Netanyahu tells Obama to keep illegal sanctions on Iran and
that he can get AIPAC to help resolve the US budget conflict (a conflict caused
in large part by trillions spent for Israel)! Livni tells J Street that the
Israeli Occupation Army is a great army and that its is only fighting
terrorists (even though she admitted her own parents were members of the Irgun
terror organization and have met while robbing a British train). Abbas tells US
Jewish leaders that Palestinians can give-up on 78% of Palestine. Obama tells
the UN that he seeks peace between the “Jewish state” and the Palestinians…..
There are two problems with politicians in positions of power (Obama, Livni, Abbas, Netanyahu, Boehner, Berlusconi, Hollande et al.): 1) they do not see a need to change because they believe they are God’s gift to their people, and 2) they lie in just about every public pronouncement they make. I think the evidence for these two points is so overwhelming that it became common wisdom among people: “don’t trust politicians.” But we also need to acknowledge that people can and do force politicians to change. Regardless of how they got into power or the nature of governing systems, leaders cannot afford to ignore major and strong demands by their people. But if the people are complacent and ignorant, this is the best scenario for politicians who by nature are comfortable with the status quo.
Conversely there is people power which insists on challenging evil with love. This week in Palestine there was twice efforts to break through the apartheid wall in AbuDis, there was rebuilding of demolished homes in Khirbet Makhoul, there was resistance to persistent Jewish colonial attacks on the third holiest site in Islam, there was successful pressure to release three peace activists detained at a checkpoint, there was removal of a metal gate that blocked the road from Cremisan to Al-Walaja village, and hundreds more of these actions.
9th Annual Taybeh Oktoberfest on Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6, 2013, outdoor grounds space of the Movenpick Hotel Ramallah
Bavarian Band members from the Musikkapelle Leobendorf will perform along with local groups like Khalas Arabic Rock Orchestra, Jay Baker-Hip Dan Hop; We Are From Here/Muzi Raps; Mina Band-Traditional Palestinian music; Apo and the Apostles ; Mixed Team/Nablus & Sound of Soul/Qalqilia; Dave Kirreh will debut his song about Jerusalem with Adi Khalefa, the hilarious standup comedian as master of ceremonies.
Panel in which I spoke in Poland about the Arab Revolts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39yHoSQZR54
Sabeel's 9th International Conference in Jerusalem 19-25 November 2013
Topics covered: The Bible and the Palestine-Israel conflict, mapping the war inside Syria, present and future challenges of Christians in the Middle East, “Hewish and Democratic” the impossible plan for Israel, and more details at http://sabeel.org/events.php?eventid=263
Solidarity Movement for a Free Palestine was founded by a group of Palestinian activists who believe that the Palestinian people have a right to defend their human rights, in accordance to international law. Popular resistance is vital in challenging the occupation.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solidarity-Movement-For-Free-Palestine/533405983399953
Stay human
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org
There are two problems with politicians in positions of power (Obama, Livni, Abbas, Netanyahu, Boehner, Berlusconi, Hollande et al.): 1) they do not see a need to change because they believe they are God’s gift to their people, and 2) they lie in just about every public pronouncement they make. I think the evidence for these two points is so overwhelming that it became common wisdom among people: “don’t trust politicians.” But we also need to acknowledge that people can and do force politicians to change. Regardless of how they got into power or the nature of governing systems, leaders cannot afford to ignore major and strong demands by their people. But if the people are complacent and ignorant, this is the best scenario for politicians who by nature are comfortable with the status quo.
Conversely there is people power which insists on challenging evil with love. This week in Palestine there was twice efforts to break through the apartheid wall in AbuDis, there was rebuilding of demolished homes in Khirbet Makhoul, there was resistance to persistent Jewish colonial attacks on the third holiest site in Islam, there was successful pressure to release three peace activists detained at a checkpoint, there was removal of a metal gate that blocked the road from Cremisan to Al-Walaja village, and hundreds more of these actions.
9th Annual Taybeh Oktoberfest on Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6, 2013, outdoor grounds space of the Movenpick Hotel Ramallah
Bavarian Band members from the Musikkapelle Leobendorf will perform along with local groups like Khalas Arabic Rock Orchestra, Jay Baker-Hip Dan Hop; We Are From Here/Muzi Raps; Mina Band-Traditional Palestinian music; Apo and the Apostles ; Mixed Team/Nablus & Sound of Soul/Qalqilia; Dave Kirreh will debut his song about Jerusalem with Adi Khalefa, the hilarious standup comedian as master of ceremonies.
Panel in which I spoke in Poland about the Arab Revolts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39yHoSQZR54
Sabeel's 9th International Conference in Jerusalem 19-25 November 2013
Topics covered: The Bible and the Palestine-Israel conflict, mapping the war inside Syria, present and future challenges of Christians in the Middle East, “Hewish and Democratic” the impossible plan for Israel, and more details at http://sabeel.org/events.php?eventid=263
Solidarity Movement for a Free Palestine was founded by a group of Palestinian activists who believe that the Palestinian people have a right to defend their human rights, in accordance to international law. Popular resistance is vital in challenging the occupation.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solidarity-Movement-For-Free-Palestine/533405983399953
Stay human
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org
Let me suggest again, more clearly and more publicly, that your greatest gift to offer the Palestinian cause (of human equality) is your years of living in New Haven, CT, etc. "The belly of the beast". You know how US racism functions in a way maybe nobody else in Palestine does: at its higher levels, closer to where the strategic decisions are made. What kind of people live up there, what are their relationships with each other, to the ultimate elite, and to the grassroots? In a word, what enables racism to not only linger in the US but, in these last forty years of Israeli hegemony, find a "new birth in freedom" (Lincoln's Second Inaugural) and, then again, in the current twilight-of-the-gods situation where it really does seem Zionism has no place to turn, perhaps a final death?
ReplyDeleteThe goal is to ease that transition mercifully and speedily, I think. The more intelligently we try, the better we shall do. You know more than perhaps anybody in Palestine what to expect from the "broker", not just to resist his evil machinations, but to use them and his role itself against Zionism. You want to be a revolutionary? Lenin lived in western Europe for some years. Ho Chi Minh ("father of the nation"--he rebranded himself in good European fashion?) lived in France for some years. Kwame Nkrumah sold fish on the sidewalks of New York City at one point.
On the other hand, Jomo Kenyatta learned how to sell out his country by/while pursuing a master's degree in England.