Rainbowsandyou

“When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me – it still sometimes happens – and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous – not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous and so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful… The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived.

That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday.

I would really suggest a read of this Aljazeera article. The colonization of Palestine has manifested in various ways and scholasticide is one of it. The bombing of schools and universities, the murders of teachers and professors, all of it had the agenda of cutting off the flow of knowledge and thus crippling the Palestinian society further. This dismantling of educational and cultural institutions eradicates avenues through which Palestinians can preserve and share their culture, knowledge, history, identity and values across generations.

This is why it is so important to pay attention to various grassroot organizations that are attempting to rebuild the education system which has been disrupted in this genocide. You may have heard of Isnad initiative, which at the moment sponsors thirty students and is helping them to finish their education. Similarly there is another sister foundation, which is working on similar parameters and has decided to sponsor thirty more students. The Ihyaa Foundation, needs to reach $2000 ASAP, to start operating! This would pay the rent and secure a room with power supply and net connection, for the Gazan students, who are mostly having to finish their degree through distance education programs. So please boost and donate. A little goes a long way, as they are very close to their goal.