Mazin Qumsiyeh
Our colleague and friend Gaza Psychiatrist Dr. Eyad Sarraj died today (18 of decembre 2013) at age 70 from cancer. Eyad was a great man of integrity, a refugee from Beer Al-Saba' (renamed Beersheba by Zionists), and one who dedicated his life to help people in Gaza and throughout Palestine. I got the call about his death from a friend soon after I got a call from the father of Mohammed (8 year old child who spent two weeks with us in Bethlehem area for treatment) that they have crossed into Gaza a...t the "Erez crossing" after a long journey through checkpoints. Here is a recent interview with Dr. Eyad Sarraj about situation of Palestinian children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icp87DPicM8
On good news, the success of mass demonstrations against the Prawer-Begin plan to ethnically cleanse 40,000 Bedouins of the Naqab (Negev) forced the Israeli government to back down. This should give us pause to think about strategies of liberation (besides endless negotiations). There are also other successes namely growth of the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement (see below). And Palestinians continue to miracles with little resources in their own communities despite incredible odds. For example, today we had a conference to discuss the future of the Faculty of Science at Bethlehem University and attended by community leaders in and outside the university. It was an inspiring event held as part of a series of events commemorating 40 years of Bethlehem University and as preparation for a significant expansion of the University. We can indeed challenge occupation and transform challenges into opportunities (freeing our minds before freeing our bodies!).
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