Last week I shared some good news and asked if any readers could share their good news. Many readers responded. Here are just a few examples of responses which remind us that millions of candles are lit in a sea of darkness:

“As long as the Za’atar remains. . .” http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/as-long-as-the-zaatar-remains-3.html

Army to Duma: “Stop building!” Duma to army: “We’ve built already”
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/army-to-duma-stop-building-duma-to-army-weve-built-already/

Student wins right to display Palestinian flag at Texas graduation
http://electronicintifada.net/content/student-wins-right-display-palestinian-flag-texas-graduation/12531

Israeli government ramps up anti-boycott fight [and admits rise in wave of “delegitimizing” the apartheid state]
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ben-white/israeli-government-ramps-anti-boycott-fight

California university chief admits failure to curb divestment campaigns
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/california-university-chief-admits-failure-curb-divestment-campaigns

The House That Broke The Camel's Back
http://www.roitov.com/articles/wadiara.htm

Some 1,500 Israeli Arabs block major road in protest over home demolition
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/some-1-500-israeli-arabs-block-major-road-in-protest-over-home-demolition.premium-1.532590

Israel Approves Prawer Law Expelling Bedouins http://www.roitov.com/articles/bedouin.htm but Jewish voice for Peace asks for action: 40,000 Bedouin People Displaced = Human Rights Disaster
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13809
Prawer plan approval means ethnic cleansing; actions In England http://act.palestinecampaign.org/lobby/102

The Romance of Birthright Israel: To apply for a Birthright trip, participants need just one Jewish grandparent—and to pass a screening interview. (Practicing a religion other than Judaism is an automatic disqualifier.) After their ten days on Birthright, participants may postpone their return by up to three months to travel in the region, and it is not unheard of for progressives to “birth left” in the West Bank afterward (as I did)—though Birthright policy is that anyone discovered to have a “hidden agenda” of “exploiting” the free trip “to get access to the territories” to promote “non-Israeli” causes can lose her spot. [I know many who came to visit with us after in Bethlehem] http://www.thenation.com/article/161460/romance-birthright-israel#

Here in very rural Western Massachussetts, one small community put on a comprehensive 2-day educational event titled: "Palestine 2013: Art, Crafts, Film, Food and Politics."… We showed 5 films by and about Palestine: "5 Broken Cameras", "Occupation 101", "Salt of this Sea", "Steadfast Hope" (made by Presbyterian Church USA's Israel/Palestine Mission Network), and "Paradise Now."  We had a professionally hung show of original Palestinian art plus a display of a mock apartheid wall with photos of graffiti art on it.  We sold imported Palestinian crafts, olive soap, olive oil and olive carvings, we fed 80 people a Middle Eastern feast supervised by a local Palestinian-American, and had a panel discussion involving three separate anti-occupation voices: an American Jew, a Palestinian-American, and an Israeli-American.  It was a smashing success and resulted in more people understanding a sometimes puzzling issue (due to the media here), and eager for more information.
 
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org