Dear friends Tomorrow (Thursday) we have our monthly meetings where we review accomplishments of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (first hour) then we discuss what the sociopolitical situation in our region and globally (secondd hour/segment). Let me know if you want to join either and I send you a link. But here briefly I do want to say that our institute is evolving and is highly needed and effective in our society though we would like it to grow faster to meet growing needs. For this, we could use volunteers and donations (see palestinenature.org). As for the situation of Palestine, the region, and our planet, we can only say that there is so much suffering that it is sometimes hard to handle! I promised to be brief in those weekly or semi-weekly messages. How do I summarize children being blolwn to smithereens daily, children going hungry, homes beeeing demolished (in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon., Iran), a wedding party attacked, prisoners in the thousands being torured daily in Israeli jails (and many dying under torture), commmmunicabe diseases with no treatments, 2 milllion now homeless, the wworld economy being ravaged by inflation, lack of jobs, the rich getting richer and the poor poorer, a "board of peace" whosse job is to help colonizers ethnically cleanse indigenous people.
The upcoming Israeli elections offers only choices between fascists and ultra-fascist parties and individuals! Current Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir stated "I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat -- there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people." He is in charge of the "jails" which have become under his leadership worse than Nazi concentration camps. The longest serving "Israeli" Prime Minister Netenyahu has called for killing women and children and is a wanted International war criminal. His father was referred to by Benito Mussolini, as "a good fascist,". He was a leader in Herut party that called on Israel to seize all of the land of historic Palestine and much more. Many of those who formed the Herut party (fore-runner of Likud) carried out terrorist attacks and committed massacres that established the state. Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook, and other Jewish intellectuals described the Herut party in a statement published in the New York Times as a party, quote, 'closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to Nazi and fascist parties.'
We are really tired of the silence of the international community about this rogue regime and its genocide of our people. The people are rising up and Israel is the most hated entity on earth today per polls. But we ask, when will this translate to actually ending the genocide and holding those responsible accountablee?
Story on Dr. Adnan AlBursh tortured to death.
Food as necropolitics: The starvation of Palestinian sovereignty and stakes of geopolitical ecology.
The Ecological Nakba: The Zionists never made the desert bloom.
New video on Al-Arqoub area protection.
And we continue to publish research papers despite the horrors. about 2-3 papers a month. Here are three recent ones
Qumsiyeh, M.B., C.A. Buchanan, Z.S. Amr 2026. Challenges and Opportunities for Wildlife Management and Biodiversity Conservation under Complex Socio-Political Conditions: Case study from Palestine. In Wildlife Management - Perspectives from Ecology and Conservation Biology (Suzanne L. Nelson and Grzegorz Kopij, editors). Intertech Open.Handal, A. P., Liu, H., Vogler, A. P., Gedeon, J.G. & Qumsiyeh, M. (2026). A molecular re-examination of taxonomy of Orchidaceae in the State of Palestine. Jordan Journal of Natural History, 13(1):34-56.
Qumsiyeh, MB 2026. Forward. In A Gazan Holocaust: Poems About Lost Families, Lost Land, and Betrayal. Resource Publications (CA).
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
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