel. The date was chosen to mark the signing

of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also put Palestine on the international

agenda.

Day of Solidarity, Partition of Palestine

The Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is 29 November, the day Resolution

181 was adopted by the United Nations. The Resolution, 57 years ago, called for the

partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state in opposition to the desires of its

the majority Palestinian-Arab residents. In 1977, the UN declared 29 November the UN

Day of Solitarity with the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.

Human Rights Day

December 10 is the annual commemoration of International Human Rights Day and the

56^thanniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among the

basic rights in the declaration is the right of return and the right to property.

Palestinian Right of Return, establishment of the UNCCP

Eleven December is the 56^th anniversary of Resolution 194 (III) affirming the right of

Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to return and repossess their homes and

property and receive compensation for damages and losses. The Resolution, adopted

overwhelmingly, created no new rights or laws, it simply reflected existing international

law and practice.

Resolution 194 also established the Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP), the

primary international body mandated to provide protection to Palestinian refugees and

search for lasting solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It identified the private property

owned by Palestinian Arabs in Palestine before the establishment of Israel in 1948

resulting in 453,000 records totaling 1.5 million individual holdings.

However the UNCCP has not been provided with the machinery or resources to carry out

its mandate since 1952. From there there has been no international body providing

protection for Palestinian refugees or searching for durable solutions to their plight and

an end to the conflict.

Palestinian refugees still left out

Efforts by the international community to include the Palestinian people in the

community of nations continue to exclude the Palestinian refugees, a majority of

Palestinians, from the universal rights accorded to persons around the world. For more

than 55 years, the international community has supported refugees around the world

who simply want to go home, recognizing that a durable peace is not possible against

the unfulfilled desire and right of refugees to return home. Palestinian refugees deserve

the same.

BADIL, Palestine