We had visits and built relationships with groups from Al-Najah University, Boston College, Manhatten College, and from state legislatures in the US. We also met with experts from German, Canada, France, and the US. We organized a training workshop on taxidermy and are planning a series of workshops on research (hands on how to). We received two grants and applied for three more. We took our first two field-trips of the year. In the ;last six weeks we submitted five papers for scientific publications. We completed a series of workshops with school students on recycling, composting, reducing waste and on environmental stewardship (including taking them to the field). We hired more people. We received new volunteers and new individual donations. We are learning new things as we go along (including from mistakes). We are preparing for the new academic semester in Palestine and encouraging more people to light a candle better than cursing the darkness. Our new year resolutions focus on doing more (optimizing time, training more people, partnerships with more groups, signing MOUs and acting on them, doing more field work, studying more areas for threats to biodiversity, more work with young people on environmental stewardship, work more on pemaculture etc). The next few months especially after the end of this winter, we are hosting several more international volunteers and interns. If you like to volunteer, please go this page https://www.palestinenature.
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Other news and actions related to peace, justice, and sustainability
Donald Trump is still building a cabinet of rich people who are disconnected from the reality of our world. The only silver lining is that such a US administration could potentially push us the common people around the world to organize better to save our world and not up to the elitist governments. Even if the US has always been run by the white elite racists (WERs to use the terminology of a recipient of these emails), people made a difference pushing (think how we got women’s right to vote, 40 hour work week, ending the war on Vietnam, civil rights, social security etc). Sure we still have a corrupt system (e.g. the Federal Reserve run by bankers printing money as they feel they need to serve their interests and tax-payers burdened with 17 trillion in debt caused by this system, elections determined by money and dominated by two corrupt parties/duopoly etc.). But more people are waking up and not believing the mainstream media owned by the same WERs ha allows a discourse of discussion only between “democrat” WERs and “republican” WERs and their mirror Zionists (those who claim they support “two-states” and those who don’t claim such support for the mirage).
Truth is available for those who seek it. As I explain to my students knowledge is out there and you simply have to develop skills of critical reading (a questioning attitude). Always think: politicians lie so let me get text and information and data that is opposite of what they tell me. For example, if the siege on Gaza is about security, why are Gaza fishermen not allowed to fish further than 3 nautical miles? Is it true that there are trillions of cubic meters of gas discovered off the Gaza shores? But we must act if we believe we know what is right. Knowing and not acting is actually worse than not knowing. So every message I want to focus on putting out ways people could act. Her are three for this week:
a) Join and support PMNH, see https://www.palestinenature.
b) Join and support the campaigns of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights: http://uscpr.org/
c) Join and support the work of Jewish Voice for Peace https://jewishvoiceforpeace.
Stay human
Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org
http://palestinenature.org
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Please help us grow, any contribution big or small goes along way and is greatly appreciated!
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