21 March

Mothers' & Spring day, government hypocrisy, Gaza prayers for the world, medical qualifications, and one way how to spend time productively by taking virtual tours of museums & sites....All below.

A big salute to all mothers on mothers’ day especially my mother and my wife and all the mothers especially in this first day of spring in Palestine (beautiful flowers in our museum garden). Mothers (and all women) are our salvation & our future especially in such bleak times. 

Our hearts  go  to all who lost loved ones  in this pandemic and to all who are suffering from it. Few are friends and acquaintances (and are receiving this since this is sent to all 50,000 plus emails), we share our love for all people. Particular worry for people in Italy and Iran: one person dies now in Iran every 10 minutes and one person in Italy dies every 2-3 minutes (and health services are at the brink of collapse).  We are  grateful to Venezuela and Cuba for sending doctors to Italy. We are grateful for the Italian young lady journalist who handed US Secretary of state Pompeo dog food telling him he could eat it and learn to have some loyalty. We are grateful for decent Arabs who show solidarity with Palestine and outrage at their governments’ acquiescence in handing Israeli intelligence agents  highly valuable medical supplies.

Some people said in response to my last message that we should not criticize governments and factions during this tough time and we should leave the criticism for the good time? The logic escapes me. It is precisely during difficult time that citizens are awakened and must hold them responsible. Pushing them now is certainly the most likely to help, Should Israelis not hold Netanyahu responsible for his racist remarks  about Arabs (continuing even in his daily “briefings”) or at least for his power grab shutting the court that was set to try him last week and closing the Knesset? Do you think our politicians are not taking advantage of this catastrophic situation to advance their narrow interests at the expense of people interest? Why do you thank Trump now holds a press conference daily when the first three years in office he barely appeared before press except for Fox News and the like (hate mongering media)?  And isn’t Trump & Netanyahu responsible for many deaths in besieged Iran, Venezuela and Gaza? Isn’t Mahmoud Abbas and Haniya responsible (Maybe not equally 80%/20%)since 2006 for the state of division afflicting Palestinian politics that cost us so much more suffering on the hands of the colonizers? And please do not tell me your political leader or congressperson is altruistic.

Other readers asked about my own qualifications to speak of medical and viral issues. For the record, I was professor in medical schools at famous universities (Tennessee, Duke, Yale) and am a medical geneticists who was director of medical labs in the past three decades. I also teach biotechnology now (including genetic engineering etc) and published over 150 scientific papers, a third of them medical.

Gaza residents prayed  Friday in mosques and tomorrow in churches for the rest of the world which has allowed and abetted blockade to continue. They hope the rest of the world having tasted on a small scale what Gaza endured for many years that we all show sympathy and solidarity and joint struggle against oppression.

Testimony of one Israeli veteran soldier on Gaza

https://www.mintpressnews.com/veteran-of-the-israeli-army-gives-explosive-tell-all-i-was-the-terrorist/225780/

And Yemen is like Gaza. (Must see) Atiaf Alwazir remarkable Tedx talk about YEMEN http://youtu.be/rkvTDM7ghEk

 Innovations inspired by Gaza

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/canadian-doctor-who-works-in-gaza-3d-prints-face-shields-for-covid-19-pandemic-1.5502964

Time to spare sitting at home? Besides working and volunteering from home (contact us if you want ideas on how to help us http://palestinenature.org/volunteer :-) you can take these virtual tours of museums around the world (and soon we will have one for the Palestine Museum of Natural History)

Virtual dive in several ocen locations https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/vr/

New England Aquarium virtual visit https://www.neaq.org/visit/at-home-events-and-activities/

Street walk/graffiti exploration https://streetart.withgoogle.com/en/audio-tours

Nature walk virtual        

Oklahoma walk https://www.newspin.com/tour/?site=42&scenename=815

360 Tour of the Vatican amazing collections http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.1.html

Google art and culture virtual tours 2500 museums https://artsandculture.google.com/project/street-view

Hermitage Museum, Russia https://youtu.be/49YeFsx1rIw

Smithsonian 23,000 art pieces online https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-portrait-gallery

Museee d’Orsay, Paris https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/musee-dorsay-paris?hl=en

Van Gogh Museum https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/van-gogh-museum?hl=en

Art Institute of Chicago high resolutions 44000 pieces of art http://www.openculture.com/2018/10/art-institute-chicago-puts-44000-works-art-online-view-high-resolution.html

أسئلة مصيرية

بلدتنا بيت ساحور تخضع لحظر تجول كامل. حتى التسوق للطعام محظور. ذكرت لجنة الطوارئ أنه يمكننا استدعاء المتاجر لتوصيل الطلبات للمنازل. ومع ذلك ، لست متأكدًا من كيفية عمل ذلك لأن معظم الناس يحتاجون إلى أموال لا يملكونها وإذا كانوا يمتلكونها في البنك فمحظور عليهم الذهاب إلى أجهزة الصراف الآلي وحتى لو وصلوها فإغلاق البنوك في منطقة بيت لحم يعني الماكنات فضت من زمان. هذه كارثة عالمية. أرغب أيضًا في التحقق من المحتاجين ومساعدتهم ولكن يجب أن أعرف كيف يمكننا القيام بذلك بموجب حظر التجوال الكامل. جميع الموظفين في المنزل ونحن نحاول القيام بالعمل على الرغم من كونه يمثل تحديًا نفسيًا. ولكن يجب علينا الحفاظ على معنوياتنا مرتفعة.

تقوم السلطة الفلسطينية ببعض الأشياء الإيجابية ولكن مثل جميع القادة السياسيين الآخرين ليسوا في الواقع بمنأى عن الاعتبارات السياسية ولأنهم يتمتعون بحرية الحركة والكثير من الموارد فقد لا يفهمون تمامًا احتياجات الناس. كما زادوا التنسيق مع نظام الفصل العنصري بشكل كبير. تنتهز إسرائيل هذه الفرصة لتطبيق اللمسات الأخيرة من خطتها للهيمنة الكاملة والتطهير العرقي والفصل العنصري. جاء جيش الاحتلال حتى إلى بيت لحم (مرتديا الزي الواقي) وألقى القبض على ثلاثة شباب من منازلهم. من المؤلم حقا أن فعل السلطة الفلسطينية إصدار بيانات ومنع تجول. وبالتالي لدي أسئلة مصيرية:

لماذا لا تملك السلطة الفلسطينية الكرامة لاستخدام هذه الأزمة للتخلي نهائياً عن أوسلو والتوقف عن خدمة الاحتلال من خلال إعفائها من مسؤوليتها عن صحة وتعليم الناس المحتلين بدلاً من استخدام الديون والأموال الخيرية للأمن؟

لماذا يستخدمون مكبرات الصوت ويلقون خطبًا حول حظر التجول أو "التباعد الاجتماعي" ولكن لا يشرحون لعامة الناس كيفية التعايش ، وكيفية البقاء بدون دخل ، وكيفية الحصول على "اتصالات اجتماعية" (مساعدة بعضهم البعض مع الحفاظ على "الإبعاد الجسدي")؟

لماذا لا تزال أولوياتنا المالية مشوهة لصالح الجيش والنخب وجزء ضئيل للصحة والزراعة والتعليم والبحث؟ على سبيل المثال ، تنفق السلطة الفلسطينية 40 +٪ من ميزانيتها على الأمن وقليلًا جدًا على المجالات التي كان من الممكن أن تساعدنا في تجاوز هذه الأزمة.

إذا كانت الحكومات لديها سلطات طوارئ ، فلماذا لا تستخدمها لفرض ضريبة على الأغنياء مثلا 5 ٪ من ثروتهم واستخدامها بدلاً من زيادة الديون؟ إذا فعلوا ذلك فقط لطبقة المليارديرات ، فسيكون لديهم مئات المليارات !!

لماذا لم ترسل الوزارات بما في ذلك الحكومة المحلية والصحة (وليس فقط في فلسطين) نداءً للحصول على الخبرة في المجالات الأكثر احتياجًا (مثل التثقيف الصحي المجتمعي وعلم الأوبئة والتغذية وما إلى ذلك)؟

لماذا تساعد كوبا والصين العالم في حين أن البلد الأغنى على وجه الأرض (الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية) بالفعل يعاقب هذه الدول (عقوبات على إيران وكوبا وفنزويلا واليمن وسوريا وغيرها ، ومعاقبة مالية على الصين وروسيا وفلسطين، وترامب يكرر عنصريته بكلمة "الفيروس الصيني"

لماذا لا يتم الإعلان عن باندميك  لـ 25000 شخص يموتون يوميًا من الجوع ، أو أكثر من 10000 شخص يموتون يوميًا بسبب أمراض يمكن الوقاية منها مثل الملاريا ، أو المئات الذين يموتون يوميًا بسبب الحصار (مثل غزة وفنزويلا وإيران)

لماذا لا يُحاسب السياسيون لعدم الاستجابة لتحذيراتنا كعلماء (والعديد من الأعمال المنشورة) بأن مثل هذه الأوبئة كانت حتمية؟

لماذا يسمح الناس لحكوماتهم بتكديس سلطاتهم لاستخدامها من أجل المنفعة السياسية التي تنتهك حقوق الناس في الأزمات ويعرفون أنه عندما تنتهي الأزمة ، لا تعاد هذه الحقوق إلى الناس مثل قانون باتريوت الذي لم يُلغ أبدًا منذ عام 2001؟؟؟

لماذا تضيف الدول الغربية إلى ديون حكومتها (اقرأ الناس) لمساعدة الأغنياء والشركات على البقاء ولكن ليس الناس (أكثر من 400 مليار في المملكة المتحدة ، 1 تريليون في الولايات المتحدة)؟ يصبح عامة الناس (دافعي الضرائب) أكثر فقرًا ويواصل الأغنياء زيادة ثراءهم.

لماذا يثق الناس بالحكومات التي ثبت مرارًا أنها تكذب؟ لماذا نسمح للدولة العميقة  Deep stateبالاستمرار في منحنا خيارات مثل كلينتون ضد ترامب وبايدن ضد ترامب وعباس ضد هنية ونتنياهو ضد غانتس)؟ هل ستجعل هذه الأزمة هؤلاء السياسيين يغيرون طرقهم؟

أنا أعلم فقط أن كل واحد منا يحتاج إلى البحث أعمق في قلوبنا للإجابات والأهم من ذلك إلى العمل الدؤوب. قبل 19 عامًا ، كتبت مقالًا بعد أزمة 11 سبتمبر 2001 تشرح الخيارين أمامنا (بشكل جماعي): نحافظ على الطرق القديمة (الجشع ، الرأسمالية المتفشية والموت معًا) أو نعتني ببعضنا البعض وللكوكب. صحتنا وصحة الكوكب على المحك. هذا تذكير صارخ آخر. فلنأمل أن نتخذ الخيارات الصحيحة ونضغط على السياسيين ونختار الحياة. لا يمكننا أن نتصرف مثل القوارض تتجه نحو الجرف.

ابق بشريًا وسالما

Questions and curfews

As of last night our town of Beit Sahour is under complete curfew. Even shopping for food is prohibited. The emergency committee stated that we can call shops for home delivery. However, I am not sure how that would work out since most people need money which they do not have and if they do have it in the bank would need to go to ATMs which are prohibited and banks are closed in the Bethlehem district so they cannot re-stock the ATM machines. This is a global catastrophe. I also would like to check on needy people and help them but I have to figure how we can do that under complete curfew. Staff are all at home and we try to do work though psychologically it is challenging. But we must keep our spirits up. 

 The Palestinian authority does some positive things but like all other political leaders really are not immune from political considerations and as they have freedom of movement and lots of resources, they may not quite understand people's needs. Also coordinations with our apartheid oppressors increased dramatically. Israel is taking this opportunity to implement the last touches of its plan of complete hegemony, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Their occupation army even came into Bethlehem (dressed in full protective corona gear) and arrested three people from their homes. Truly sickening that all the PA does is issue statements. I thus have questions:

Why is it that the Palestinian authority does not have the dignity to use this crisis to finally give up on Oslo and stop serving the occupation by relieving it of its responsibility for the occupied people's health and education instead of using debt and charity money for security?

Why do they use loudspeakers and give speeches about curfews or "social distancing" but not explaining to common people how to cope, how to survive with no income, how to have "Social connections" (helping each other while maintaining "physical distancing")?? 

Why is it that our financial priorities still skewed in favor of military and elites and a tiny fraction for health, agriculture, education, and research? The PA for example spend 40+% of its budget on security and so little on the areas that could have helped us weather this crisis.

If governments have emergency powers, why not use them to tax the wealthy say 5% of their wealth and use it instead of racking up debt? If they do this just to the billionnaire class, they would have hundreds of billions!!

Why is it that ministries including local government and health (and not just in Palestine) did not send out one call for expertise in the areas most needed (like community health education, epedemiology, nutrition etc)?

Why is it that Cuba and China help the world while the supposed richest country on earth (USA) actually punished these countrie (sanctions on Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen, Syria etc, financial blocks on China and Russia, and Trump calling it repeatedly the "Chinese virus")

Why is it that a pandemic is not declared for 25,000 who die daily from starvation, over 10,000 who die daily from preventable diseases like malaria, or the hundreds who die daily from blockaded (e.g. Gaza, Venezuela, Iran)

Why is it that people let their governments amass powers to use for political benefit that infringe on people's rights in a crisis and they know that when the crisis is over governments do not return these rights to people (e.g. Patriot act never repealed since 2001!)?

Why is it that western countries will add to their government (read people's) debt to help rich people and companies survive but not the people (over 400 billion in UK, >1 trillion in US)? Common people (Tax payers) become poorer and rich people continue to get richer.

Why do people trust governments that have been repeatedly shown to lie? Why do we allow deep states to continue to give us choices like Clinton vs Trump and Biden vs Trump and Abbas vs Haniya and Netanyahu vs Gantz)? Will this crisis ever make such people change their ways?

I know only that each of us needs top dig deeper in our hearts for answers and more importantly for actions. 19 years ago, I wrote an article after the crisis of 11 Sept 2001 explaining the two choices before us (collectively): We keep the old ways (greed, rampant capitalism and die together) or care for each other and for our planet. Our health and the health of the planet are at stake. This is yet another stark reminder. Let us hope we make the right choices, pressure politicians, and choose life. We cannot act like lemmings going towards the cliff. 

Will humanity fail?

Will humanity fail or rise to the challenge?

Obviously human beings are being tested: pandemics spreading around the world (and after coronavirus, there will be others much more deadly), the collapse of oil prices that led to financial market collapses, the climate change (we have really 7 or 8 years left to make drastic changes in lifestyle to avoid the irreversible damage), the technology gone rampant and killings and nature (5G, chemical and biological weapons), the accelerating risk of nuclear war, and much more.  How we deal with this as individuals and communities is really existential. There are bad signs and good signs. Let us give some examples of both and then of areas where we could go either way). Please post other good and bad news in the comments on this blog.

Example bad news first

1) Regarding Coronavirus, it has become officially a pandemic and the failure of many governments to take it seriously will have catastrophic consequences in those areas (like Italy and the US). Some governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to increase repression and discrimination instead of using it to bring peace with justice. The genocidal sanctions on Iran for example has been tightened causing needless deaths of many.  And even though Israeli cases are far more than Palestinian cases, restrictions and blockade tightened in our ghettos/bantustans (our own apartheid regime) and settlers are free to travel anywhere. Bethlehem is blockaded only for its Palestinian residents not for the illegal Israeli colonial settlers living here. Iran released tens of thousands of prisoners to protect them; Israel brought in a sick doctor and cut services and stopped family visits to the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners. The catastrophic economic situation around the world impacts the most vulnerable communities. Poverty will skyrocket and the billionaires will stay billionaires! “Israel” with all its money and resources (fleeced from us and others) is focused on being anti-Palestinian instead of working to better the lives of all its citizens including Palestinians. Greece and Turkey play football with Syrian refugees and the genocide in Yemen is ongoing and I shudder to think what would happen as the virus spreads in such devasted countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya.

2) The climate change catastrophic situation is not dealt with and the political structures look like will not be changed. Because of cheating and rigging to prevent Bernie Sanders from getting the democratic nomination (driven mostly by Zionists), the choice in November will be to vote for one xenophobic puppet and another (Trump vs Biden) or sit it out. Trump will win (the power of incumbency and more money from Zionist billionaires) and we will be run for four more years by a fumbling megalomaniac. In either case the US will continue to topple governments that serve their people and install puppets similar to the one they put in charge of Brazil who will finish off the Amazon rainforest.

Good news:

1) In many locations, people quickly responded aggressively to the virus and seem to have contained the situation including at the source of the virus (Wuhan province in China) where new cases continue to decline. Medical personnel around the world have been nothing less than heroes. Among Palestinians we were pleasantly surprised by how serious it was taken and every one of the 31 cases reported in the past few days has known source and well controlled with hundreds observing the self-quarantine (only two people did not and they are now forced to do so and maybe penalized!). So many people are helping other people.  “Other good news in this front is the scientific development of simplified cheap tests and quick progress on anti-viral cures.

2) Young people around the world are aware like never before. Part of it is they understand increasingly how the system is rigged, that 99.9% of politicians lie to them, and that their future cannot be left to such politicians. They take things into their own hands, mobilize, help fellow human beings and are increasingly realizing that their future is at stake. Extinction Rebellion is the fastest growing movement on our planet.

Now there are things that we cannot predict where they go yet. Will decision makers do the right thing and learning from the past realize that “business as usual” cannot go on and that they need to think of the collective human interest? Will we learn that the horrors of World War I and WWII were indeed repeated including actions of ethnic cleansing and slow genocide even by some people claiming to be heirs to the victims of similar atrocities? Will some countries use Israeli made drones to oppress people & shut down borders to refugees or will they really work for peace and justice instead of supporting repressive regimes like “Saudi Arabia” and “Israel” who cause these problems? Will those who attended the large AIPAC conference including congress people realize there is so much more hard from that besides getting Coronavirus (four were infected and mingling)? Will politicians put their personal financial and political interests ahead of our (and their’s) children future? Will the world (including our Arab countries and Palestine) remain run by mediocre people focusing on their own narrow self-interest? Will Israeli society and global Zionists continue to drift farther to the rights (racism, fascism etc)?

We did not learn from our history. As WWII was ending and Germany and Japan were already defeated, the US fired the first two shots of the next war with the Soviet Union (that is the Hiroshima and Nagazaki terror bombing). Then we had Korea, Vietnam, Palestine and many many more atrocities against peole to serve colonial and imperial powers. In the past they got away with it. Today, this is existential to all humanity and as was said by a prophetic voice: we either live together as fellow human beings or we perish together as fools. When I said this to an audience in a recent talk in Europe, they asked about probabilities: I said 20% and 80% but the probability of 20% to survive as a species is getting smaller – the window of opportunity is closing. We must all reach deeper in our hearts and minds (and soul if you believe) and summon our best to fight. It is the epic struggle for our existence.

Gazan Girl Fighting Cancer Died After Israel Denied Her Parents’ Visit. She Won’t Be the Last

https://israelpalestinenews.org/gazan-girl-fighting-cancer-died-after-israel-denied-her-parents-visit/

Five things to know/do

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059261

Bat and Hyena

I watched part of a movie called “Inglorious bastards” which was supposed to be about an American unit of Jewish soldiers formed in WWII to kill Nazis (I think this is fictional); its commander wanted each member to collect 100 scalps of killed Nazis. I turned it off when it actually got that bloody/ gruesom (the “Bear Jew” soldier uses a bat to smash the skull of a German officer!). A settler in Hebron used a bat once to smash the skull of a Palestinian Child and the killer is free.  I do not like war movies anyway (wars are rackets and profit elites on both sides). I could not sleep thinking about this kind of violence. The shooting in the back even of unarmed protesters in Gaza or even unarmed civilians like children (John Pilger called it like shooting sitting ducks in a barrel) and so many others. 

It has always bothered me as to why so many Jews got brainwashed by Zionism to become so hateful and so self-focused that they do not even care that millions of us Palestinians are suffering: >100,000 killed, >800,000 injured, >7.5 million refugees and displaced people by a methodical process of ethnic cleansing to create a racist “Jewish state” that does not help Jews. Only by thinking of parallels and other scenarions (like South Africa under apartheid, the institution of slavery, and such) that I start to understand mentality of privileged/oppressers/colonialists. But I really need to also guard my heart and mind from notions of vengance and hate. I thought again about that movie and what prompts someone to make such horrible (really horror) movies glorifying murder/killing fellow human beings. I could not sleep thinking how horrible it would be for someone in the future made a similar film about say killing all Zionists! Ofcourse both the Nazi and Zionist regimes did (and in the case of the Z’s still do) horrible things. As did the British, French, & the US regimes (Hiroshima, Nagazaki, Dresden, Vietnam, Korea, Camobodia, South America etc). But we must really be very careful and such movie would be a horrible ideas in any of those cases. I will quote the poetry of my friend Ahlamn Shalhout: “I dream of a new earth in which the abused never become the abuser and the deceived never become the deceiver… May all broken hearts and wings be mended. May all the hearts beat as one. May all the dreams come true at the expense of none” Or as the late Faisal Hussaini had said: “Lord [we beseech you] to make the bloods that were shed [so far over 100,000 Palestinians, few thousand Israelis] become a light that shows us the way and not fuel for hatred and revenge”.

We get local and international visitors every day here (four delegations visited our institute just today). I tell them the same thing about action for human rights. Just like we humans did so to end slavery, for civil rights, for women right to vote, tpo end US and Western support for apartheid in soth Africa and the genocide in Vietnam, etc. Action is critical and we must never ever give up despite all that is bad around us. Wew feel bad for horrible things done to fellow human beings by fellow human beings (e.g. the massacres in Gaza by Israeli colonizers). We also feel bad for horrible things human beings do to other animals and plants. Just this week, the Environmental Quality Authority office in Hebron called me and brought is a murdered female hyena (strangled and dragged by a car). As we dissected the body (preparing a skin for our natural history museum), I found that she is pregnant and the baby at term (about to deliver). The post about this on the museum facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Palestine-Museum-of-Natural-History-1454309858180882/ ) reached 50,000, 21000 engaged, over 380 click like or mad etc, and over 100 shares and 120 comments. Many of us kept thinking about that cruelty. I could not sleep also that night. The next day we hear that a friend who helped in our tour in the UK died unexpectedly (Peter MacDonald).

 but then we planted trees and harvested vegetables/fruits and life goes on in occupied Palestine and our friends and us have lots of hope.

Stephanie of GIZ planting an olive tree - baby she carries will come visit one day

 Every day we see so many sad things…. But we also see so many great things: humans standing up for injustice, challenging tyranny, planting seeds (literally and figuratively).  Just in our own small sphere, we had great activities this week. We had workshops on biodiversity that attracted 70 people Tuesday and Wednesday. 

We talked about action for preserving nature and humans around Al-Makhrour valley (project funded by Darwin and National Geographic including benefit to 80 farmers in Walaja, Battir, Husan, and Beit Jala. We also had several meetings for starting an EU funded project for enhancing human diversity and biodiversity in our region. We had great visitors to our institute. We trained young people in doing studies of the environment. We ate food from our garden and much more. Keep the hope alive but act. For example let us all target these 112 companies working in (profiting from) occupied Palestinian lands- The UN Published the list and you can see it here:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-blacklist-all-112-companies-un-says-are-operating-in-settlements/

بقاؤنا الجماعي

بقاؤنا الجماعي

كتبت كتابين عن النضال الفلسطيني (واثنان آخران جاهزان للنشر قريبًا)، وأبرزت من خلالهما محورية القضية الفلسطينية بالنسبة للسلام العالمي، وقد نشطت في الكفاح من أجل حقوق الإنسان والبيئة منذ ما يقرب من أربعة عقود. لم أكن أكثر قلقًا من الآن بشأن المستقبل. أنا هنا لا أتحدث فقط عن مستقبل 13 مليون فلسطيني (7.5 مليون لاجئ أو نازح) ولكن عن مستقبل البشرية ككل. واسمحوا لي بسرد تسعة أشياء فقط قد تثير التسائل:

1)      سيفوز ترامب بأغلبية ساحقة تمامًا مثل بوريس جونسون وأحزاب اليمين ستكتسب قوة في جميع الدول "الغربية" (لن أخوض في تفاصيل لماذا هذا هو الحال لكن المذكور أدناه يمكن أن يسرع هذا التوجه لأن الدعاية الاعلامية يمكن أن تستخدم في أوقات معينة لدعم أولئك الذين يَعدون الشعوب بتوفير "الأمن").

2)      اعتادت وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية أن تقضي ما بين 40 إلى 50٪ من وقتها في الترويج لإسرائيل، وتم توجيههم لمضاعفة جهودهم من أجل إسرائيل (معلومات داخلية من زميل في وزارة الخارجية). هذا يعني أن 80٪ من وقت سفراء الولايات المتحدة والمبعوثين وغيرها من الجهات الفاعلة في 204 دولة ومنطقة حول العالم ستعمل على تنفيذ اجندات صهيونية. وبالتالي لَيْ الذراع والتطبيع من قبل أوغندا والسودان وغيرهم. الخلاصة: المصلحة القومية الأمريكية تخسر، الاستعمار الإسرائيلي يفوز.

3)      يسيطر الصهاينة على ثروات وموارد كبيرة بما في ذلك معظم كبار الشركات العالمية الغربية ووسائل الإعلام الرئيسية في العالم مثل سي إن إن إمبراطورية فوكس  (Fox)،والتلفزيون الألماني الخاص وغير ذلك الكثير.

4)      إن الجسد السياسي الفلسطيني وقيادتنا لم تكن أبدًا أضعف أو غير مؤهلة أكثر من الآن. جميع الخبراء الرئيسيين مهمشين، فقط أولئك الذين يتعهدون بالولاء لمحمود عباس والذي يحيطه السحيجة "يأخذون دورهم". يبذل أفراد جهودًا بطولية لكن بالنظر إلى النقطة الثالثة، يصعب الوصول إلى جماهير واسعة باستثناء وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي والتي يراقبها الصهاينة عن كثب وينصبون الكثير من المصايد من خلالها. إضافة إلى ذلك فإن استخدام جماعات الضغط اللوبي لحمل الحكومات والمؤسسات على حظر انتقاد إسرائيل أو الصهيونية باعتبارهما "معاداة للسامية" في ازدياد. يأتي هذا في ظل العمل الخبيث لاسكات صوت العاملين من أجل حقوق الانسان.

5)      التفكير الصهيوني ينصب على المدى القصير بكيفية سرقة المزيد من الأراضي والموارد الطبيعية من الفلسطينيين الأصليين. سيطر الصهاينة بالفعل على معظم أراضي الفلسطينيين (الآن يقبع الفلسطينيون في 8٪ من أراضيهم التاريخية وهذه هي المناطق الحضرية القليلة التي تحتوي أقل من 1٪ من الموارد الطبيعية). لكن هذا ليس مستدامًا من الناحية الأخلاقية والقانونية والبيئية واللوجستية من عدة أوجه (انظر كتابي عن "مشاركة أرض كنعان"). الفلسطينيون لن يذهبوا إلى أي مكان حتى تذهب البشرية جمعاء (انظر أدناه)

6)       سيتسارع إفقار الفلسطينيين (كان الشعب الفلسطيني من أغنى شعوب العالم العربي قبل الصهيونية) . ستصبح كانتونات الضفة الغربية مثل كانتون غزة / غيتو / بانتوستان. لكن هذه فائدة قصيرة المدى لإسرائيل حيث يزيد الفقر من معدل الانجاب، وحيث أن قلة قليلة من الفلسطينيين يمكن أن يغادروا، في الوقت الذي يغادر فيه مئات الآلاف من الإسرائيليين إلى الخارج (300,000 الآن في ألمانيا) ، فإن الغالبية الفلسطينية في ظل الحكم الإسرائيلي سترتفع من 52 ٪ الآن إلى 65 ٪ بحلول عام 2048. المزيد من الإسرائيليين سيتحولون الى معاديين للصهيونية. علاوة على ذلك ، فإن البيئة في تدهور مستمر أساسا. احصائيات الصحة تشير الى زيادة في أمراض السكري والسرطان والعيوب الخلقية الخ.

7)      تغير المناخ يتسارع وله تأثير في جميع أنحاء العالم. لا حاجة لتوضيح المزيد هنا حيث شاهد وسمع الجميع عن الحرائق والدمار في منطقة الأمازون وإفريقيا وأستراليا.

8)       تم تغطية القليل من الأحداث حول سباق التسلح العالمي الذي تسارع خلال العشرين عامًا الماضية. ترسانة إسرائيل من الأسلحة النووية على الغواصات والصوامع في النقب، ترقية الولايات المتحدة لترسانتها النووية بأسلحة نووية أكثر قابلية للاستخدام. نحن الآن أقرب إلى تبادل نووي مدمر أكثر بكثير من أزمة الصواريخ الكوبية 1962 أو 1973 عندما تدخلت أمريكا لحماية اسرائيل . الأسلحة الكيميائية والبيولوجية يتم تطويرها واستخدامها أيضًا. لقد اعتقدت دول مثل إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة التي تنفق نسبة كبيرة من ناتجها المحلي الإجمالي على الأسلحة أنها يمكن أن تشق طريقها من خلال ذلك. لكن الفيزياء تخبرنا بأنه لكل فعل هناك رد فعل وأن دولًا مثل إيران والصين وروسيا وحتى اليمن والعراق وسوريا لن تتهاون أبدًا مع هيمنة الولايات المتحدة (التي تحتلها الآن إسرائيل أيضًا) على الشؤون العالمية. نحن نعيش في عالم خطير للغاية. 

9)      يتم طرح تقنية G5 دون فهم المخاطر الهائلة المرتبطة بها، وهذا أيضا سيشكل قضية أخرى للصراع بين الدول. سواء كان الفيروس التاجي الجديد عبارة عن اختراع بشري متعمد أم لا، فقد جاء في الوقت المناسب لإحباط مسيرة الصين أو على الأقل تأخير مسيرتها لتصبح أقوى اقتصاد على وجه الأرض. ولكن مع وجود 7.5 مليار شخص على وجه الأرض، فإن الأمر مجرد مسألة وقت قبل إطلاق فيروس لا يمكن إيقافه والصين وروسيا وايران ليسو السعوديو ويوغاندا.

يمكنني توسيع هذه القائمة بشكل كبير لكنكم ترون ما الذي يقلقني ويقلق ملايين الناس بشأن مستقبلنا الجماعي. عندما سألت في محاضرتين في سويسرا عن فرصنا في تجنب الكارثة، قلت ربما 20 ٪. لكنه يشير في نفس الوقت إلى الحاجة الملحة للعمل. لهذا السبب اتفقنا مع حركة تمرد انقراض (Extinction Rebellion) وبدأنا مجموعة "فلسطين من أجل الكوكب". اجتماعنا القادم هو السبت 22 فبراير.

مقال بالتأكيد يستحق (إعادة) القراءة من قبل الأستاذ الراحل. إدوارد سعيد عن الكرامة والنضال https://lithub.com/edward-said-on-the-death-of-american-activist-rachel-corrie/

وأخيرا اقتباس من هوارد زين  (Howard Zinn)

"أن أكون متفائلا في الأوقات السيئة ليس رومانسية وحماقة. إنه يقوم على حقيقة أن تاريخ البشرية هو تاريخ ليس فقط من القسوة ، ولكن أيضًا من التعاطف والتضحية والشجاعة والعمل الجماعي. ما نختار التأكيد عليه في هذا التاريخ المعقد سيحدد حياتنا. إذا رأينا الأسوأ فقط، فهذا يدمر قدرتنا على القيام بشيء ما. إذا تذكرنا تلك الأوقات والأماكن - وهناك الكثير منها - حيث تصرف الناس بشكل رائع، فهذا يعطينا الطاقة للعمل، وعلى الأقل القدرة على إرسال هذه العالم في اتجاه مختلف بدل الدمار. وإذا قمنا بالعمل بغض النظر عن الطرصغرة فلن ننتظر المستقبل المثالي حتى يحدث. المستقبل هو سلسلة لا حصر لها من الهدايا والإنجازات. العيش الآن كما نعتقد أن البشر يجب أن يعيشوا في تحد لكل ما هو سيء من حولنا، هو في حد ذاته انتصار رائع."

Our collective survival

I wrote two books on the Palestinian struggle (and two more are ready to publish soon), highlighted its centrality to world peace, and I have been active in the struggle for human rights and the environment nearly four decades. I have never become more worried than now about the future. Here I speak not just of the future of the 13 million Palestinians (7.5 million refugees or displaced) but the future of humanity as a whole. Let me just list eight things that makes you pose and wonder:

1-Trump will win with a landslide just like Boris Johnson and right wing parties gain strength in all “Western” countries (I won’t go into the details of why this is the casebut the below could even accelerate this trend as propaganda can be used in times of uncertaintly to propel those who promise “security”).

2-The US state department used to spend perhaps 40-50% of their time promoting Israel and they were instructed to  double their efforts for Israel (inside information from a colleague in the state department). That means perhaps 80% of the time of US embassadors amnd envois and CIA etc effors in the 204 countries and provinces will work to implement Zionist agendas. Hence the arm twisting and normalizations by Uganda, Sudan and many others. American national interest loses, Israeli colonialism wins.

3- The Zionists control of significant wealth and resources including much of the world mainstream media like CNN (Wolf Blizer used to be a Zionist hack before becoming a “reporter”) to Fox empire to German private TV and much more.

4-The Palestinian body politic and our leadership has never been weaker or more incompetent than now. All key experts are sidelined and only those who pledge allegiance to Mahmoud Abbas are “in play”. Individuals do heroic efforts but considering #3 it is difficult to reach wide audiences except via social media and Ziuonists pay many trolls on those. Further the use of lobbies to get governments and institutions to ban criticism of Israel or Zionism as “anti-semitism” is mushrooming. This is especially insidious as campus activism for human rights is being silenced.

5-The Zionists short term thinking is merely how to steel more land and natural resources from the native Palestinians. Zionists already took over most of the land (now Palestnians are squeezed into 8% of their historic land and this is the few urbanized areas with <1% of the natural resources). But this is not sustainable morally, legally, environmentally, and logistically in so many ways (see my book on Sharing the Land of Canaan). Palestinians are not going anywhere until the whole humanity goes (see below).

6. The impoverishment of the Palestinains (one of the richest in the Arab world before Zionism) will accelerate here. The West Bank cantons will become like the Gaza canton/ghetto/bantustan. But this is short term benefit for Israel. Poverty increases reproduction rate and since very few can leave while hundreds of thousands of Israelis are moving abroad (300,000 now in Germany) the Palestinain majority under Israeli rule will go from 52% now to 65% by 2048. Further many Israelis are either post-zionist or anti-zionist. Further the environment is really going down the drain. Health stats are already revealing increase in diabetes, cancer, congenital birth defects etc.

7. Climate change is accelerating and has an impact around the world. No need to elaborate on this as everyone has heard of the fires and destruction in the Amazon, Africa, and Australia.

8. Little covered are the arms race around the world that accelerated the last 20 years. Israel’s arsenal of nuclear weapons on submarines and silos in the Negev, US upgrade of its nuclear arsenal with more usable (they call them low yield) nuclear weapons and so on. We are closer now to a far more devastating nuclear exchange than the Cuban missile crisis. Chemical and biological weapons are also developed and used. The countries like Israel and the US that spend a significant percentage of their GDP on armaments thought they could get their way. But physics tells us that for every action there is a reaction and countries like Iran, China, Russia and even Yemen and Iraq and Syria will not put-up for ever with hegemony of the US (now also Israeli occupied territory) over global affairs. We live in a very, very dangerous world

9. The 5 G technology is being rolled out without understanding the huge risks associated with it. Never-the-less this is also another conflict issue between nations. Whether the new coronavirus was a deliberate human concoction or not it came at the right time to thwart or at least delay china’s march to become the strongest economy on earth. But with 7.5 billion people on earth it is only a matter of time before an unstoppable virus is unleashed.

I could expand this list significantly but you see what I and millions of people are worried about our collective future. When asked at two of my lectures in Switzerland about our chances of averting catastrophe, I said maybe 20%. 80% probability that we won’t make it is grim but it points to urgent need for action. That is why we agreed with extinction rebellion movement and we started a group Palestine Action for the Planet. Our next meeting is Saturday 22 February.

An article definitely worth (re)reading by the late prof. Edward Said on DIGNITY and the struggle for good causes:
https://lithub.com/edward-said-on-the-death-of-american-activist-rachel-corrie/

Finally a quote by Howard Zinn
“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” Howard Zinn