Restiamo umani

(English with a bit of Italiano and Français)

On Friday, we had a day of lectures and discussions on the situation of Christians in Palestine and in Diaspora.  This coincided with the launch of three books by Diyar.ps on Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, Palestinian Christians in Israel, and Latin Americans with Palestinian roots. Over 100 Christians (and many Muslims) attended this event.  Also last week was full of events to attend including two baptisms, weddings etc. On Sunday, we attended the wedding of a cousin at our church and then went to an Iftar (breaking the fast) with camp children at Al-Rowwad Center in Aida Refugee Camp.  Christians and Muslims here celebrate with each other in spirit of camaraderie because Palestine provides an umbrella for all.  This is in contrast to the continued repression by the Jewish state of non-Jewish natives (Christians and Muslims).  Over 1.5 million Palestinians (2/3rds of whom are refugees) remains under a brutal siege in the arid strip of Gaza and we in the "West Bank" suffer the continuation of colonial activities in our land with over 600,000 Jewish settlers who have taken over our best land and natural resources.  Millions of Palestinian refugees (Muslim and Christian) are still denied their internationally recognized right to return to their homes and lands.  Over 60,000 Palestinian civilians were killed by the Israeli army over the past six decades and yet, the Zionists want us to forget all of that and focus instead on 11 Israelis who served in that army and were killed in a botched attempt to rescue them in Munich 40 years ago.  But the world is not stupid and injustice cannot be hidden and more and more people are heeding the call to Stay Human (Restiamo umani as our late friend Vittorio Arrigoni used to implore us). Thus, we have activists coming in the Welcome to Palestine third campaign and a Scandinavian ship sailing to break the siege on Gaza, and many more actions and writings for truth (see selections below).

Next 'flytilla' to arrive through Jordan: Welcome to Palestine campaign organizers say fewer activists expected during next fly-in; will arrive in Amman airport and attempt to cross over to Palestinian Authority by land

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4264887,00.html

Official website (Français)  http://bienvenuepalestine.com/ and the call in several languages http://bienvenuepalestine.com/?page_id=748

Scandinavian ship sails to challenge Gaza blockade: The SV Estelle, a 53-metre vessel backed mainly by Swedish and Norwegian groups, sets sail from Oslo as organizers hope other ships will join it during its journey to the Gaza Strip

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/scandinavian-ship-sails-to-challenge-gaza-blockade-1.456661

Take action: Rachel Corrie trial verdict August 28

http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/blog/2012/08/10/actions

Musica come resistenza: l'orchestra palestinese (A short video about the Palestine Youth Orchestra in Italy)

http://video.repubblica.it/spettacoli-e-cultura/musica-come-resistenza-l-orchestra-palestinese/102823/101203

Il n’y a pas de jolies guerres

http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2012/08/il-ny-pas-de-jolies-guerres.html

Book review: how Israeli school textbooks teach kids to hate

http://electronicintifada.net/content/book-review-how-israeli-school-textbooks-teach-kids-hate/11571

Action: Sign petition to protect hundreds of thousands of Muslims from persecution in Myanmar (Burma). We are collecting 50,000 signatures for petition to be delivered to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, asking for an immediate resolution to protect the Rohingya Muslims. Join us.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Protection_of_Muslims_in_Myanmar/?tta

Why are we in Gaza being punished for Egypt border guard killings?

http://electronicintifada.net/content/why-are-we-gaza-being-punished-egypt-border-guard-killings/11564

Download a great presentation on the situation of Israel and Palestine (from Association Swiss-Palestine, branch Ticino) http://www.homolaicus.com/storia/israele-palestina/israele-palestina.htm

Stay human/Restiamo umani

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People-Beit Sahour

Al-Rowwad Children Theater Center-Aida Refugee Camp

http://qumsiyeh.org

Il n’y a pas de jolies guerres

Il n’y a pas de jolies guerres !

15 soldats ont été tués lors d’une attaque contre un poste de l’armée égyptienne dans le nord du Sinaï. L’attaque a été condamnée par toutes les tendances de la résistance palestinienne, y compris les principales (Fatah, FPLP, FDLP, comités populaires de la résistance, Hamas) ainsi que les forces jihadistes plus marginales (Jihad Islamique). J’étais très déçu de voir quelques Palestiniens tenter d’utiliser l’incident pour marquer des points contre d’autres factions palestiniennes. Mais pour la plupart des Palestiniens, il était clair qu’il s’agissait d’une nouvelle opération israélienne « sous faux drapeau » rappelant l’affaire Lavon dans les années 1950, quand des agents israéliens ont fait exploser des bombes en Egypte, contre les intérêts occidentaux pour saboter les relations de ces pays avec l’Egypte. Cette tentative d’inciter les Egyptiens à haïr d’autres peuples (Palestiniens ou Iraniens) doit être dénoncée et combattue d’autant plus vivement qu’une lutte existentielle est en cours.

Avraham Burg, ex-speaker de la Knesset israélienne a écrit un article intitulé "Israel’s Fading Democracy" (la démocratie israélienne se meurt)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/israels-fading-democracy.html?pagewanted=all

c’est un article intéressant mais je ne suis pas d’accord quand il explique qu’Israël s’est déplacé de la démocratie vers le fanatisme de droite. Je pense qu’il s’agit de la transformation d’un fascisme camouflé de basse intensité en un fascisme ouvertement extrême. Sept millions d’entre nous sont des réfugiés ou des personnes déplacées en raison de ce régime raciste. Cela s’est passé pendant des décennies et continue à se passer aujourd’hui (par exemple, voir le refus israélien de considérer le cas des Palestiniens apatrides sous son occupation)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/new-regulation-may-bar-migrants-palestinians-from-filing-lawsuits-in-israeli-courts.premium-1.456170or

this about Fishermen in Gaza

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C05UhR9qtiA)

Et le futur semble tout aussi terrifiant si l’on observe la situation inextricable créée par les états occidentaux sous la houlette du lobby sioniste. On nous dit qu’il n’y a que deux options : des dictateurs laïques affiliés à l’impérialisme USraélien, ou des dictateurs islamistes affiliés à l’impérialisme USraélien (ces derniers étant peut-être plus difficiles à déloger car il n’est pas aisé d’attaquer des hommes malhonnêtes qui se drapent de piété religieuse) ! Il s’agit d’un jeu truqué dont l’issue ne peut bénéficier qu’à ceux qui en ont inventé les règles. Le Brigadier-Général Hertzi Halevy, commandant de la 91° division de l’armée israélienne, a menacé d’encore plus de crimes de guerre quiconque oserait refuser ces règles. « Le Liban subira des dommages bien plus grands que ceux de la seconde guerre du Liban (2006)… la riposte devra être plus dure et plus violente. Après le rapport Goldstone, les gens (dans la communauté internationale et même en israël) ont cru qu’une bataille dans une zone densément peuplée pouvait être conduite de façon moins brutale. C’est impossible. Sans utiliser une force énorme nous aurons du mal à parvenir à nos buts, et il faut que l’ennemi le sache aussi ».

La « Seconde guerre du Liban » a été menée par l’armée israélienne contre les civils du Liban. Des douzaines de villages ont été détruits. Un autre commandant de l’IDF a récemment déclaré : « Nous avons lancé sur le Liban plus d’un million de bombes à sous munitions (BASM) ». « Ce que nous avons fait est insensé et monstrueux, nous avons enseveli des villes entières sous les BASM » a dit le chef d’une unité de l’artillerie israélienne au Liban à propos de l’utilisation des BSM et des bombes au phosphore pendant la guerre.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-commander-we-fired-more-than-a-million-cluster-bombs-in-lebanon-1.197099

Quant au « rapport Goldstone », il a tenté d’amadouer le sionisme en condamnant les roquettes artisanales lancées par la résistance depuis Gaza en direction de la terre palestinienne occupée et nettoyée ethniquement depuis 1948. Mais le rapport mentionne aussi le massacre par les israéliens de plus de 1400 Palestiniens (la plupart des cils et comprenant presque 400 enfants). La communauté internationale a refusé d’agir, même en présence de preuves irréfutables concernant les crimes de guerre et crimes contre l’humanité perpétrés durant cette « opération ». Les soldats israéliens eux-mêmes ont admis l’excessive brutalité de ce qui leur a été ordonné de faire.

http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Operation_Cast_Lead_Gaza_2009_Eng.pdf

--------------------------------- 

pour ceux qui lisent l’anglais, voici la suite du courrier de Mazin :

No nice wars

An attack on an Egyptian army post in northern Sinai left 15 soldiers dead.  The attack was denounced by all Palestinian resistance forces including mainstream ones (Fatah, PFLP, DFLP, popular resistance committees, Hamas) and even marginal Jihadi forces (Islamic Jihad). I was very disappointed to see a few Palestinians try to use the incident to score points against other Palestinian factions.  But to most Palestinians, it was clear from its pattern and timing that this was another Israeli false flag operation stretching back to the Lavon affair in the 1950s when Israeli agents planted bombs in Egypt against Western interests to sabotage relations between those countries and Egypt.  An attempt to incite Egyptians against others (Palestinians or Iranians) must be exposed and thwarted especially when there is an ongoing existential struggle. 

Avraham Burg, ex-speaker of the Israeli Knesset wrote an article titled "Israel’s Fading Democracy"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/israels-fading-democracy.html?pagewanted=all

It is an interesting read but I disagree with his notion that Israel has moved from democracy to right wing fanaticism.  I believe it is a movement from low grade camouflaged fascism to high grade open fascism. Already 7 million of us are refugees or displaced people thanks to this regime of racism.  This happened for decades and continues today (e.g. see this about Israel refusing cases by stateless Palestinians under its occupation http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/new-regulation-may-bar-migrants-palestinians-from-filing-lawsuits-in-israeli-courts.premium-1.456170 or this about Fishermen in Gaza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C05UhR9qtiA)

And the future looks just as deadly as we watch the mayhem created by the Western countries under the Israel lobby's thumb.  We are told we can only choose from two options: secular dictators affiliated with Israel/USA imperialism, or Islamist dictators affiliated with Israel/USA imperialism  (the latter maybe harder to dislodge since few are willing to tackle dishonest men wrapping themselves in the garb of religous piety)! This is a rigged game whose outcome either way would work for the game makers.  The commander of Israeli army 91st Division, Brigadier-General Hertzi Halevy threatened even more war crimes for anyone who dares objects to the game: "Lebanon will sustain greater damage than that done during the second Lebanon war*…The response will need to be sharper, harder, and in some ways very violent. After the Goldstone Report**, people in the international community and in Israel thought that battle in a densely populated area could be carried out in a nicer way. It cannot be nice. Without the use of great force, we will find it difficult to achieve our aim, and the enemy should also know that. "

The "second Lebanon war" was a war by the Israeli military on the civilians of Lebanon.  Dozens of villages were destroyed. It is ironic since another IDF commander stated recently: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon: "What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-commander-we-fired-more-than-a-million-cluster-bombs-in-lebanon-1.197099

As for the "The Goldstone report", it tried to accommodate Zionism by condemning home-made rockets fired by the resistance forces from Gaza towards the Palestinian land occupied and ethnically cleansed since 1948.  But the report also cited the Israeli killing of over 1400 Palestinians (mostly civilians, including nearly 400 children). The International community refused to act even as solid evidence was provided that war crimes and crimes against humanity were conducted during this "operation".  Even Israeli soldiers admitted to the brutal kinds of actions they were ordered to do http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Operation_Cast_Lead_Gaza_2009_Eng.pdf

Roger Waters and BDS: Moral Courage and Unwavering Commitment to Human Rights

"Where governments refuse to act, people must, with whatever peaceful means are at their disposal. For me this means declaring an intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their government's policies, by joining the campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel." – Roger Waters

http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1968

            

Gloria Brown: FROM SEGREGATED MISSSISSIPPI TO PALESTINE/ISRAEL

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/7169/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1214519

Dershowitz (arch racist) supports Obama

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=279340

Action: Sign to object to Romney's racist views that "cultural differences", not the occupation, are what makes the Palestinian economy weak,

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11229

Take Action: Free Palestinian farmers and agricultural workers targeted for imprisonment

http://samidoun.ca/2012/08/take-action-palestinian-farmers-agricultural-workers-targeted-for-imprisonment-and-persecution/

The lies about the 1967 war are still more powerful than the truth http://www.redress.cc/palestine/ahart20120605

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

http://qumsiyeh.org

فلسطين من الجو

معبر رفح وزيارة هنية للقاهرة!

http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=507941

عالم فيزياء المانى : إسرائيل تجاوزت الـ300رأس نووي والمصريون مازالوا يستوردون فوانيس رمضان

http://knspal.net/arabic/index.php?act=Show&id=45133

بيان صادر عن تجمع "فلسطينيون من أجـــل الكــــرامة" حول تقرير لجنة التحقيق في أحداث رام الله

http://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2012/08/02/303932.html

ناجي علوش... فارس فلـسطيني لم يترجّل

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/98947

فلسطين من الجو - جميلة رغم الكلام الفارغ المرافق للفيديو

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=iPQI6Yupt48

رسالة جريئة للعاهل الأردني تكشف أسرار التمييز ضد المكون الفلسطيني

http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=latest%5Cdata%5C2012-08-03-05-31-35.htm

سنرجع يوما لفيروز

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7yQSVMgo2A

فيروز - الغضب الساطع

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-7OYZDPGqM

It happened in July

3 July 1919: Syrian Arab Congress (attended by 15 delegates from Palestine) emphasizes Arab Unity and rejection of colonialism.

July 1920: The World Zionist Organization meeting in London establishes a new financial arm to raise money called Keren Hayesod.  Since then donations were collected from Jews around the world to help dispossess the native Palestinians to transform Palestine to a Jewish state.

13-14 July 1922: General strike throughout Palestine opposing the British occupation and the Zionist project.

14 July 1920: France demanded that King Faisal in Damascus end conscription and surrender his garrisons to French troops. He was forced to concede against the wishes of his people, but the French still betrayed him and forced him out of Damascus

24 July 1922: The League of Nations voted to approve the British Mandate of Palestine formalizing complicity of Western powers in the rape of Palestine.

22 July 1946: A Jewish Zionist underground group blow-up the King David hotel in Jerusalem housing also the British civil administration.  The bomb killed 28 British, 41 Christians and Muslim Palestinians, 17 Jewish Palestinians, and 5 others while injuring over 200. This was in a string of terrorist attacks from underground forces whose leaders later became Israeli Prime ministers (Shamir, Begin etc).

9 July 1948: Start of Israeli operations labeled Dani and Dekel that broke the truce and continued the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages and towns.

24 July 48: Ijzim massacre by Zionist forces and the ethnic cleansing of the village. http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Ijzim/ (and click on pictures)

31 July 1951: Israeli High Court of Justice, ordered the Israeli military to allow the villagers of Iqrith to return to their village.  To this day this order has not been implemented because Israel did not want to set a precedent of villagers allowed to return (even if these are technically not refugees).

July 26, 1956: Despite imperialist and Zionist threats, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal.

6 July 1958: Palestinian conferences were held simultaneously in Nazareth and Akka and were attended by about 120 Palestinians (40 others were placed under house arrest, preventing their participation). This heralded the beginning of organized political structures among Palestinians in the 1948 areas after the Nakba.

July 16, 1958: American Marines landed in Lebanon

July 18, 1958:  Iraqi people overthrow the British installed Hashemite dynasty

15 July 1963: General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) founded in Jerusalem

July 25, 1967: Israel conducts a census of the occupied territories it just conquered (WB, Gaza, Golan, Sinai). All people outside (students studying, those who left because of eh attack, business people, others) are denied return. 300,000 new refugees were thus created to add to millions created earlier.

July 1968: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked an El-Al airplane. The new PLO under leadership of Fatah denounced the action.

 July 11, 1970: Attempted assassination of Dr. Wadi Haddad, PFLP commander in Beirut injring his wife and son.

July 23, 1970: President of Egypt Jamal Abdul Nasser accepted the Rogers proposals for peace in the Middle East.

July 1971: Hashemite monarchy in Jordan drives the last of the Palestinian guerrilla fighters from Jordan and consolidates its grip on power in this country, home to the largest population of Palestinian refugees,

July 1971: The first Socialist Republic was declared in Sudan but quickly crushed by dictators  Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Moamar Qaddafi of Libya.  They restored Numeiry to power and instigated a communist/socialist  witch-hunt in the three countries.

8 July 1972: Famous Palestinian novelist Ghassan Kanafani murdered by an Israeli car bomb in Beirut

30 July 1973 Aref Al-Aref dies. He is a famous Palestinian leader (including mayor of Jerusalem) and intellectual

5 July 1974: Palestinian leader in the 1930s, Haj Amin Al-Hussaini died in Beirut

11 July to 6 August 1975: Hunger strike among Palestinian political prisoners that heralded significant changes and set a precedent for mass protest in Israeli jails; a form of popular unarmed resistance among hundreds of others (see Mazin Qumsiyeh, Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment, Pluto Press, 2011)

July 1977, President Jimmy Carter tried to convince the newly elected Likud leader, Menachem Begin, to freeze settlement activity as part of the peace agreements with Egypt.  Instead, Begin allocated Ariel Sharon to the task of drafting a program for accelerated settlement activity.

31 July 1985: The Israeli Knesset amended the Basic Law on elections by adding that "A list of candidates shall not participate in Knesset elections if any of the following is expressed or implied in its purpose or deeds: 1) Denial of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, 2) Denial of the democratic character of the State, 3) Incitement to racism".  This effectively bars any party that promotes changing Israel to a secular and democratic state of its citizens from running in the elections.

July 1987: Assassination of cartoonist Naji Al Ali (of Handala fame) in London by the Israeli Mossad.

7 July 1988: First major raid on Beit Sahour because of its tax-revolt during the intifada

30 July 1988: During the peak of the intifada (uprising of 1987-1991), King Hussein of Jordan reluctantly ends the "unity" between Jordan and the West Bank and declares that the PLO is responsible for that territory under Israeli occupation.

14 July 1992: In the New York Times, Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli Prime Minister (and terrorist) states: "The Jewish State cannot exist without a special ideological content.  We cannot exist for long like any other state whose main interests is to insure the welfare of its citizens." 

July 2000: Camp David Summit brought on by US President Clinton and Israeli PM Ehud Barak to force Arafat to accept apartheid as a final settlement.

9 July 2004: International Court of Justice rules that the apartheid wall and Jewish settlements inside the West Bank including in Jerusalem are illegal per international law and must be dismantled.

9 July 2005: Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action that includes call for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel

July 2006: Israel war on the civilian population of Lebanon destroying many villages and damaging infrastructure. US vetoes a UNSC resolution to stop the aggression (the sole no vote at the Security Council).

July 2010: Israeli government under Netanyahu orders that archives that were to be declassified after 50 years will remain sealed for another 20 years.  These attempts at hiding dirty secrets including war crimes and crimes against humanity of Israel's formative years continue.

July 2010: Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian village in the Jordan valley (Al-Farasiya), demolish other homes in other towns, and kills and injures many Palestinians in a familiar ritual of occupation and colonization done with western (especially US) support.

July 2012: In pre-election maneuvering, US President Obama and the US congress decides to give more of US taxpayer's money to Israel and his main Republican Challenger declares illegally occupied Jerusalem as "capital of Israel". Both Republican and Democratic parties to receive each >$100 million in donations from Zionists (a cheap investment considering billions that go to Israel yearly). Meanwhile Israeli forces cap the month with more home demolitions and murder of Palestinians.

650,000 Jewish settlers

More than 15,000 Jewish settlers were added in one year to bring the total  colonial settlers living in the West Bank to 650,000.  Does any one still think a two-state solution is possible?  In parallel, settler violence increased many folds in the past few years (see When settlers attack:  A sobering study of the skyrocketing Jewish colonial settler attacks on native Palestinians http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/32678 ).  Israel is enjoying unprecedented Western government support.  The US Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making his pilgrimage here to pay homage to those who will help elect him.  This has become a ritual among US presidential candidates hoping to live in the White House in Israeli-occupied Washington.  Not to be out-staged, President Obama signed an enhanced "security" arrangement with Apartheid Israel the day before Romney lands here. More tax money is thus diverted to Israel and Israel promoted wars while the USeconomy keeps suffering.  Romney will also meet with Salam Fayyad who seems content to keep repeating that we want a state in 1967 borders (and not mentioning the refugees which is THE central issue) but in his interview with the independent seemed resigned that Palestine is now marginalized.  European and other Western governments hold meetings about Syria and abuses of human rights there (while supporting such abuses both in Syria and elsewhere). No one demanded such meetings about Israel and its abuses (see the recent article by Saul Landau http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/07/20/does-it-matter-what-israelis-do/) or Bahrain or Saudi Arabia or Rohingya or Libya post Qaddafi or others. 

Even when these governments know that there are abuses they continue business as usual.  For example the British government reported widespread abuse of Palestinian Children (http://worldpressnetwork.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18513) but business is business and British officials continue to cooperate economically and in other ways with apartheid.  The European Union leadership considers Jewish colonial settlements to be violations of International law and yet give Israel a most favored nation status and regularly trade! Everyone likes to pretend there are no problems and the status quo can continue.  The monarchies of Arabia (or the gang of kleptocracies) seem content in their dictatorships untouched by the Arab spring and seem happy that they are now using it to their advantage; witness “Saudi” Arabia’s junta dibbing their hands into Syria and claiming they want to promote “democracy.” They seem satisfied.  The Kings of Jordan and Morocco give some power to governments that they hope will absorb public discontent.  The USA supports all these ruling families.  Everyone pretends that the people’s discontent can be absorbed for a long time or manipulated to serve Western and Israeli interests.   Even Hamas and Fatah leadership (though not many of their members) pretend that continuing down the path of the last few years will be OK and are not willing to “rock the boat”.  Many are bidding time and hoping for some outside miracle.  Maybe Obama will be better in his second term.  Maybe the Arab Spring will work in our favor. Maybe this or that will happen.  Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and our mother earth is devastated.

As in all human history, the only positive changes come from citizens finally realizing that they hold power in their hands. Once people realize that tyranny only lasts as long as apathy dominates, that is when revolutionary change happens. We the people, not governments, made history in the past and will make history in the future.  Many ask what common people like us can do about certain issues like the pivotal problem of Palestine.  Here are 64 suggestions for this issue (one for every year of the ongoing Nakba) but many can be equally applicable to environmental issues or to human rights violations in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia: http://qumsiyeh.org/whatyoucando/

Palestinian Investments Require Divestment, Sam Bahour  July 27,12

 Over the years, not only has Israel prohibited the emergence of a new Palestinian economy -- it structurally and systematically has made certain that even the buds of such a productive economy would never see the light of day…. Palestinian civil society and Palestinians -- Christians and Muslims alike -- have urged everyone interested in seeing peace with justice to divest from the occupation.   http://bit.ly/Investments-Require-Divestment

Israel coined the term "Nakba" and is still implementing it by Ilan Pappe http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-coined-term-nakba-and-still-implementing-it/11518).

(Action) Thirsting for Justice: Join the Campaign for Palestinian Water Rights

 https://www.mecaforpeace.org/projects/maia-project/thirsting-justice-campaign

With Sudden Greenland Ice Melt, Reiterating Declaration of Planetary Ecological Emergency by Dr. Glen Barry

http://www.countercurrents.org/barry250712.htm

NASA reported that Satellites see Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Melt

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-217

Stay human

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

http://qumsiyeh.org

Humanizing

It is abundantly clear that oppressors spend an inordinate amount of time and resources to dehumanize their victims. But we humans spend an inordinate amount of time also trying to suppress our own humanity.  To dehumanize someone is to deprive them of essential human qualities such as compassion, individuality, love, and social contact.  Making a family line up in the sun for hours to cross a checkpoint is a form of dehumanizing. It is dehumanizing to deny medical care, to destroy means of livelihood, to take someone's land, to put someone in solitary confinement in jail for months and years, or to tell someone that she is not of God's chosen peopel so she has lless rights.

Dehumanizing makes it easier for the colonizers to not feel compassion for their victims as they rob them of their lands and natural resources.  In so doing the occupiers thus also dehumanize themselves because they have to desensitize themselves to human suffering. But the victims themselves can also internalize the dehumanization to think of themselves as somehow unworthy or that their life can only gain meaning if they emulate their oppressors and thus become oppressors themselves.  That is why abused children may sometimes grow up to abuse their own children.  This spiral of dehumanizing can and must be challenged and the obvious way to do it is via our efforts to humanize ourselves and others: show compassion, mercy, love, and connectedness.  The styruggle is mostly inward and it is our own negativism that must be challenged every day, nay every hour. That is the humanizing struggle that is the hardest struggle of all.

Army To Arrest, Deport, Internationals Living In The West Bank

http://www.imemc.org/article/63888

Action: Ask Clinton to Express Opposition to Legalization of Settlements

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5575/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11238

Action: Vote, like, share (buttons at bottom for facebook, twitter etc)

"They came in the morning" video was born from some of the footage shot over 5 critical years in the life of Bethlehem during the making of upcoming feature film "Operation Bethlehem".

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/3242/they-came-in-the-morning

Church of England backs Palestine motion in spite of strong Israel lobby pressure

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ben-white/church-england-backs-palestine-motion-spite-strong-israel-lobby-pressure

In BDS milestone, UK supermarket chain to boycott Israel firms doing business with settlements

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/bds-milestone-uk-supermarket-chain-boycott-israel-firms-doing-business

(important read) The Zionist-Nazi Collaboration by William James Martin, Dissident Voice.

http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/07/the-zionist-nazi-collaboration/

The Ramallah Fiasco Should Never Happen Again

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=25000&CategoryId=3

Pro-Divestment Presbyterians Win By Losing

http://wallwritings.me/2012/07/07/pro-divestment-presbyterians-win-by-losing/

Palestine National Council Registration Campaign

http://www.pncregcampaign.org/index.php/en/

Mazin Qumsiyeh

http://qumsiyeh.org