Mazin Qumsiyeh

Mazin Qumsiyeh  We have saved Mazin for last for Mazin has been our shepherd from the very beginning of our engagement on this issue. Mazin was a professor of biology at Yale University when the Rev. David Good got to know him through the interfaith group, “We Refuse to be Enemies.” It was Mazin who first introduced us to his home community of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem.

Subsequently, Mazin has returned to his beloved home in Palestine where he teaches at Bethlehem University and has distinguished himself as a leader in the non-violent resistance movement. In addition to being a champion of human rights, Mazin also has a deep love for the land of Canaan. Opposite his home, he can see the horrendous scar of Har Homa, an illegal Israeli settlement on what used to be the beautiful woodland of Jabal Abu Ghneim, a place where Mazin as a child fell in love with the beauty of the land. Out of that love and devotion, Mazin has now established a Natural History museum in Bethlehem, a place that will help future generations to cherish and preserve the sacred land on which they live.  “Beit Sahour”, means “place of vigilance” and Mazin and his neighbors pride themselves on being the descendants of the shepherds who received the angelic vision of “peace on earth, good will to all.”