Some participants cooking an Arabic dish
Just returned from a trip to
Kenya where I facilitated four days of workshops for a group of young people (18-26)
who came from several countries (Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Zambia,
Sri Lanka). I like to work with young people and this also provided
a chance to summarize many things that may be useful as a transition
from one chapter to another. I share with you the outline of what we
discussed and did because it represents a distillation of
experiences and resources that might be useful to readers whether activists or
potential activists
But two more notes
first. I visited and was touched by the scene at Westgate Mall in Nairobi
following the recent terror attack. This and others social and political
injustices are always sad statements on the status of the human species. We have a long way to continue working to get
people away from wars and conflicts to peace, justice, harmony, and to take
care of our suffering planet. I also visited colleagues at the National Museums
of Kenya and I hope soon we will develop cooperation in
biodiversity/environmental research especially on small mammals and some
invertebrates (notably scorpions). The last time I was in Kenya was in 1985 so this was a pleasant reminder of the beauty of the country and its people.
A short
workshop (4 days) on activism for Palestine human rights (and other issues)
Outline
of covered material
People
and the Land: Developments of Canaanite agriculture,
civilization, alphabets/languages, and religions. Before
the wave of European Zionist colonization, Palestinians were of various
religions: about 85% Muslim, 10% Christian, 5% Jewish, Bahai and others.
Throughout nearly 15000 years of civilization, Palestine was and remained
despite occasional failed efforts to change it) multireligious and
multicultural society. See http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter2
Raed, Basem. Hidden Histories:
Palestine and The Eastern Mediterranean. Pluto Press. 2010
Whitelam, Keith W. The invention of
Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History. New York,
Routledge. 1997.
Evolution
towards Zionism: Use of religion for political purposes (e.g.
Crusades, Zionism). 19th century ethnocentric nationalism, European
“anti-semitism” (misnamed as it is actually anti-Jewish),
Said, Edward The Question of
Palestine. New York: Vintage, 1992.
Ellis, Marc. Israel and Palestine
out of the Ashes: the search for Jewish identity in the twenty-first century.
Pluto, London, 2002. See also my review pf this book at http://qumsiyeh.org/outoftheashesbymarcellis/
Ehnic
Cleansing/Refugees
How 530 villages and towns were
depopulated. Complicity in this crime
against humanity etc.
Documentary film and discussion of “Jaffa: The
Orange’s clockwork”
Documentary film and discussion of “The Land
Speaks Arabic”
Other resources:
Masalha, Nur. Expulsion of the
Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought,
1882-1948. Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992.
Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing
of Palestine. Oxford, UK: Oneworld, 2006.
Occupation
and Colonial settlements: Documentary Film and discussion of” Occupation
101” (covered in workshop in Jordan)
Human
Rights Violations: many areas were discussed including attacks on
water rights, education rights, freedom of movement rights (including the
apartheid wall), land rights, religious rights.
Google for resources and especially study human rights reports from the
N and independent organizations like Amnesty, Physicians for Human Rights,
Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Yesh Din etc. See also http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter9/
Case
Study of Gaza Strip: Documentary Film screening and discussion of
“Gaza Strip”
Case
Study of Jerusalem: Judaizing the city and destroying its
character that existed for hundreds of years. http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter5/
Israeli
Apartheid (inside
and outside the Green Line) as worse than South African apartheid (Film not
shown but worth showing is Roadmap to Apartheid). Israel as a colonial racist
state. See http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter7/
Jiryis, Sabri. The Arabs in Israel.
New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976. Translated from the Arabic by Inea
Bushnaq.
Violence
and Terrorism: Relevant reading
Show film and discuss “Divine Intervention”
Palestinian Political Structures and Popular
Discourse
Evolution of Palestinian political discourse from the late 19th century till today. Importance of the many key uprisings (1881, 1904, 1921, 1929, 1936, 1948, 1956, 1971, 1974, 1981, 1987, 2000) to the changes in political configurations in Palestine. Palestinian constants (thawabet). Nature of the resistance in relation to corruption, political representation and exclusion etc. The negative impact of the Oslo “surrender” accords.
Evolution of Palestinian political discourse from the late 19th century till today. Importance of the many key uprisings (1881, 1904, 1921, 1929, 1936, 1948, 1956, 1971, 1974, 1981, 1987, 2000) to the changes in political configurations in Palestine. Palestinian constants (thawabet). Nature of the resistance in relation to corruption, political representation and exclusion etc. The negative impact of the Oslo “surrender” accords.
Palestinian
culture/art/music/food
-We listened to some music and watched dabka
-We cooked a bit of Palestinian food
- We read some poetry
-We saw a short theater play (from Al-Rowwad in
Aida Refugee camp) see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkMXoukhHzk
- We discussed the role of poetry, theater and
other art forms in the struggle
International context/law: UN
resolutions (both security council and UNGA), 4th Geneva convention,
Intl Convention against the crimes of apartheid and racial discrimination,
Israel use of chemical and other banned weapons. See also http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter12/
PEACE ACTIVISM
SECTION
(see activism manual here http://qumsiyeh.org/activistmanual/
but we need to update this)
Information gathering tools and resources: Need to acknowledge our biases. More
information can always shed light on the subject. Critical thinking and data
analysis tools to sort through the myriad available information (including junk
and propaganda)
Popular
resistance in Palestine, a history of hope and empowerment: http://qumsiyeh.org/popularresistanceinpalestine/
-King, Mary Elizabeth. A Quiet Revolution: The
First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance. New York: Nation, 2007.
-Qumsiyeh, Mazin.
Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of hope and empowerment. Pluto Press
2010.
Ways to
act for peace with justice globally: We went through this list http://qumsiyeh.org/whatyoucando/
of 65 ways we can each do something for peace and justice (this is applicable
not just for Palestine but elsewhere).
-Power of images, maps, photos, see for example
http://qumsiyeh.org/palestine101/
-Stohlman, Nancy and Aladin, Laurieann
(ed.) Live from Palestine: International and Palestinian Direct
Action Against the Israeli Occupation. Cambridge, MA:
South End Press, 2003.
Media
Activism and activism in the age of the internet: see
for discussion purposes reading material here (http://qumsiyeh.org/activistmanual/
chapters 6 and 7) and also http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
Boycotts,
Divestments and Sanctions BDS (covered in workshop in Jordan). But see also http://qumsiyeh.org/boycottisrael/
We discussed also how we can mobilize for global activism on 9 July 2014 (the
10 year anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling on the
illegality of the apartheid wall and colonial settlements built on Palestinian
land). See http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3=6
Other Resources
Christian
Role and a direct action:
-Palestinian Christians and their communities
(see e.g. http://qumsiyeh.org/christianlinks/).
-Kairos document and its importance, see http://www.kairospalestine.ps/. We
also had two volunteers translate the text into Swahili and make copies.
- A group of the young people then went to
local churches near our meeting to talk to them about Christian role in bring
peace with Justice. Using the document
and discussions is effective. This was a
practical action to show it can be done.
More will be done.
-Answering the oxymoronic “Christian Zionism”.
See for resources Kairos and also
Halsell, Grace, Forcing God's Hand: Why
Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture ... and Destruction of Planet Earth. Amana,
2002.
Wagner, Donald. Anxious for Armageddon: A Call
to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians. Herald Press. 1999.
Lessons from other struggles sand importance of
networking and global action
Documentary film viewing of “A force more
powerful” and discussion of power of popular resistance. We reviewed lessons via
comparative analysis from India, US civil rights, Palestine, and South Africa.
Looking
to the future
Human Rights as a pivotal way to move forward
(e.g. use the Univesral Declaration of Human Rights, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
The One Democratic State Movement
Moral imperative of working for peace with
justice in Palestine (the Holy Land)
"There are
only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: 1) not going all the
way; and 2) not starting."
"Non-violence is the constant awareness of
the dignity and humanity of oneself and others; it seeks truth and justice; it
renounces violence both in method and in attitude; it is a courageous
acceptance of active love and goodwill as the instrument with which to overcome
evil and transform both oneself and others. It is the willingness to undergo
suffering rather than inflict it. It excludes retaliation and flight."
Wally Nelson, conscientious objector, civil rights activist, and tax resister
