More encouraging news

Last week I shared some good news and asked if any readers could share their good news. Many readers responded. Here are just a few examples of responses which remind us that millions of candles are lit in a sea of darkness

Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are true American heroes that stood up for truth and for human rights and who are targeted by a US government intent on Israelization of the US society (compare with the hypocricy of the US administration).  An Irish politician calls Obama what he is, a hypocrite

http://youtu.be/CnJCvKA-oEU

Millions of Egyptians are now saying: we do not want an Islamist government supported by the West and taht serves in US/Israeli interests

Sumoud in Palestine http://nahidaexiledpalestinian.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/sumoud/

“As long as the Za’atar remains. . .” http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/as-long-as-the-zaatar-remains-3.html

Army to Duma: “Stop building!” Duma to army: “We’ve built already”
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/army-to-duma-stop-building-duma-to-army-weve-built-already/

Student wins right to display Palestinian flag at Texas graduation

http://electronicintifada.net/content/student-wins-right-display-palestinian-flag-texas-graduation/12531

Israeli government ramps up anti-boycott fight [and admits rise in wave of “delegitimizing” the apartheid state]

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ben-white/israeli-government-ramps-anti-boycott-fight

California university chief admits failure to curb divestment campaigns

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/california-university-chief-admits-failure-curb-divestment-campaigns

The House That Broke The Camel's Back

http://www.roitov.com/articles/wadiara.htm

Some 1,500 Israeli Arabs block major road in protest over home demolition

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/some-1-500-israeli-arabs-block-major-road-in-protest-over-home-demolition.premium-1.532590

Jewish voice for Peace asks for action: 40,000 Bedouin People Displaced = Human Rights Disaster
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13809

Prawer plan approval means ethnic cleansing; actions In England http://act.palestinecampaign.org/lobby/102

Israel Approves Prawer Law Expelling Bedouins http://www.roitov.com/articles/bedouin.htm

The Romance of Birthright Israel: To apply for a Birthright trip, participants need just one Jewish grandparent—and to pass a screening interview. (Practicing a religion other than Judaism is an automatic disqualifier.) After their ten days on Birthright, participants may postpone their return by up to three months to travel in the region, and it is not unheard of for progressives to “birth left” in the West Bank afterward (as I did)—though Birthright policy is that anyone discovered to have a “hidden agenda” of “exploiting” the free trip “to get access to the territories” to promote “non-Israeli” causes can lose her spot. [I know many who came to visit with us after in Bethlehem] http://www.thenation.com/article/161460/romance-birthright-israel#

Here in very rural Western Massachussetts, one small community put on a comprehensive 2-day educational event titled: "Palestine 2013: Art, Crafts, Film, Food and Politics."… We showed 5 films by and about Palestine: "5 Broken Cameras", "Occupation 101", "Salt of this Sea", "Steadfast Hope" (made by Presbyterian Church USA's Israel/Palestine Mission Network), and "Paradise Now."  We had a professionally hung show of original Palestinian art plus a display of a mock apartheid wall with photos of graffiti art on it.  We sold imported Palestinian crafts, olive soap, olive oil and olive carvings, we fed 80 people a Middle Eastern feast supervised by a local Palestinian-American, and had a panel discussion involving three separate anti-occupation voices: an American Jew, a Palestinian-American, and an Israeli-American.  It was a smashing success and resulted in more people understanding a sometimes puzzling issue (due to the media here), and eager for more information.

Mazin Qumsiyeh

http://qumsiyeh.org

Biodiversity

What is the real status of the environment in Palestine and how does it compare to Jordan?  I just returned from my latest field work in Jordan.  I started doing field work in Jordan in 1974 and published my first paper on new records of bats from Jordan in 1979 (an undergraduate seminar research project).  The population of Jordan has more than doubled since then.  I started doing field work as a teenager in Palestine in 1971 and the population in the West Bank and Gaza (22% of Palestine) has increased three folds.  650,000 Israeli Jewish settlers now live in the occupied West Bank area in over 135 colonies and some 100 colony “outposts”.  In this email I share with you some issues of environment/biodiversity in Palestine (now Israel) and Jordan with notes and observations from direct involvement and countless field trips.  This is not intended to cover many issues. Let me start with just a couple of similarities and differences between areas east and west of the Jordan valley and then give you links to more detailed studies and a video tape we just finished about our work.

Similarities
-Population growth and pressure impacts biodiversity adversely by destruction of natural habitats, the use of pesticides etc. (we noted dead raptors from pesticide use in both areas even in the latest trips)

-Impact of global warming where average temperatures here will rise some 4-5 degrees centigrade and annual rainfall will decrease by 20-25% over the next three decades.

Differences
-Jordan is populated by its own people and by Palestinian refugees (who have full citizenship) so the management of the country is largely for the benefit of all people.  In Palestine, colonial settlers rule and the native Palestinians are marginalized and squeezed into Bantustans.  This has very negative consequences (see my article below)

-Political colonial considerations make for very poor environmental decisions.  I noted some of these in my article below but also just noted how water in valleys leading to the Dead Sea on the Jordan side (like Wadi Mujib) are kept intact by the Jordanians who pump the water only just before the water reaches the dead sea.  On the West Bank side, pumping was done by the Israelis right at the spring site and so drying up the whole valley (e.g. at Al-Auja).  This was environmentally devastating but its reason was political (to deny water usage to Palestinians in the Jordan valley and help colonize their land).

-The fact that millions of Palestinians remain occupied and worried about where their next meal will come from leaves little room for concern about the environment. Streets are far cleaner in Jordan than in the remaining Palestinian villages and towns and refugee camps (of course 530 Palestinian villages and towns were ethnically cleansed). This also has to do with sense of ownership/control.  Palestinians feel they have no control.  Colonial settlers coming from around the world also do not feel responsibility but only political desire to control and dump their sewage on Palestinian land and do other action that harm the environment (see below).

Acknowledgement: I want to just say a personal thank you to my best friend Prof. Zuhair Amr and to the colleagues from Jordan: Husain from JUST and others from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN, http://www.rscn.org.jo/).  They are dedicated and hardworking people who care about the environment.  RSCN provided the vehicles and helped arrange our stay in beautiful places like Wadi Mujib and Wadi Rum.  Zuhair uses his own money for this work and his family kindly hosted me in Amman.  We collected important genetic and other data on some rare species.  I also thank the numerous volunteers in Palestine helping us with this work.

Article in proceedings of a conference on the status of the environment (forthcoming publication from Environmental Education Center) By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, Professor at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities
http://qumsiyeh.org/environmentalnakba/

A video we did about studies of biodiversity in Palestine.  Unfortunately it is in Arabic (we are now looking to translate to English and I will share that link once available): http://youtu.be/hRa7yZSwEZU

Biodiversity Status in the Occupied Palestinian State: On the occasion of Biodiversity International Day
http://www.arij.org/latest-news/624-on-occasion-of-biodiversity-international-day-.html

Action: Join us in Palestine Biodiversity Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/groups/PalestineBiodiversity/

Pictured: Pregnant orangutan clinging to the last remaining forest tree after bulldozers clear jungle to make way for oil plantation: Heart wrenching scenes as frightened animals lose habitat in Borneo. Many left starving and on brink of death by destruction of trees. Rescuers stun them with anesthetic guns and capture them in nets
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305277/Pictured-Pregnant-orangutan-clinging-remaining-forest-tree-bulldozers-clear-jungle-make-way-oil-plantation.html

Mazin
http://qumsiyeh.org

Walaja

English below Arabic

مواجهات اليوم بسبب وضع البوابة التي قامت سلطات الاحتلال بوضعها على منفذ الولجة إلى بيت جالا من دير كريمزان والتي تمنع الفلسطينيين من أبناء القرية من المرور من خلالها (أنا بالطاقية السوداء)

http://youtu.be/uoHySEuYTss

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Walajah-Media-Network/159941707452472

الضفة تواصل التظاهر- عشرات الاصابات في قمع الاحتلال لمسيرات سلمية

http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594273

للتذكير: طفلة فلسطينية تواجه جنود الاحتلال - النبي صالح

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWlxLq-2RQA

(مواجهة شبيهة حصلت في الولجة اليوم)

من العيب أن يكون أطفالنا شجعان ومن يعتبرون أنفسهم قادة جبناء ولا يشاركون.  النفاق أن يتغنى البعض بالمقاومة التاريخية وهم يخونون القضية الفلسطينية (خاصة بعض من يأخذ معاش من السلطة وهي أموال الشعب المناضل). ولكن نحن متفائلين لأنه لا يزال هنالك وطنية وتضحية وستزيد.

شاركونا يوم الأحد الساعة 10 صباحا في عش غراب, بيت ساحور لتوصيل رسالة بأننا لن نسمح باستكمال الحلقة الإستيطانية حول ما تبقى من محافظة بيت لحم.

الشيخ القرضاوي في غزة: وجهة نظر..!! بقلم: د. حيدر عيد

http://www.amin.org/articles.php?t=opinion&id=21319://www.amin.org/articles.php?t=opinion&id=21319

====================

Israeli Soldiers, Palestinian Protesters Clash in Walaja  (I am in the black hat)

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/4673-israeli-soldiers-palestinian-protestors-clash-in-walaja

http://youtu.be/uoHySEuYTss

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Walajah-Media-Network/159941707452472

Join us Sunday 12 May 2013 in Beit Sahour at 10 AM for a peaceful march to Ush Ghrab

[Book available online] John Holloway, Change the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway

This generated some discussion: http://archive.iire.org/pamphlet_nsf_2006.pdf

‘To Exist is to Resist’: Seminar day in Jiflik: Hosted by Jordan Valley Solidarity, in the beautiful Friends’ Meeting House in Jiflik – the oldest building in the Jordan Valley – The Freedom Bus group heard talks from Mazin Qumsiyeh and Saed Abu-Hijleh about the history of Palestinian resistance, the nature of apartheid and personal experiences of living under occupation.

http://freedombuspalestine.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/to-exist-is-to-resist-seminar-day-in-jiflik/

“Hiding behind its Pseudo Democracy” : Israel Captures More than 40% from Palestinian Lands Using Twisted Methods http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=6125

"G4S, the world’s biggest security company by revenues, has confirmed it is planning to quit key contracts in Israel amid protests against its involvement in settlements within Occupied Palestinian territories." writes Gill Plimmer http://stephensizer.blogspot.co.il/2013/04/g4s-to-quit-key-contracts-in-israel.html

Raw Sewage Divides Jerusalem

http://stephensizer.blogspot.co.il/2013/04/raw-sewage-divides-jerusalem.html

Support the Israeli Occupation; It's Tax Deductible!: Friends of Israel Defense Forces Raises $27 Million Under NY Media’s Radar

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/23/friends-of-israel-defense-forces-raises-27-million-under-ny-medias-radar/print

Stateless Palestinian Refugee becomes successful enterpreneur

http://thestoryexchange.org/role-model-stateless-refugee-immigrant-entrepreneur/

Five reasons why Hawking is right to boycott

http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=2180

الحياة

كيف حالك؟ سؤال نسأل به بعضنا البعض وأسمعه مئات المرات يوميا. جوابنا عادة لا يحمل معلومات محددة (كويس, الحمد لله). ومعظم الأحيان فإن السائل لا يريد معلومات بل القاء تحية تقليدية. الواقع أن كل منا وفي كل يوم يمكن أن يجد من التجارب إيجابات وسلبيات. الحياة كلها تناقضات وتحديات. جدي عيسى عطالله عاش 91 عاما (تيتم وفقد اخوته في الحرب العالمية الأولى وبنى نفسه بنفسه ليصبح الكاتب والمربي المشهور والريادي) وكتب شعر كثير منها هذه السطور والتي تزين قبره

عشت طولا وعرضا وعمقا    وشهدت الحياة قربا وبعدا

ورأيت الإنسان يبلغ شأوا      من سمو التفكير حقق مجدا

في يقيني سر السعادة     أن تكون الحياة كدا وودا

فليسامحني من أسأت اليه     لم تكن نحوه الإساءه عمدا

هذه كانت فلسفتي للحياه التي تعلمتها من جدي ومن بلدي الطيبة الحنونة. وكل يوم أتذكرها. مثلا تذكرتها عندما سمعنا من باسم وناريمان التميمي في زيارتهم لبيت ساحور عن صراع وتضحيات وبطولات قريتهم الصغيرة النبي صالح بما فيها الدور الريادي والقيادي للمرأة الفلسطينية. تذكرت هذه السطور عندما  حضرنا أحد الشعانين وشارك فيه مسلمين وآخرين كتقليد استمر لمئات السنين (منع اسرائيل لنا للدخول الى القدس عكر الجو). وتذكرت هذه السطور عندما رقصنا البارحة في حفلة زواج أصدقاؤنا كريستل (لتشيرت) وطارق (عليان) والتي حصلت أيضا في بيت ساحور وحضرها المئات من كل فلسطين والخارج مسلمين ومسيحيين وبوذيين ومن غير المتديينين وعرب وأجانب وغيرهم.  كم كانت حفلة جميلة وكم كانت الصداقة والمحبة في كل زاوية.  

تذكرت هذه السطور عندما سمعت استمرار المؤامرات لطي ملف القضية الفلسطينية وبعينك عينك كما سمعها جدي عام 1921 و 1937 و1947. فها هم وزراء الخارجية العرب يذهبون الى روما الجديدة ليقولوا لجون كيري أن مبادرتهم بالتخلي عن 78% من فلسطين قابلة للتعديل والسماح لإسرائيل بالاحتفاظ بمعظم مستعمراتها في الضفة الغربية. الحديث عن تبادل أراضي هو وهم وخدعة واضحة. ولم يذكر الوفد لكيري شيء عن اللاجئين الفلسطينيين أو التفريق العنصري في القوانين الإسرائيلية ألخ. بل تستمر التنازلات المجانية لتبهج الكيان المجرم (الوزيرة ليفني المسؤولة عن ملف "المفاوضات" رحبت بهذا التنازل الجديد عن تنازلات "المبادرة العربية"). طبعا الكل يعرف أن هذا أربح احتلال في العالم وأن معظم هذه الدول لها علاقات (علنية أو مخفية) مربحة للكيان الصهيوني وأن بدون ضغط لن تتحرك اسرائيل حتى سنتيمتر واحد باتجاه ارجاع الحقوق بل تتمادى في اهدارها. واذا أراد أي شخص دليل فليأتي هنا ليرى بعينيه أنه ليس هنالك حل دولتين. الموضوع لا يزال تحرير عقولنا أولا وثم العمل على تحرير أجسادنا.

وأتذكرها وأنا أشارككم بمعلومات أخرى وأتمنا أن نتحرك جميعا بذكرى يوم النكبة 15/5 وبأكثر من مهرجانات أو خطابات وانما بالعمل والمقاومة. كيف حالنا؟ كما نريد فالتغيير والتقدم بأيدينا نحن!!!!!!

مشروع أمريكي إسرائيلي لحل الاختناق المروري على حاجز قلنديا

http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=589775

العليا الاسرائيلية ترفض الاعتراضات وتُقر مسار الجدار في كريمزان

http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=589611

المصالحةُ والمسلسلاتُ التّركيّة

http://tinyurl.com/d84cckq

يدعوكم الشعب الفلسطيني في فلسطين التاريخية وفي الشتات الى المشاركة في الحراك العالمي يوم ١٥ ايار ٢٠١٣ والذي يصادف الذكرة ال ٦٥ للنكبة، ضد التمييز العنصري والاستعمار ومن أجل حقوق اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العودة الى بيوتهم وديارهم. واننا ندعوكم لتنظيم الفعاليات في مدنكم وان تشاركوا في الفعاليات الشعبية التي ستنظم في مناطكم وفعاليات المقاطعة وسحب الاستثمارات وفرض العقوبات على اسرائيل ونشاطات العصيان المدني والمظاهرات والعمل الاعلامي

العدالة هي الطريق الوحيد للسلام  

Boston Bombings

At first I thought I should not comment on the Boston bombings as it is obvious that we in Palestine, under siege and regular bombardment would clearly sympathize with the victims. But then I saw the usual pundits on mainstream media trying to spin the tragedy to serve racism.  The Israeli Consul-General in Boston told the Jerusalem Post that “Boston is a very quiet and calm place, especially when we come from Israel…..Still, the Jewish community and the consulate are on alert and security has been increased”.  He speaks as if he represents Jews of Boston (and only them) and insinuates as usual that problems in Palestine (‘Israel’) are because of the native “Arabs” not because of the Zionist colonization.  CNN gave extensive time to the Zionist ex-congresswoman Jane Harman who claimed this terrorist attack is likely linked to AlQaeda Islamists while trying to connect herself to victims when she supports terrorism herself. Besides her appalling record in voting for more weapons and money to Israel to kill Palestinians, she was unashamedly more pro-Israel to the point of challenging US interests on several occasions.  In October 2006, Time magazine stated that Harman had agreed to lobby the US Department of Justice to reduce espionage charges against Steve J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, two officials at the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In exchange, Time said there was a quid pro quo in which AIPAC would lobby then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to appoint Harman as chair of the House Intelligence Committee! Then came Wolf Blitzer, another Zionist who now poses as the serious looking global "reporter" for CNN.   Here is Norman Finkelstein speaking the truth while Blitzer in defends racism/Zionism and shows where his loyalties stand in a public debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-8aTGnjHnI But if you thought his CNN appointment made him moderate his stance, you would be mistaken.  He continues to use all opportunities (including this tragedy) to use smoke and mirrors to hide facts.  Many Zionist pundits appeared in mainstream media spinning the same web.

There is no mention by those with “Israel first” mentality of the billions of taxpayer dollars given to Israel annually because of the Zionist lobby and how many innocent people are killed or displaced by it.  There is no mention of past false flag operations by the Israeli Mossad (for example in Egypt against US and British interests and in Iraq against Jewish institutions to drive Jews to migrate to colonize Palestine).  There is no mention of billions made by investors with inside knowledge; no mainstream media tried to investigate the short selling and the US stock market collapse that happened hours BEFORE the bombings (who profited?).  And while most western media had hours of continuous coverage of this bombing that killed three individuals, they rarely mention the daily bombings and killings of hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians especially by US drones in places like Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (where there are no first class medical facilities as exists in Boston).  Nor do they care to mention killing by proxy of hundreds of civilians monthly by US puppet dictators from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia or by the US supported racist apartheid regime of Israel or of western funded Islamist groups in Syria.  Alas, Blitzer and Harman and hundreds like them assume their audience is stupid to buy their Zionist spin.  Let us hope that US citizens will finally challenge the staggering cost of Israeli apartheid and Israel-firsters in their midst. Let us hope that someone in the FBI is smart enough to look more carefully at the clues in Boston and find the real culprits behind these bombings instead of buying the Zionist spin. 

The Staggering Cost of Israel to Americans By Pamela Olson.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34485.htm?utm_source=ICH%3A+9%2F11%3A+Illegitimacy+of+US+Government&utm_campaign=FIRST&utm_medium=email

US Aid to Israel Jumps to $11 Million Dollars Per Day as US States, Counties and Cities go Bankrupt!

http://america-hijacked.com/2013/04/13/us-aid-to-israel-jumps-to-11-million-dollars-per-day/

AIPAC's legislative agenda dividing members of Congress

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/292069-aipacs-legislative-agenda-dividing-members-of-congress?+Analysis

A response from Dave Evans to this information:

The billions of dollars Congress sends in direct aid to Israel pales in comparison to the TRILLIONS of dollars spent on wars the US undertakes for Israel. ($4 to 6 trillion for two wars alone: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/iraq-afghanistan-wars-will-cost-u-s-4-6-trillion-dollars-report/  ), not counting funding mercs in Syria and other dark wars for Israel; wars that are planned and executed by these people:  http://www.erichufschmid.net/TFC/FromOthers/list-of-neocons-for-Iraq-war.htm 

to fulfill this Israeli agenda: http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/articles/article0005345.html

Consider this that gets little press:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/03/14/iran-north-koreas-axis-of-evil-revived-by-new-nuclear-ties/

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/israel-fears-north-korea-become-a-nuke-supplier-middle-east.html

The bombings in Boston were painful to see since we lived nearby in Connecticut and our son went to school in Boston and we visited regularly. Our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families. Knowing the local community there, I know they have strength and resilience and goodness that can overcome this evil.

Education and Healthcare

In any society, Education and Healthcare are pillars of progress.  In any society, war, suffering, and lack of progress are associated with ignorance, greed, and apathy.  The biggest challenge for freedom and return in Palestine is the same.  This past week and even as we commemorated the tragedy of the massacre at Deir Yassin, my wife and I had the honor to be invited to two openings in Palestine symbolizing sacrifice and progress: opening of a Pediatric Oncology facility in Beit Jala and of the new Engineering Department at AlQuds University.  When we lived in the US, my wife and I worked with Huda Al-Masri and her husband Steve Sossebee (founders of Palestine Children Relief Fund-PCRF) for several cases of children coming to the US for treatment. We had the honor of hosting two families in our house in Connecticut. Now PCRF was able to create totally through private donations the Huda Al-Masri Pediatric Oncology Department at Beit Jala government hospital (the only such facility in the West Bank).  Huda passed away from cancer and we were honored to see how grown up her two daughters are and to see this fitting memorial to her hard work finally get going. The inauguration of the Najjad Zeenni faculty of engineering building at Al-Quds university showed how expatriate Palestinians could contribute to building Palestine.  Zeenni was born on a ship going from Jaffa to exile in 1948 and became a successful engineer and company executive (now living in Abu Dhabi).  We also met Mr. Fawzi Kawash, another good key Palestinian who made it his life’s work to bring support for Palestinian academic and research institutions. There are thousands of other Palestinians working behind the scenes.  We must do more in education and healthcare.  I spend more and more time on these issues (and less on politics) as we expand our clinical cytogenetics laboratory (testing for cancer and genetic abnormalities), build the natural history collection, do more research and education, helps some students pay their bills, and take students and colleagues on field trips to wilderness areas.

On April 6th, the PCRF officially opened the Huda Al Masri Pediatric Cancer dept. in Beit Jala Hospital
http://www.pcrf.net/on-april-6th-the-pcrf-officially-opened-the-huda-al-masri-pediatric-cancer-dept-in-beit-jala-hospital/

Earlier report on the start of work for the faculty of Engineering building at Al-Quds Univesrity
http://www.anera.org/resources/press-releases/anera-and-al-quds-break-ground-for-new-engineering-school/

Scholarships for Palestinian students to study in Cambridge
http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/alumni/development/palestinian_studentship.php

We must never forget the massacre in Deir Yassin By Dina Elmuti
http://electronicintifada.net/content/we-must-never-forget-massacre-deir-yassin/12341

(New book) The Prisoners’ Diaries: This is a compilation of 22 Palestinian prisoners' experiences in Israeli jails. 1,027 prisoners were released in 2011 as part of the exchange with Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and 22 of them were interviewed by journalists. These accounts were translated into English at the Centre for Political and Development Studies (CPDS) in Gaza, and edited.
http://theprisonersdiaries.blogspot.com/

(racism in action) Seeing the forest and the trees: The untold story of the Jewish National Fund
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/seeing-the-forest-and-the-trees-the-untold-story-of-the-jewish-national-fund-1.400530

Youth move back to Palestinian village stolen from their families
http://electronicintifada.net/content/youth-move-back-palestinian-village-stolen-their-families/12352

British Jewry in turmoil after tribunal blasts pro-Israel activist for bringing harassment case: Ruling in case brought by mathematics lecturer was meant to be culmination of 11 years of pro-Israel activism, but ruling that 'attachment to Israel... is not intrinsically a part of Jewishness' has caused shock waves in the Jewish community. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/british-jewry-in-turmoil-after-tribunal-blasts-pro-israel-activist-for-bringing-harassment-case.premium-1.514173

Easter Resurrection of Palestine

Israeli soldiers in the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Good Friday

Today in Bethlehem, sunny and warmer than usual by 10 degrees (global warming?), is Easter Sunday.  It is a Sunday where Christians following the Western calendar celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  This got me thinking about resurrection, salvation and what the real message of Jesus, the prince of peace was during his short years walking in the hills that now surround me.  “What would Jesus do” is a question that hovers in the background of this troubled land.  Well, actually the land does not have feelings to be troubled so let us say the troubled inhabitants of this land.  I am certainly troubled as most Palestinian Chritisans and Muslims are.  We are troubled because we cannot even get to our Churches and mosques in Jerusalem.  Palestinians who are already in Jerusalem are being pushed out as Israel continues its relentless program to make the city “Jewish” (whatever that means).  On this Easter, Israeli Jewish soldiers even defiled the Church of Sepulchre where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and also buried.

We are troubled because just yesterday we commemorated Land Day and our commemorations were marred by Israeli violence.  Even trying to cling to memory of our lands stolen from us is a crime in the Apartheid state of Israel.  A law in the Knesset tried to stop commemorations of the Nakba (the catastrophe of ethnic cleansing of 530 villages and towns between January 1948 and December 1949).  But this is just one of hundreds of racist, discriminatory laws that make Israel the quinticential apartheid state.    

Meanwhile the government of Mr. Abbas approved the “Palestinian Authority” (PA) budget of $3.8 billion that Israeli papers said shows continued dependence on Israel and the US.  The PA in the meantime have sentenced morepeople to jail for expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo.  In one case even sentencing a person for 6 months in jail for clicking ‘like’ on a facebook post that critiqued the PA. There is indeed a grave danger that we will have (if we do not have already) a police state serving Israeli interests. Decent people in Fatah must take note of what is being done in their name lest we have a “village league” scenario.  But back to our main bain and what brought to us the disastrous Oslo and all other disasters: the Israeli occupation.  Bethlehem, the Obama visited for 20 minutes, is still besieged and stripped of ist lands. It is still isolated from its sister cities of Jerusalem and Nazareth.  We still have a “permit system” worse than the one practiced in Apartheid South Africa. We still have Palestinian children being jailed and tortured. We still have owerful occupation stripping us of natural rsources and impoverishing us.  I coud go on and on but then I think again what would Jesus do?  He was actually in a similar situation. The Roman occupation was actually milder than the current Israeli occupation (and colonization).

Jesus was a Palestinian martyr; he was born in Palestine and spoke the language of my ancestors Aramaic, the precursor of the Arabic language.  He believed in resistance like turning tables of profiteers at the temple, challenging the “leaders” etc.  And he worked to help the poor and disenfranchised.  “Comfort the afflicted and make the comfortable a little less comfortable” as Dorothy Day once said.  He did not spend any time congratulating the rich and powerful or visiting their palaces.  When he did encounter the rich and powerful (e.g. Pharisees) he called them hypocrites.   I use it also to describe powerful today.  For example they speak of democracy and human rights while daily violating those.  They speak of love of God but they murder, steal, lie, and cheat to get money and resources and land of others. So I think what Jesus would do if he was still physically walking in these hills here is that he would join us in protests at the apartheid wall and stand in front of bulldozers uprooting olive trees and destroying Palestinian homes.  He would also still be telling us to be hopeful that the Son of Man will be brought to life again and that Palestine will be free again.  We Palestinians do have some experience with resurrection J

Israel troops fire at Land Day commemorators/natives as they challenge continued colonization activities

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580290

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/03/2013330133848152178.html

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/palestinian-land-day.html

Manipulating the World to Destruction

The "exodus" story did not free the Jews. Just the opposite, it has been used to keep Jews in perpetual bondage
 to a false history and to promote an attitude of constant victimhood, while distracting them from
realizing they might also play a role in the injustices done to others.

http://www.alternativeinsight.com/Israeli_Manipulation.html

For Palestinian Americans, home brings little freedom

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/for-palestinian-americans-home-brings-little-freedom#ixzz2P5cXyPe3

Btselem: mass arrest of children in hebron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENpMxG8DgbY

Ahfad Younis encampment attacked by Occupation forces last week

Pictures: on.fb.me/YzUG3d

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_TOsgst6KI

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CTklBU9YDZY#!

Israelis say to Obama: Thank you for supporting our apartheid state

http://youtu.be/nfIcql9DJPI

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, FABMG

http://qumsiyeh.org