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    Mazin Qumsiyeh: Old Enough Archived Message

    Posted by sashimi on September 16, 2020, 9:33 am

    (quote)
    I am old enough to have been able to see Palestine slowly strangulated
    over the past few decades, with us natives who trace ancestry
    thousands of years here kicked out or squeezed into cantons/open air
    prisons like Gaza and Bethlehem. Old enough to have researched events
    even before I was born and wrote books about them (like Sykes-Picot,
    Balfour-Cambon, Gawler, Hertzle and more). I am old enough to have
    personally witnessed Arab leaders' corruption and treachery. I am old
    enough to personally witness rampant racism from white European Jews
    who think they are entitled to steal our land because they belong to
    the Jewish "people" (actually Judaism like Christianity is a religion
    for many people of diverse backgrounds). I am old enough to have
    worked with hundreds of decent Jews and tens of thousands of decent
    Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Atheists, etc towards peace and
    justice. I am old enough that when dates are chosen for treasonous
    signings like yesterday at the White House (now the name fits because
    it emphasized white rule), I can immediately link why 15 September
    (squarely in the middle of anniversaries of the Sabra and Shatila
    massacres and of the signing of the sell-out Oslo Accords). I am old
    enough to reminisce over a good life I lived in the US (despite racism
    and discrimination there also) and how I gave all of that up to return
    to Palestine under the thumb of the Zionists. From one Israeli
    occupied territory to another and back! I am old enough to have
    patience for the things I can't change, courage to change those I can
    (e.g. via our work in agriculture and the environment and influencing
    especially youth), and wisdom to know the difference. My 88 year old
    mother (whose Birth Certificate in PALESTINE predates this Jewish
    state) tells me the world will continue to change in good and bad ways
    (yes she remembers her friend Haya Balbisi who was massacred in Deir
    Yassin by Zionists who became "leaders"). Her calm wrinkled face
    emphasizes to me that peace is not a destination... peace is the
    way. I am grateful that my family and I and millions of others of many
    generations remain true to our conscience and care for fellow human
    beings, resist tyranny and injustice, and do not join the ranks of the
    hypocrite dictators and "deal makers" of our world. Seeing so many
    good people do the right thing is itself a marvelous victory.

    Reflections are still important. Is it alright for 7.5 million
    Palestinians to remain refugees even as dictators are propped and war
    criminals called "peace" makers? Why do more than half the American
    public think Trump is pathological liar but then do not challenge his
    lies about the apartheid state of Israel? Lies like making peace
    between countries (who have never been at war and have ALWAYS been in
    the same camp fighting rights of people to self determination in
    Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Egypt and more). Lies like Israel want peace
    when they are profiting to the tune of $15 billion/year from endless
    colonial occupation (see Shir Hever's books and writings on the
    economy of the occupation). Lies like the Palestinains are not willing
    to compromise or accept peace gestures when our leadership accepted
    "Israel" on 78% of Palestine and was willing to settle for a rump
    demilitarized state on 22% of the land. (and why is international law
    and countless UN resolutions considered irrelevant). Lies like the
    "Jewish state" is democratic when they actually have dozens of laws
    that discriminate against non-Jews even in the areas within the green
    line (see https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/7771) and hundreds of
    other racist discriminatory laws against us Palestinians living in the
    occupied areas beyond the green line
    (see http://orders.arij.org/searchMONo.php). Lies like the US was giving
    lots of money for the Palestinians who then treated the US with
    disrespect (US funding around the world is done in advancing US
    government interests including in this case helping Israel control the
    occupied areas). Lies like equating resistance to colonialism with
    "terrorism" or "anti-semitism" (or if Jewish, "self-hatred"!!) and
    listing essentially all groups fighting for self-determination and
    freedom in the Arab world and beyond as terrorists. Or engaging in
    economic warfare against countries like Venezuela and Iran simply for
    supporting right of self-determination.

    The only truth spoken by Trump was in an unscripted moment (a lapse of
    judgement on his part) when he stated that the US is in the Middle
    East not for oil but to help Israel (that comment was totally ignored
    in Zionist controlled CNN, FoxNews etc)! Indeed that is why the US
    government gave them hundreds of billions, why most of the effort of
    state department is directed at promoting Zionist economic and
    political hegemony around the world (e.g. extorting Sudan now telling
    them that they would be removed from states "sponsoring terrorism"
    only if they normalize with Israel). Why are taxpayer money being
    siphoned off to benefit a state that deliberately attacked a US ship
    in International waster (see http://www.gtr5.com/ ).

    It is surreal to watch Jewish Zionist advocate Wolf Blitzer interview
    Jewish Zionist advocate Jared Kushner. It is surreal to see US media
    ignore the demonstations outside the white house during the premature
    "celebration" of victory over the Palestinians (many of the
    demonstators were Orthodox anti-Zionist Jews). It is surreal to see
    the boozing womanizers from Bahrain and UAE smirk like morons as
    Netanyahu and Trump say openly that Jerusalem can be visited by
    Muslims (under Israel's illegal occupation for perpetuity) when they
    know that millions of native Palestinian Muslims and Christians cannot
    visit their holy places in Jerusalem. Surreal that Netanyahu openly
    says that Israel power is so far out-reaching that it got them to this
    stage and will get them much more. How many Arab states will be
    pillaged and impoverished now beyond the UAE and Bahrain? (Trump says
    5-6 more soon). And will the fate of these new Israeli human puppets
    be any different than those that preceded them working for Israel
    (killed, dead, living in shame now in Lebanon or elsewhere,
    forgotten)? The surreal situation was foreseen by many of us who wrote
    and educated about these things for decades. It is not satisfying and
    rather sad that we predicted these scenes decades earlier (for example
    when the so called "Oslo accords" were signed that allowed the PLO to
    recognize Israel but Israel did not recognize Palestine). Well now the
    lines are drawn. I again ask: Is it alright for 7.5 million
    Palestinians to remain refugees even as dictators are propped and war
    criminals called "peace" makers? Why can't we get all 6 million Jews
    who live here plus the 13 million Palestinians to simply vote on what
    fYou can join the side of murdering dictators and war criminals
    (monarchs of the Gulf + Netanyahu + Trump) who are waging war on
    humanity, self-determination, and justice or you find your alternative
    by WORKING for humanity, self-determination and justice. I will stand
    with the oppressed people of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt and
    Palestine. Millions are standing with us against these
    tyrants. History will judge. The arc of the moral universe may be long
    but it bends towards justice. La Luta Continua.
    (/quote)
    -- https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2020/09/old-enough.html

    Message Thread:

    • Mazin Qumsiyeh: Old Enough - sashimi September 16, 2020, 9:33 am