Mubarak’s father was so successful at what he did that at one point he and his 16 children had over 1000 head of sheep and goats. It was not an easy life and required very hard work. Their life meant covering many miles every day to reduce overgrazing. Spending over 12 hours daily walking rough terrains, Bedouins come to know every small path, wadi, tree, cave, depression etc. over vast areas. Their encyclopedic knowledge of their surroundings is astounding. They have stories to tell you about every feature of their landscape, every animal and every plant. Even as a seasoned biologist, I always learn new things from going out with Bedouins about nature. They have unique names even for the different species of desert land snails. They can tell you of natural treatments to different maladies. While life was difficult, it was a life that functioned in harmony with nature and with spiritual matters for thousands of years. Their generosity and kindness to strangers is legendary. Disputes were mostly solved by tribal traditional laws. The fields were not overgrazed and nature was left untouched. The balance was maintained and tranquility prevailed and as Mubarak told me in the evening after a very hard day of work in the fields, the best time was to sit after a meal, drink strong sweet tea seasoned with wild mint surrounded by loved ones and look at clear skies dotted with brilliant stars.

That life of course is slowly ending. The Zawahra’s saga is just an example. Colonial Jewish settlements in two main locations of the Zawahra’s domain (in the hills around Bethlehem and in the Jordan valley) have made it impossible for the Zawahras to continue the Bedouin way of life. In the Bethlehem district, Israeli colonies, security zones, army bases etc now control the vast majority of the rich lands. The remaining land is basically the developed Palestinian areas with few open areas. With less than 5% of the open range areas of the Bethlehem district left available for grazing, the impact was devastating: 1) significant decrease in number of animals (even as the human population more than trippled in the past 45 years), and 2) the forced overgrazing on the few remaining open areas had a devastating ecological effect. It is sad to compare biodiversity in the Bethlehem area today versus what I saw 40 years ago. Many species can no longer be found in the hills of Bethlehem (both plants and animals). Some areas are so barren that the only living animals I can see in the late summer and fall months are humans, goats (more hardy than sheep), and flies. These were areas that 40 years ago, I could show you at least 40 species in a span of 2 hours.

The second domain of the Zawahras is in the Jordan valley a few kilometers north of Jericho in the Wadi Auja area. This valley had until a few years ago water flow year round estimated at 9 million cubic meters coming from the hills near Ramallah and flowing into the Jordan valley to feed the river Jordan. It made a beautiful oasis that attracted thousands of visitors year round for recreation. Downstream, agriculture has flourished. Farms had been established and the tranquil village of Auja with 7000 residents including Christians and Muslim farmers and Bedouins flourished. My school mate Imad Mukarkar took me to his family farm there when we were in high school over 35 years ago and I distinctly remember bountiful citrus fruit, bananas, vegetables of all kinds etc. On Tuesday night as we stretched nets to catch bats, we chatted with his brother Khalid who is struggling to maintain the family farm. He explained how even the well water he relied on is decreasing in output both in quality and quantity while the settlers nearby have unlimited water to grow corn and even watermelons. A way of life is slowly being squeezed for the Palestinians and created for colonial Jewish settlers. These settlers looking for short term political achievements have no clue about the long term consequences of their policies.

Stealing water via pipes at the hills and bringing it to the Jewish settler communities also via closed pipes dried up the natural flow of water in Wadi Auja. The oasis is no longer an oasis. The valley now has water only in the brief rainy season (for about two months at best) whern up until the late 1990s had water year-round. The crisis of water is so desperate that winter rain runoff will be collected via a dam adding to the changes created by the Israeli water theft. Desertification (already a problem because of global warming) has thus accelerated. The rich valley fauna and flora was devastated. We did manage to record three species of scorpions, two species of bats, spiny mice, five species of birds, two lizards, a desert fox, and struggling desert trees and shrubs. We were interrupted once by an Israeli military patrol who wanted to know what we were doing and seemed bemused by our scorpions. One soldier stated that they kill many of them. I did not want to argue but I did think in my mind that scorpions are really much kinder than some people since they do kill only for food or to defend themselves.

Comparing field work now and three decades ago, we can see dramatic differences. For example I distinctly recall over 20 species of birds seen in one morning and we now found no frogs, an important environmental indicator, when there used to be plenty. The loss of biodiversity meant a loss of livelihood for the native Palestinians who live in this area. The Zawahra family who had hundreds of sheep and hundreds of goats now have few animals and struggle to find menial jobs to make a living. And farmers like Khalid Mukarker who used to get plentiful agricultural produce have seen their costs quadruple and their output decline. Local animals and plants lost are irreplaceable.

The quality of water and air deteriorates year after year which will make it eventually impossible even for the colonial settlers to continue to live here. Short term political thinking of Zionists once again trumps long term planning. There is clearly a very heavy economic and ecological cost of colonialism. Urgent studies and documentation are needed for areas like Al-Auja and increased activism to end this colonial occupation as quickly as possible. Time is not on our (human) side. Very soon, the damages done to the environment will make life impossible for all of us (Jews, Christians, Muslims, other animals, and plants) in this (un)holy Land.

Thanks to Mubarak, his family, my wife, my student Michael and his brother Majd for help in making this trip successful.

Here are two pictures of Auja valley with water in it a few years ago

Auja Spring

And here is a link to pictures posted by my wife from our field trip.

For details on what is happening in Al-Auja including maps, see this report by the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Never did it occur to me that the weather can have such a profound effect on me, I had no idea that it can place me in a great deal of mental relief, or it can be nothing less than a rehearsal to hell, somewhere I know I will end up in. I am truly suffering from this weather and it is not merely the sun nor the humidity that is causing this distress directly, but rather the dozens of the side effects that come along with living in this oven-like place!

There are things that couldn’t have been simply told, things I couldn’t imagine growing up in a normal four-season weather; something like you cannot shower any time you choose of the day, or even that you cannot wash your face/ass whenever you want to because the water that comes down after you treat the handle with the blue circle can be described with nothing less than boiling, is a thing I did not know before! They are details that you have to live in order to understand; how can you comprehend it, living in a normal place out there, when I tell you that for six months of the year, you cannot dare to open a single window neither in a car nor in any building? Actually, for the whole past year, 90% of the air I inhaled was coming out of an air conditioning unit, and I wore a T-shirt all year round.

But apart from the ceaseless feeling of suffocation from the heat and humidity, the laziness and the lack of productivity are the worst effects of this weather! I am gradually turning into a dumb-ass, nothing but a sorrow lazy airhead whose top concern is to feast and sleep. I vaguely remember what it means to take a walk, go to the beach, go for a hookah in the open, or even find people in the streets, in other words, I no longer remember what it means to have fun.

I feel madly heavyhearted for the little ones who were born and raised, out of their choice, in such weather, those who missed an entirely different and colorful childhood out there. I am truly sorry for the bad things I used to call you with every summer when you come bug our asses in Amman, my heart goes to you today.

Cross posted on The Rhetorical Blabber

But the truth is that’s exactly the reason why I should stay where I am and build new things HERE as opposed to elsewhere. Because it makes a difference, and I feel it, and I take pride in it. I’m a strong believer in the fact that if there aren’t any opportunities provided, you simply build it, and create that opportunity for the many others who wish to get involved in the area of your interest and expertise.

The Middle East generally is a great place, with so much cultural and historical significance, despite all the things many suffer through here. I am saddened by the fact that many people I meet abroad react with pity when I tell them that I live and work in Bahrain, surprised why I didn’t seek a life anywhere else. Why would I? Sure the region has corruption that is sometimes unmatchable, but that’s why people have a responsibility to stay and rebuild it. Needless to stay, this country is also way different than any of its neighboring countries, so the lifestyle is much more comfortable than Iran or Saudi Arabia.

Either way, social change is not possible when you rely on foreign governments, while working abroad with the likes of the U.S State Department, preaching to us from the comfort of Washington or Geneva or anywhere of the sort. If you’re a citizen of the region, come back and commit to your values here, teach it to younger generations, risk your life building a better future for yourself and those around you. Don’t leave it behind to rot in the hands of corrupt leadership or extremism, because upon leaving that’s what happens. And if I had left, I would feel responsible for that.

Of course this excludes those who left for reasons such as severe persecution, many of whom dream of coming back to their countries of origin, where they feel historically attached as a population. It also excludes those living in political exile, many of whom also wish to return to the country they committed to and risked their presence for.

This region is so inspiring to me. The amount of people who have given their lives to the betterment of our societies. The amount of people working for real change and human rights isn’t something that should go unnoticed.

No government, no sole leader, no foreign interference will result in social change in any country of the Middle East – it comes from collective efforts. People like you. And if you’re living and working abroad simply for financial reasons and the opportunities it offers I suggest you come back to where you belong.

It’s great to get opportunities abroad, and I feel lucky to have been given a chance to be educated elsewhere. But I knew I’d come back immediately. It’s so tempting to leave this place, but that’s just a sign begging you to stay. If only all the experienced doctors, scientists, developers, businessmen, professors, et al stayed here and built their careers from scratch, this place wouldn’ve been entirely different.

We all need you here.

Why I was there:

I was on a speaking tour organized and sponsored by the Highest Common Denominator (HCD), whose co-founder saw my presentation in Oman in 2007 and really respects our work here and what we’ve built from scratch. She also values our independence and has organized this trip with her colleagues as a way to generate more awareness and support about the issues we extensively cover with our projects as well as our sincere commitment for change in the Middle East as people who rely on ourselves for our future and not on foreign intervention or foreign NGOs.

I was initially invited to be a panelist for the Clinton Global Initiative University to be a part of a panel called “Leveraging Technology to Alleviate Poverty.” The co-panelists were the founders of CellBazaar and Frontline SMS. So it was a real honor being a part of that panel represeting MideastYouth.com and FreeKareem.org

But HCD felt it was important for me to take advantage of my trip to the USA and be a part of things beyond this panel, hence why I was gone for 3 weeks and not just the 2 days I was scheduled to be there for.

Where I was:

I had speaking engagements in educational institutions throughout the country, making appearances in all of the following schools and universities:

While in CA I also had useful meetings with:
YouTube
Flip
The co-founder of what is the revolutionary (in my opinion) DotSpots
Some employees from Facebook
And a few students working on their tech startups in San Francisco.

I was supposed to also speak at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, but the school district withdrew the request for participation. Apparently one parent thought I was anti-American, dangerous, and inappropriate, and felt it was more appropriate to censor me and refuse my communication to the students who were actually excited to have me there, according to one of the teachers. Some students have contacted me expressing their concern, that one parent can make a decision like that affecting the entire student body and preventing them from such events. I agree, and I hope some students will take action.

When we requested further information on my ban from the school, apparently the parent has visited the site and the content did not appeal to him, as some members, including myself, were criticizing U.S foreign policy (like millions of Americans do on a daily basis, including the current U.S President) and specifically my concern over AIPAC’s impact on American politics. I have no idea why something like this makes me anti-American and prevents me from entering a high school, would I make an attempt to even visit them if I was hateful and dangerous?

My talks to the high school students were not political, I should add, they were purely educational and dealt exclusively with digital media and culture in general and had nothing to do with my personal opinions. The majority of students really liked it and I felt really excited to be there.

In any case that was not representative of Texas. That was one bad experience out of 5 really great ones in high schools throughout the state. The students were appreciative and eager to help and learn more, that’s all that matters to me.

In summary, there’s been a lot of traveling back and fourth, and it wasn’t easy getting around the USA with my Bahraini passport. We were meeting with absolutely anyone we can think of and I think every stop we made was worth it despite how exhausting it was. At some point I’ve been giving as much as 2 or 3 talks per day, for more than an hour each, while jetlagged and a bit car sick. But I’ve learned and gained so much experience and feel I’m prepared to do anything now.

I wasn’t surprised by the amount of Arabs and Iranians in New York and California in particular but the amount was higher than I expected. I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet some of them.

I want to thank everyone involved in making this possible, and all the great students I had the opportunity to meet. I want to also thank Bita for hosting me at her family’s home in Texas, where I experienced the first Baha’i prayer when her family prayed for my safety was as well as the 7 Baha’i leaders currently on trial in Iran. As a Muslim this meant a lot to me. I had no idea I’d end up with Iranian Baha’is in Texas of all places but it’s a memory I’ll cherish and I’m inspired to work harder for Baha’i human rights.

I want to thank YouTube and Flip for expressing their support and willingness to help us, and for being willing to hear about our needs when it comes to circumventing censorship.

I feel empowered and inspired with all the encouragement and I know I met some lasting contacts. Now I’m back home in Bahrain and ready to work hard on our upcoming projects.

PS. Our minority map was very timely and allowed me to easily express how diverse we are, and how different (culturally, politically, socially and otherwise) each country within the region is, and how we ourselves experience culture shocks too when we cross the borders to different places.

What the conference is about:

The motto “Shift happens” promises change. Tanja Haeusler explains: “With ‘Shift happens’, we focus on the social and cultural changes generated by the digital society, changes that are the status quo for the young generation. We want to discuss which political and cross-social flux this shift might breed and in which areas it already manifested itself.”

More than 100 speakers and panelists, including many international guests, will provide a comprehensive discourse to edutain all attendees. The first names published by the re:publica team include Cory Doctorow (boingboing.net), Anthony Volodkin (hypem.com) and moot, founder of 4chan.org. Former New Media Operations Manager of the Obama campaign and founder of DigiActive.org, Mary C. Joyce, will be speaking on a panel with Esra’a Al Shafei of MideastYouth.com. German blog researcher Jan Schmidt will be presenting his latest study.

re:publica founder Andreas Gebhard: “In 2009, we have a huge shift of quality for the conference: The opportunity to invite outstanding international speakers is in large part due to our sponsors. Companies like IBM believed in our success from the very first moment on and supported us. Also, organizations like the Federal Agency for Civic Education allowed us to keep admission fees on a very low-priced level, therefore making re:publica a true conference for net activists of all ages and backgrounds.”

Read the full press release here.

I’d love to meet anyone in the area interested in our work.

The university I’m interested in is The University of Tehran, the one located in Kish. What is Kish like? Is it safe?

Basically what I’m asking here is….would you recommend me to study in Iran?

I’m Persian and really interested in learning better Farsi. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I don’t really know much of details, though. Catholic, Protestant and some Orthodox churches usually introduce the Jesus’s birth on December 25. But Iranian Armenian church -which is part of Armenian churches- is completely an independent sect in christianity and with some other Christian sects believe the birthday of Jesus to be on 6th January. So instead of starting celebrations 5 days before new year, they start them 6 days after new year.

All this story is for Armenians which are mainstream christians in Iran. But for Assyrian Christians the story is somehow same as all over the world. Assyrian Christians follow catholic church so their holiday is started since 5 days before new year.

However in Islam story of Mary givng birth to Jesus (peace be upon him), Allah asked her to shake a nearby palm tree to get some nourishing dates. If so and knowing that palms do not give dates in Bethlehem in cold month of December then it could also be that the birth of Jesus was far earlier than December or January

There is also no relation between 1st January as first day of new year and Jesus’s birth. The Gregorian calendar and the new year comes from Pagan-mostly mithraism- traditions before foundation of christianity.Even though the start of counting is from Jesus’s birth year.

That’s all about the date. And now about turkey. Maybe you think Iranian Christians also eat turkey in new year. So you’re wrong. There is no such a tradition between Christians here. At least among Armenians, turkey is not a usual meal of the Christmas. Most of the time, Iranian Christians cook some meals which are mostly common within the Persian new year too; Vegetable Rice with fish. They used to think that’s a christian trasition which got to be a persian habit for all Iranians too. But later they realised there is not such foods in Armenia. They’re only Iranian Armenians who love to make Iranian food for new year.

By the way, Iranian Christians are divided in two groups. The first group like to celebrate Christmas. And the second group are those who don’t celebrate Christmas. The first group usually like any kind of celebrations and parties. So they even celebrate Persian New Year which is at the first day of spring on March 21. The second group neither celebrate the Gregorian New year nor goes to parties. There’s just no especial reason for that, maybe they’ve got so mixed with the Iranian culture and persian feasts.

Well, anyhow, some of Iranian Christians celebrate Christmas with all over the world. They decorate pine trees and all walls of house with beautiful little colorful bulbs and papers. Nowadays some of them use artificial trees and invite all relatives and friends for a big party and a delicious Iranian dinner.

Some of them also don’t celebrate it as such. They have a dinner for Jesus’s birthday and let their New year be only Persian New Year in spring. They think cutting pine trees will destroy the nature.

Along with Iranian Christians, some Iranians from other faiths i.e Muslims love to celebrate Christmas. Whether they want to celebrate an international event and be part of the big world or It happens they have Christian friends and they claim to invite them for a delicious dinner. Regarding the fact that saying a warm Merry Christmas to Christian friends can be joyful very often.

My Christian friends like a snowy Christmas. Indead Christmas without snow has a missing part. Most of the time, during Christmas it’s snowing here. Specially in north of Tehran there is usually good snowing in winters.

With snow, i remember Papa Noel walking in the streets with his gifts. Like those childhood cartoons that i used to watch. Maybe there is no harm for nature that people use artificial trees instead of having fragrance of fresh pine at home.

I don’t know how many little match-sellers in Hans Christian Andersen’s stories stay alive under snow. When it is snowing I always remember the poor and homeless and wonder why is christmas becoming so commercialised towards consuming personal needs and not target the helpless and the needy with love and attention.. Just a thought..

Let’s hope for good. Let’s hope that every kind of new years, Persian, Islamic, jewish and Gregorian bring us the good news of a union against injustice. Let’s hope for a world without poverty, ignorance and fanatism. Let’s wish our best wishes for our generation and the coming generations after us that they identify their purpose of being and help make this world a more tolerable one in which to breathe.

Christmas is coming again. I’m getting ready to call my Christian friends 6 days after new year. Let me tell you right now, from an Iranian Muslim woman to Iranians and all people around the world who will be light-hearted, at least for some days, for some hours, for a moment or as long as a smile:

“Merry Christmas to You all..”

I noticed that in these few weeks the thought of my gender haven’t crossed my mind; not even once! yet the moment I walked out of the plane coming back home, reality hit me and slapped me hard in the face. I am a woman in Saudi Arabia. The passport control officer hardly looked or talked to me making me feel filthy. At that moment I whispered under my breath welcome back home Rasha!

I didn’t want to read the local news in the first days of me being back, me not wanting to erase what’s left of euphoria I felt from my trip, I rather preferred living in denial for a while. Although following the news between Russia and Georgia had already crushed that euphoric feeling! A few days passed then I decided to face reality as it is and come down from cloud nine and rub my face in the dirt!

I specifically looked for news that relate to the softer gender here in Saudi Arabia and not to my shock I found a handful!
A forty something year old woman in Qaseem (one of the most conservative areas of the kingdom) was arrested for driving. A woman was forcefully divorced from her husband by relatives who went to court and forced her father and husband to sign the divorce papers and why one may ask? yes.. the stupidity again, he was from a tribe of “lesser origin”!

I read several articles about old men marrying young girls either in their early teens or children who haven’t even reached their teenage years. These stories disgusted me. I put the blame on the families/fathers that sell their daughters in such a manner and on the person/sheikh who legalized these marriages. Thank God at least Alobeikan (a leading cleric here in the Kingdom) denounced one of these marriages and ordered for the prosecution of the father.
A legal age ought to be set for marriage for both girls and boys. This is unacceptable and I hope it is being looked into.

An article also discussed all the rights that divorced mothers didn’t have over their children… So what’s new!

A friend of mine had attended a discussion with a scholar and it was interesting to note that the scholar mentioned that a good Muslim woman’s reward in the after life is by being a maiden for the good men in heaven and this ought to be her utmost aspiration. Going to heaven is one of my own aspirations but to be reduced into a sex object for men’s pleasure is not something I would be looking forward to. I would actually rather be sitting on a cloud bored to death than be rewarded by such heaven!

I looked it up and I found similar results. One scholar even mentioned that men are lustful while women aren’t and that is why men were promised virgins in heaven while women were promised beauty because females liked looking pretty! I thought that was demeaning and reducing women to being bubble brains not only in this life but in the heavens as well!

Not forgetting to mention that women have been considered as the devil’s intermediaries and the cause of spread of corruption on so many occasions and in several religions. Some go as far as condemning all women for every sin in the same manner that Eve was condemned for seducing Adam into eating the forbidden fruit! A woman leaving her home going about her business is considered evil by some clerics while the man who is “seduced” by her mere presence is the innocent bystander who’s ”genetics” are responsible for his ensuing sexual behaviors!!!

One scholar even mentioned that a good woman who dies while married will be married to her husband in heaven, a woman who dies single will be rewarded by being given to a new husband in heaven, a woman who had several husbands during her life will be married to the last one she was with in heaven. I could only think of one phrase ” I hope women are allowed to divorce their husbands in heaven!” What if she hated her husband during her life, poor thing, does she have to stand him in heaven too? It seemed bleak to me, too bleak to imagine such a wise merciful God would do that.

I can’t imagine a woman who has a minimum self esteem and self respect can look forward to such a heaven where she has been reduced yet again to a mere object of pleasure for man?! A heaven that is an absolute segment of a sexually oriented male imagination.

A woman has been raised to believe that in being a servant and a sexual pleasure for her husband she is a servant of God and that is the road to heaven.

By now I am positive that you realize that I have left cloud nine far behind and have immersed in my reality yet there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.. but oh my this is going to be a very long one!

If you think about it, eco tourism has the potential to be a tool for promoting peace. It promotes cultural exchange and understanding, economic opportunities, and a shared commitment to preserving communal resources. Which is why Friends of the Earth Middle East, a tri-national NGO with offices in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authorities, has launched the Neighbors’ Paths project.

The Neighbors’ Paths series of community-based eco tours focuses on water and peace-building between Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian communities with the hopes that communities who share the same water source can come together upon realization of their common future goals and needs. Highlights of the paths include sights related to the water history or current water reality of the area. According to Green Prophet writer and Friends of the Earth Middle East intern Rachel Bergstein, “in the Palestinian village of Auja, for instance, visitors stop at Ein Auja (Auja Spring), the community’s historical water source, where they can also learn about water struggles between Palestinian farmers and Israeli settlers.”

Rachel also describes the Neighbors’ Paths tour of Emeq Hefer in Israel, which includes the Yad Hannah Wastewater Treatment Plant, “a water treatment facility that is the result of cooperation between Emek Hefer’s City Council and the Mayor of Tulkarem, Emek Hefer’s Palestinian partner. The facility treats wastewater from both Palestinian and Israeli sources, and protects the Alexander River, which Israelis and Palestinians share.”

Hopefully cooperation regarding regional environmental matters will lead to a larger scale peace.

Read more about shared environmental concerns in the Middle East at Green Prophet::
Water Planning, Problems, and Propositions for Palestinians
Palestinian Agro-Industrial Park: A Sustainable Plan?
Lifesource: Working for Water Justice in Israel and Palestine