Produced by:
KBOO
Program::
Air date:
Wed, 11/19/2014 - 12:00am
Keeping up with the week on the run...
A Message from Mazin:
On Thu, Nov 6, 2014 at 12:03 AM, Mazin Qumsiyeh <mazin@qumsiyeh.org> wrote:
I return to this country (and it is one country) to find the situation more
tense than it was two weeks ago when I left. An Israeli colonial settler
runs over Palestinian children killing one 5 year old and injuring another.
A Palestinian native runs over Israeli border police in Jerusalem killing
one officer and injuring several. Such incidents are increasing. Zionism
started here as a colonial movement to change a multi-religious flourishing
Palestine into JSIL (the Jewish state of Israel in the Levant). The support
of western powers was and continues to be critical for JSIL's establishment
and (increasingly more expensive) maintenance. Colonial movements must
destroy on one hand the native society and build a new society. In the case
of colonization of Palestine (now called Israel), the destruction is
breathtaking. 7 million of us are refugees or displaced people (out of a
population of 12 million). Land left for us to live on in historic
Palestine is about 8% (that includes the ghettos left for us in the
Galilee, Naqab, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank). Millions of
settlers from Europe and other parts of the world now control 92% of the
land, more than 90% of the water, all border crossings, and all other
natural resources in the country. The Zionist policy of might makes right
has meant that human rights and international law are not applicable here.
This adds to the frustration and anger of the native people. The natives
were deprived of real leadership (previously the PLO) and instead has now a
“Palestinian Authority” (PA) approved by the US/Israel. The PA men, more
concerned for their jobs than the future of Palestine, now act as
subcontractors for the occupation. This was the trap that was created in
the negotiations in Norway in 1993 (subsequently referred to as the Oslo
accords). Since then, the number of Israeli colonial settlers in the West
Bank alone rose from 180,000 to 650,000. More and more life for the
remaining Palestinians has become unbearable (unless they are from the
elite of the PA, most in Ramallah). And to maintain a racist system meant
an Israeli educational and social system that increasingly pushes its
population to the extremes.
The chauvinistic, schizophrenic system marches along the road of fascism
oblivious to the future. Homes are being destroyed, millions of us are
denied the right to live in most of our country and even the right to visit
and pray in churches and mosques in Jerusalem. The efforts of transforming
the country to look more “Jewish” accelerate especially around Jerusalem
creating more tensions. Decent Israelis are leaving the system (300,000 now
live in Germany where the fastest growing Jewish population is). Local
Palestinians with no place to go are getting desperate. The pressure is
building as a pressure cooker builds steam. Acts of individual violence
that we see are merely a symptom of this unsustainable system. And the
danger is spreading. The Jewish State of Israel in the Levant (ISIL) has to
have new states like Sunni (ISIS) and Shia and others so that it becomes
“naturalized” instead of the only apartheid system in Western Asia. Still
our choices are there: 1) might makes right, or 2) human rights including
abolishing religion based states and insist on secular democracies. The
first path leads to a lose-lose situation and the second to a win-win for
all. There is no lose-win scenario (as MLK once said we either live
together in equalityas fellow human beings or we perish together as fools).
Hanging between the two roads will mean only more extremism, more violence,
and more injustice. Choosing democracy, human rights, and justice is not
easy and we pay a price (financial, physical etc). It is we the people who
must push for that (everyone now recognizes that our politicians are mostly
hypocritical, self-centered fools). The day I returned is also the day the
US “elections” gave us an even more subservient congress bent on further
destruction of US economy to serve special interests. Some of us pay
heavier prices than others and some are even killed (many of my own
personal friends were killed in non-violent demonstration). Some lose jobs
or homes. Some are injured. Some spend years as political prisoners. But
this is a struggle that is existential and must be engaged in. How to do it
and maintain dignity, humanity, and inner peace is a challenge. “You can’t
be neutral on a moving train” so apathy is collusion with oppression. When
our short time on this earth nears its end, will we regret standing by or
will we be proud that we tried our best to make it better? The choice is
obvious.
For those wondering about my nearly two weeks in Europe: I met hundreds of
people, spoke at over 15 events in three countries (France, Switzerland,
and Norway), established good contacts and initial discussion that could
help establish joint projects between our Palestine Museum of Natural
History and some European groups in ways that bring us closer to
sustainable development, democracy, and justice (i.e. help us travel along
that win-win road). All and any partnerships with people who share this
vision would be welcome. A luta continua (the struggle continues).
On Thu, Nov 6, 2014 at 12:03 AM, Mazin Qumsiyeh <mazin@qumsiyeh.org> wrote:
I return to this country (and it is one country) to find the situation more
tense than it was two weeks ago when I left. An Israeli colonial settler
runs over Palestinian children killing one 5 year old and injuring another.
A Palestinian native runs over Israeli border police in Jerusalem killing
one officer and injuring several. Such incidents are increasing. Zionism
started here as a colonial movement to change a multi-religious flourishing
Palestine into JSIL (the Jewish state of Israel in the Levant). The support
of western powers was and continues to be critical for JSIL's establishment
and (increasingly more expensive) maintenance. Colonial movements must
destroy on one hand the native society and build a new society. In the case
of colonization of Palestine (now called Israel), the destruction is
breathtaking. 7 million of us are refugees or displaced people (out of a
population of 12 million). Land left for us to live on in historic
Palestine is about 8% (that includes the ghettos left for us in the
Galilee, Naqab, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank). Millions of
settlers from Europe and other parts of the world now control 92% of the
land, more than 90% of the water, all border crossings, and all other
natural resources in the country. The Zionist policy of might makes right
has meant that human rights and international law are not applicable here.
This adds to the frustration and anger of the native people. The natives
were deprived of real leadership (previously the PLO) and instead has now a
“Palestinian Authority” (PA) approved by the US/Israel. The PA men, more
concerned for their jobs than the future of Palestine, now act as
subcontractors for the occupation. This was the trap that was created in
the negotiations in Norway in 1993 (subsequently referred to as the Oslo
accords). Since then, the number of Israeli colonial settlers in the West
Bank alone rose from 180,000 to 650,000. More and more life for the
remaining Palestinians has become unbearable (unless they are from the
elite of the PA, most in Ramallah). And to maintain a racist system meant
an Israeli educational and social system that increasingly pushes its
population to the extremes.
The chauvinistic, schizophrenic system marches along the road of fascism
oblivious to the future. Homes are being destroyed, millions of us are
denied the right to live in most of our country and even the right to visit
and pray in churches and mosques in Jerusalem. The efforts of transforming
the country to look more “Jewish” accelerate especially around Jerusalem
creating more tensions. Decent Israelis are leaving the system (300,000 now
live in Germany where the fastest growing Jewish population is). Local
Palestinians with no place to go are getting desperate. The pressure is
building as a pressure cooker builds steam. Acts of individual violence
that we see are merely a symptom of this unsustainable system. And the
danger is spreading. The Jewish State of Israel in the Levant (ISIL) has to
have new states like Sunni (ISIS) and Shia and others so that it becomes
“naturalized” instead of the only apartheid system in Western Asia. Still
our choices are there: 1) might makes right, or 2) human rights including
abolishing religion based states and insist on secular democracies. The
first path leads to a lose-lose situation and the second to a win-win for
all. There is no lose-win scenario (as MLK once said we either live
together in equalityas fellow human beings or we perish together as fools).
Hanging between the two roads will mean only more extremism, more violence,
and more injustice. Choosing democracy, human rights, and justice is not
easy and we pay a price (financial, physical etc). It is we the people who
must push for that (everyone now recognizes that our politicians are mostly
hypocritical, self-centered fools). The day I returned is also the day the
US “elections” gave us an even more subservient congress bent on further
destruction of US economy to serve special interests. Some of us pay
heavier prices than others and some are even killed (many of my own
personal friends were killed in non-violent demonstration). Some lose jobs
or homes. Some are injured. Some spend years as political prisoners. But
this is a struggle that is existential and must be engaged in. How to do it
and maintain dignity, humanity, and inner peace is a challenge. “You can’t
be neutral on a moving train” so apathy is collusion with oppression. When
our short time on this earth nears its end, will we regret standing by or
will we be proud that we tried our best to make it better? The choice is
obvious.
For those wondering about my nearly two weeks in Europe: I met hundreds of
people, spoke at over 15 events in three countries (France, Switzerland,
and Norway), established good contacts and initial discussion that could
help establish joint projects between our Palestine Museum of Natural
History and some European groups in ways that bring us closer to
sustainable development, democracy, and justice (i.e. help us travel along
that win-win road). All and any partnerships with people who share this
vision would be welcome. A luta continua (the struggle continues).
- KBOO
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