Land Day in Palestine-a report by Mazin Qumsiyeh

Dear friends

Today was Land Day in Palestine and around the world. Hundreds of events were being held in honor of our Land that so many tresspassers now live on. The first land day in 1976 set a trend of defiance and resistance. Different groups mark the day differently. Demonstrators in Hebron were attacked by the IOF (Israeli occupation forces). Here in Beit Sahour, I could not think of a better way to honor this day than participating in a workshop on activism for university students and enjoying my own small piece of land here in Palestine. We are also pleased with the rapid fire spread of boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) around the world which will bring a more rapid end to the nightmare and bring us closer to freedom.


Events and energy lift our spirits that otherwise could be dampened by surreal daily life here. Things changed over time as colonization got older and Zionism strengthened politically while Palestinian body politic was weakened with assaults from Israeli intelligence infiltration and from internal corruption. The degree of transformation has been massive. Today 7 million of the 10 million+ Palestinians in the world are refugees or displaced people. Five million of us still live within the borders of historic Palestine. But Israel has built a massive (yet full of contradictions and strangeness) Western-styled society on top of the few places left for us. Most Israelis today do not know the real history of the lands they live under. Most do not have a conception of the massive injustice that they have built their society upon and those that do delude themselves into accepting it for privilege short term (not realizing the harm long term).



It pained me to see that Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) fired a highly competent diplomat (Afif Safieh) from his position as PLO Ambassador to Russia. I knew Sfieh from his good work in England and then when he came as representative to Washington and I was still living in the US (twice he visited Connecticut where I lived). The previous representative in Washington before Safieh could not even speak intelligently about the plight or history of Palestine. Safieh was such a vast improvement but just as he got to understand the layout and challenges in America, he was transferred to Russia. Less than a year later he was sacked completely. The excuse was that he spoke at a rally during the Israeli brutal attack on Gaza and massacre of civilians. The rally of course appeared to support resistance in Gaza and this was the excuse (if this was the reason he should have been promoted not sacked for his attendance). The rumor here in Palestine is that he was sacked for a more personal and mundane reason having to do with Mahmoud Abbas’s secretary being unhappy with Safieh for his stand against the appointment of her young son-in-law to an economic position he is not qualified for. Whatever the real reason, it smells of poor decision making. Meanwhile the PLO representative in Poland is in good shape since he organized a farewell party for his friend, the Israeli ambassador!! I wonder if the PLO paid for the food.


Millions of Palestinians have worked over 40 years to ensure that the world recognizes the PLO as representatives of all of us. Some paid for this with their lives. They must be turning in their graves to see how a very small number of people hijacked the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) cut the “Palestine” part to refer to less than 22% of Palestine (really giving up on the core of the injustice), dropped the “Liberation” part of its name completely (maybe changing it to a need for authority without authority and empty slogans), and changed “Organization” to become a close knit club of a handful of remaining tired elders (average age over 70). On the other hand we face a Hamas leadership that cannot seem to set a positive vision and program for how to get to liberate Palestine and give most people living here (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze etc) a good reason to support them; for example by articulating an inclusive pluralistic vision instead of a theocratic goal.


Alas, like in all human history, we the people must change our own circumstances (as one of the sayings in the 1960s civil rights struggle went “free your mind and your ass will follow”). We must believe that we can make a difference (we do) and that life changes and oppressors come and go (the crusader kingdoms here lasted 110 years).


In this week’s message, announcements of two conferences and must read articles on reality:


More material on my daily blog ioncluding visiting villages impacted by Israeli industrial colonial settlements http://www.qumsiyeh.org/apartheidblog/


Conference 1: United Against Racism, Dignity & Justice for All - is the slogan of the United Nations' Durban Review Conference to be held in Geneva between 20 and 24 April 2009.
United Against Apartheid, Colonialism and Occupation, Dignity & Justice for the Palestinian People - is the slogan of those who believe that international law can and should become relevant for the people and governments in the Middle East The Israel Review Conference will take place in Geneva on 18 – 19 April, two days before the United Nations' Durban Review Conference
(http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/) will examine the progress made in implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) adopted by the World Conference Against Racism (2001) and strengthen its recommendations. see http://israelreview.bdsmovement.net


Conference 2: Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem annual Young Adult Conference this year, July 22- August 2

Flyer: http://www.sabeel.org/pdfs/Conference%20Flyer%202009%20B%20(2).pdf

Application: http://www.sabeel.org/pdfs/Conference%202009%20Application%20form.doc


An invention called “the Jewish people” Tom Segev reviews a bestseller book

http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/segev120308.html


Boycott Apartheid Israel By Natalie Abou Shakra - Gaza

“I am in the struggle, I am living within it. But, I refuse to be subject, I am individual, I keep reminding myself. This reality creates an affect on a person making him or her feel less valuable than they really are… as humans, as citizens. The feeling that the world has abandoned you, renounced you, after all the loss, all the pain, is unbearable, is another death by itself. When one has lost a child, or a mother, or beloved one, to a sniper’s shots, to an Apaches’ impact, how could that be justified? Then, in watching the news broadcasts all over the world, we see the victims portrayed as aggressors… it doubles the pain.”…

http://www.odsg.org/co/index.php/bds-qboycott-apartheid-israelq/1235-boycott-apartheid-israel.html


Lieberman is no abnormality

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10420.shtml


The Human Rights Watch report, “Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza,” is available at: http://www.hrw.org/node/81760

For more analysis of IDF use of white phosphorus and witness accounts, please see: http://www.hrw.org/node/81823


Buying Palestinian Rights by Dr. Abdul Sattar Qasem

http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General/Story8487.html


Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

http://qumsiyeh.org