Human Rights, Amnesty and More

Friday, there were lots of injuries due to attacks by occupation forces on demonstrators throughout the West Bank.

(BETHLEHEM) - A busy weeks comes to a close. In addition to clinical, laboratory, teaching, and museum work, other highlights follow.

Tuesday night we listened to Amira Hass articulate how Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing and domination continue unhindered (and we reflected on what we Palestinians are doing and not doing to stop the onslaught). Wednesday daytime I worked with students (on snails, on geckos, on human spontaneous abortions etc).

Wednesday evening was a political discussion on the possible future discourse for Palestine. Thursday we drove to Birzeit University and had to go around blocked roads where Zionist occupation forces were operating. That evening we attended a book reading Yaffa Um AlGhraib (Jaffa mother of the stranger) by Asma AbuAyish at Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah.

Friday, there were lots of injuries due to attacks by occupation forces on demonstrators throughout the West Bank (including Bilin for the 9th anniversary of their resistance, Bethlehem at the checkpoint for the martyrdom of Mu'taz Alsheeh etc).

Friday I also took some visitors in a tour around Bethlehem (I do that almost daily here). Saturday, I talked to dozens of Norwegian young people and then went for field work in Wadi Quf (observing many new species of spiders and beetles). Saturday evening was a wedding for a relative and then a presentation on environmental issues in occupied Palestine. Israeli forces bombed Lebanon and killed Palestinians and the charade of "negotiations" continue between the quizlings and the occupiers. And life goes on....

Needs: We need some Palestinian educators willing to be interviewed on issues of education and development in Palestine. We need volunteers for the work in the Palestine Museum of Natural History. And we need all who receive this and read the below to write to politicians and media and demand that Israel be held accountable for human rights violations. Remember to expand BDS (boycotts, divestment, sanctions). http://popular-resistance.blogspot.jp/2013/08/palestinian-in-hiroshima.html

Amnesty International: 'Trigger-happy' Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/trigger-happy-israeli-army-and-police-use-reckless-force-west-bank-2014-02-27

And Israel responded to the report by use of anti-tank and Low missiles to assassinate a young man in his own home in Birzeit, an area supposedly under "Palestinian authority" jurisdiction for refusing to come out in the middle of the night.

Discrimination against Palestinians in Israel http://adalah.org/upfiles/2011/Adalah_The_Inequality_Report_March_2011.pdf

The Israel lobby in Washington is gathering next week to scheme yet again how to get the USA into more conflict with Iran (after their disastrous "success" on Iraq).  Satirical Video on the upcoming AIPAC conference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxKbzqwVGlg

Donate: Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Director of Sydney University's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS), has been taken to the Federal Court of Australia in a legal action brought by Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Centre, alleging racial discrimination due to his support of the Palestinian call for academic boycott of Israel. http://australiansforbds.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/make-a-donation/

Christ at the Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem Bible College 10-14 March 2014
http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com/

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. He is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” and just published “Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment.” Visit Mazin Qumsiyeh's amazing and informative Website to learn more: qumsiyeh.org.