Popular Resistance

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.

Jul 27, 2012

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

Jul 12, 2012

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

Jul 7, 2012

Germany

I just returned to Palestine after a week giving talks in southern Germany (für einige meiner Schriften in deutscher Sprache sehen http://www.qumsiyeh.org/articlesingerman/ ). Back in Palestine, there are many stories and interest in new scientific evidence that Yasser Arafat was poisoned and that his death ended the only (remote) possibility of a peace with Israeli leaders. Germany is so beautiful and so organized and people are extremely hard working. Everything works on time and quality is paramount: quality of manufacturing, quality of life, quality of education, quality of health care etc. On the last night in Germany I went to the emergency room at 2 AM because I felt sharp pain in my left shoulder and arm and was not sure what that was. Fortunately, ultrasound and an EKG assured us it was merely a muscle tear (from carrying luggage). I had bought some old books and received many other books and reprints from colleagues especially at a museum of Natural History in Munich. The latter museum contained millions of specimens meticulously cared for. I am determined to work hard for establishing a Palestinian Museum of Natural History and to work even harder to bring our society along the way in health care and education. Every room of the 6 patient rooms in the emergency room was fully equipped including with a state of the art EKG machine. Here in my town of Beit Sahour we would like to get just one EKJ machine to serve 12,000 people especially the older people (including my mother), many with high blood pressure or diabetes. We must change this!!

So I go back to contrast a week in a sane functioning country with our chaos, misery, occupation, and struggle just to live. Of course not everything problematical here is due to the occupation/colonization. Our problems (of economic poverty, cultural poverty, inequality, tribalism, religiosity without education, paternalism, poor civic engagement, poor health care etc.) are merely exacerbated by decades of occupation and more recently by the Oslo process and what followed it. Even as a simple two steps we must insist: 1) on freedom of speech (see below on attack on Professor Budeiri as an example), and 2) that we respect our public spaces in the same way as we respect our private spaces in terms of cleanliness etc. I do believe we are moving/will move in the right direction to struggle for democracy, dignity, and freedom. None of these are given to us from others; they must be extracted with a price of sweat, tear, and blood. Here is a segment of what I said at the conference in Munich June 30-July1, 2012:

Last week I was in a small threatened Palestinian community in Jiftlik in the Jordan valley. Their homes were demolished and livelihood threatened daily. One man who has not gone through formal education but whose hands and face show that he got the education of the fields said to us: life is not difficult, only we humans make it difficult. This reminded me of what black people in the deep South in the US used to say during the civil rights movement: “Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow!” Indeed I tell my students that they can do anything they choose to do. The external obstacles are actually far less a problem than the internal obstacles we keep (the chains on our minds).

We are working on a movement for one democratic state. All of us here believe it is inevitable. In fact a survey of Israeli Jews a few years ago showed that nearly 70% believe there will not be a Jewish state by 2048. Palestine was and continues to be one country from the past few thousand years. Only for very brief periods it was divided for example between 1948-1967. Since 1967, we had one political system but it is a system of apartheid (and this is not my description but a legal definition based on the International Convention for the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and Racial Discrimination.) All of us in this room are convinced that we can do better than that: we can have democracy, justice, human rights. How to go from here to there (point A to point B) is why we are gathered here. We hope to build on the movement for one democratic state.

What is the definition of movement? Change in position or posture, transference from one situation to another. The agents of change are human beings and humans act when they are informed and convinced of a certain direction. I personally read and write first so that I can understand/change myself. In the 1990s I was very active in the rights of refugees and we collected 750,000 signatures by 1999 for the Right of Return. This exercise and its positive results showed everyone how action on the ground can CHANGE perceptions and create MOVEMENT in a positive direction. This led me to write a book which was published in 2004 called “Sharing the Land of Canaan” (http://www.qumsiyeh.org/sharingthelandofcanaan/). In it I argue in a scientific way (my background is biology and medicine) why there is no other logical scenario to arrive at a durable peace: a win-win situation. Here are some of the chapters:

People of the Land: Here I address as to why we are one people and not two people, who are the natives, how did people coexist despite differing religious beliefs .. etc.
Biology and Ideology: I addressed how biology of humanity and our genetics should be clearly and wisely interpreted and not distorted to claim support of racism. The trajectory of our social human evolution is towards coexistence and peace not tribalism.
Palestinian Refugees: This is the most important issue that makes notions of segregation/separation impossible. It is the basic and elemental right of Palestinians 11.5 million of us, 7 million of us are refugees or displaced people.
Jerusalem as a Pluralistic City
Zionism. Yoav mentioned in his talk that Zionist apartheid is not about separating Palestinians from Israelis but separating Palestinians from their lands and building the country up into a Jewish state. Indeed, peace is incompatible with Zionism as a political idea (not cultural or religious Zionism that died out over 100 years ago)
Is Israel a Democracy? This chapter built on the previous one because Israeli laws were natural outcome of racist Zionist ideas in the same sense that laws in Apartheid South Africa were natural outcome of the Afrikaaner Apartheid philosophy.
Human Rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides a very good base for a real road map to peace, a durable peace. Other suggested ideas including two states lead to violations of human rights and thus sustaining the conflict.
The Conflict and Sustainable Development: The future of the tourism industry, water, environment, and other natural resources, all argue against separation/segregation.
Political Context: Politikos in Greek described relationship of citizens to government. Many times the interests of the few who are in political leadership position are contrary to citizenship interests. But the relationship is dynamic and depends on public pressure to change status quo.
International Context and International Law: I argued that this is not hostile to ideas of unity nor is it in support of segregation/separation.

In the last chapter of this 2004 book I point that “Peace can be Based on Human Rights and International Law” and proposed specific short term, medium term and long term goals for our MOVEMENT. Others like Prof. Ghada Karmi and my late friend Prof. Edward Said argued along the same line. Subsequent people like Virginia Tilley and Ali Abunimah wrote books in 2006 also argued along the same line. So the theory and philosophy underlining work has already been done but implementation now is most urgently needed. The Arab spring provides both opportunities and challenges as a new geopolitical landscape is created.

We also had several conferences in London, Dallas, Stuttgart, Haifa, Cambridge and now in Munich that informed us, allowed us to network, and put material and writings and sometimes in concise declarations and documents. Just recently a group of Israelis and Palestinians published a vision/charter/foundational principles for one democratic state in significant detail (see http://www.1not2.org/One_State_in_Palestine/English.html). The group that formulated it includes myself, Ghada Karmi, George Bisharat, Haim Bresheet, Nur Masalha, Alma Jadallah, Naseer Aruri, Ilan Pappe, etc. but many many people endorsed it. We all know these are all steps in ther right direction but more is needed.

We need structured movement that puts information in one place and shares it and builds a political infrastructure based on it. Information may include material such as:

- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1949

- The PLO charter 1968

- The Canaanite movement charter

- Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action 2005

- The Palestinian Christian Kairos document 2009

- The various declarations and manifestos

Digesting these and taking from them what is positive and serves the movement (or at least lessons) is important.

In my book subtitles "Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian struggle" and also you heard from Ghada Karmi and Norton Mezvinsky that a struggle for human rights to change the status quo is an underlying principle of our movement. We all asked to be concrete about what are we doing? What are we building? Thus I suggest we need working groups in areas like communications, outreach, finance, actions (including more actions of BDS: Boycotts, Divestments, Sanctions) etc….. [more later on the conference]

The BDS movement is maturing and coming really close to achieving its objectives of bringing peace and human rights to the Holy Land. Read more about the amazing inspiring work by the Presbyterian Church on BDS:

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/campaigns/jvp-supports-presbyterian-divestment

The following letters were written by the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA). The first, regarding Professor Musa Budeiri, is addressed to Khalil Hindi, the President of Birzeit University. The second, regarding Gaza students' right to study in the West Bank, was sent to top-ranking members of the Israeli government, among others. http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6306/maghreb.jadaliyya.com/

A humanitarian got attacked for saying: “I must mention human rights violations in Syria and, being in Israel, human rights violations in the West Bank. Silence in the face of evil is evil.” This happened at Yad Vashem, a place that perpetuates tribalism and racism against others instead of teaching the universal lessons of our common history of many catastrophes including the Nakba

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=275371

Mazin Qumsiyeh

A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home

http://qumsiyeh.org

Jun 26, 2012

Shifting politics

In this newsletter are notes: on Middle East shifting politics, on a baby fruit bat, on success of BDS campaign against Caterpillar, on an upcoming trip to Germany, and a factoid on "anti-Semitism".

Many years ago, I started to state in my lectures and in conversations and in my writings that we have only two paths going forward: the path of "might makes right" (those with the bigger stick get what they want right or wrong) OR the path of justice and human rights and international law. I stated that we Palestinians wanted the second path but it was full of land mines laid by people who chose the first path. I predicted that Zionism, which chose the first path, will lose anyway. It can lose by enforcement of International law (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention for the Suppression of the Crime of Apartheid and Racial Discrimination). It will also lose if "might makes right" remains the path of governments like Israel and the United States. This is because to every action there is a reaction. Fundamentalism will be answered with fundamentalism. Hypocrisy cannot last forever unexposed. Why is NATO criticizing Syria for shooting down a Turkish Jet over Syrian territory when NATO said nothing about an Israeli attack on a Turkish civilian ship in International waters including execution of 9 Turkish passengers?

The rise of Jewish fundamentalism and its intensifying atrocities (e.g. in Gaza and the West Bank), is now facing a rising Islamic tide. Its largest manifestation is amply demonstrated in the results of election in Palestinian Occupied areas in 2006, in Lebanon over the past two decades, in Tunisia, and most recently in the Egyptian elections. Libya's model is diffent (a coup backed by the West). These dramatic changes in the geopolitical landscape need to be digested, and properly responded to. The train to the future will leave behind any political leader or party which does not act positively based on a deep understanding of current and future trends.

It remains to be seen how Islamic oriented political parties rule. Hamas is not an example here since Palestinians are under occupation and only Israel rules the occupied areas including Gaza. Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government and it seems the system is an uneasy equilibrium between secular and Islamic forces. In Iran, the Mullahs run the government but the economy is in bad shape partly due to centralization and the sanctions being imposed on Iran thanks to the Israeli lobby in Western countries. Turkey has a moderate Islamic party in power and seems to be doing very well economically. I think the era of one man dictatorial rule is slowly giving way to a trend of Islamization but also of empowerment of people. We must insist first and foremost on freedom: of thought, of religion (and from religion too), of movement, of assembly and demonstration etc. But governments (Islamic or Secular) must also do more to educate citizens, empower them, improve economies, education, health care etc. Consumerism must be replaced by improving production, responsible development, protecting the environmental etc.

On a baby bat: I now have a baby fruit bat at home. She is 2-3 weeks old. After the untimely death of its mother, it took us a while to figure out how to take care of it. We now use a piece of cloth as an artificial nipple and human baby formula. The delicate helpless baby is like human babies in many ways. Their larger than usual heads, chubby cheeks, tender skin, and feeble cries elicit a motherly instinct in all who encounter it. I see the flood of emotion from any friend or relative who visits and see the baby bat. A baby elephant is helped by any member of the group nearby. A baby dog is coddled by humans and dogs alike. These emotions remind us of the connectedness of all living things. Babies grow to the curiosity and inquisitiveness of childhood. Among humans that leads to the idealism of youth. Among humans though, unfortunately some of us grow up to do mean things to fellow human beings and other creatures around them. Other animals do not kill for greed or for sport or for a flag or a religion. They kill only to feed if they are carnivorous or defend themselves from being killed. If only humans remained young or reconnected with fellow creatures. We could avoid war, environmental destruction and much more.

Major US Retirement Fund Divests From Caterpillar

http://imemc.org/article/63783

Trip: I will on a trip to Germany June 28-July 7 (Munich, Pfaffenhoffen, Heidelberg, and Karlsruhe) for a conference and talks. Let me know if you are in one of these Southern German towns or if you know anyone there to connect with.

Factoid: A Jewish German by the name of Heyman Steinthal was actually the first person to use the words "ani-Semitism" in 1860 in Zeitschrift fur Volkespsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft 1:328 (The Jewish Question: Biography of a World Problem, By Alex Bei, p. 594). Later the term was used by Wilhelm Marr (who had twice married Jewish women with unhappy marriages) and was more well known after the "Anti-Semite League was formed". The term is misleading since most European Jews are not Semites. Arabs are of course Semites.

Jun 17, 2012

Saud and Susya

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Nayef Al-Saud died at age 78. Nayef was the Interior Minister known for his "efficient" crackdown on dissent and thus was praised by US administrators for dealing with "terrorism" (the same administrators who tortured and "rendered" subjects to be tortured). I will briefly write information that maybe new to some you about this ruling family. The founder of this kingdom was his father AbdulAziz Al- Saud (1876-1953) whose family made income by raids especially on the area of the Rashid clan who ruled much of the Arabian Peninsula then under the Ottoman Empire. AbdulAziz consolidated his rule with British arms via wars against other ruling families and not just Al-Rashid but Al-Hashemites (also installed by the British to rule part of Arabia). He established a western-leaning "kingdom" and named it after his family "Saudi Arabia". He married over 20 wives and had 37 children. Today's succession of elderly men ruling Saudi Arabia were/are his children: Saud, Faisal (assassinated), Khalid, Fahd, and now 87-year old Abdullah. There are 7000 members of the "Royal Family" and they do not get along with each other and many are decent human beings. Yet, much of the people's wealth is in the hands of elite few deposited in Western Banks profiting Zionists. Over $1 billion oil revenue flows in EVERY DAY. Another source of income for the kingdom is from millions of pilgrims flocking to Mecca and Medina for the Haj. The trillions gathered could have made every citizen of the kingdom comfortably rich but there are over 20% unemployment and the disparity between rich and poor is one of the highest in the world. This Arab wealth could have helped develop sustainable economy in an integrated Arab world. The Arab world, rich in natural resources and educated and talented people could have become far more advanced than Europe or the US. Instead, we remain mired in feudalism, tribalism, paternalism, factionalism, sexism, consumerism, autocracy, and excessive religiosity (promoted by rulers to keep people down).

The Ottoman Sultan AbdulHamid was forced to relinquish power because he refused to acquiesce to the Zionist project in Palestine. By contrast, the founder of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, wrote with his own hand in 1915: " I the Sultan Abdel Aziz Bin Abdel Alrahman Al-Faysal Al-Saud decide and acknowledge a thousand times to Sir Percy Cox representative of Great Britain that I have no objection to give Palestine to the poor Jews or to others as seen [fit] by Great Britain that I would not go outside [disobey] its opinion until the hour of calling [end of the world]." (See Qumsiyeh, Popular Resistance in Palestine", Pluto Press 2011). So while the kingdom's population grew, its riches continued to pass through the hands of people like these, individuals who routinely violate human rights, supported by Britain and now the USA.

Two days ago I was in Susya in the South of the West Bank. Here Zionist European Ashkenazi established a colony and discovered an old Canaanite temple which they claim falsely to be connected to them. Here they have demolished homes of native Palestinians (the real inheritors of these ancient civilizations). Here settlers routinely attack Palestinians (see video below). Here good people helped build solar panels to give electricity to a community that Israel refuses to allow them to connect to an existing grid. Here also is where last week Israeli authorities gave demolition orders that will make over 300 men, women, and children homeless. Here also is a place where an elderly resident tells me that some Palestinians profit by capitulating on their miseries and. Whether it is Palestinians or it is members of the Al-Saud family, all give us lessons in human frailty and humanity. I did write my email last week on optimism and as the late Khalil Gibran stated: "The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose." Come to think of it in a hundred years who will be more remembered: dead kings and crown-princes or people like Khalil Gibran? Will it be the resident of Susya who stuck-it out and resisted or his brother who now live comfortably in Yatta while settler cultivate his land? Will it be a Palestinian who takes money from internationals for his pocket or one who is on a hunger strike in an Israeli jail?

We can say a kind word to real friends and to strangers in need. We can do a gesture or a smile to help someone who is down. We can teach. We can sing. We can rebel. We can simply live in dignity even if we are dirt poor. So I take this moment to thank you all: the activists who care about justice and human rights, the artists, the teachers, the peasants, the workers, and all those who maintain their humanity and do not sell out their souls. You are principled and will not compromise your integrity. That is why our late friend Vittorio ended his emails with the admonition "Stay Human". May we all stay human. And may those who have sold their souls for a fistful of silver coins reclaim their humanity. It is never too late. I even have a dream that the next "king" of "Saudi Arabia" will be someone who uses his existing powers to remove that power and transfer it in an orderly way to the people and thus gains a perpetual place in history. I have a dream that Barack Obama or his successor will finally show some backbone and do a similar thing in America (challenging the Israel lobby).

On Susya Background

http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=3002

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSDC_xUtf8o (colonial settlers attack an elderly couple)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPYmp9iIaQ4 (settlers attack farmers harvesting olives)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG6uU4ZYvHc (Settlers training their children to be thugs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJdWT_cz0vw (Susya film trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIf_vdzcup4 (renewable energy project)

Sobering video of what's at Stake: Total US debt is not just $14.8 trillion, but $61 trillion (including social security obligation that is off the balance sheet and only disclosed in the footnotes of US government's financial statements as of the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011.) Every US citizens and taxpaying US residents should take 10 minutes to watch this Video made by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and find more time to read the resources cited in the video, and get involved to change the direction the US is heading. http://www.aicpa.org/Advocacy/Pages/CPAsInsight.aspx

(of course much of this debt is due to lavish funding for Israel and countless wars done at the behest of the Israel lobby including the $3 trillion Iraq war; watch for Iran now! The wonderful hard working Americans I met when I lived there do not deserve this)

Nurit Peled-Elhanan’s moving reflections on the occupation’s 45th birthday

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/nurit-peled-elhanans-moving-reflections-on-the-occupations-45th-birthday.html

State Dep’t official’s ‘Are you Jewish?’ question to US citizen keeps rattling Foggy Bottom

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/state-dept-officials-are-you-jewish-question-to-us-citizen-keeps-rattling-foggy-bottom.html

Supporter of human rights, Israeli Andrey Pshenichnikov moved to one of our refugee camps near Bethlehem, and asked for Palestinian citizenship. So "Israel detains ex-IDF soldier [and] accused [him] of ties to Palestinian terror group"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-detains-ex-idf-soldier-accused-of-ties-to-palestinian-terror-group-1.436485

Action: Send TIAA-CREF’s Senior Vice President a note to let him know you are watching and you expect public—not backroom—engagement with companies, like Caterpillar, profiting from Israel's occupation.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10781

Israel: Jesus was not born in Palestine!

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23255/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Freedom bus upcoming events in Palestine

http://www.freedombus.ps/

For interest-nonpolitical: Why is 'x' the unknown? By Terry Moore

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