[Disarmo] Mazin Qumsiyeh dalla Palestina occupata: Mourn the apathetic throng & Ramadan

[jure LT <glry at ngi.it>]

-------- Messaggio Inoltrato --------

Oggetto:	[HumanRights] Mourn the apathetic throng & Ramadan
Data:	Sun, 28 May 2017 11:29:44 +0300
Mittente:	Mazin Qumsiyeh <mazin at qumsiyeh.org>

Correction: In my last message I lumped Turkey with the US, Saudi Arabia,
and Israel and that was wrong. Turkey has its own agenda reflecting its
ruling government interests which sometimes differ from the US (e.g. on

Kurdish situation). Israel/Zionist lobby in the US shapes foreign policy
sometimes to the detriment of the US national interest. Saudi Arabia is a
vassal regime easily extorted as just happened. The US is run by
delinquents who might start a world war thinking the could get richer.  The
Palestinian "authority" provides the moral fig leaf for this. It remains up
to the people to make the needed structures to reset the political
discourse and try to insert human rights into the picture loud and clear.
----------------------------
Ramadan Kareem to all our Muslim brothers and sisters. A very special month
for all Muslim believers. But also for us natives of all religions, we hold
this month special. I do not remember much from my childhood except the
joys of the holidays (Christmas and end of Ramadan) but the whole month was
special. Good food (e.g. Qatayef), good company of people who truly love
each other regardless of their particular religion or lack thereof, and
relaxed time especially the evenings after Iftar. Last Ramadan, I even
fasted a few days with my friend Dr. ZuhairAmr who was visiting us from
Jordan and I really miss those nights spent together working till just
before sunrise in the museum during Ramadan.

I was honored with carrying the mace and leading the graduation procession
at Bethlehem University on Friday. All of us in the Palestine Museum of
Natural History and Bethlehem University of diverse religions and
backgrounds join in celebrations of the good times and of the holidays. We
also join in condemning the horrific acts of terror in Manchester and in
Egypt where we have friends and colleagues also. Such acts should make all
of us work even harder to spread love and spread the spirit of resistance
to the greed of the few that prompts such conflict and terror. We urge all
to push governments to end this terror growing “greenhouse” that they keep
constructing whether by supporting apartheid in Israel or supporting feudal
Wahhabi kings of “Saudi Arabia” and selling them weapons that will be used
to kill innocent civilians.

Peace is not a commodity or a destination but it is a path of life that we
humans must choose now. That choice is also the choice of human survival
and sustainability on this planet. The only other choice is the path of
greed and conflict and nationalism and tribalism that in the 21st century
would lead to human extinction (either via a nuclear war or via climate
change).

This is the message I speak of to delegations visiting us daily in the
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability. It is the message I
spread in my last trip to Europe. I just returned from a very successful
trip to Luxembourg and Belgium. It is a message I will spread in my
upcoming trip to the US. It is a message I will pursue with actions for the
rest of my life. Life can be very fleeting. Two days ago I had a car
accident (I am OK) and today in Church we commemorated my aunt (died one
year ago) and a friend (died six months ago). My (re)thinking is that we
should work for the future long term but prepare for our deaths as it could
occur tomorrow. Our thoughts should always focus on leaving our world a
little better. While we rejoice at any blessings we receive (e.g. ending
the prisoner hunger strike or seeing our students graduate), we must keep
the struggle (freeing the prisoners, freeing Palestine so that we have jobs
for our graduates etc). On a personal level, I hope to redouble my efforts
and I hope to work better with others. I hope those who hold any ill
feeling towards me to forgive me for any wrongdoing and that we can all
come together for a better future for humanity. Perhaps that is the spirit
of Ramadan.

Mourn Not the Dead by Ralph Chaplin

Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie —
Dust unto dust —
The calm sweet earth that mothers all who die
As all men must;
Mourn not your captured comrades who must dwell —
Too strong to strive —
Each in his steel-bound coffin of a cell,
Buried alive;
But rather mourn the apathetic throng —
The cowed and the meek —
Who see the world's great anguish and its wrong
And dare not speak!

Gaza still under crippling siege and people have no income to survive. UN
says it is unlivable
http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/NewsDetail/index/6/10749/From-Gaza-When-There-Is-Nothing-Left-Sing
Palestinians there fully understand that the deliberate withholding of food
or the means to grow food or the access to food is yet another strategy of
Israel’s occupation, colonization, and apartheid in Palestine. But, he
writes, "what we in Gaza cannot fathom is: Why it is allowed to happen?"
http://mondoweiss.net/2017/05/gaza-horror-siege/

Watch Israeli occupation forces dismantle protest camp
https://972mag.com/israeli-forces-dismantle-west-bank-protest-camp-no-arrests/127443/

Football fans call for expulsion of apartheid Israel from FIFA
https://footballagainstapartheid.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/foot-football-fans-in-6-countries-call-for-expulsion-of-apartheid-israel-from-fifa/
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/fifa-capitulates-israel-again

Stay Human

Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org
http://palestinenature.org
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/mazin.qumsiyeh.9
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