Restiamo Umani - Stay Human
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- Published on Monday, 13 August 2012 12:27
By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
On Friday, we had a day of lectures and discussions on the situation of Christians in Palestine and in Diaspora. This coincided with the launch of three books by Diyar.ps on Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, Palestinian Christians in Israel, and Latin Americans with Palestinian roots. Over 100 Christians (and many Muslims) attended this event. Also last week was full of events to attend including two baptisms, weddings etc.
On Sunday, we attended the wedding of a cousin at our church and then went to an Iftar (breaking the fast) with camp children at Al-Rowwad Center in Aida Refugee Camp. Christians and Muslims here celebrate with each other in spirit of camaraderie because Palestine provides an umbrella for all. This is in contrast to the continued repression by the Jewish state of non-Jewish natives (Christians and Muslims).
Over 1.5 million Palestinians (2/3rds of whom are refugees) remains under a brutal siege in the arid strip of Gaza and we in the "West Bank" suffer the continuation of colonial activities in our land with over 600,000 Jewish settlers who have taken over our best land and natural resources. Millions of Palestinian refugees (Muslim and Christian) are still denied their internationally recognized right to return to their homes and lands. Over 60,000 Palestinian civilians were killed by the Israeli army over the past six decades and yet, the Zionists want us to forget all of that and focus instead on 11 Israelis who served in that army and were killed in a botched attempt to rescue them in Munich 40 years ago.
But the world is not stupid and injustice cannot be hidden and more and more people are heeding the call to Stay Human (Restiamo umani as our late friend Vittorio Arrigoni used to implore us). Thus, we have activists coming in the Welcome to Palestine third campaign and a Scandinavian ship sailing to break the siege on Gaza, and many more actions and writings for truth (see selections below).
