Watching the tragic unfolding events around the world from starvation in
Somalia to rioting in London, we are not feeling vindicated but merely sad
and angry. For a long time many of us said that the increasing chasm
between the rich and the poor (the haves and the have nots) has grown to
obscene levels. The Soviet Union had in many ways replaced the chasm
between workers and owners of capital to a chasm between elites of the
commmunist system and millions of impoverished people. But the cold war had
kept the rains externally on unrestrained privatization and capitalism in
the third world. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, a vacuum was created and
the greedy capitalists moved in. In the privatization mania in the 1990s,
wealth of nations was replaced with debts of nations. With the help of the
IMF and the world bank (some with key connections to Israel), third world
countries were saddled with debts that were in some cases many times the
size of the GDP of those countries. But the capitalist mania effected
countries large and small. In Russia, the phenomenon stripped Russia of its
natural wealth to put billions in the hands of oligarchs, most of them ended
up in Israel as Russia tried to reclaim some of its plundered wealth. In
Greece, the debt and government expenditures could not be sustained by the
tourism industry (itself shrinking world-wide as the middle class shrinks).
Spain, Portugal, and Italy also have problems.
In the Arab world, the Arab spring turned into a bloody summer. Dictators
thought that if they were more brutal they could survive longer than the
dictators of Egypt and Tunisia. But people also have no clear alternatives
and some of these revolutions need to take time to hold meetings and plan
for the day after (the post regime collapse). Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu (family is from the US) had pushed for privatization in
his first term in office in 1996 and 1997 and continued now with his extreme
right-wing coalition. The more moderate and reasonable Israelis saw the
damage this was inflicting and now, a small uprising ensued (300,000 out on
the streets). Protesters just gave their demands which include social and
economic equality. The Israeli stock market plunged in line with the
plunging stock markets around the world. There is a price to be paid for
spending billions on apartheid walls while 25% of your population lives
below the poverty line. There ia a price to be paid when the US wages a
$3 trillion war on Iraq (to control oil and to help Zionism) and other
costly wars on Afghanistan, costly help to Israel, and more. The US racks
in debt andlives beyond its means (as China rightly points out). The value
of the US dollar plunges and gold which is now $1754/ounce will keep going
up. Around the world, prices of commodities and basics (food, housing etc)
goes up while incomes do not even grow as fast as inflation. Worse is yet
to come as countries grabble with the widening social and economic gaps
brought about by misplaced priorities that allocate trillions to the
military and leaves crums for food, education, and healthcare.
As the world spirals seemingly out of control, millions of Palestinians are
remarkably quiet and philosophical about these things. We Palestinians used
to lead social transformation and provide models for transformation and
challenging oppressive regimes. The PLO leadership used to help mediate
conflicts around the world but under the new unelected leadership, they
cannot even solve the conflicts between Fatah and Hamas (a prerequisite for
moving forward). It seems that after decades of challenging the system, the
older generation of Palestinians got tired and weary. But a new generation
inevitably arises. This happened repeatedly with each uprising; so far 15 or
more uprisings, waves that are 7-15 years apart. But still, many people
rightly see peace here as critical to peace around the world. This is not
only because it is so obscenely wrong to keep denying 11 million people
their basic human rights. It is also because billions around the world
believe in Christianity and Islam and they will not continue to allow few
Zionists in power centers to foment conflict and war to avoid facing
reality.
We are in the middle of a transition in global power, a global intifada that
I spoke of in my messages and articles last year. The old centers of global
power (in Russia, Europe, Norh America and by extension Eurocentric
Ashkenazi Israel) will lose power and new emerging powers will take place.
It is a shift from the Northern to the southern hemisphere. All global
transitions in power in the past 4000 years involved tremendous dislocation
and pain and upheaval. Population trends (ageing among Euro-Caucasian
populations arund the world, growing in other countries) and the global
environmentalimpending Nakba wil accelerate the trend. As activists who
care about fellow human beings and about earth must help move things in the
right direction by minimizing the pain of transition while not standing in
its way.
For those who are religious, they can take scriptures that deal with that
and disregard the fanatical scriptures of their religions. From the Torah,
they can take “What does god require of us: to do justice, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with God” and discard the tribalistic notions where God
gives licence to murder the other. From the New Testament take the sermon on
the mount and things like “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be
called Children of God” and ignore the notions of unique salvation only
through certain beliefs. From the Quran, take the statements about no
compultion in religion and disregard the notions of religious superiority.
For those who are not religious, a reading of history and social
transformations can show indeed the natural transformation of societies and
give equally valuable lessons. We can emphasize how we achieved good things
such as ending slavery and ending many wars and gaining civil and women
rights.
The choices we make must be rooted in morality, justice, and caring for one
another especially the most vulnerable sectors of our society. We do have an
untappedreservoire of ingenuity, resources, and beauty to more than make-up
for the ugliness around. Humanity that creates great science, great art,
great music, and great social movements surely can cope. We just have to
believe in each other and more importantly act on our beliefs.
Action item: 81 US congressmen are visiting “Israel” to pander to the
lobby. Ask your congressman to come visit us in the ghettos and the refugee
camps.
THE ONLY HOPE: A Palestinian Revolution By: Gulamhusein A. Abba
http://defyingsilence.
Palestinian Nonviolence: Muslims, Not Christians, Are the Leaders by Sami
Awad, Executive Director Holy Land Trust
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
and do come visit us in Palestine
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine. He serves as chairman of the board of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People and coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Sahour He is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” and the forthcoming book Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment.
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org
http://www.pcr.ps
Articles by Dr. Qumsiyeh on RamallahOnline.com.