And they searched his chest
But could only find his heart
And they searched his heart
And could only find his people
(Palestinian Poet Mahmud Darwish)

I hope we all continue to post about the ongoing genocide. We will not
rest, we will not stop- because this is the moral and most critical issue
of our time, the test of humanity and the test for all who claim they want
peace.

UN Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian affairs. Update #199!
https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-199-gaza-strip
but it is even worse: In Gaza, the Casualty Rate Is a Mere Fraction of the
Death Rate. Starvation. No Food or Medical Supplies are Entering Gaza
https://www.globalresearch.ca/gaza-casualty-rate-fraction-death-rate/5864098
How Israeli leaders create hate for Israel https://youtu.be/KQJPxutEYWc
How Israeli soldiers film their war crimes for social medias
https://youtu.be/uPQ9aS5rNd4
How Israelis Invade Their Own Military Bases to Protest Arrest of IDF
Rapists
https://youtu.be/HtJd9gOS3oE
How Israel covers up its own attack on its civilians
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-army-probe-covered-friendly-fire-killings-7-october/48046
Here Are Three Things You Need to Know About Israel’s Assassination of
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh https://youtu.be/dwr5Hi3U4Yo

But we see points of light everywhere in the millions. Here are examples
Action 1 Kind article by a UK doctor
https://doveanddolphin.co.uk/latest-articles/to-the-children-of-palestine/
Action 2 Protest at the zionist CUFI
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-JsVMMpWNO/
Action 3 Protest and arrests in Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwV6CxqvtbI
Action 4 Surgeon urges doctors to speak up about ‘horrific’ injuries in
Gaza: Professor Nick Maynard also said severe malnutrition is affecting
patients’ ability to heal from bomb injuries
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/gaza-surgeon-irish-david-lammy-palestinians-b2585721.html
Action 5 Protests https://uscpr.org/oct-2023-protests/
Rich Forer on his transformation from AIPAC and Zionism
https://youtu.be/4dRhBlwmlFI

"The struggle within"

Facing life’s challenges and insecurity
The heart yearns for serenity
How can we ignore the oppressor’s meanness
And simply understand his weakness
With so much deception
What is to change perception?
We struggle to see the positives
Even as we are flooded with negatives
A child hungers amid flies and vultures
While billionaires invest in ventures
Zionists steal our lands
And profit from our raised hands
Tossing and turning in their dreary night
Their biggest fear is truth coming to light
The corrupt rule in Ramallah
The oppressed put faith in Allah
Within you feed the good wolf more
If you do not want the bad one to score
Does the struggle within have winners
Or is it only in the case of the sinners?
The righteous are also struggling
Their caring brings forth a blessing
In darkness, creating and sheltering light
Is not a life of ease, rest or delight
burden hard to carry in sickness or in health
the (good) struggle goes on till the last breath
“joyful participation in the sorrows of world”
Buddhists had it right – participation a key word
From good will and good deeds
We are counseled that joy springs seeds
We are advised to take time
To appreciate the sublime
For us Palestinians, it is harder to reason
After decades of colonization and treason
words easy to say, we still struggle to understand
and even harder to continue to withstand?
How we have resilience
How we create persistence
Perhaps what sustains us is goodness all around
And the beauty of this hallowed ground
Perhaps we see divine in all of us
not just Palestinian baby Jesus
we see it in birds singing early mornings
even bats hunting insects evenings
we see it in poor honest unemployed
in families and children when joyed
we see it in smiles and stretched hands
in the rhythm of seasons in ancient lands
we see it in memories of Karameh victory
and all those who are symbols of bravery
we see it in forgotten graves of massacred
and in the hunger strikes of the incarcerated
we see it in a smile of dabka girls who carry genes
of their ancestral Canaanitic queens
we hear it in the rhythm of tabla and oud *
 the call of the athan**, church bells, and even silent sumoud
we smell it aroma of tabboun za’atar ***
taste it apricots, guava, figs, and loz akhdar****
we taste it in zibda baladiya***** with mountain honey
and in herbal medicines curing the worst agony
Countless generations passed in the arms of mother Palestine
babies from Issa to the Ahmed of maddonnas divine
Our clock will end soon and we are no more
As we join all those departed who struggled before
Thoughts sprout like seeds of plants in the garden
We bequeeth to our children beauty and burden
the dust of billions of ever present ancestors remind us
the secret to life is to love and suffer, grandfather told us
as we breathe it and eat it - we mortals must have humility
and that dressed in struggle and love equals serenity
the old country song says: in the end matters only kindness
this old country man says: humility and love can conquer our madness
“Stay human” Vittorio Arrigoni said
In Palestine “Keep the hope alive” was echoed
---------------------
*tabla and oud: eastern musical instruments corresponding to drum and guitar
**athan: muslim call to prayer
***tabboun za’atar: bread of traditional kiln with thyme
****loz akhdar: green almonds
*****Zibda baladiya: A country butter made from goat milk

Stay Human and keep Palestine alive

Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org
http://palestinenature.org
facebook pages
Personal https://www.facebook.com/mazin.qumsiyeh.9
Institute https://www.facebook.com/PIBS.PMNH
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