Jan 14, 2014

Palestinian rights

                                            Dancing with 92 year old Umm Atallah

We are in a new year and certainly I wish all humans (friends and foes) a happy new year that would bring justice which is the prerequisite for peace. In the first few field-trips in 2014, we saw beautiful budding lilies, many species of snails and insects, and birds and others signs of renewed life after the snow in Palestine.  Our water wells are full and Spring is coming. Life renews itself.  We remember fallen comrades but we look to the future with hope. I spoke to several groups of young students from around the world last two weeks and they also give us hope.The young and old Palestinians I interact with daily also give us hope. In a party, I talked to the oldest Qumsiyeh alive, a 92 year old woman who is phenomenal in her inspiration (picture above).

We must learn to appreciate and thank people more while they are alive.  I felt sad at hearing the news of the passing of Dr. Lamia Haddad Khairallah.  She was a great activist who loved Palestine (where she is from), Lebanon (where she grew up) and the US (her adopted home where I met her first in 1979 and she and her late husband sort of adopted me). Services will be January 24 at 2 PM, Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Rd., Storrs, Connecticut. We will miss her dearly. I wish I could be there.

New facebook page to like, join, and disseminate to protect Palestinian rights  “The original PLO charter called for right of return and self-determination. These remain the quintessential demands of the majority of Palestinians. We reject the planned structures to liquidate the Palestinian cause. International law states that all agreements that abrogate basic rights like the rights of refugees are null and void (even if signed by some “leaders”) . We believe and will join forces to achieve these goals including via Sumud (resilience) on our land, popular resistance, and the spread of boycotts, divestments and sanction against the Israeli apartheid system. Palestine (from the river to the sea) is our homeland and our priority. We will work to make it a country of all its citizens with all the returning refugees regardless of religious beliefs.”
http://www.facebook.com/7uqooq

Prof. Qumsiyeh: Conditions for the next uprising are there
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/politics/politico/7515-the-conditions-for-the-next-uprising-are-there

Professor Qumsiyeh on the American Studies Association and the growth of the Academic boycott http://qumsiyeh.org/americanstudiesassociation

1 comment:

  1. Umm Atallah looks very young! I hope I will look like her if I have the chance to get as that old! Happy Umm!

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