Ahed Tamimi and the Pathology of the Israeli Mind

Ahed Tamimi and the Pathology of the Israeli Mind and More

by Mazin Qumsiyeh

March 18, 2018

At several kilometers above earth as I travel in Europe and at airports one can catch up on lots of work to do but also have time to contemplate the beauty, fragility, and meaning of lives we make. Even have a chance to catch up on good readings (now reading a book about how to organize the mind to deal with overload of information!). I contemplate (like others) what has transpired in the past and what is to come.

As the human mind works, thoughts may scatter: some nice and some not so nice. In moments of sadness we think of suffering: memories of people like Rachel Corrie (murdered in Gaza 15 years ago), people in Gaza under siege (including friends who are going with lack of medical care or no food).

I think of my friend Munther sentenced to six months for simply speaking out and joining peaceful demonstrations against the colonial racist settler regime. I think of the many Tamimi family members in jail (including Ahed and her mother Nariman). So many friends paid a price simply for being decent conscientious human beings.

I also think of so many good people helping others, donating, giving of themselves (and also paying a price). I think of every person joining demonstrations. We do know of thousands of demonstration not just in Palestine but around the world and simple acts of bravery and of decency in the face of so much cruelty. There are so many candles in the darkness it is amazing.

Politicians and the media may chose to ignore that light and may even turn things onto their heads. They even sometimes describe those who are going about destroying lives and lights as if they are beacons of democracy. Like in other colonial ventures, they vilify natives and anyone who stands with them while claiming “shiny cities on the hills”, “manifest destiny”, “God’s Chosen” and more.

We look with dismay as governments and supranational entities like the Zionist movement continue to spread lies to set-up populations to support wars that only elites profit from. Nationalism (e.g. America first), fascism, racism, and Zionism are but a few of the epidemics sweeping across our world. But I do not let these bring me down. Life and humanity will triumph.

I lived six decades which is a lot more than many people and having traveled in over 40 countries and put myself in many unpleasant situations, I have seen so much and done so much already. I published over 150 scientific publications and several books (and I have two more on the way) and helped build institutions (the last of which is palestinenature.org).

My best model is my uncle Sana who died in 1970 when he was 27 years old (younger than my son now). He taught me much about service to others, dedication to knowledge (he was the first Palestinian Zoologist), being objective and not too encumbered with societal and religious beliefs and optimism that was infectious and leads to action. I learned from his writings and his work much more after his death than before.

I learned that what does not kill you makes you stronger. I learned to always be a student of knowledge and now I read a book every week or two. I learned that you do not need religion to be a good person. I learned humility and that death is not to be feared. Learned that we make heaven and hell with our own hands here on earth (plenty of examples of hell made by the US, my adopted country, in places from Korea to Vietnam to Syria to Yemen).

Ahed Tamimi and children like her, my uncle and so many others taught me that our choices are not between being safe and unsafe but between being relevant to our society and being a mediocre selfish person going with the flow. The former path is not the “easy” path but the one that gives meaning to our lives and it is where true happiness lies. The latter path of mediocrity is a sad path akin to being a “living dead” from a horror movie!!

There is only one earth and our fate is interconnected and is now threatened like never before. We all need to make choices.

Ahed Tamimi and the Pathology of the Israeli Mind
https://www.globalresearch.ca/ahed-tamimi-and-the-pathology-of-the-israeli-mind/5632149

« Nous voyons l’espoir dans leurs yeux » Par Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://www.ism-france.org/analyses/-Nous-voyons-l-espoir-dans-leurs-yeux--article-20537

Lama Nachman (a Palestinian girl) kept Stephen Hawking Talking with Assistive Tech
https://iq.intel.com/lama-nachman-keeps-stephen-hawking-talking-assistive-tech/

When YouTube recently terminated our video channel for a period of time, I began researching how and why this may have happened. The result is my detailed report on how Israel and its partisans work to censor the
Internet.

I discovered a disturbing reality. Numerous projects work to flood social media with pro-Israel propaganda, while blocking facts Israel dislikes. The projects utilize Israeli soldiers, students, American teens and others, and range from infiltrating Wikipedia to influencing YouTube.

Some work out of Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. – the IDF says it is scouring Jewish communities abroad for young computer prodigies to recruit
https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-partisans-work-censor-internet

The force of decency awakens in the USA?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/opinion/the-force-of-decency-awakens.html

[But will it be enough to stop the mad men running the country and their puppet masters in Tel Aviv?]

Stay Human

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
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/mazin.qumsiyeh.9

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