Back in Palestine – Mazin Qumsiyeh
It was an amazing 14 days in the US and I am very grateful to those who
made it so productive (cash donations, donations in kind, interest in
volunteering etc). I am now back safely in Palestine (very tired but so
happy to be home). Despite harassment by TSA security at every airport,
YOUR (activists) generosity, hospitality, and encouragement meant a lot to
me and to the team of volunteers and staff at the Palestine Museum of
Natural History. Here are some examples/highlights:
-In Washington DC: I met so many amazing explorers exchanging
information/experience at the National Geographic Explorer festival. I met
with some staff and interns at the International Center for Non-Violence;
Met with Ralph and Claire Nader and networked with staff at Public Citizen
and other organizations that do good work to protect human safety and
health; gave three talks (two in DC, one in Maryland) including in an
African American church (Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ)
with inspiring people.
-Old Lyme, CT: Gave talk at Tree of Life Conference and a sermon on Sunday
morning
-Demonstration at Sturm Roger gun manufacturer which makes sniper rifles
sold to the Israeli army and a talk at Suffield’s First Church of Christ,
Congregational
-Boston Community Church where Martin Luther King Jr and many other
luminaries spoke. It was a packed audience
-Reversing Falls Sanctuary near Blue Hill, Maine: beautiful rural area with
great people
-Manhattan, New York City at UAW headquareters. Mostly Jewish audience with
great questions and interest
– Inquiring Minds bookstore in Saugerties, Hudson valley got to sign the
last batch of my two books on Palestine (Popular Resistance and sharing the
Land of Canaan)
-Your kind and generous donation covered my trip and an additional >$8000
(still have to deposit checks and count donations so it will be more)
collected just before and during the various stops when we passed the hat.
We definitely could use these donations. And if you want to donate to the
museum excellent work, please go to
https://www.palestinenature.
the USA]
Thank you to all who helped in one way or another both in the USA and
elsewhere including those who kept things going in Palestine during my
absence (Jesie, Mohammad, Elias, Reena etc)
I am thrilled to have had this opportunity to represent Palestine at the
National Geographic Society major event and at so many other venues
organized by so many good people. It was also an opportunity to learn
through visiting and conversation with people of all backgrounds in the US
(including those who attended my talks and even those hapless airport TSA
agents doing Israel’s bidding). In airports and planes I also met other
interesting people; In one case a young European girl from Lithuania who is
incredibly smart and who talked about how young Europeans are not finding
work or forced into low-paying jobs as outsourcing allows companies to
enslave people competing for shrinking job markets. It emphasized to me the
need to work more with young people (students in schools and universities).
200 of them will visit the museum this week. I can’t wait.
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh appeared on Heroes and Patriots, KMEC Radio,
Monday, June 11, 2018. Dr. Qumsiyeh is visiting the US from Palestine. He
is a scientist, activist and author on apartheid and the colonization of
Palestine by Israel. View the You Tube video of this program:
Israel’s Environmental Colonialism and Ecoapartheid
https://socialistproject.ca/
Though the official narrative of the state of Israel claims that it has
turned the land it occupies from an empty desert into a lush, agricultural
wonder, the actual fate of the land following Israel’s establishment in
1948 tells a very different story.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/
I participated in this protest against Ruger gun manufacturer in Fairfield
used to kill Palestinian children
Palestinians Have Been Abandoned by Their Leaders
https://foreignpolicy.com/
Stay Human
Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/
