On her solidarity trip to the West Bank last spring, Sarah Klockowski met with various Palestinian religious and community leaders working for justice, including Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh. This Wednesday, Prof. Qumsiyeh will visit First Parish to present on the intersection of affirming human dignity and cherishing the living earth as it pertains to Palestinian liberation. We hope you will join us in welcoming him to our community and hearing from his lived experience.

About Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities. He and his wife returned to Palestine in 2008, starting a number of institutions and projects such as a clinical genetics laboratory that serves cancer and other patients. They founded and run the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) at Bethlehem University. He serves on the board of a number of Palestinian youth and service organizations and oversees many projects related to sustainability of human and natural communities. His many published books include Mammals of the Holy Land, Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle, and Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment. For his service, community and non-violent resistance he has received many awards including the 2011 Social Courage Award from the Joint Conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association and the Gandhi King Conference, and the 2020 Sustainability and Environmental Leadership Award from Takreem.