As we (friends also) clear remaining belongings for the final move to Palestine, my wife and I have been dealing with a flood of work and commitments and memories and news blending past, present and future. Sometimes it is hard to keep the back straight (both physically and emotionally). We go through and discard tons of papers and material and correspondence covering nearly three decades in the US. Memories (painful and pleasant) come to the surface. We reread letters exchanged or news of events we attended together or look at pictures of people who are no longer with us: Ali Hebshi, Sana Atallah, Yaqoub Qumsiyeh, Riad Hamad, Hisham Sharabi, Edward Said, Rachel Corrie, Yaqoub AlAtrash, Imam Qasem Sharif, Damu Smith, my father and dozens more. They remain alive in our hearts and the hearts of generations to come. In fact, we would not be who we are without them. Personally I cannot envision where or what I would be have I not been molded and shaped by these interactions. Sometimes it feels hard to go on without them and the past events blend in with the present harsh reality shaping an unknown future.
There are the books and writings of friends and colleagues who suffered injustices and some of them still suffering deeply (e.g. Dr. Sami Al-Arian in a US jail). There are items and correspondence of dozens of good people who lost jobs or opportunities because they would not compromise their conscience. There are hundreds who helped in time of difficulties and pain even as they were themselves under stress. There are the emails and other letters and faxes and records of phone calls of mean attacks on me and other activists for speaking out. Each piece of paper and each record becomes like a friend too and difficult to let go of. Which pieces of papers to keep, which to scan, which to discard. Should I keep records of racists who were defending the indefensible (including threats and intimidation). How many articles should one keep to illustrate the obvious by now. So far 22 boxes of recyclable material are discarded (but this includes a lot of science research papers). Few boxes will be stored. I am donating hundreds of books to a local library but still have to decide what to do with over 100 good ones autographed by authors.
This mundane work of the past is tiring but necessary and is generally a good exercise to have anyway to clear the table for a better future. Going through this exercise, we reflect on both the good and the bad stuff. But it is all part of the "joyful participation in the suffering of this world" (Buddhist saying). For example, we may wonder why not more people (Arabs, Palestinians etc) partake of the readily available cures to apathy and complacency. We wonder whether people are really afraid of failure or whether they are afraid that they are indeed more powerful to change their circumstances than they can imagine (i.e. fear of success). We review many stored letters that attest to success beyond the activist's wildest imagination. That some get especially angry at any telling of the truth are proof of activist success but more so when they finally see the light. We reread letters and emails from those who have seen the light and got off their couches or apathy and into activism and note that they themselves were first beneficially of the transformation. We try to remind ourselves of this simple truth that we are better human beings when we care enough to act (regardless of the net result of particular actions for others). We try to have joy as we participate and act (and we know that life is not a spectator sport).
At first I though we were too liberal in tossing out so many things "of the past". But simplifying life is a huge reward (and even away for two weeks, I already miss Palestine). In the end we all die and it will not matter. And if people are curious about us, all they have to do in the 21st century is google the names ;-) So while we deal with these more proximal tasks of clearing out the records of the past (while holding on to the memories, lessons, and experiences), we must focus on the present and the future.
The present:
1) Several close people are struggling with very, very difficult situations. A brother in law has esophageal cancer (the same guy who was jailed and tortured by Israeli occupation forces). The news from Steve Sosebee that his wife and our dear friend Huda had her leukemia return. We worked with Huda a lot over the past few years including bringing several Palestinian children to Connecticut for treatments. People in CT remember the girls we treated like Hiam, Marwa, Ayat but many do not know Huda and other people behind the scenes like who made it all possible.(to help PCRF work: http://www.pcrf.net/can/can2.html )
2) According to Haaretz, the Israeli housing minister warned against the spread of Arab poplation in other parts of "Israel". This portends even more repression of these native Palestinians who managed at all odds to remain inside after the ethnic cleansing of 1947-1949. The US has renewed its loan guarantees to Israel making sure Israel can get very low interest rate loans (but Israel has always been "forgiven" its loans from the US). This as the US economy goes into deep depression with huge structural deficits that threaten the fiscal solvency of the nation; there are already estimated $11 trillion in national public debts, trillions more in corporate and private debts, and tens of trillions in liabilities like social security and medicare/medicaid. Where we go from here is anybody's guess but it is clear that the era of flush life in the US is coming to an end.
3) Sha'ar Efraim is a checkpoint south of Tulkarem managed for the Israeli occupation forces by the private security company called "Modi'in Ezrahi". Palestinians are now prevented from passing through if they bring home-made food, drinks, for their lunch. And just before that more restrictions on Palestinians from the West Bank entering into the part of the West Bank that is Jerusalem. Barred from our own city for years, those few with permits now face additional obstacles. I myself can't get to Jerusalem (even though I have a US passport). It is the utmost in absurdity.
4) MUST SEE VIDEO on Gaza and the kidnapped human rights activists:
These Kidnapped Human Rights Workers Rightly Refused to Sign Deportation Orders
Kidnapped Congresswomen Cynthia McKinney call from Israeli prison
5) Amnesty International: Impunity for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel a recipe for further civilian suffering
6) Politicians continue doing what politicians normally do: lie and cheat and distort and lead us to wars and conflicts. Hence Obama escalating the war on Afghanistan (and now using US aircraft to kill Pakistani civilians). And Vice President Biden states that Israel can act against Iran militarily (giving a green light to genocide).
I was going to write on the future but this email is already too long so let us save that mental exercise for another post. As the cliche goes, the future is what we make of it anyway....
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
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