<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">FYI. Note the story *Israeli Embassy in Cairo under siege.<div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"Mazin Qumsiyeh" <<a href="mailto:mazin@qumsiyeh.org">mazin@qumsiyeh.org</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">April 14, 2011 1:14:58 AM CDT<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Mort Brussel <<a href="mailto:brussel@illinois.edu">brussel@illinois.edu</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Cc: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Human Rights Newsletter <<a href="mailto:humanrights@lists.qumsiyeh.org">humanrights@lists.qumsiyeh.org</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>[HumanRights] Optimism and Change</b><br></span></div><br><div>Optimism and Change<br><br><a href="http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2011/04/optimism-and-change.html">http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2011/04/optimism-and-change.html</a><br><br><br><br>According the latest survey of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics,<br>some 26.2% of families live in poverty and 14.1% live in deep poverty for a<br>total of 40.3% living in poverty or deep poverty in the WB and Gaza. The<br>situation in Gaza is worse than in the WB. By contrast, any casual visitor<br>to Ramallah is struck by 5 star hotels, fancy banquets, hummers and SUVs,<br>and the latest models of Mercedes cars. And throughout the occupied<br>Palestinian territories, over 200 thousand employees draw salaries from<br>foreign aid channeled through the "Palestinian authority" with lots of<br>strings attached (to support the status quo). De facto one party rules<br>function in the WB and in Gaza with economic incentives against radical<br>change in toe. Even a simple thing like university student union elections,<br>parties were excluded. With so many people benefitting from a continuation<br>of the status quo, some find it hard to envisage meaningful change. But<br>wasn't that the situation in Egypt for decades and that is now dramatically<br>changing? Now the Egyptian ex-President (a lackey of Israeli and US foreign<br>policies) and his two wealthy sons are under detention and will be indicted<br>soon. The Egyptian airline canceled its regular flights to Tel Aviv. The<br>Egyptian government just ordered a review of the sale of natural gas to<br>Israel (where it was sold below value with some benefits to the wealthy<br>Egyptian elites); this was costing the Egyptian people 3-4 billion annually.<br>And the demonstrators in Cairo marched to and surrounded the Israeli embassy<br>demanding its ouster.*<br><br><br><br>In my talks in the US, I predicted that the President of Yemen will be next<br>(he is the most subservient to Israeli and US governments). A million<br>marched in Yemen last Friday. Syrian President (good on rhetoric but also<br>serving status quo) is besieged. The list goes on. Youth in many<br>Palestinian cities including in Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Gaza are<br>mobilizing. There are ongoing hunger strikes, protest tents, and<br>conventions (one in Bethlehem Saturday will have over 1000 attendees). The<br>winds of change are blowing. Israeli elites are shaken and have begun to<br>debate among themselves what to do (maybe even accept a larger Bantustan and<br>call it a Palestinian state without the refugees allowed to return). But it<br>is too little, too late. A global intifada is ongoing. We the people,<br>insist on justice (which brings a durable peace). On the ground here in<br>Palestine, our struggle is one person at a time, one village at a time. In<br>my talks abroad, I gave the example of Al-Walaja village. To really<br>understand the Palestinian struggle come visit us and work with us. If you<br>can't do that, watch this excellent documentary:<br><br><br><br>Al-Walaja story<br>Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcodiFkotgk<br>Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBeztx5Lcv8<br>Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mramhyCQlI<br><br>Gaza war crimes investigation: Israeli drones (with Arabic subtitles)<br>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/mar/23/isreael-gaza-drones-arabic<br><br>*Israeli Embassy in Cairo under siege<br>http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/04/09/dr-ashraf-ezzat-israeli-embassy-in-c<br>airo-under-siege/<br><br><br><br>Action: On Tuesday, some people from the Jenin Freedom Theater (founded by<br>Juliano Mer-Khamis) came to our village and presented the film Arna's<br>children (which everyone should see). On Saturday at noon in front of the<br>Muqata' there will be a demonstration by artists and friends of art<br>demanding the Palestinian authority bring the killers to justice. I<br>recalled this paragraph from my 2004 book "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human<br>Rights and the Israeli Palestinian Struggle"<br>(http://qumsiyeh.org/sharingthelandofcanaan/) that was put in practice by<br>the Freedom Theater thanks to Jule's work: "Perhaps we need to teach<br>children to value themselves, value teamwork, respect others, and defend the<br>rights of minorities. This is not as simple as it seems. Adults need to<br>learn to accept, in a very positive fashion, views that are foreign to them.<br>In other words, someone who expresses his views should be listened to and<br>respected regardless of how sacred the 'holy cows' are. Would you be<br>willing to listen rationally to a view radically different from your own on<br>your religion or your way of doing things? Would you be willing to defend<br>wholeheartedly the right of that person to present his view?"<br><br><br><br>Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD<br><br>http://qumsiyeh<br><br><br><br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/pipermail/humanrights/attachments/20110414/3f649c45/attachment.htm><br>_______________________________________________<br>HumanRights newsletter<br>http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/mailman/listinfo/humanrights<br>This message was sent to brussel@illinois.edu. To unsubscribe, visit:<br>http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/mailman/options/humanrights/brussel%40illinois.edu<br></div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>