[WCUSP] Fwd: [HumanRights] Shepherds displaced, Santa attacked, Christmas pilgrims denied... but hope grows

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mazin Qumsiyeh <qumsi001 at hotmail.com>
Date: Dec 26, 2007 10:17 PM
Subject: [HumanRights] Shepherds displaced, Santa attacked, Christmas
pilgrims denied... but hope grows
To: wheelsofjustice at lists.riseup.net


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Christmas 2007: Even as Shepherds got displaced, Santa attacked,
Christmas pilgrims denied, Bethlehem land stolen; yet HOPE GROWS

By Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/christmas2007/

My uncle's family managed to visit their hometown (the Shepherd's
field in Palestine) but only for one week over the holidays (my wife
last summer was luckier and they gave her one month while others get
no entry permit by the Israeli authorities).   Like my uncle's family,
thousands of other people who are born in Palestine are being denied
the right to visit their homeland and when permitted are given very
short periods (and the majority simply refused entry, see [1]).  But
then again, it seems almost surreal how many atrocities Israel is
allowed to get away with by leadership of countries that otherwise
would fume at treatment of their citizens like that (my wife holds a
US passport, my uncle's family German passports).  But despite the
meanness, the misery, the defeatism by some, the indifferent attitude
of others, life goes and the struggle goes on to reclaim Bethlehem and
all of Palestine as a land of peace, coexistence, and harmony. And the
good news: it will happen faster than most people think but only if
enough people wake up from their passivity or cynicism.  Let me
explain.

Even as Israel building more in the illegal colonies in the area of
Bethlehem and East Jerusalem in flagrant and continued violation of
International law and Condi Rice says she "understands" [2]

Even when 272 people representing 37 families of Shepherds were
evicted from their lands by the Israeli occupation authorities [3]

Even when five patients died in Gaza in the last 48 hours due to the
Israeli siege and 1400 others are likely to die in the coming few
months due to Israel's blockades.

Even when the medical situation is getting desperate. 450 cancer
patients are forbidden to leave Gaza for medical treatment or surgery
and cancer drugs cannot cross the border. 400 Renal Failure patients
share a dwindling supply of dialysis machines and so must cut down on
their dialysis treatment to only two times a week.  There are "Zero
stock of 85 essential medicines" and total depletion of stock of X-ray
bags and sterilization bags and on and on [4].

Even when Ramzi Baroud recently asked us: "Intense debate over Gaza is
subsiding as the status quo is delineated -- predictably -- by those
with the bigger guns. But to what extent can human suffering be
politicised, turned into an intellectual polemic that fails to affect
the simplest change in people`s lives?" [5]

Even when Gaza's Palestinian Christians have marked their misery while
doing their religious duties [6].

Even when Israeli occupation authorities denied an Italian
humanitarian delegation entry to Gaza [7].

Even when over the two day holiday of Eid Al-Adha, Israel killed 22
Muslims and injured 28 while much of the Western and even Islamic
world stood silent.

Even when a Palestinian dressed up as Santa was attacked for
peacefully protesting the apartheid wall [8].

Even with all of this I am optimistic.  The weak of heart may decide
to despair when we look at the destruction and havoc wreaked by those
with supremacist agendas (Imperialism, political Zionism (Christian
and Muslim), racism, classism, sexism, and the many other isms).  But
we do have a choice: effect change positively or whine about things
(or worst yet stay tied in supremacist discourses).  Historical
transformations are never easy and never painless but nothing remains
the same.  Yes, Israel has had 200-300 nuclear weapons in the past 30
years, has had other WMD, has had military superiority, and has had
effective control of Western mainstream media and politics.  But do
not yet discount the 1 million of us Palestinians.  History shows that
people with a will to live never fail in the face of colonizers
(unless mass genocide is committed; I don't put past the racists in
Israeli elites but I think unlikely).  Apartheid in Israel will end
like Apartheid in South Africa ended.

How can I be sure you might ask?  I could list thousands of reasons
beyond my faith in us Palestinians (especially the younger generations
who took charge in the Intifadas/uprisings of 1936, 1988, and 2000).
The vast majority of Palestinians simply refuse to give up their
rights (a few do!) and resist by being there and saying no to
apartheid and yes to justice=peace.  And the vast majority do this
wherever they are: in refugee camps or in nice homes in the US, in
villages surrounded by walls or as 10th class citizens in the
self-proclaimed Jewish state, stranded at the borders of Iraq or at
the borders of Rafah.....).

But I am also optimistic because each activist who does positive work
(and there are millions globally) is a point of light in a growing
galaxy of lights.  Here is part of the Hanukkah/Christmas message of
one such person, a Jewish human rights advocate (as opposed to Jewish
tribalist/Zionist): "The very word Bethlehem means sustenance, for
shepherds it would be meat and for farmers, grain.  In the darkest
time of the year, I remember that my sustenance comes from the many
wise men and women who travel with me.  Together we create the
critical mass ready to rally against all odds, to shed light in the
darkest places of the holy land.  If one candle can light the darkest
night imagine the illumination of many" [9].  A sampling (160 names)
of other good people who inspire us are listed at [10].

Decent spirits (lights) who challenge racism are also remembered long
after they are gone. For example "Principally known for works on
totalitarianism and the Eichmann trial, Hannah Arendt's powerful and
prophetic critiques of the Zionist project, written in the 1940s, have
rarely been discussed." Gabriel Piterberg just wrote a nice article on
the evolution of this brave and independent thinker [11]

The spirit of Palestine and its native people remain strong despite
the intensified effort to erase its history and its culture.  Thus,
even under brutal occupation, Palestinian Christians and Muslims took
to the streets to observe the traditional Christmas match in manger's
square [12].  And the Christmas message from the highest Catholic
representative in the Holy Land, a Palestinian Christian, is truly
inspiring [13]

And last Saturday, activists took to the streets of Manhattan in front
of Leviev Jewelry store where they sung Christmas carols with new
lyrics that expose the store for its support of colonization and
ethnic cleansing [14].
And as another candle in the darkness, Hannah Mermelstein said in her
holiday message "our role as Americans [I would say all human
beings].. is to begin campaigns in our churches, synagogues, mosques,
universities, cities, unions, etc. It is not to broker false
negotiations between occupier and occupied, and it is not to muse over
solutions..."[15]

In next week's message, I will post over 40 other examples of great
and wonderful things that happened in 2007 to show that indeed there
are lots of good things that happened, are happening, and will be
happening. Those candles in the darkness are indeed getting brighter
and those with faint hearts, doubting minds, and/or darkened spirits
will come to see the ever-stronger light of truth.

For those political Zionists with triumphalist attitudes ("our economy
is good", "our armies are strong", American candidates for president
still have to "grovel to us for money and media access"): remember
that even the fleeting empires of Spain and Portugal lasted longer and
stretched farther before their demise.  For those Palestinians who
have lost faith in positively effecting change even when they are
living in the comfort of Western countries: wake up and stand up (or
at least get out of the way):  Liberation is coming.  For those who
wallow in self-doubt and thus feel obligated to doubt/attack others:
freedom is coming.  For those apathetic individuals who think that not
getting involved means things wont effect you: wake up and study what
is going on to see how your future is being destroyed by evil men.
For those in solidarity with the suffering people in Iraq and
Palestine: thank you for defending our common humanity.  For those
suffering under the colonial boots in Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere:
we will not let you down.  For all: peace for Palestine will mean
peace for Western Asia (aka the "Middle East") and this means peace
for our entire shared planet. Time will not stand still nor will it be
kind to us if we do not spend it wisely.  After all, what would we
tell the future generations as we prepare for our inevitable death?
Will it be possible to get away with "I did not know" or "I was busy
with my own personal life" or "I did not know that I could have made a
difference"? And, when all is said and done, what would we want to be
said at our funeral eulogy? As one wise person said: all men (people)
die, not all live.

Notes/references

[1] see http://www.righttoenter.ps/
[2] http://www.imemc.org/article/52076
[3] http://www.imemc.org/article/52078
[4] See Gaza and Weep by Stuart Littlewood
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/4827
[5] Politicising Gaza's Misery by Ramzi Baroud
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=14559
[6] Christmas in Gaza..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7154134.stm
[7] Italian humanitarian delegation denied Gaza entry
http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2007/12/italian-humanitarian-delegation-denied.html
[8] Reuters Photo: A Palestinian protester dressed as Santa Claus
scuffles with Israeli border police officers during a demonstration
against the construction of the controversial Israeli barrier in the
West Bank village of Umm Salamouna, south of Bethlehem
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//071221/ids_photos_wl/r3280858006.jpg/
[9] http://www.qumsiyeh.org/iriskeltz/
[10] http://www.qumsiyeh.org/honorlist/
[11] ZION'S REBEL DAUGHTER
Hannah Arendt on Palestine and Jewish Politics
http://newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2696
[12] Video of Christmas events in Bethlehem at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONUbGT-8yI
[13] http://www.zenit.org/article-21379?l=english
[14] Stealing Lots o' Palestinian Land (Winter Wonderland)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GAjco7LeZ0
Leviev, Leviev (Jingle Bells)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpLi-mwK_wc
Leviev the Red-Faced Magnate (Rudolph the red nosed reindeer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XqjW0r_8A
[15] The End Of Israel? by Hannah Mermelstein
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9169.shtml

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org
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