Israeli occupied USA – Mazin Qumsiyeh
I spent 40 hours on grueling travel between Palestine and the USA and my
documents (and luggage) were checked 15-20 times along the way. The Israeli
occupied United States is not much different from Israeli occupied
Palestine. I will not bore you with details of going from Bethlehem to
Jordan. I do want to tell you that US security agents were at the exit from
the Amman-Chicago flight waiting for me checking IDs and when the one
checking my ID announced “we got him” loud enough for the other passenger
to hear, four of them escorted me to get my checked-in luggage and then to
a special security area where agents went through everything I had
thoroughly. They looked through my note book/diary and also copied my
speaking schedule. When I got my boarding pass for Chicago to Denver I
noted with dread the SSSSS marked on it for extra checks and so between
that special examination and the gate I had to undergo two more
examinations and rifling through my luggage beyond the already tight
security checks of all other passengers. I took it as an opportunity to
lecture the agents about how they are being used not in the service of the
US but in the service of a foreign country (Israel). I told them that it
seems I have left one Israeli occupied territory to arrive at another one.
US interests are not served by obeying dictates of Zionists who do not want
a professor (who happens to be a US citizen) from speaking the truth.
Trying to shoot the messenger will not kill the message!
This harassment happened to me repeatedly even after I was told by the US
government in 2002 it would not happen again (see
http://qumsiyeh.org/
and 2013. I do have more flights in the US coming up. I am a US citizen
and I would appreciate it if anyone on this list has advise how to sue or
go after the US government (e.g. freedom of information act) for harassment
to stop them from doing this. In the meantime such harassment only adds to
my determination to work even harder for human rights, peace, and justice.
By comparison, the last 17 hours in Denver area so far were very pleasant
as I recovered from the ordeal (though not the jet lag) and reveals the
disconnect between the government of the US and the people of the US. I saw
the good people of Colorado who are lighting candles instead of cursing the
darkness or as the Israeli controlled US agents trying to snuff out the
candles. I already gave two talks; one at Longmont library and one at
Posner Center. The latter was shared with Joseph Medicine Robe who spoke on
Environmental and Justice matters from Native American perspectives. We
both connected the dots as to how wars, conflict, militarization of society
and corporate profit are connected at the expense of native people from
North Dakota to Palestine. We both agreed that weapons were manufactured to
be used in wars before but now wars are manufactured and not just to sell
weapons to make money in other ways (pipelines etc.). We also agree that
the governments use false flags, lies and distortions and capitalize on
these key areas to push their anti-nature, anti-people agenda: fear,
distraction, racism (divide and conquer), and consumerism.
Two weeks ago I wrote about looking for goodness & emphasizing the positive
rather than focusing on opposing the negative energy. This was emphasized
to me also by a fellow panelist Iman Jodeh, spokeswoman of the Muslim
community who spoke of leading groups to Palestine to learn objectively
about what is going on. It was emphasized to me last night by my host in
Denver Joann and tonight by the other host in Lafayette Richard Forer. Rich
incidentally published a remarkable book called “Breakthrough: Transforming
fear into compassion” describing his own transformation from a Zionist to a
compassionate caring human being (see http://www.richardforer.com/ ).
The only other reading I want to list for this message is for those of you
who did not read it is a chapter in my book that deals with violence:
http://qumsiyeh.org/chapter8/
Again please look at my schedule posted here:
http://qumsiyeh.org/
cities, ask them to attend and help. Those who cannot help in this tour,
can donate and/or support our efforts via our website:
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
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