[HumanRights] Think globally and act locally 2
Mazin Qumsiyeh
In news of the Orwellian world we live in
-Israeli occupation soldier was caught on video stealing a crying
eight-year-old Palestinian girl’s bike and throwing it in bushes.
-Israeli prime minister defended the arrest of children and blamed the
native Palestinian victims for their own suffering. The ranks of
children in Israeli jails continue to grow.
-Israel detained Islamic officials for renovations of Dome of the Rock
mosque without Israeli permission!
-Health of striking Palestinian prisoners deteriorates. Their fasting
strike involved taking only water and salt some for several weeks now
as the rank of the strikers grow. They are protesting the policy of
administrative detention where they can be held for months and even
years without charge or trial.
-Israel continues its policies of home demolitions and in one case
demolished an entire village over 100 times (each time Al-Araqib
residents rebuilt)
-The Obama administration will reward Israel’s violations of human
rights and international law by giving it close to $four billion per
year in the next ten years (taxpayer money that should be spent on
schools and healthcare instead on killing others). This is even a
violation of US domestic law as it forbids aid to countries that
persistently violate human rights (in this case more aid to Israel
than than any other country and even more than to Latin America and
Sub-Saharan Africa combined)
-Israel is holding military maneuvers in partnership with other
repressive governments including Pakistan and United Arab Emirates
(vast majority of people in all countries do not like their
governments’ cozy relationships with repressive regimes like Israel or
Saudi Arabia)
– The theatrical show of US elections is unfolding as I predicted
almost a year ago. Hilary Clinton is ruthless and disastrous but Trump
is a fumbling egomaniac of higher index of danger. Both do what the
Military-Industrial-Financial complex tells them to do as they did
during the elections kissing ass to the lobbies like AIPAC and thus
engage in more wars that destroys our future. Both candidates spread
fear f the other in a well choreographed move (and yet 95% of what
they say about each other is true). But Clinton will win because the
US public has been conditioned not to vote for candidates like Jill
Stein of the Green parry (ie. they are told they have to vote for the
lesser of two evils). Clinton as president will do more “service” to
the bosses (damaging to American public but financially beneficial to
the rich elites) than any “president” before here. The last two
presidents who dared to speak out where Eisenhower on his way out of
office and Kennedy just before he was assassinated.
But how do we keep sanity? The key is to focus on the positive
locally. Think globally and act locally is still good wisdom. For
every person who sells his soul to the devil, there is a person acting
in good conscience to help make this a better world. For every person
who is corrupt, there is a person working hard with good work ethics.
For every free loader, there is a volunteer. For every dishonest there
is someone honest who calls it out. I know because I interact with
dozens of people daily of different backgrounds. Many volunteers are
working here at the museum (http://palestinenature.org): decent hard
working people. I am optimistic on the future and see glimpses of it
daily. For example today, 26 girls (12-16 years old) from Aida Refugee
Camp came to us as part of a summer programs learning about the
environment and nature protection. These children are our future. When
we are tired of the shenanigans of political leaders or selfish other
“adults” with short-sighted needs driven agenda (the “me me me”
phenomenon), all we have to do is look to others who think of us, the
human family, and even to us, the living creatures on earth.
Today a friend had a heart attack and died and he was younger than me.
Is it not reasonable for each of us to ask what Jesus once asked “what
good does one gain if they gain the whole world and lose themselves.”
Staying true to the best in us makes far more sense.
The video of an 8-year-old girl’s bike taken
Palestinian Detainees Continue Hunger Strike Amid Deteriorating Health
http://imemc.org/article/
Clintonites knocked out platform references to ‘occupation’ and
‘settlements’ in fear of Adelson, Zogby says
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/07/
Clinton email: We must destroy Syria for Israel
http://cognitiveliberty.net/
Who Should Bernie Voters Support Now? Robert Reich vs. Chris Hedges
on Tackling the Neoliberal Order
‘There’s a vicious fight in our community’: Simone Zimmerman talks Bernie
It’s not Israel versus Palestine. The sides are a bright future for
all of us, where everyone in the region has some freedom and dignity,
versus people who are trying to entrench a racist, violent reality
that privileges one group of people over another. That’s the kind of
debate that really needs to happen
Why Brexit may be Palestine’s gain by Ilan Pappe
https://electronicintifada.
“What if the whole story of the Exodus from Egypt was a fake story,
and what if we could prove that it is?”
https://ashraf62.wordpress.
Report on “Human Rights violations and Popular Struggle in South
Hebron Hills” covering June 2016
http://www.operationdove.org/
Fair description?: From the party of Likncoln to Trump
http://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/
Would you bear the Nakba on Israel independence day
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/07/
Sincerley
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
