thanks so much for NOT apologizing for your standpoint, dear Annie! you are right with every word you say about this dreadful war!
 

That was so perfectly written, Annie. Just as you do to your music, you bring a keen clarity of expression to this entire, confusing mess. It is such a simple, sensible message, and I thank you for continuing to use you "pure and powerful voice" to express it.
 

Beautifully said.
 

I also agree...
 

Interesting to see what was edited out...
 

I agree!
 

I hope the reader appreciated the music of your heart.
 

Well said Annie...Totally agree with your views on this matter and this response.....HUGS..Karl Alexis and Courtney
 

Very well said.
 

,,,peace is peace...peace is possible.
 

I continue to support any cause for peace and I thank you for your efforts. There is little in the world that I can say I dislike. I just strongly dislike ignorance. It is a great comfort in knowing that you are speaking for so many who send peaceful regard. We create the peace that we wish to be. ....Many Warm Blessings,....Orin
 

That was a great statement! It's amazing how quick people are to assume that you don't know the situation, and are ill-informed. I don't think anyone "wins" in a war.....Stan
 

Great letter Annie...You are far from alone.....xo
 

Annie there,s no available server for your open letter...indicates Error.
 

I thought your response was really well done. I'm glad you responded, and kudos for the newspaper in publishing it, too.
 

I thought your response was well written, Annie!! Thanks for posting the unedited version. PEACE and an end to the war on Gaza is a step forward...not war and killing which only promotes extremists. Now 1,100 Palestinians are dead and the UN headquarters in Gaza has been bombed...enough is enough!! Blessings to you, Annie!! Keep speaking out...let's all voice our support for peaceful negotiations on both sides and a ceasefire now...SueNY :) ..I've been having trouble posting...so I hope there's no double posts.
 

Like your reply Annie. ....Unfortunatley there are people who choose to hear what they..want to hear no matter how clear you are on your position...They will interpret it in whatever way will benefit their..view.....Take Care..Annie.
 

A beautiful letter.
 

Dera Annie ad dear all, I perfectly agree with your response to the letter, but I do not understand why there's a point that seems to skip your mind. The point is that I suppose that the reaction from Yoran Dori is due to the fact that nobody went into massive demonstration while Hamas were bombing Israel...Now everyone suddenly discovered that bombing is something bad?..Why nobody demonstrate against Hamas before in this strong way. It seems that Hamas had the right to kill. I understand your position and I agree with you because peace is peace, but why did not you start to fight against the massacre when were the Israeli to be massacred? I do believe that you care for them too, of course, but why join demonstration that condamn Israel now?..I am not judging, of course you have the right to be on the side of who you like (please do not reply saying that you are just for peace, we all are and this is not the point here), but I would really like to understand the reason of your strong reaction just to Israel and not to hamas (before)...I would also like to add just a little thing: I do not really understand people that fight "as a mother"...being a mother is a good thing, but you do not need to be a mother to understand that kill people is a bad thing. What does that mean? That a woman thta's not a mother is something less? Or that a man acnnot understand? Why you keep on separate genders and conditions? Peace starts there! I f you know what I mean...Thank you
 

Well said Annie =)
 

Goan yersel Annie!!! ....You obviously hit a nerve and your response is both dignified and non-hyterical, which I thought the open letter leaned a little towards (understandably perhaps). This is a very hot topic (as last night's Question Time showed when David almost lost the plot with the audience...I don't think even Irag provoked such a strong response) and everyone needs to be careful with the language they use. However, we must speak up, like you, when we lose track of our own humanity and get down to the level of those who seek to destroy.....Keep speaking out Annie, as we all need people like you to do so with heart, articulation, honesty and above all humanity.....Diane
 

Very good response. ..The initial letter and the censorship of the response on it show a lack of ability and willpower to handle the truth. I think equating criticism of Israel’s actions with Anti-Semitism is highly infantile and undemocratic. Squadrons of propagandists have been sent out to silence every voice that shows compassions with the Palestinians who suffer for decades. They all use the same phrases and arguments as if they were brainwashed. ..If people start criticising Mr. Obama for his actions one day, will his entourage and his supporters scream “RACIST” all the time?....""I am not opposed to Israel and I do not support Palestinians""....Why? There is a genocide going on. So what is so bad about supporting the Palestinians (at least the weakest of them – women, children and old men). It doesn’t mean you support the Hamas. Palestinians were expelled and have to live under worst living conditions. All they get from Israel is dirt water. Or is the drinking-water reserved for a superior religion of the Holy Land and the cultivation of fruits and veg? Reason enough to boycott fruits from Israel.
 

Boycotting fruits from Israel at the moment is right for another reason and that is because they are from the sabbatical year.
 

Seems some of us have been left addressing a Cheshire leopard commenter who has deleted herself, yet again... Just noting this so no one thinks I was responding to Earl ;)
 

Your reading of Annie's blogs and the blog comments on this subject would seem to have been interestingly selective. ....Objecting to the Israeli government's choices of response that are indeed killing civilians and children most certainly does not automatically equate to anti-semitism. To say it does is to blithely ignore the many Jewish citizens of Israel that do not agree with their government's decisions and the many Jewish people, worldwide, who do not agree with the Israeli government's decisions. To say it is so, is reprehensible for many reasons--one being that such tactics make it that much more difficult for true anti-semitism to be effectively addressed when it does arise.....Objecting to the Israeli government's choices of response also does not automatically translate into support of the violent actions of Hamas. To say this is so, is to ignore what many have said here. Which you have apparently done.....Do you assume Annie has censored anyone here or do you know this? ;)Unless you were personally censored, you may be assuming wrongly. If you glance back through her blogs on this subject, you will discover many who have disagreed have commented and their comments remain. It would seem only one commenter has disappeared. Sometimes people do that of their own volition by deleting their own profiles.
 

P.S...Last I checked, "Frank", and I understand you may disagree, "evil" isn't being bombed or shot at anywhere on the planet. And "good" isn't shooting or bombing anyone either:.. ..Human beings are doing the shooting and bombing. ....Human beings are doing the bleeding, the burning, the hurting, and, the dying.
 

I thought about ignoring your current reincarnation here as I initially tried to do the last round because I really can't support certain kinds of dances that just don't seem healthy to me, Bashful. But, I feel you do very real harm to all Jewish people when you equate criticism of the Israeli government with anti-semitism and when anyone does that I feel that sort of thing must not be left unaddressed. If one were to ascribe to your line of thinking, then any criticism of Obama and his proposed policies would be seen as the result of racism when even "mutts" like me and Obama ;) understand that the truth is, some will be and some won't be. Somehow I'm guessing you wouldn't like being told that you need to squelch all criticism of Obama for the next eight years or you'll be classified a racist ;) ..********************************************************************..Speaking of anti-semitism... In its original meaning, you express what would appear to be virulent anti-semitism in your apparent demonization of the Palestian people. They are Semites, by the way. Somehow I never thought of Jesus as approving of anyone hating entire groups of people. But that's just silly ol' heathen me talking to myself again ;) And so, yes, I took the bait on that one, too. Really don't like seeing anyone brand anyone as "evil". That kind of thinking has been used to rationalize an awful lot of the most hideous of human actions--things that you would likely classify as "evil"--if they happened to someone you actually had some compassion for.....********************************************************************..Still making sweeping assumptions, overgeneralizations, selectively hearing what you want to hear, ignoring facts, insulting and demonizing those who disagree with you? Those finer distinctions in life, like the difference between a government (Hamas) and a people (Palestinian Gazans), still eluding you? Still addressing individuals as if they're entire groups of people with lock-step views? Still grinding that ax against Annie and picking those scabs? There really are simpler ways to say you miss me, Bashful ;) Or perhaps it's just that you need a new hobby? ..*********************************************************************..I realize I'm just talking to myself here, since you'll likely self-delete again once you get whatever fix you're looking for ;) ..*********************************************************************..Wishing you well as always.
 

My dearest Bashful, I'd really hoped you'd go back and try again on that New Year's resolution I'm fairly certain you must have made about MySpace... Sigh. It seems your bait has worked as I choose now to override my own resolve about not supporting this public dance of self-harm and self-betrayal you seem intent on doing here on Annie's blog. Why? Because you have chosen a rather perfect analogy for me to illustrate how I work to live my beliefs in my own personal life. And perhaps how some others here may work to live theirs.....***************************************************************************..Actually, many in the Mormon Church, (among others), have been shooting "rockets" that indeed have, and still do, translate into the very real deaths of countless adolescent and adult lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, questioning people--and people simply mistaken for being one of us due to stereotyping. Deaths by violence, deaths by suicide, slower deaths of both body and spirit wrought by the effects of internalized homphobia... Though you well know how much this particular "war" has personally cost me and my loved ones, you also well know, Elizabeth, I have never advocated a violent response. You also know, I do not advocate a wholesale tarring of all Christians because of those wearing that label who preach the kind of hatred that foments violence. Justification for responding with violence and hate, as in "eye for an eye" justification, is irrelevant to me. It's simply not a strategy that works to make anyone safer. Nor has it ever served to make anyone whole again. ..****************************************************************************..I'm saddened to see that your view of humanity remains so grim. As always, I will continue to pray in my own heathen way that your Jesus is someday able to help you with this, Elizabeth.
 

To "Frank"/ Elizabeth/ Bashful below:..Was I asking for credibility? From you? Nope. Just making a little joke based on knowing you ;) Much gets lost in the typewritten word. Yes, "hardened hearts" are saddening, be that hardening within the hearts of others or within our own. I do hold George W. accountable for his crimes and would like to see him tried for them in a court of law, but, as you well know and thus don't need to "imagine", that doesn't preclude my understanding that he is just a man, nor does it preclude my holding compassion for him. Those sorts of distinctions have always seemed to be lost on you. Unlike you, I seek always to embrace life's ambiguities and stretch beyond classifications of "All good"/ "All bad", as, for me, nothing in life really ever fits into such limited categories. This stance is what has made it possible for me to engage in dialogue with you elsewhere when others more readily relegated you to the "All bad" category ;) It is also this stance that leads me to believe that peace negotiations can sometimes be quite successful, because, in my own life, the dissolving of false barriers regarding "Other" has sometimes led to the bridging of seemingly uncrossable chasms. I never claimed to be perfect, though you keep assigning such aspirations and claims to me. I only claim to try my best to ever more closely walk my beliefs. You assume, again, that I don't hold Hamas as accountable as I do the Israeli government for certain kinds of actions. A little tip for you: If one is going to hold people accountable, this doesn't work if one is operating on assumptions rather than evidence. As always, I'm selling nothing. Simply stating my own views. And, as you well know, though again such finer distinctions seem to continue to be lost upon you, my spiritual path doesn't seek to "convert" anyone, nor do I throw "rockets" at followers of Jesus for following that way, (though I may at times grow wearied by the efforts of those who seek to convert me). Followed closely, I think it is a good way. Not my way, but a good way. So why would I throw "rockets"? I do, however, hold individuals accountable for speech that foments violence. I see no contradiction in this. And I don't limit that to only those with whom I disagree. I also hold accountable those with whom I agree who foment violence. And, myself, if I find myself going there. Someone once told us that we were two sides of the same coin, Bashful. It would seem to me there was some truth in that. It would seem you more often seek to find and expose the woundedness and ugliness in others, the hypocrisy in others. (Often your "mission" here on Annie's page?) It would seem I more often these days seek to find and expose the wholeness within each of us. Having spent some time doing more of the former, I find life much more joyful and rewarding doing more of the latter. Yes, "let's part on an honest note": I did notice all the twisted paraphrasings and misquotes of me you peppered throughout "Armia's" now disappeared comments. I didn't "bite" much of that apparent bait because, in addition to the reasons previously stated, I felt it inappropriate to do so here. But I have to admit, I've been curious as to just what it was you wanted or needed from this humble heathen that you would pursue me here and anonymously deride me so humorously and so painstakingly using bits of my own words that you apparently retained from our past conversations elsewhere. Odd, given how many times you've made it clear my words are meaningless to you ;) If you do want or need something further from me, Elizabeth, please don't come looking for me on others' pages. I won't respond further here. I have my own page, right where it's always been. Oh, and thanks for the prayers. Prayers of any nature are always welcome. Wishing you well, as always.
 

I can't help but wonder if that same person has resurfaced.....
 

Well, now I know.
 

Didn't take you long to spot the leopard, did it, Patricia? A leopard can try to change her spots, but this one will always be a very unique leopard. You know, I've become rather oddly fond of Bashful. But then I've always loved jellyfish and bees, too ;)
 

very well said Annie!....I agree with you Art(long time no see u)..It amaze me that people says that looking for Peace is a naive neutralist point of view, warfare is never the solution of a conflict but talks, Peace Talks, get to an agreement.Well the pettion we all signed and presented by UN,was opossed by Bush,who supports Israel(again americans are been held reponsible by their goverment, to make matter worst,american tax payers supports them with money and armistice)..Is unfortunate that lebanese people support hezbolla and Gaza need of the hamas,but is a reaction of a genocide against the palestine people for decades, Isreal is not in a threat of desapiar, they are a nuclear power,the only one on the region,but they are fulled with paranoia, who they are defenly desapearing is palestinian, we don't want another masacre as Lebanon in 2006,so far more then 900 plestinian died in Gaza, compere to 13 isrealis?..I support the right of an Isreal state, and the right to live of palestinian, just in case of you wonder, this is not the survivor of the fittest, contrary of what they want you to believe ,is the survivor of the Kindiest!, how you raise and care of your babies &offspring,will produce the best society and rounded human beigns.....Compation and symphaty is what make us human and thrive and survive the worst conditions, and is inherent in all of us, is a lie that we are selfish and individualistics, we all feel better helping our friends and family, looking after their needs first,contrary to ours, this is what studies has shown lately.....Peace & Love to all in 2009! money will be in short suply ;)....julian
 

Money will be short, but we can always tango as we march for peace and justice and take care of one another, eh? May 2009 be a year when more may come to understand what you just said about survival of the Kindest! Besos, Julian, from mi corazon to yours.
 

So very well said Annie, Julian and Little Sun. I hold hands with all of you in support for peace.
 

very well put!!! and i too give xtra kudos for stading your ground in a most unapolgetic way!!......rob..xxx