Week 12: Natural Resources Online Gathering

On Tuesday, March 16 we learned about Palestine’s rich natural resources and how, due to Israel’s occupation and control over the occupied Palestinian territory, access to and use of Palestinians’ natural resources is obstructed. Our guest was Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, founder (along with his wife) of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) and Palestine Museum of Natural History at Bethlehem University.

More about our guests:

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh is a well-known activist and professor. He is the founder (along with his wife) of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) and Palestine Museum of Natural History at Bethlehem University. And he’s written two books on Palestinian history and resistance, Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle and Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment.

He’s also published other books, such as Bats of Egypt and Mammals of the Holy Land and over 140 scientific papers. You’d think that would keep him busy enough, but he also publishes a weekly Human Rights Newsletter. It is definitely worth your time to subscribe. You can also check out his website, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter, And consider buying one of his books about Palestine, linked above. 

From the Discussion/Chat:

• By the way, the PIBS/PMNH annual report for 2020 is at https://www.palestinenature.org/about-us/2020-Annual-Report.pdf Unlike most annual reports, theirs is actually a really good read, with lots of great photos as well.
• Visualizing Palestine: https://visualizingpalestine.org/visuals 
• The water visualization is at https://www.visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/west-bank-water 
• The second water visual from Visualizing Palestine is at https://101.visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/israel-exploits-palestinian-natural-resources 
• History of Lake Hula and its draining: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hula-valley
• The museum is always looking for donations (and does a remarkable amount with what they receive) and is also raising donations towards their new green museum building: https://www.palestinenature.org/donations/
• You can learn more about the proposed building in this PDF pamphlet: https://www.palestinenature.org/donations/Revised-NHM-Palestine_Brochure.pdf