Thinking globally (Short political comment): The elites love divisions and
distraction and do more of it when smeone starts to question why the rich
get richer and the poor get poorer. But sometimes creating divisions
backfire and “chickens come home to roost.” Ironically, racial tensions
are being ignited in USA while sectarian tensions created by the US dwindle
in Arab world. The Western-created “Jewish state” still manages to create a
divide between Jews and others. But there are many signs of faltering
policies such as the failure to take over Al-Aqsa compound and the failure
to create a deep Shia-Sunni divide to serve Zionist and Imperial interests
(with Sunni states supposedly aligning with Israel). ISIS and Al-Qaeda and
Al-Nusra are in retreat in the face of pushback by people of all faiths
(Sunni Kurdish, Shia, Christian etc). Iran and Hizballah, maligned by
Israel and its puppet allies like Saudi Arabia, are stronger than ever
before. Saudi Arabia is waging war on its own people (destroying one whole
town in its eastern province). Its self-declared enemy Qatar is offering
nationality to people of all countries who work there and free entry
without visa for 80 countries. Despite military threats from the US,
Venezuela and North Korea are defiant. US allies attacking Yemen or
attacking Venezuela or attacking Iraq seem to be more divided among
themselves than ever and are faltering and beginning to grumble about lack
of strategy or direction.
Acting locally: We are acting locally in a positive direction inspired and
motivated by heroes of ours even amid suffering. Some of our heroes are
still with us and some are no longer with us. Condolences to the great
Palestinian friend and producer/director Mai Masri who lost her husband
Jean Chamoun last week. Last week, many Palestinians were injured by
Israeli forces or settlers. The UN has warned that Gaza is now facing an
unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Our dear friend Qavi came back from
three days in the hospital and he is now being taken care of by friends and
a nurse and last night we took him back to hospital for follow-up. Your
thoughts/prayers for him and all suffering people in Palestine, Syria,
Yemen and elsewhere are appreciated.
We said goodbye to some volunteers as we welcomed others working with us at
the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability. We also
continue to be amazed at unexpected kindness of people. Some brought us
plants, some brought us books, some knowledge, some work, some food for
volunteers. Some hosted us in their homes overnight on field trips to the
north (we have a project near Deir Ballut). Some helped us write grant
proposals or edited papers for publication. Some gave us psychological
support via encouragement, kind words, or a smile. Very few tried to harm
us out of misunderstanding, jealousy or insecurity or for a good reason of
a misspoken word (for which we apologize). For all: we are grateful and we
promise to do better, we learn from mistakes, and we expand our work. We
forge forward “With charity towards all, malice to no one”.
If you would like to join our growing family and friends circle, please
check out http://palestinenature.org You can help from where you are but
also welcome visitors and volunteers to stay with us.
Resilience and hope: Youth and peacebuilding in Palestine. Despite the
seemingly dire straits of life, the youths of Palestine are still resilient
enough to try change the de facto situation, by engaging in community
initiatives.
https://sustainablesecurity.org/2017/08/12/resilience-and-hope-youth-and-peacebuilding-in-palestine/
Come visit us in occupied Palestine
And 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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/pipermail/humanrights/attachments/20170814/58a7854d/attachment.html>
_______________________________________________
HumanRights newsletter
http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/listinfo/humanrights
This message was sent to glry at ngi.it. To unsubscribe, visit:
http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/options/humanrights/glry%40ngi.it