Archives‎ > ‎

Silence is complicity and future conversations, by Mazin Qumsiyeh

A voice who criticized the dictatorial and yet delusional rule of MahmoudAbbas was murdered yesterday. Demonstrations erupted and are ongoingthroughout the occupied territories with terms like “down with Karzai ofPalestine” and end the Vichy regime of Palestine. Nizar Banat (43 years oldwith five children) was dragged out and beaten severely by Palestiniansecurity forces at 3:30 AM yesterday. Pathologists said he died ofunnatural causes (beatings and fluids in lung). This is not the first (andwon’t be the last) scandal to rock the Fatah movement that was hijacked bythose with narrow interests. There are hundreds of scandals from NajiAl-Ali to the Goldstone report to the corruption of making a deal withIsrael to exchange near expired doses of vaccines with new ones. Even nowviolently suppressing protesters is a scandal. This charade is what gave usa US and a Honduran embassy in Jerusalem and nearly one million colonialsettlers in the West Bank (all contrary to international law). It remainsto be seen whether this latest scandal is the straw that breaks the camel’sback.In my books and writing in the past I have explained how corrupt “leaders”are more dangerous than colonial power to the struggle for freedom. Inwriting my books, I also read and documented things that boggle the mind.For example from Mahmoud Abbas’s own 1995 book documenting minutes ofmeetings leading to Oso Agreements. He (or his editor) was careless sodeleted a question but not the answer to it. The answer from the Israelinegotiator was “I do not know why you keep asking us about this [factoryfor Abu Alaa], we told you repeatedly it is simply a matter of filling outthe paperwork that you need to do and we authorize the factory perprocedure” [others knowledgeable have also testified that negotiationsinvolved more personal interest than public interest]. No wonder ProfessorEdward Said once wrote that Abbas is not qualified to be a secretary[Said's books were banned in the Palestinian areas for a while by Arafat].Abbas was selected by the US and "Israel" as a replacement for Arafat whodid not like Abbas but was forced to appoint him Prime Minister. WhenArafat did not go all the way in seling Palestinian rights, he was alsoassasinated (yet another scandal since clearly someone around him wasinvolved and it was never revealed). Those who like money try to justifytheir actions by claiming that is what the “international community” wantsand that they have Palestinian interests at heart. Yet most people seethrough this and understand that giving up 78% of your home and endlesslynegotiating over the 22% that gets gobbled (now 8% left) is the definitionof madness. People are not buying it anymore.*We continue our biweekly “Future Conversations” about what is being doneto ensure a better future for Palestine and our planet. Join us todayFriday, June 25 · 4:00 – 5:30 pm Palestine time. Thinking globally andacting locally… link: **https://meet.google.com/xak-fogn-vqi<https://meet.google.com/xak-fogn-vqi>*Partners in crime: US reload apartheid Israel for more wars on the Peopleof Gaza.. One billion of US Taxpayer moneyhttps://www.jpost.com/israel-news/us-approves-replenishment-of-israels-iron-dome-system-report-671422and block websites they deem antagonistic (so much for democracy andfreedom of exprssion)https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210623-us-blocks-websites-linked-to-iranian-governmentOver 680 global sector leaders call on President Biden to honor hiscommitments and protect Palestinian human rightshttps://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/6/19/dear-president-biden-you-need-to-act-on-palestineAnd 78 members of congress called on him to reverse Trump’s damagingpoliciesImagine Thousands of Bigots Marching through Jewish Neighborhood chanting“Death to Jews” with Police, Political Support; Now substitute“Palestinians” for Jewshttps://www.juancole.com/2021/06/neighborhood-substitute-palestinians.htmlIs the international regulation of medical complicity with torture largelywindow dressing? The case of Israel and the lessons of a 12-year medicalethical appealhttps://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2021/06/14/medethics-2021-107340.fullStay humanMazin Qumsiyeh_______________________________________________HumanRights newsletterhttp://lists.qumsiyeh.org/listinfo/humanrights