Letter to the world

My first open letter was addressed to the people of Gaza https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2023/10/letter-to-gaza.html . It had hundreds of responses mostly asking us not to give up and asking for list of actions to do (these are available at ongaza.org and http://qumsiyeh.org/whatyoucando/ )

My second open letter was addressed to Jews and Israelis who support the Israeli government (https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2023/10/questions-to-israelis-and-jews.html). It had 13 sets of questions. Only two real committed Zionists had the courage to answer. A third person told me after answering that he is now abandoning Zionism and wishes to join the ranks of post-Zionist (though not anti-Zionist) Jews. Other reactions were from honest Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists etc, around the world were predictable and supportive. 

As promised this third open letter is addressed to other fellow human beings.:

I will start by saying THANK YOU on behalf of all Palestinians. Thank you for keeping your humanity. Thank you for not succumbing to the lies and distortions you heard from corrupt politicians and from corrupt media (yes corrupt is anyone who supports a 75 year apartheid and racist regime - see ongaza.org Q#6 to 9).  Do not underestimate your individual power to act. Millions went to the streets in the last few days in this global uprising(see examples at ongaza.org Question #21 ) . If each of them took time to write to a few others (family, friends, politicians, media), we can stop this genocide. Israel cannot be above the law and cannot get away with state terrorism and with committing a holocaust (yes it is, again see ongaza.org).  We in Palestine are really afraid and not merely for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza being eliminated but for ourselves in the West Bank and 1948 Palestine ignored for decades by the world and with increasing apartheid laws and settler rampage. We are also afraid for the potential lives to be lost by Israelis and Americans in the rage/calls for vengeance growing from the holocaust of Gaza. It is not a coincidence that the young Palestinian men who attacked areas near Gaza had relatives and friends killed earlier or had been themselves targeted in indiscriminate attacks in 2014. Further their families were expelled from those same areas now dubbed "south Israel".  So the spiral of violence escalates, We are afraid of eroding humanity. 

Today the situation in Gaza is catastrophic as it shifts to a higher stage of carnage: from sudden death and injury of civilians by bombing them without warning to ADD death by thirst, starvation, lack of hygiene, and collapse of health care services (Israeli policies of mass murder by denial of basics of life). This is not incidental death during war: this is genocide of a captive population.  Relentless bombing of residential buildings and of even people on the streets meant hundreds of civilians die daily. Now the official number is 8010 civilians murdered and over 21,000 injured (75% women and children) and if we add those reported missing and are buried under the rubble would make this over 10,000 murdered civilians in three weeks. Compared to populations, that would be equivalent to over one million US citizens killed.  These are not numbers, as noted, the list of names and ages are available and are being translated to English now. Half the population in Gaza are Children and 42% of those killed are children.. But this pales compared to denial of even medicines and fuel (babies and patients on dialysis die with lack of fuel for generators for the remaining devastated hospitals). Health care system completely collapsed and Israel refuses even to pause or to allow humanitarian aid. 

Two days ago we commemorated the anniversary of the 1956 Kufr Kasem Massacre ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafr_Qasim_massacre ) but the intentional massacres in Palestine have a 75 year history. Here are some examples:

https://thepalestineproject.medium.com/notorious-massacres-of-palestinians-between-1937-1948-ae4f4d1f61d0

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/510520.aspx

and of course all of that is now eclipsed by the hundreds of massacres committed in the last three weeks in Gaza .Einstein and others were prophetic about the early rise of fascism when they condemned the party that committed the Deir Yassin Massacre of 1948 (my late mother's best friend was killed with her students in Deir Yassin). Their letter is a must read: http://qumsiyeh.org/einsteinetalonbegin/ . Note that the perpetrators of this and many other massacres in 1948 became the Likud that now runs Israel. The language used by Netanyahu like Begin before him is genocidal. See

https://www.juancole.com/2023/10/netanyahu-annihilation-civilians.html

https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/weekly-briefing-israels-vengeance-spreads-fear-in-washington/

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/exterminate-all-the-brutes

I urge you to disseminate information like those now available on ongaza.org and hundreds of other website. Our messaging should be clear and our actions should be BOLD:

-There is an ongoing genocide/holocaust in Gaza and it is part of a 75 year program to eliminate Palestinians and transform Palestine to become Israel (an ethnocentric chauvinistic fascist and apartheid state). Like all colonizers, they never accepted the rights of the indigenous people.

-This is not about the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas (founded in 1988) or the dozen other resistance movements, secular or religious. This is about Palestine and Palestinians denied their rights for decades by a western supported regime. Their rights include the rights of refugees to return to their homes and lands and to be treated equally (no more and no less)

-We are not fooled by the endless talk about "two state solution" (Ben Gurion said this was merely a Public Relations Campaign intended to give more time to strengthen colonization). It is intended to distract us from seeking basic human rights so please insist on recognizing Palestinian rights to their lands and to be treated equally "from the river to the sea"  (see my book that centralizes these basic human rights http://qumsiyeh.org/sharingthelandofcanaan/ ).

-We always need to put things in historical context but we also need to demand accountability of Israeli and western leaders that support this current unprecedented ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing (war crimes and crimes against humanity). Those leaders have blood on their hands.

-We must insist on expelling apartheid "diplomats" and businesses from all countries (remember all Israelis serve in the army and Israel is not a normal country, it is a terrorist army with fig-leaf of statehood).

-We must accelerate the boycott, divestments, and sanctions campaign (see bdsmovement.net) which helps; just like in South Africa under apartheid. 

-Arab governments like Egypt, Jordan, UAE, and Saudi Arabia should be shamed for ignoring the will of their own people. Same for subservient Western Countries

-We MUST highlight who profits from wars and from attempts at shaping the Middle East to be suppressed and subjugated people (see ongaza.org Q # 14)

-We need to liberate not just Gaza and Palestine from the Zionist occupation but also their occupation of Washington DC and other Western Capitals and their attempt through the media to colonize western minds

There are 15 million Palestinians in the world. 7.3 million are under the direct boots of Israeli occupation and apartheid. The rest are in forced exile. Palestinians have paid heavily with their blood for the imperial interests of Israeli colonialism (see Nur Masalha's book "Imperial Israel and the Palestinians"). Our resistance and resilience (even during this holocaust in Gaza) is now what keeps Israel from expanding its empire as originally planned. PLEASE we implore you to educate yourself on reality, expose the lies, push to defend human rights, fight oppression and injustice with everything you have. For ideas of specific actions, please see http://qumsiyeh.org/whatyoucando/ and http://ongaza.org Question #19. Action is the best antidote to despair.

Stay human and ACT more

Questions to Israelis and Jews

 A message (really list of questions) to Israelis and Jews who support the government of Israeli in its onslaught on Gaza

Two days ago, I wrote a message to the people of Gaza (https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2023/10/letter-to-gaza.html ). I think it is only fair to write a message to Israelis and Jews who support the government of Israel in its onslaught on Gaza. Now as all communication in Gaza is blocked and ground operations started, people will be killed in the thousands daily instead of in the hundreds daily (people can't even call an ambulance and horrific humanitarian conditions compound as all water, food and medical supplies are depleted). I must address you but not with requests but with 13 sets of questions. 

Of course, I know that many Jews and decent Israelis do not support this. We are grateful for the hundreds of Jews who were arrested in congress in Washington DC and blocking Grand Central station in New York  (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/28/protesters-shut-new-yorks-grand-central-station-demanding-gaza-ceasefire) as they opposed the ongoing genocide (and yes you know it is a genocide even from the statements by Israeli leaders – examples below). I know human inner deeper thoughts are sometimes repressed to score points.  I know many of you are afraid that if Hamas is allowed to have Israel as a Jewish state so you feel it is an existential struggle. It is this fear that I wish to address here. I address you as a Palestinian Christian who formed many organizations, wrote books (including one on the merits of popular/unarmed resistance and another on “Sharing the Land of Canaan”). I address you as someone who was detained and arrested for such non-violent resistance together with fellow human beings of all religions (including Israeli Jews).  I address you as a grandson of a brilliant man who was orphaned in WWI and who befriended a Jewish colleague in Ottoman-ruled Palestine before the British occupied our country and delegated a Zionist Jew to run it (Herbert Samuel who ruled Palestine 1920-1925 and made the first apartheid laws including segregating public schools). I address you as a scientist who studied human and biological diversity and assure you that these are healthy (I am against a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish state for this reason). I address you as a fellow human being that refuses to be dehumanized and refuses to dehumanize others. I will not lecture you. I merely want to ask you some pivotal and existential questions:

1) It has been 126 years since the first Zionist Congress had some debate about what to do with the indigineous people of Palestine if it is to be transformed to a Jewish state. After all this time and all this bloodshed, can you articulate honestly a solution that would entail equal rights and responsibilities? A win-win situation where both parties feel safe, secure, and are prosperous?

2) There are eight million Palestinian refugees or displaced Palestinians in the world. Their spirit of resilience seems stronger than ever (many led the millions who protested the war on Gaza). Do you think the actions in Gaza increased or decreased their insistence on their rights?  What do you propose to do with them/us long term (15 million globally and half of us still in historic Palestine under the Israeli rule)?

3) There are some 2 billion Muslims and even more Christians in the world. This Holy Land is holy to them as it is to Jews and Samaritans and Bahai and others. How do you propose to both promote “Jewishness” of the country without alienating all those billions of people long term (after “winning” over Hamas)?

4) Since 1948 when there was minimal indigenous resistance, does it not seem to you that resistance keeps growing (both quantity and quality)? Regardless of what happens in this round of destruction, do you really believe you can militarily suppress all future uprisings? Since 1948, the “Zionist” response to resistance was to take more lands from Palestinians and build more colonies because that is what pains us Palestinians. Do you think this strategy is working?

5) There was a heavy price for creation of Israel as a Jewish state and the price keeps growing both in Jewish and Palestinian lives. Zionists claimed it was to create a safe haven for Jews. Questions: a) do you really think that it was fair to punish native Palestinians and remove for sins of other nations against Jews , b) do you think it worked (i.e. created a safe haven, who is safer today a Jew in Berlin or in Tel Aviv?), c) if this is an insurance policy in case of a future holocaust, what price in Palestinian and Israeli blood is it worth to keep going? (Since the ratio of deaths since 1948 has been 12 Palestinians for every Israeli, would the maximum price worth paying be 120,000 additional Palestinians to 10,000 Israelis, or 1.2 million Palestinians & 100,000 Israelis). How much suffering is the convenience of "Israel" as an apartheid state become not worth it?

6) Do you care about who is making money off these wars and the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis? Do you know about the gas fields of the coast of Gaza or the plans for an alternative Suez Canal from Eilat to Gaza coast? Do you know how the stocks of Israeli and US arms manufacturers climbed up or who owns them? 

7) You know and all informed people know that special interests determines policy not human rights and justice. Do you think Sunak, Macron, Biden, CNN and others support the Israeli government against the wishes of their people because they believe in it or because of lobbies? More importantly, do you feel this helps fight anti-Judaism (as it is now mistakenly but commonly referred to as anti-Semitism) or promote it?  Does it promote such hatred to have created the last post-WWII refugee crisis and to engage in endless wars like this one on Gaza that so far killed 3000 children in three weeks by a military donning Menoras and stars of David as insignia and state emblems? Does it promote such hate for Zionism to support right wing fanatical racist leaders whether in India or Hungary (or even neo-Nazis in Ukraine)? Do the people count?

8) Why do you think there are thousands of Jews around the world (especially young Jews) opposing Zionism and what the state of Israel is trying to do in their supposed name?

9) Do you really think it is good for Israel to promote lies (hasbara) in order to get its message across (it I Hamas’s fault, Israel tries to protect civilians, Israel made the desert bloom etc)?  Do you think it is good to silence free speech (including calls for BDS) via intimidation, pressure, and new laws in Western Countries? Is this a good, long-term strategy to win hearts and minds (especially when modern technologies allow us to find the truth)?

10) In your heart-of-hearts do you really think millions of Palestinians will give-up on Palestine and simply move on? Do you think Palestinians have a right to self defense? Do you really think allowing Palestinians autonomy in 15% of historic Palestine without Jerusalem and without refugees allowed to return to their homes and lands is a decent solution? (even if it is called a state but without real sovereignty)? How many of you actually think that there is no other solution other than stronger Israel dictating its will (because we are a in a “bad neighborhood” a racist attitude). Regardless, doesn’t this situation mean that Israel stays a large ghetto itself fending those savage terrorists called Palestinians, Lebanese etc? Is that really a healthy way to live (even if you have advanced economy with high tech, billions of US and German taxpayer money etc.)? The US itself has millions of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus etc living in one country – do you think that is not a good way to live?

11) Is there no other way? Why is it so hard to accept and work for a true democratic secular country where all rights are protected by law (minorities and majorities – see https://onestatecampaign.org/en/ and http://qumsiyeh.org/sharingthelandofcanaan/ )?  Please do not give me the facile answers about they will throw us into the sea, Zionists literally through Palestinians into the sea in 1948 and that is why we have Gaza being 2/3rd refugees.

12) Do you think Palestinian lives are as worthy as Israeli lives?

13) If fear keeps you silent, can you reflect on other situations of injustice where fear kept people silent? Isn't it impossible to be neutral on a moving train (especially one heading to a cliff)? When does “never again” be “never again to any people” and how can Israel become a “light unto the nations” instead of the torch that lights WWIII?

I know many of you do not care to answer these questions let alone to think outside the box for our collective future. That is of course up to you. History will record what happened unless we get into WWIII and we have no people left to write.

A demonstration in Yemen

Leading statements

“There will be no food, no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting animal people, and we are acting accordingly” Yoav Galant, Israeli Defense Minister on 9 October 2023

“We will turn Gaza into an island of ruins” Benjamin Netanyahu 8 October 2023

”We are dropping hundreds of tons of bombs on Gaza. The focus is on destruction, not accuracy” Daniel Hagari, Israeli army spokesperson 10 October in Haaretz

Anima Humans will be treated accordingly, you wanted he’ll and you’ll get hell” Ghassan Major General of the Israeli army October 9 Social media post

“There is an entire nation who are responsible. This rhetoric about civilians supposedly not being involved is absolutely untrue (…) We will fight until we break their backs” Yitzhak Herzon, Israeli President Press conference

“Jericho missile! Doomsday weapon! That is my opinion. Powerful rockets to be fired without limits/borders. Gaza to be smashed and razed to the ground. Without mercy” Tally Gotliv :okud Partly, 9 October on X/Twitter

“Wipe out their families, their mothers and their children. These animals must not be allowed to live any longer” Ezra Yachin, Israeli Veteran who participated in the ethnic cleansing of 1948 (Nakba)

“Now there is only one goal: Nakba.  A Nakba in Gaza that will dwarf the Nakba of 1948” Ariel Kellet, :Likud Party Politician 7 October on X/Twitter

"The only thing that needs to enter Gaza are hundreds of tons of explosives, not one ounce of humanitarian relief" Itamar Ben Gvir (Israeli minister in Charge of Police and arming setters)

"They should go, as well as the physical homes in which they raised the snakes in. Otherwise more little snakes will be raised there" Ayelet Shakid 

"We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children " Golda Meir (old but shows the racist ideology)

"I am here today not only as the US Secretary of State but also as a Jew … as long as the US exists, you will never have to do this [alone] because we will always be with you" US Secretary of State Blinken 12 October [already hundreds of special US Delta force boots are on the ground).

Words have outcomes. Here are some images (both of reslilence and pain)

Letter to Gaza

 Dear fellow Palestinians

Many of us were addressing the world but did not address you. We know 1.2 million of you are children and that Israeli campaign displaced 1.4 million [now 1.9] of you from your homes (half are children). We can’t imagine the terror all 2.4 million of you face. I am not sure if some of you who still have internet will see this and I am sure you definitely have more urgent things on your mind (like your children's starvation) than to read this note of contrition/ note of regret. We are all so ashamed and feel we let you down. We worked hard to get the world community to listen. Some of us have been doing it for decades (even trying to break your siege with solidarity ships which got attacked) but we must be honest with ourselves: Arab government leaders with rare exception failed you (including those of the State of Palestine). The UN failed. WE ALL FAILED. We failed even after we saw five other wars waged on you, the people of Gaza each more horrific than those before. We failed as we saw your economy destroyed by 17 years of a cruel siege, which now evolved to blockade for thirst and starvation. We failed when we did not act against the fascist government of Israel strong enough at the time it was elected.  The collusion of so many who shook hands and normalized your tormenters will haunt them forever. The Western governments who were complicit in killing you delegitimized themselves. They also drop the last remaining fig leaf of international law (now it is social Darwinism and might makes right that rules). Did they also kill the last vestige of humanity?

Many of us did see a forthcoming holocaust. History of humans give us many examples: Australia’s aborigines, native Americans, Congolese (by Belgium), Armenians, Jews, Roma people, Rwanda, and many others. While each situation is different, yours is the first to be so well documented with videos and things some of us never heard of a few years ago (Instagram, Telegram, Tik-Toks). Some of us kept hoping that in the 21^st century, the Zionist lobby in Western Governments can be challenged in time to avert this. We were lulled to think that a majority of people in those countries are decent people who do not approve of colonization and brutal occupation. In our wildest nightmares, we did not imagine such control of mainstream media and western governments (an Orwellian world).  We brought millions on the streets opposing the war on Iraq 20 years ago and it partially worked to ameliorate it (a bit less than the promised "shock and awe" scenario that Rumsfeld said would be like nothing before it). That was because some Western countries opposed the UD drive to war. Yet, still the horrific war killed tens of thousands of our brothers in Iraq and the sanctions that preceded it killed half a million Iraqi children The US had its hands bloody in other wars (Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Latin America). They did not learn. The Zionist/military/industrial complex marched on to start new wars (Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan) using their proxies (Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia). The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

All these previous challenges pale compared to what is before you and before us. I wish I could assure you that that we shall overcome and that we will stop this latest madness before you are also martyred or injured like your family and friends. Many of us are wondering if our faith in humanity is misplaced. Some reflect if armed resistance is the only way. Many friends in Gaza tell me at least the resistance stood up for us when no one else did or “we prefer a quick death over a slow death.”  We also hear from some of you questions we have no answer to. Why is this happening to our children and what can we do to protect our families (let alone feed them)?  When will this hellish life end? I do not know if we have answers for ourselves let alone for you. It is like a slave asking why am I a slave and will this torture end some day? Or a native American wondering if life will ever go back to what it was before the invasion.  Some of you submit to the will of God and find solace in your faith. I wish sometimes I had a fraction of your faith.

We know that many families were wiped out completely. We also know that EVERY remaining family in Gaza had its martyrs (575 massacres involving families). There are also the injured and maimed in the thousands thousands (nearly half children). We know how traumatized (and hungry and thirsty) you, the survivors are. Yet, knowledge seems so small and impertinent. We obviously can't imagine your feelings as you try desperately to live through this man-made hell! Maybe that is not a good analogy. Hell is believed to be a place where bad people end up. Your only fault is that you were born in this "Holy Land'', ethnically cleansed from your communities, and squeezed into a reservation/ghetto/ concentration camp called “Gaza strip” because some idiots thought it is a good idea to transform a prosperous multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual society to a monolithic "Jewish state" (a land for Jews and by Jews).  They thought it is for Jewish empowerment never thinking that it is to empower them to do persecute others and that this is the main defining feature of their state “Israel”.

Your children are writing their names on their arms so that they can be identified after they are killed.  How can our minds even comprehend this let alone be able to say something about this. We see your stories on social media in video. Will we in the future have museums commemorating you and your suffering? Is anyone even compiling your names and records of lives and deaths in Gaza? We will need these documents so that if humanity recovers (a big IF) from this genocide we have the documents (individuals stories, age, circumstance of each massacre, the dreams and aspiration of those murdered). Regardless of what happens from now on, such a record would be critical to immortalize all who have perished in this newest of human history of holocausts and genocides. 

For many of us we become numb even seeing these videos, we can't even imagine. Yet we must look and if we survive remember the 21^st century genocide. It is no solace to know that more people are aware that your literal sacrifice is to shape a new Middle East under Zionist and Western imperial hegemony. It is no solace that more people know about the coveted gas fields of Gaza (one of the richest in the Eastern Mediterranean). Gaza genocide for gas anyone? Does the world care about the plans to create an alternative to the Suez canal passing from Eilat to Gaza after it is depopulated or its residents “thinned” out per the Zionist doctrine of maximum geography with minimum demography.  I know it is no solace to you to see Jews, Christians, Bahai, etc show "solidarity".  It is no solace to have so many prayers and wishes for peace when children are in mass graves or under the rubble and injured people can’t be treated because there is no medicines or surgical material (anesthesia, needles etc). I look at my letter in 2008 during one of the attacks and it was titled “sometimes the dead are envied” (http://karmalised.com/?p=5230). But the horrors now are 1000 fold more than 2008 and even larger genocide actions are on the way. U had never even imagined. We see death everywhere and we do envy those among you whose death ended their suffering in the largest open-air prison in the world.

We know we failed you, we know you are seeing only the dust and darkness and the smell of death (thousands still under the rubble). We thought we can help you and we try. Yet, your heroism and dignity as you die in your hundreds every day and the living risk their lives and with their bare hands extract the dead and the living. I will never forget the medic produce the most haunting prayer lullaby to a girl who lost her entire family. You teach us humanity which so many millions have forgotten.  Please teach us the living dead more.  I would gladly exchange what is left of my life to let one child in Gaza live a decent life. Please continue to teach us about life and death. Will you teach us about the imminent death of “international law”, death of decency in many, or death of humanity? But maybe you can also teach us about life, how miraculously you always rise from the ashes, how you will transcend this horror. You and I are after all descendants of Canaanites who gave the world the alphabet and agriculture who fought and triumphed over many invaders (Persians, Crusaders etc.) and how you will triumph over these newest invaders.

Yesterday I wrote I am partly optimistic but perhaps I agree with Gramsci who said:  "You must realize that I am far from feeling beaten…it seems to me that… a man out to be deeply convinced that the source of his own moral force is in himself — his very energy and will, the iron coherence of ends and means — that he never falls into those vulgar, banal moods, pessimism and optimism. My own state of mind synthesizes these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle.” But surely Gramsci cannot and I cannot even begin to understand what a dehumanized victim feels against a most powerful juggernaut of war machine grinding homes and flesh and riven by ego and greed. Those who faced it in the past left us lessons which I hope we can learn. All our words and our actions are small compared to the volumes spoken by the silent lifeless body of a child.   When my turn comes, and it is coming to the 3 million living in the West Bank, at least I would have said my piece to you people of Gaza: please give us of your wisdom and courage in these dark days, forgive us as we failed you, may we also forgive ourselves, and may God have mercy on all our souls.

رسالتي لسكان غزة

كثير منا كان يخاطب العالم ولم يخاطبكم. نعلم أن 1.2 مليون منكم أطفال وليس هنالك كلمات تسعفنا عزائنا لكم ولنا بآلاف الضحايا . الهمجية الصهيونية شردت 1.4 مليون منكم من بيوتكم (نصفهم أطفال). لا يمكننا أن نتخيل الرعب الذي يواجهه 2.4 مليون منكم. لست متأكدًا مما إذا كان بعضكم الذي لا يزال لديه إنترنت سيرى هذا وأنا متأكد من أن لديك بالتأكيد أشياء أكثر إلحاحًا من قراءة رسالة الندم هذه. نحن جميعًا نخجل جدًا ونشعر أننا خذلناكم. لقد عملنا بجد لجعل المجتمع الدولي يستمع إلينا. البعض منا يفعل ذلك منذ عقود (حتى أنه حاول كسر حصاركم بسفن التضامن التي تعرضت للهجوم) ولكن يجب أن نكون صادقين مع أنفسنا: لقد خذلكم قادة الحكومات العربية دون استثناء (بما في ذلك قادة دولة فلسطين). الأمم المتحدة فشلت. لقد فشلنا جميعًا. لقد فشلنا حتى بعد أن رأينا ثلاث حروب أخرى تشن عليكم، كل منها أفظع من التي سبقتها. لقد فشلنا عندما رأينا اقتصادكم مدمرًا بسبب 17 عامًا من الحصار القاسي، والذي تطور الآن إلى حصار تعطيش وتجويع. لقد فشلنا عندما لم نتحرك ضد حكومة إسرائيل الفاشية بالقوة الكافية وقت انتخابها. إن تواطؤ العديد من الذين طبعوا مع معذبيكم سوف يطاردهم إلى الأبد. الحكومات الغربية المتواطئة في قتلكم نزعت شرعيتها عن نفسها. كما أنهم أسقطوا أيضاً ورقة التوت الأخيرة المتبقية من القانون الدولي (الآن أصبح منطق القوة هو المهيمن). هل قتلوا أيضًا آخر بقايا الإنسانية؟

لقد رأى الكثير منا محرقة . وقدم لنا تاريخ البشر العديد من الأمثلة السابق لإبادة جماعية: سكان أستراليا الأصليين، والأميركيين الأصليين، والكونغوليين (بلجيكا)، والأرمن، واليهود، وشعب الغجر، ورواندا، وغيرهم الكثير. على الرغم من أن كل موقف يختلف عن الآخر، إلا أن غزة هي أول حالة يتم توثيقها جيدًا بمقاطع فيديو وأشياء لم يسمع عنها البعض منا منذ بضع سنوات مثل Instagram وTelegram وTik-Toks ظل البعض منا يأمل أنه في القرن الحادي والعشرين يمكن تحدي اللوبي الصهيوني في الحكومات الغربية ولم ندرك عمق التحالف الصهيوني الإمبريالي . غالبية الناس في تلك البلدان هم أناس محترمون لا يوافقون على الاستعمار والاحتلال الوحشي. في أسوأ كوابيسنا لم نتخيل كم السيطرة على وسائل الإعلام والحكومات الغربية. 

لقد خرجنا بالملايين إلى الشوارع معارضين للحرب على العراق قبل 20 عاماً. ومع ذلك حصلت الحرب المروعة وقتل عشرات الآلاف من إخواننا في العراق والعقوبات التي سبقتها قتلت نصف مليون طفل عراقي. وكانت أيدي الولايات المتحدة ملطخة بالدماء في حروب أخرى (فيتنام، وكوريا، وكمبوديا، وأمريكا اللاتينية). لم يتعلموا. وسار النظام الصهيوني/العسكري/الصناعي في حروب جديدة (سوريا، ليبيا، اليمن، السودان) باستخدام وكلائه (إسرائيل، الإمارات العربية المتحدة، المملكة العربية السعودية). الغني يأخذ الثروات و الفقير يأخذ الفقر. كل هذه التحديات السابقة تتضاءل مقارنة بما هو أمامكم وأمامنا. يا ريت أقدر أن أؤكد أننا سوف نتغلب على هذا الجنون الأخير وأننا سنوقفه قبل أن يستشهد أو يصاب آلاف أخرى - عائلات وأصدقاء. يتساءل الكثير منا عما إذا كان إيماننا بالإنسانية في غير محله. ويفكر البعض فيما إذا كانت المقاومة المسلحة هي السبيل الوحيد. أخبرني العديد من الأصدقاء في غزة أن المقاومة وقفت إلى جانبنا على الأقل عندما لم يقم أحد بذلك أو "نحن نفضل الموت السريع على الموت البطيء". ونسمع أيضًا من بعضكم أسئلة ليس لدينا إجابة عليها. لماذا يحدث هذا لأطفالنا وماذا يمكننا أن نفعل لحماية عائلاتنا (ناهيك عن إطعامهم)؟ متى ستنتهي هذه الحياة الجهنمية؟ ليس لدينا إجابات لأنفسنا ناهيك لكم. إنه مثل العبد الذي يسأل لماذا أنا عبد وهل سينتهي هذا العذاب يومًا ما؟ أو مواطن أصلي يتساءل عما إذا كانت الحياة ستعود يومًا ما إلى ما كانت عليه قبل الغزو الأوروبي. الكثير منكم يتقبل إرادة الله ويجد العزاء في إيمانه. أتمنى أحيانًا أن يكون لدي جزء صغير من إيمانكم. نحن نعلم أن العديد من العائلات قد تم القضاء عليها بالكامل. ونعلم أيضًا أن كل عائلة متبقية في غزة كان لها شهداؤها (575 مجزرة بحق عائلات). وهناك أيضًا آلاف الجرحى والمشوهين (نصفهم تقريبًا من الأطفال).

 نحن نعلم مدى صدمتكم (والجوع والعطش) أيها الناجون. ومع ذلك، تبدو المعرفة صغيرة جدًا وغير مجدية. من الواضح أننا لا نستطيع أن نتخيل مشاعركم وأنتم تحاولون بحرقة أن تعيشوا في هذا الجحيم! ربما هذا ليس تشبيهًا جيدًا. يعتقد أن الجحيم هو المكان الذي ينتهي فيه الأشرار. "خطأكم" الوحيد هو أنكم ولدتم في هذه "الأرض المقدسة"، وتم طردكم وحشرك في محمية/غيتو/معسكر اعتقال يسمى "قطاع غزة" لأن بعض البلهاء اعتقدوا أنها فكرة جيدة تحويل بلد مزدهر متعدد الأعراق، متعدد الثقافات، متعدد الأديان، متعدد اللغات إلى "دولة يهودية" متجانسة. أطفالكم يكتبون أسمائهم على أذرعهم حتى يمكن التعرف عليهم بعد مقتلهم. كيف يمكن لعقولنا أن تفهم هذا ناهيك عن أن تكون قادرة على قول شيء عن هذا. نرى قصصكم على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي بالفيديو. هل سيكون لدينا في المستقبل متاحف تخلد ذكركم ومعاناتكم؟ هل يقوم أحد بتجميع أسمائكم وسجلاتكم المتعلقة بحياتكم ووفياتكم في غزة؟ سنحتاج إلى هذه الوثائق (قصص الأفراد، العمر، ظروف كل مذبحة، أحلام وتطلعات أولئك الذين قتلوا ألخ). بغض النظر عما سيحدث من الآن فصاعدا، فإن مثل هذا السجل سيكون حاسما لتخليد كل من لقوا حتفهم في هذا المرحلة الفاصلة من تاريخ البشرية من محرقة وإبادة الجماعية. 

 كثيرين منا يشعر بالشلل من هول المآسي والقهر. مع ذلك يجب أن ننظر ونعمل وإذا نجونا أن نتذكر الإبادة الجماعية التي حدثت في القرن الحادي والعشرين. ليس من العزاء أن نعرف أن المزيد من الناس يدركون أن تضحيتكم هي لتشكيل شرق أوسط جديد تحت الهيمنة الإمبراطورية الصهيونية والغربية. ليس من العزاء أن المزيد من الناس يعرفون عن حقول الغاز في بحر غزة (واحدة من أغنى الحقول في شرق البحر الأبيض المتوسط). الإبادة الجماعية في غزة من أجل الغاز؟ هل يهتم العالم بخطط خلق بديل لقناة السويس يمر من إيلات إلى غزة بعد إخلاءها من سكانها أو "تخفيف" سكانها وفق العقيدة الصهيونية المتمثلة في الحد الأقصى من الجغرافيا مع الحد الأدنى من الديموغرافيا؟ أعلم أنه ليس عزاء لكم أن ترو اليهود والمسيحيين والبهائيين وغيرهم يظهرون "التضامن". ليس من العزاء أن يكون لدينا الكثير من الصلوات والتمنيات بالسلام عندما يكون الأطفال في مقابر جماعية أو تحت الأنقاض (2000 طفل لغاية الآن) ولا يمكن علاج الجرحى بسبب عدم وجود أدوية أو مواد جراحية (التخدير والإبر وما إلى ذلك). ألقي نظرة على رسالتي عام 2008 أثناء إحدى الهجمات وكانت بعنوان "أحيانًا الموتى يُحسدون" (http://karmalised.com/?p=5230). 

لقد تضاعفت الفظائع الآن 100 ضعف عما كانت عليه في عام 2008، وهناك أعمال إبادة جماعية أكبر في الطريق. لم تكن تتخيل أبدا إننا نرى الموت في كل مكان ونحسد من منكم أنتهت معاناتهم باستشهادهم في أكبر سجن مفتوح في العالم. نعلم أننا خذلناكم، ونعلم أنكم لا ترى سوى الغبار والظلام ورائحة الموت (1500 لا زالوا تحت الأنقاض). اعتقدنا أنه يمكننا مساعدتكم ونحن نحاول. لكن بطولتكم وكرامتكم بينما تموتون بالمئات كل يوم والأحياء يخاطرون بحياتهم ويستخرجون الموتى والأحياء بأيديهم العارية. لن أنسى مسعف يواسي طفلة فقدت كل عائلتها. أنتم تعلمونا الإنسانية التي نسيها الملايين. من فضلكم علمونا نحن الأحياء الأموات أكثر. يا ريت أقدر أن أستبدل ما تبقى من حياتي لإنقذ طفل واحد في غزة ليعيش حياة كريمة. من فضلكم استمروا في تعليمنا عن الحياة والموت. هل ستعلمونا عن الموت الوشيك لـ"القانون الدولي"، أو موت الكرامة لدى الكثيرين، أو موت الإنسانية؟ لكن ربما يمكنكم أيضًا أن تعلمونا عن الحياة كيف تنهض غزة دائمًا من بين الرماد بأعجوبة، وكيف ستتجاوز هذا الرعب الأخير. علمونا أننا  من نسل الكنعانيين الذين أعطوا العالم الأبجدية والزراعة والذين قاتلوا وانتصروا على العديد من الغزاة (الفرس والصليبيين والرومان وما إلى ذلك) وكيف سننتصر على هؤلاء الغزاة الجدد.

 كتبت بالأمس أنني متفائل جزئيًا ولكن ربما أتفق مع جرامشي الذي قال: "يجب أن تدرك أنني بعيد كل البعد عن الشعور بالهزيمة... عندي الاقتناع العميق بأن مصدر قوه الإنسان الأخلاقية هو في نفسه - طاقته وإرادته، التماسك الحديدي للغايات والوسائل - أنه لا يقع أبدًا في تلك الحالات المزاجية المبتذلة والتافهة بالتشاؤم والتفاؤل. حالتي العقلية تجمع بين هذين الشعورين وتتجاوزهما: عقلي متشائم، لكن إرادتي متفائلة. ومهما كان الوضع، فإنني أتخيل أسوأ ما يمكن أن يحدث لكي أستجمع كل احتياطي وقوة إرادتي للتغلب على كل عقبة." لكن من المؤكد أن جرامشي لا يستطيع، ولا أستطيع أنا أن أفهم ما تشعر به الضحية بعد أن حاولوا تجريدنا من إنسانيتنا عبر أقوى آلة حرب طاغية تطحن المنازل والبشر وتتحكم بالإعلام لإصاغة سرديتها الكاذبة.

 أولئك الذين واجهوها في الماضي تركوا لنا دروسًا آمل أن نتمكن من تعلمها. كل كلماتنا وأفعالنا صغيرة مقارنة برسالة جسد طفل صامت هامد. عندما يأتي دوري وسيصل إلى 3 مليون فلسطيني يعيشون في الضفة الغربيةز على الأقل حرصت أن أقول كلمتي لكم يا أهل غزة العزة: من منكم استشهد فهو أكرم منا ومن منكم يعيش فيا ليتكم تحررونا من عبوديتنا . نحتاج جزء صغير من حكمتكم وشجاعتكم في هذه الأيام المظلمة، وسامحونا ما خذلناك فيه وليرحمنا الله جميعًا.

Optimistic day 16

 I remain optimistic on day 16 of the horrific onslaught on the people of Gaza; optimistic that we can stop large scale US/Israeli genocide in Gaza. So far 1750 children killed but now, water, food run out and thousands will start dying. Why am I optimistic? Gaza people have little more to lose (70% are out of their homes and sought shelter in schools, hospital yards or open areas where they are still bombed).  Support for resistance is actually growing. But most of all I am optimistic because the Zionist onslaught (targeting hospitals, schools, universities, bakeries, residential buildings, mosques, churches, wiping out whole families) has ignited the global uprising that I and others have been calling for and predicting for a long time. Millions on the street (even the largest demonstation in London since 20 years with over 200,000) of all backgrounds and Jews in the dozens being arrested for civil disobedience even in Zionist-occupied Washington.  I was interviewed over 55 times in the past two weeks. We also see more and more voices insisting to be heard globally. Even the mainstream media and the spineless politicians are starting to worry and even to retreat. The Israeli leaders are in a quagmire of their own making and making even more mistakes (like underestimating what awaits them in Gaza or the depleted level of morale among their own soldiers who do not trust their leaders).  The fact that the US has to come to try to rescue (>$10 billion more in cash + lots of military support in personnel and munitions) the lunatic  genocidal regime speaks volumes. A regime that is scared of entering Gaza so it is leveling it and starving its remaining population (mideaval!) and by doing so is forfeiting legitimacy as a state! Israel is now openly called by millions as simply a genocidal regime run by a lunatic (Netanyahu) not much different in his outlook on life than a Hitler!  Only difference is Netanyahu has his enablers in the West (Biden, Macron etc). I am also optimistic because millions of Palestinians in excile/diaspora are finding their voice as are millions of others of all background.  Governments are with genocide but people are against it.

And while 200,000 in London and many more in other British cities demonstrate, the partner in crime comes out of a plane bringing more weapons to the genocidal regime.

So I am optimistic because there is no public support for the apartheid regime in any country (even "Israel" itself) only governments supporting genocide against the wishes of their people. I am also optimistic because I know the idiocy of the Israeli military (they even "accidentally" just shelled their ally Egypt). All analysts (including US ones like Scott Ritter) show that Israel cannot really fight, they can only bomb from the air civilian areas. 

I was interviewed 55 times in these two weeks and gave several talks. People are changed and the Israel/US efforts to lie are backfiring (again millions on the streets). I am getting hundreds of supportive letters from people from all over the world encouraging us and reporting on actions they have taken. Most important are supportive letters from Jews who reject the Zionist genocide and work for justice and human rights. Here are examples from many letters I received from Jewish friends:

 “I am outraged and appalled by this cruel attack and the unbearable indiscriminate attacks, displacement, and loss of innocent lives. I signed multiple petitions and declarations and am intensely engaged in protecting Palestinian-Israeli students who are currently prosecuted in Israeli universities, as well as freedom of pro-Palestinian speech in US universities.” Smadar (Israeli)

“Adding to the number of positive emails. I am with you 100% in solidarity from here. Thank you as always Mazin for the information and hope and links. Love and solidarity, prayers and action” A Rabbi from the US

“There were demonstrations here today demanding Israel negotiate release of prisoners and hostages. That Hamas is willing to release civilians without negotiations or something in return is a smart move that makes the Israeli government flounder even more. I guess that is why they refused to accept unconditional release of two more hostages. Netanyahu should be removed but I guess he is counting on staying for the duration of conflict so I am afraid he will prolong things as much as possible. It is sad…” Friend from Tel Aviv

“This story reminds me of others from the Nazi Holocaust, where they massacred everyone in hospitals as steps toward liquidation of ghettos.  The town my grandfather was born in - Slonim, Belarus - had that happen to it. The Einsatzgruppen death squads took all the doctors and patients away to be shot in a nearby pit. I’ve long wondered what the Holocaust would have been like if there had been CNN and anti-social media. Now we know. In Schindler’s List, there’s a scene where the Nazis are massacring people in the ghetto and Schindler is watching from a vantage point just outside. Some of the people aren’t killed but are rounded up for deportation to the nearby camp. Schindler is overcome with horror to realize that the survivors temporarily allowed to live are witnesses to the crimes because they are also slated for eventual extermination. In Gaza, the Israelis have no shame for being seen for what they are doing, which needs a new language to adequately describe.  English seems insufficient, perhaps there are phrases in Arabic that are appropriate?   It’s like how in Spanish in Latin America “disappeared” has meanings it lacks in English (to be disappeared) due to the (US backed) dictatorships several countries have endured. I am sorry beyond words.”

“As a healthcare professional - and having just read a story about those doctors, I simply can’t imagine. Genocide indeed is the name I have given to the Israeli response the last week.  Never mind Hamas’ intentions — what are the Israelis thinking? Of course they aren’t thinking, I know…I am aghast and grieve so deeply at the violence, misinformation and wanton hatred that allows this genocidal action to continue.”

“Thank you for the ongaza.org link. There is so much misinformation in BBC coverage and I wrote to them about it (see letter below). But it is encouraging that people get real news slowly and hearts at least of some are opening up including in my own Jewish community. We had a huge and unprecedented demonstration of >100,000 ….”  London Jew

“God bless you and I beg you not to give up.  I have been on your mailing list very gratefully for many years.  That said, at the present moment, you are a lifeline for all of the world, myself included. I am a completely pacifist anti-zionist reform jew  In my entire life i have never before been as horrified at the murderous behavior of both israel and the us as at present. That said, let me offer each of us at least one glimmer of hope:  the Jewish diaspora:  the worldwide population of jews outside of israel:  long despised by the domestic Jewish population of Israel, my prayer is that the current outrage against all Palestinians has now crossed the last red line.  That this may be the one and only chance for the Jewish diaspora to help save the humane world we all pray for. “ American Jew

These messages give us hope that Jews and Judaism will survive zionism in the same way that Germany and Germans did survive nazism. It maybe worth reading the account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising for history repeats itself in the Gaza Ghetto uprising: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising

Just need to intensify the pressure because every day the US/Israel are allowed to go on means hundreds more killed. The sooner this nightmare ends, the closer we are to peace and justice. I can't wait to then work harder to strengthen our movement/quest for One Democratic State (see https://onestatecampaign.org/en/ ). 

Al-Aqsa flood

 I received dozens of messages inquiring about my thoughts on what is going on now in Palestine and how we are doing and what is going to happen. I also did some TV & Radio interviews. It is really very simple: we have 15 million native Palestinians, 8 million of us are refugees or displaced people (2/3rd of Gaza's 2.2 million are refugees). Israel cannot be allowed to get away with stealing lands and resources and setting up a racist apartheid regime. Even besieged, starving, blockaded people in Gaza manage to break through their prison walls.  Miraculously they managed to defeat the supposedly most sophisticated intelligence and military force in the world. They took the battle deep behind delusional Israeli walls. The Israeli government refused to exchange prisoners before (4 held by Hamas) and now will have to contend with at least 150 Israeli POWs including high ranking military officers. This colossal failure (intelligence, military, political, public relations) was surprising only in terms of its timing. I have predicted this for decades. As before, Israel will not be able to get to the guerilla fighters so they will exert revenge from civilian population which only adds more people willing to join resistance factions. 

Gaza ambulance targeted by Israel

I have always explained (including in my book "Sharing the Land of Canaan" published 20 years ago) that Zionism is coming to an end one way or another. That end can take one of two forms: a lose-lose scenario involving extreme violence that leaves little for any remaining future generations. Or a semi-decent end to apartheid and dismantlement of the racist apartheid regime that was established in 1948 and become a state of all its residents (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Bahai, atheists etc). That secular democratic post-Zionist discourse is coming and we have groups working on it including our One Democratic State Campaign and it is only a matter of pushing for it to arrive with least violence.  

The Israeli public will slowly wake up (or at least we hope) to understand that peace will only come by recognizing the elephant in the room: the injustice to the Palestinian people by the Zionist project. What good is having nuclear, biological, chemical weapons? What good is it to  "exert revenge" (in the words of its leaders) by cutting off electricity, food, and medicine to millions of imprisoned Palestinians in Gaza (and soon the West Bank/Eastern Palestine)? What good is it to bomb crowded cities and refugee camps with US supplied F-16s and F-35s bearing a "Star of David"? (so far hundreds of Palestinians were killed just in the past 24 hours, most of them civilians). What good is it that Israeli and subservient western "leaders" (under the pressure of strong Zionist lobbies) give billions and shield Israel from International law and then offer issue statements blaming the victims and calling Palestinians who resist terrorists? How is it even remotely logical to say Israel has a right to defend itself when even international law says colonizers do not have such right but the victims of oppression do have a right to resist? Is calling resistance by natives "terrorism" endlessly producing pacification of natives?  What is your "final solution" to us- the millions of Palestinians whose lands, properties and even holy sites are taken from us by invaders? Do you really want to commit a full genocide or drive the rest of us out or keep us in the ghettos/concentration camps? I say Palestinians will not go away into the sunset and that it is about time we insist on peace which means justice.  Will more of the Israeli public understand the level of corruption and lies they have been told. Living in a bubble that is bursting: here is small sign it maybe happening.

Just about everyone knows that the areas near Gaza are Palestinian and that their settlement by colonialists is theft. Most of Gaza population are refugees who come from these places that have been renamed to things like "Sderot" (built on the depopulated Palestinian village of Najd) and settled by Jewish colonial settlers within eyesight of the original owners of the land who were pushed at the point of the gun to become refugees and denied their nternationally recognized right to return to their homes and lands.  But even if one considers the "Gaza envelope" an area of "Israel" (it is not even by UN partition resolution), Israel has since 1967 occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan contrary to UN resolutions and international law and refuses to allow Palestinians self-determination. The apartheid Israeli regime has elected to intensify its colonization activities (violence, crimes against humanity, war crimes) everywhere (e.g. in the Negev by destroying remaining Bedouin communities, In Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank). Palestinians have been demanding international protection. We Palestinian have been publicly telling the Zionist regime to end its onslaught on the Palestinian holy sites and the Palestinian people. Instead the ultra right fascist government of apartheid Israel continued to proceed as a colonial power. Killing people, destroying homes, closing the Ibrahim mosque, breaking into Al-Aqsa mosque, settlers spitting on Christians, etc. They have not listened and chose the path of increased violence. 

The Zionist hasbara considers all Palestinian resistance (armed or non-armed) as terrorism. They even consider our mere presence on our land as a threat since they want the land and they do not want the people who live there. Now 92% of historic Palestine is off-limits to Palestinians by Israeli apartheid laws. The remaining 8% continues to shrink and is fragmented into ghettos/concentration areas. See my book on "Popular Resistance In Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment" . Once Ben Gurion stated "the [Palestinian] old will die and the young will forget" and  an Israeli general once quipped "one we have settled the land, all the "Arabs" will be able to do is run around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle." The events since Saturday morning show just how foolish they are. The events also reveal how foolish are the dictatorial regimes and the regimes of governments in the West who cajole, normalize, and support Israeli colonialism, exceptionalism and racism. The game is up and the cards are exposed.

Finally, I say Palestinians and all people of conscience are with our people in Gaza as they face the wrath of the racist apartheid regime. May the recent events dubbed "Al-Aqsa flood" result in a flood of truth, justice, and humanity (long overdue in Palestine). That is the only way to end the violence (colonizers and resistance).

Other statements on Gaza events can be found here.