Restiamo Umani- Stay Human

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.

"Restiamo Umani- Stay Human" - words made famous by our friend Vittorio Arrigoni who was Murdered in Gaza.

(BETHLEHEM) - Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." It does matter that a mother died this week who has not seen her two sons for years (one for 9 and the other 18 years) because they are in Israeli jails and the jailors refused family visits.

It does matter that a survey in Israel showed that 70% of Israeli Jews believe themselves to be God's chosen people. It does matter that while many Jews support ethnic cleansing and genocide, few Jews oppose these things. It does matter that a Casino billionaire and Zionist Jew is the largest contributor to Newt Gingrich who is a leading presidential candidate in the US.

It does matter that this leading presidential candidate denies our five thousand year history and thus tries to erase the rights of 11 million Palestinians (most of us refugees thanks to US/Israeli policies over 63 years).

It does matter that the sitting US President who promised us “change” decided it is more important to pander to the Israeli lobby than to save America from its self-destructive (Israeli-made) foreign policy.

It does matter that some Palestinian politicians continue to try to play games with our minds: reconciliation coming or going, going to UN coming or going, talking or exploring or negotiating with Israeli officials. It does matter that American soldiers urinated on the dead bodies of Afghans. It does matter that the profiteering elites are pushing for a war on Iran.

It does matter that many enjoy heat and nice homes while many Palestinians were made homeless (even this past year) and millions around the world sit shivering in horrific conditions created by the greed of others. So indeed, our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. Restiamo Umani- Stay Human.

Now for this week’s selections of links about things that matter.

Video: Football game at checkpoint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J14rl92eq4c

Restiamo Umani- Stay Human: Video and website dedicated to our martyred Italian friend Vittorio Arrigoni http://vittorioarrigoni.org/ (we still await trials in Gaza, delayed twice inexplicably)

The Jewish winner of the 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards in High School prose! Fighting a Forbidden Battle: How I Stopped Covering Up for a Hidden Wrong by Jesse Lieberfeld, 11th grade http://www.hss.cmu.edu/pressreleases/pressreleases/jesselieberfeld.html

God rules all in 2012 Israel, even the state.  Israel: Not what you thought, not what the world thought, not what Israelis imagine themselves to think. Israeli society isn't secular, it isn't liberal and it isn't enlightened. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/god-rules-all-in-2012-israel-even-the-state-1.409739

UN Office on Humanitarian Affairs: Home demolitions in the occupied Palestinian areas http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_demolitions_factSheet_january_2012_english.pdf

In scandalous new campaign video, Obama takes Israel pandering to dangerous levels http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/scandalous-new-campaign-video-obama-takes-israel-pandering-dangerous-levels

Mouseland: sous tires francais (this applies to elections in the USA:
Democrat vs. Republican)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fu2k_IbQ1zw#

The 'Arab spring' and the west: seven lessons from history: Drawing on theBritish Pathé archive, Seumas Milne picks out the recurrent themes ofimperial efforts to control the Middle East http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/19/arab-spring-seven-lessons-from-history?INTCMP=SRCH

Action item: Time to occupy AIPAC that works against US public interest toserve an apartheid system http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3157

Preparing for the next conquest: What does Libya tell us about Interventionin Syria and Iran? By Richard Lightbown http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=vaM

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD - Popular Committee to Defend Ush Ghrab (PCDUG) "A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home. Mazin has been an Associate Professor of Genetics; Director, Cytogenetics Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine since 1999. He previously held a similar position at Duke University. Professor Qumsiyeh has authored over 110 scientific papers in areas of mammalogy, biology, and medicine including mammalian biology and evolution, clinical genetics, and cancer research. He has published over 100 letters to the editor and 30 op-ed pieces in International, national, regional and local papers on issues ranging from politics to environmental issues. His appearances in national media included the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, CNBC, C-Span, and ABC, among others. He is the founder and president of the Holy Land Conservation Foundation and ex-President of the Middle East Genetics Association, and Prof. Qumsiyeh won the Jallow activism award from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee in 1998. Those are just a small list, visit Mazin Qumsiyeh's amazing and informative Website to learn more: qumsiyeh.org.

End Israeli apartheid