Join us to hear directly from one of Palestine's foremost experts on popular resistance and the environment, on his first visit to Australia

We are witnessing unprecedented violence and destruction throughout Palestine - especially the Gaza Strip. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and thousands more are missing under the rubble. The occupied West Bank has also been targeted with raids and the detention of thousands of Palestinian people.

Founder and Director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability, Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh says, "There is both a genocide and an ecocide going on, supported by some Western governments against the will of the Western public." An enormous global movement is rising to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, to end decades of colonisation, and work toward a free Palestine that delivers sustainable peace for all in the region.

Two days before the 76th anniversary of the 1948 mass displacement of 750,000 Palestinians known as the Nakba or Catastrophe, Professor Qumsiyeh will give a talk reflecting on Palestinian resistance to the past 76 years of occupation, dispossession and ethnic cleansing, as well as the environmental impacts of Palestine’s colonisation. Water sources have been restricted, destroyed and polluted; habitat loss is pushing species like wolves, gazelles, and hyenas to the brink; destruction of crops and farmland drives food insecurity; and climate change is already impacting Palestine and its people. Professor Qumsiyeh will lead us through to the current day, more than six months into Israel’s genocide on Gaza, and the alarming ecocide taking place. His talk will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Register now for this rare opportunity to hear directly about the lived experience of colonisation and its impacts. This is a free event.

More About Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh

Professor Mazin Butros Qumsiyeh (born 1957 in Beit Sahour) is a Palestinian scientist and author, founder and director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH) and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) at Bethlehem University where he teaches. After serving on the faculties of the University of Tennessee (1989–1993), Duke University (1993–1999), and Yale University (1999–2005), he now researches and teaches at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities since 2008.

He has lectured and presented on human rights and Palestinian resistance around the world such as: the NATO Defense College, St. Edward's University, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, SOAS, Boston College, the Palestinian American Council, the Rhodes Forum, Brown University, the Munich Rachel Carson Center, Leipzig University Institute of Oriental Studies, and Yale University's Calhoun College.

He is also the author of four books including "Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment" and "Sharing the Land of Canaan".

This event is presented by Free Palestine Geelong, NTEU4P Naarm/Contingent Group and the Deakin NTEU Palestine Solidarity Group. Please note that it will be a space free of racism, including zero tolerance for anti-Palestinian, islamophobic and anti-semitic communication and behaviour.

This event is part of series of events commemorating the 76th Anniversary of the Nakba. For more about other Nakba events in Geelong, visit Free Palestine Geelong on Instagram or Facebook.

FAQs

How long will the talk last?

The talk will last for approximately 40 minutes and the Q&A for 30 minutes.

What time do doors open?

Doors open at 5:30pm for a 6pm start.

How do I get to the Costa Hall Lecture Theatre?

Enter the Deakin University Waterfront Campus from the Costa Hall entrance on Gheringhap Street and take the stairs up two floors to Level 4.