Act for human rights
People asked me about the latest "reconciliation" agreement between Fatah
and Hamas. Most Palestinians here are skeptical of the sincerity of
leadership in Fatah and Hamas and most still think these leaders are driven
by narrow factional and personal interests than by interest of Palestine.
Noticeably absent was the popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), the largest secular faction after Fatah. Women leaders also
complained about the exclusion of women voices. Youth were also absent as
most of those politicians are my age or older. In my talks (and I give
several every week to visiting delegations and local people), I emphasize
that people must wake up and push politicians to do the right thing. That
is how history changes: via people especially youth and women. Ofcourse,
many wish that politicians show some leadership for positive change but we
the people have to act. Meanwhile, we have an ongoing slow genocide of the
Palestinian people. 7.4 million are refugees/displaced people and that
number keeps growing. Those of us who against all odds remain here are
subjected to unspeakable restrictions and squeezed into ghettos/cantons by
an apartheid regime worse than in Apartheid South Africa and the most
profitable occupation in history (thanks partly to the Oslo accords). But I
do see positive signs of people acting here and there regularly. So
many internationals show so much solidarity because Palestine today is the
lightning rod against western hypocrisy and racism in the same way that
South Africa provided such a beacon in the 1980s.
I am especially encouraged by young people here. We just concluded a
biomedical conference in Nablus where our students excelled in giving
results of their research. The volunteers I work with in nature are
excellent (I spent yesterday classifying butterflies with one such
volunteer for our nascent natural history museum). We work with
undergraduate and graduate students on issues ranging from pollution to
infertility to biodiversity to cancer epidemiology.
I continue to send letters to editors and occasionally some are published.
This one below is significant in that it was published 25 April in the
Wall Street Journal (the most significant Journal for Western business
leaders):
Israel and the Palestinian Christians: As Palestinian Christians we deal
with the Israeli repression daily
Regarding Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor's "The Middle East War on
Christians" (op-ed, April 17): For brevity, I want to address one aspect,
which is the supposed protection by Israel of Christians. As Palestinian
Christians we deal with the Israeli repression daily. Even with my U.S.
passport I was not allowed to enter Jerusalem for Easter as most
Palestinians continue to be denied their religious freedom. Israel
destroyed 530 Palestinian villages and towns and created the largest
refugee population on earth after World War II. Churches and mosques were
equally targeted for destruction. And in its expansion in the rest of
Palestine, Israel started building colonial settlements after 1967 on our
occupied lands (illegal per international law). Bethlehem is now a ghetto
with a wall around it. Israel has over 50 laws that discriminate against
non-Jewish Israelis and hundreds to discriminate against Palestinians in
the occupied areas. For those interested in information from Christians,
please look up the powerful statement by all Christian denominations here
called "Kairos Palestine" (www.kairospalestine.ps) instead of Mr. Prosor's
attempt to divert attention and mislead readers.
source
http://online.wsj.com/news/
WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS? http://qumsiyeh.org/
6 year old Palestinian child abducted by occupation soldiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://palsolidarity.org/
Martin Indyk and the moral crisis at heart of Obama's peace
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Elhaik genetics and the Khazars (shows that most European Jews have no
genetic relationship to the Middle Eastern Jews or Arabs)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Stay human and come visit us in the Bethlehem area
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor at Bethlehem University
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/
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and Hamas. Most Palestinians here are skeptical of the sincerity of
leadership in Fatah and Hamas and most still think these leaders are driven
by narrow factional and personal interests than by interest of Palestine.
Noticeably absent was the popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), the largest secular faction after Fatah. Women leaders also
complained about the exclusion of women voices. Youth were also absent as
most of those politicians are my age or older. In my talks (and I give
several every week to visiting delegations and local people), I emphasize
that people must wake up and push politicians to do the right thing. That
is how history changes: via people especially youth and women. Ofcourse,
many wish that politicians show some leadership for positive change but we
the people have to act. Meanwhile, we have an ongoing slow genocide of the
Palestinian people. 7.4 million are refugees/displaced people and that
number keeps growing. Those of us who against all odds remain here are
subjected to unspeakable restrictions and squeezed into ghettos/cantons by
an apartheid regime worse than in Apartheid South Africa and the most
profitable occupation in history (thanks partly to the Oslo accords). But I
do see positive signs of people acting here and there regularly. So
many internationals show so much solidarity because Palestine today is the
lightning rod against western hypocrisy and racism in the same way that
South Africa provided such a beacon in the 1980s.
I am especially encouraged by young people here. We just concluded a
biomedical conference in Nablus where our students excelled in giving
results of their research. The volunteers I work with in nature are
excellent (I spent yesterday classifying butterflies with one such
volunteer for our nascent natural history museum). We work with
undergraduate and graduate students on issues ranging from pollution to
infertility to biodiversity to cancer epidemiology.
I continue to send letters to editors and occasionally some are published.
This one below is significant in that it was published 25 April in the
Wall Street Journal (the most significant Journal for Western business
leaders):
Israel and the Palestinian Christians: As Palestinian Christians we deal
with the Israeli repression daily
Regarding Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor's "The Middle East War on
Christians" (op-ed, April 17): For brevity, I want to address one aspect,
which is the supposed protection by Israel of Christians. As Palestinian
Christians we deal with the Israeli repression daily. Even with my U.S.
passport I was not allowed to enter Jerusalem for Easter as most
Palestinians continue to be denied their religious freedom. Israel
destroyed 530 Palestinian villages and towns and created the largest
refugee population on earth after World War II. Churches and mosques were
equally targeted for destruction. And in its expansion in the rest of
Palestine, Israel started building colonial settlements after 1967 on our
occupied lands (illegal per international law). Bethlehem is now a ghetto
with a wall around it. Israel has over 50 laws that discriminate against
non-Jewish Israelis and hundreds to discriminate against Palestinians in
the occupied areas. For those interested in information from Christians,
please look up the powerful statement by all Christian denominations here
called "Kairos Palestine" (www.kairospalestine.ps) instead of Mr. Prosor's
attempt to divert attention and mislead readers.
source
http://online.wsj.com/news/
WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS? http://qumsiyeh.org/
6 year old Palestinian child abducted by occupation soldiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://palsolidarity.org/
Martin Indyk and the moral crisis at heart of Obama's peace
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Elhaik genetics and the Khazars (shows that most European Jews have no
genetic relationship to the Middle Eastern Jews or Arabs)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Stay human and come visit us in the Bethlehem area
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor at Bethlehem University
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/
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http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/
This message was sent to palashbiswaskl@gmail.com. To unsubscribe, visit:
http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/
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