By Mazin Qumsiyeh*
Feb 12, 2026
I was invited to a week-long conference on invasive alien species in a gulf state (Al-Sharjah of the UAE*) but forced to go through Jordan like for all remaining Palestinians in the West Bank – adding three days to my trip.
I came back Sunday through Jericho crossing. With volunteers and Jessie we took a field trip for a couple of hours to study plants around the area. We were apprehended by Israeli officials who claimed we needed a permit from Israel authorities to study plants. I was let off with a “warning” and told of more severe consequences if caught again studying our nature in the “nature reserves”. Photos at facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PIBS.PMNH
We published papers about how the colonial apartheid state uses “national parks” and “nature reserves” to ethnically cleanse the land of Palestine from its indigenous people.
Here are two examples:
Allombert, Ch. and MB Qumsiyeh. Israel designation of “Nature Reserves”: A tool of colonization. International Review of Contemporary Law 6(4):9-14
https://iadllaw.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IADL-Review-Nov-2024.pdf
Qumsiyeh, M.B. and Haidee Clauer. 2023. Weaponizing Israeli National Parks to ethnically cleanse Palestinians. Palestine Israel Journal. Vol 3/4
https://www.pij.org/articles/2276/weaponizing-israeli-national-parks-as-a-tool-of-ethnic-cleansing
There are 15 million disenfranchised Palestinians? Palestine was a pluralistic and prosperous society developing rapidly before 1948. With creation of the Jewish state of Israel by colonial Zionists we became the unwanted and superfluous population. Most of us live as refugees. Lucky enough to be able to travel (unlike most Palestinians), I see how other countries developed rapidly. Gulf states even surpassed western economies having risen from nothing thanks to oil and gas revenues. Palestine was rich in natural resources (and part of the Fertile Crescent) before being usurped in 1948. It used to be a major exporter of citrus fruits especially oranges to Europe. It has natural gas but it is stolen by the colonizers (that is why Gaza is destroyed). The country now is developed for the colonizers while making the indigenous people refugees, impoverished, jailed and increasingly genocided. Half a million were killed since 1948, 8 million made refugees. A superfluous unwanted population. But we will survive against all odds.
For a glimpse from one of our ghettos, see this weekly webinar from Doctors against genocide: From Gaza to Iran, from the Rohingya genocide to ICE violence and repression at home, we are witnessing the same playbook: dehumanization, criminalization, silence, and impunity.
*Mazin Qumsiyeh is the head of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability,Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, Palestine.
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