| I am pleased to report positive progress in a number of our projects relating to preserving cultural and natural heritage. My trip to Uganda was very successful with networking and potential joint research projects and teaching and learning issues with our African colleagues and in a message to the staff and volunteers, I reflected on some issues (see below). Soon I will be traveling to UAE and to Egypt for two other major international conferences. We got two more research papers accepted and two just published. Our staff and local volunteers doubled in the past few months. Israeli Occupiers continued to deny international volunteers entry to help us in Palestine but we do manage and we wish some more people volunteer to help us from abroad (you do not have to be here to help contact us at info@palestinenature.org if you like to help). Most countries (including Palestine and Uganda) have rapidly increasing population, weak and even deteriorating infrastructure unable to cope, and external and internal economic pressures. The young people and women are especially vulnerable. The foreign humanitarian aid and grants given seem very ineffectual at transforming society. Part of this is due to corruption, part due to poor planning and structuring, and part due to uncontrolled issues (like colonization). But where are we at PMNH/PIBS from offering lasting solutions that really protect nature and people? I think the biggest challenge is increasing number of people in need that society ignores. In the 18th and early 19th century it was exploitation of labor and this is why work-labor force conflict with management was noted and led to communist-capitalist struggles. But technology advances have made food and industrial production increasingly automated and less dependent on people. Sure this had negative implications to health and wellbeing of most people not only the physical health of increased cancers, respiratory, and skin disorders but also psychological health. The most rewarding for people is to feel needed and wanted and most damaging to be irrelevant, ignored, and marginalized in society. The latter is recipe for slow (by withering away) or fast (by drugs, violence etc) death. Increasingly I believe reclaiming a community of cooperative people helping each other and producing their own resources (food, products) is a key to challenge an otherwise bleak future. We at PMNH/PIBS put an ambitious project together: to increase respect for ourselves (empowerment), for others (team work), and for nature (conservation). We experimented with ways to do that, making mistakes and successes along the way. Our story was inspiring to many people who see it for what it is: giving hope even in desperate situations. Here even refugees from South Sudan in Uganda want tocome and volunteer! What the meetings and discussion in Uganda and elsewhere got me to realize is how important it is to organize and mobilize better. What will make us make a huge impact on people’s lives is not only doing something short term but the long term. I do want us to focus on knowledge that leads to practice and developing skills in areas like permaculture. Knowledge without acting in a concerted persistent direction is meaningless. This is especially true as more fellow scientists warn us of things like climate change accelerating. Let us hear your feedback. Thank you Climate change is accelerating and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asked for urgent actions. We are doing our part with reducing, recycling trash, permaculture and more at our museum (see this short video of our work) Stop climate Armageddon NOW George P. Smith, one of the winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is a veteran supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israeli apartheid. He is listed in the Zionist hate site of “Canary Mission” Ruth Moynihan, a friend of Palestine and all humanity RIP Ask google not to keep erasing Palestine from its maps Ask the state department to hold Saudi Arabia accountable Join Sabeel’s new initiative BuildPalestine is a social enterprise, established in September 2016, with the aim of empowering grassroots problem-solving. Our mission is to mobilize supporters around the world and connect them with trusted grassroots projects in Palestine. 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 |