2025: 𝗜𝗻𝘁 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 & 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁
The #UNGA resolution calls on the int'l community to resolve conflicts through inclusive dialogue & negotiation in order to ensure the strengthening of peace & trust in relations between UN member states
https://buff.ly/4ipa3uj
Adopted
in London on 16 November 1945 and amended by the General Conference at
its 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 15th, 17th,
19th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st and 40th
sessions.
"Peace
based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of
governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous,
lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, [...] peace
must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual
and moral solidarity of mankind."
At UNESCO, we believe that we have a shared responsibility to build a better future for all.
We aim to find common ground between peoples and nations by championing collaboration, promoting peace, and advancing humanity.
Our
#SharingHumanity campaign highlights these shared values, the beauty of
our collective cultural heritage, and our collective efforts to address
global challenges.
Foster inclusion and mutual understanding: Promoting discussion and debate to build inclusive societies for all.
Promote culture and creativity: Safeguarding cultural heritage connects humanity to a shared past and common values.
Advance science and technology: Advocate for open science and policies to benefit humanity.
Protect the environment for future generations: Champion science, embrace local wisdom, and protect biodiversity.
Our
collective mission is to create a more equitable and prosperous world
where everyone can enjoy our shared cultural heritage and values.
This campaign brings together a diversity of voices, including our goodwill ambassadors and artists to amplify UNESCO’s message.
"British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon, Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who
worked in al-Shifa and al-Ahli Arab hospitals in Gaza City shortly
after the war began, said levels of malnutrition there were so acute
that many children would “never recover”
.... & “Certain specialities have been eviscerated,” he said. “There are no
more nephrologists [a doctor specialising in kidney care] left. They’ve
all been killed. There are no more board-certified emergency medicine
physicians.”"
Doctors said it was likely that irreversible damage had already been done to large numbers of children. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
"Last month, the UN estimated that more than 60,000 children in Gaza would need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2025. Some had already died, said the organisation."
[AS
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) contributes to the Gaza
Genocide and Zionist settler colonialism in Palestine in at least two distinct
ways. First, MIT laboratories on campus conduct weapons and surveillance
research directly sponsored by the Israeli military. Since at least 2015, MIT
laboratories have received millions of dollars from the Israeli Ministry of
Defense for projects to develop algorithms that help drone swarms to better
pursue escaping targets; to improve underwater surveillance technology;
and support military aircraft evade missiles. Two of these sponsorships were
renewed since October 7th, 2023, while one came up for renewal in
December 2024. Second, MIT maintains institutional collaborations through
the ILP, LGO, CSAIL, and MIT Energy Initiative programs with companies that
sell vast amounts of weapons to Israel. These include Elbit Systems, Israel’s
largest military contractor, as well as Maersk, Lockheed Martin, and
Caterpillar. These collaborations grant genocide profiteers privileged access
to MIT talent and expertise.
Acknowledgements MIT Alumni for Palestine (A4P) MIT Arab Student Organization (ASO) MIT Asian American Initiative (AAI) MIT Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) MIT Black Students’ Union (BSU) MIT Disability Justice Collective (DJC) MIT Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA) MIT Divest MIT DUSP for Palestinian Liberation (D4PL) MIT Faculty and Staff for Palestine (FS4P)
The MIT Coalition for Palestine is an MIT movement of scientists opposed to colonialism, occupation, and apartheid in Palestine and beyond. We are guided by four principles of unity: 1) We are committed to the liberation of Palestine. 2) We support the right of oppressed and occupied people to resist their oppression. 3) We fight for Palestinian liberation within the broader struggle for liberation of all oppressed peoples. 4) We defend the right of every human to live a life of dignity.
Our Coalition The MIT Coalition for Palestine is composed of the following organizations: MIT Globally Indigenous Students for Justice (IS4J) MIT Grads for Palestine (G4P) MIT Jews for Collective Liberation (JCL) MIT Latino Cultural Center (LCC) MIT Muslims for Justice (M4J) MIT Reading for Revolution (R4R) MIT Taara Palestine@MIT (Pal@MIT) MIT Written Revolution Trans@MIT Authors This report was authored by concerned students and scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[AS
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READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP
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DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully
Palestine]
"Due to difficult circumstances, we are still doing weekly or twice a week field trips. Last ride was Saturday. Under difficult circumstance, we still did yet another field trip this past weekend. We had amazing discoveries "
[AS
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READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP
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DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
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Palestine]
Abandon your fears, listen to your passion, explore
the depths of science.
Reach the sky with innovation.
One day I asked my mother the question I ask every year:
“What do you want for Mother’s Day?”
And she gave her usual answer: “I
only want you to be happy.” This answer meant that I had to make an
effort to think about what gift to give her. After a few moments of
silence following the ritual answer, however, and in a timid, kind, and
humble voice, she spoke. Aha! She started to talk about computers,
software, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, and free-of-charge long-distance
communication; I realised that she wanted a smartphone!
My mother, in her seventies, has never wanted to have
anything to do with science and technology, but somehow she has now
discovered that she needs a smartphone. So when I asked whether she
wanted an iPhone or an Android, she inquired about the difference
between the two but ultimately left the choice up to me.
Young researchers. courtesy of Al Nayzak.
This change in my mother’s attitude toward technology reminded me of
her astonishment when I made a major shift in my career to establish Al
Nayzak Organization for Scientific Innovation. Back then she wondered:
“Why?” My answer: “To build a generation that produces rather than
consumes science and technology.” Ten years ago, when this project took
its first steps in Jerusalem before spreading all over Palestine, my
mother only laughed. But now, she asked for a smartphone and made a
conscious effort to passionately investigate the different types and
specifications in an attempt to understand the various technical
details. I reminded her of that funny incident ten years ago when I had
said – with complete optimism – “Let’s hope that ten years from now you
will have a new smartphone whose label says ‘Made in Palestine’!”
This anecdote made me extremely happy and proud to have established
Al Nayzak, which is a unique initiative that looks for young talents in
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and plants an
ambitious vision in the hearts of our community: “To develop, root, and
reinforce a new culture that embraces science, and to announce this
culture among Palestinian youth so that their competence in productive
applied sciences would provide them with better economic opportunities
that would lead to their future prosperity.”
♦ Al Nayzak is a non-profit, non-partisan Palestinian
organisation that was established in 2003 by a group of Palestinian
scientific innovators. It specialises in supportive education,
entrepreneurship, scientific innovation, and research and development.
Al Nayzak’s five branches are located in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus,
Hebron, and Gaza, in addition to its Science and Technology House
(museum) in Birzeit’s old city.
Al Nayzak’s approach is to make scientific-thinking skills become an
inherent part of the lives of Palestinian people. In order to do this,
it applies empirical tools to help individuals acquire thinking skills
and relate them to genuine savoir-faire and technology. In this way they
become capable not only of facing challenges in their journey to
achieve excellence but also of helping to develop their environment and
build a modern Palestinian society. A scientific exhibition. courtesy of Al Nayzak.
We have adopted a number of annual programmes that target various age
groups, including Talented Students Incubators for kids and adolescents
from 10 to 14; Young Researchers for those from 14 to 17; Scientific
and Technological Entrepreneurship (STEP) for school students from 14 to
17; Made in Palestine (MIP) for those who are 18 and above; and
Tafkeer, thinking technology for schoolteachers. There are also a number
of complementary projects to convey a message of science and knowledge
to all segments of the society.
Our science home is managed by a team of specialists who possess
unique scientific experiences in applied sciences and engineering, in
addition to a group of psychosocial and pedagogic counselling experts.
It serves all Palestinian areas through its offices in Jerusalem,
Ramallah, Gaza, and Nablus, as well as in the House of Science and
Technology in the Old City of Birzeit. It benefits from a widespread
network of coordinators all over the country. Al Nayzak has opted for an
approach of annual programmes rather than projects of limited duration
and embraces the scientific talents of people 10 years old or above. Its
core programmes include the following:
1. Talented Students Incubators
The Incubator is an interactive annual programme designed to host
talented students and others with exceptional intellectual abilities. At
the beginning of the programme students in the third grade are assessed
through specialised psychological and technical exams. Successful
students then become eligible to embark on a four-year journey to
develop their talents and acquire leadership skills to become pioneers
within their society. The tools are tailored to the specific abilities
and needs of the students.
2.Young Researchers – Badir (Initiate)
Adolescents: Agents of Positive Change
The Young Researcher programme enables adolescents to discover
knowledge and explore social phenomena using a number of scientific
applications that are of interest to them. They are encouraged to think
outside the box and have their own vision of their community’s issues.
The programme is structured to combine scientific research and
practical application. Results of the research are published to help
implement initiatives in the community and respond to certain topics.
Adolescents are first oriented to the basics of scientific research and
critical observation for the purpose of problem solving in their
communities. They learn to apply logical analysis and subjective
criticism in choosing their research topics using scientific methods
until they can formulate their conclusions/recommendations. They then
use their research results to raise public awareness through the
“Advocacy through Innovation” campaign. They share their observations
through social media, workshops, and field visits. Some of the proposed
solutions have been broadcast on video spots and local TV channels.
Afterwards, the adolescents start to lead community-based initiatives
and volunteer work to help solve the problems which they discussed in
their research and which affect their daily lives as adolescents. As
such, they use their acquired skills to work for positive change.
Upon
their graduation from the programme, the young researchers become
members of Al Nayzak Volunteer Unit, which represents a “national
taskforce” that provides a role model for other projects in the
community.
3. Palestinian Science and Technology Program – STEP
Launched in 2013, STEP supports Palestinian students with innovative
projects and research ideas in various fields of applied science,
engineering, and technology. The programme disseminates a culture of
science and technology research and innovation by empowering the
students with the necessary capacities to implement unique and original
projects to help their communities to develop in order to keep up with
the latest advancements in science and technology.
Applicants to STEP receive an intensive, specialised training in
various topics, including scientific research methodologies and
professional scientific writing. Furthermore, applicants receive
technical and professional support and specialised counselling by Al
Nayzak professionals. The first and second round marked a milestone with
the submission of over 950 projects by 1,780 students from various
schools in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Eighty-two projects prepared by
167 students were shortlisted and made it to the nation-wide closing
exhibition and ceremony that were attended by 5,000 visitors. The 15
winning projects provided implementers with the opportunity to
participate in a scientific trip to the United States to enrol in an
intensive training programme at the Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum and NASA in the areas of engineering, sciences, and physics.
Furthermore, the winning projects were displayed at the Air and Space
Museum to be seen by thousands of visitors.
4. MIP- Made in Palestine incubator for entrepreneurismand scientific innovation
Made in Palestine/Made in Jerusalem is one of Al Nayzak’s annual
programmes. It aims to support innovative ideas in science, engineering,
and technology; and it links the academic experience gained at
university level with the technical skills needed to enter into the
world of business, in an effort to provide solutions to the
technological, scientific, and industrial problems encountered by the
local community.
The core focus of the programme is to afford Palestinian innovators
both inside and outside universities with genuine opportunities to
achieve their hopes and aspirations. They would be able to use their
capacities to develop new products or solve technical problems using
creative methods and mechanisms. The programme has been a phenomenal
success in preparing the ground for a culture of innovation and
celebrating creativity in Palestine. Moreover, the participants have
achieved the highest scores in local and international competitions such
as “Made in the Arab World” and “Stars of Science.”
At the Science House, Birzeit. courtesy of Al Nayzak.
Thinking Technology is a distinguished educational technology
programme that aims to develop an effective Palestinian model for the
integration and use of technology in the educational process in schools.
It targets dozens of schools of various governmental, private, and
UNRWA systems, focusing on four main areas: advancing the
teaching-learning physical environment at schools; developing students’
skills in critical thinking and technological production; on-the-job
teacher training, and creating Arabic innovative e-content that is made
available in the Apple store and the Google play store.
6. House of Science – Pilot National Science and
TechnologyMuseum (NaSM
Crowning its series of achievements and a 10-year journey of
innovation, the organisation inaugurated in 2013 the first Science and
Technology House in Palestine, where visitors enjoy hands-on activities,
all dedicated to creating a culture of scientific thinking. This
constitutes a pilot project prior to the establishment of the National
Science and Technology Museum in Palestine. For this purpose, Al Nayzak
has invested all of its efforts in its first ten years of operation to
building local Palestinian technical capacities, with the vision of
designing and building high-quality, scientific hands-on exhibitions and
exhibits, and developing interactive activities for visitors around
each exhibit.
The Science House received approximately ten thousand visitors during its first year of operation.
7. The first Innovation Park and STEM School … in Jerusalem
Al Nayzak has implemented an initiative to establish the first
Innovation Park and Talented Students School in Palestine to be located
in Jerusalem. This school aims to educate students who believe in
excellence. We desperately need a national Jerusalemite educational
system that is not based on rote learning but rather aims to motivate
creative and critical thinking and analysis. As a result of
communication technology, all the information we search for has become
available online. However, the important question is: How should we deal
with this mass of information? And how can we use this accumulated
information to promote analytical capacities that enable us to use our
understanding to innovate and create and build knowledge-based capital?
The Innovation Park comprises an elementary and secondary school that
specialise in science, technology, engineering, and math. It provides
diversified facilities, including a gym, a swimming pool, playgrounds,
traditional and digital libraries, and indoor and outdoor theatres. It
also hosts a scientific garden that is open to the public round the
clock.
8. Art of Science – Art in Science
At the Science House, Birzeit. courtesy of Al Nayzak.
Science is an essential art that impacts our daily activities and
constitutes a vital component of human culture. We have therefore worked
on several programmes that merge art and drama with science to explain
concepts that would be hard to clarify using traditional methods.
The Scientific Theatre is a live interactive stage performance that
presents scientific methodology, igniting the audience’s imagination
regarding research and facilitating the discovery of real answers to
serious problems that they encounter in their lives.
“Why can’t we connect the refrigerator to lightning if lightning is
electricity? Why does hair stand when it is charged with electricity?”
This is what the Scientific Theater play character (main actor) asks on stage.
There you have a summary of Al Nayzak, ten years after its
establishment. A simple idea; tons of patience, passion, and daily
effort have brought about remarkable success. Over the next ten years we
will continue our programmes and transform them into national
programmes that are accessible to all Palestinians who are interested in
science, engineering, and technology. Together with our partners, we
look forward to inaugurating the National Science and Technology Museum.
And we will set up the Innovation Park’s network to start in Jerusalem,
connecting other governorates nationwide; it will reflect Al Nayzak’s
path with a first step in Jerusalem and steady steps to every other town
in Palestine.
And we hope that, ten years from now, this Jerusalem-based national
institution will be able to offer my mother a smartphone that is “made
in Palestine”!
The Science and Technology House
Birzeit-Old Town…Palestine Note: The House’s activities are for Children ages 6-100 years.
In 2013, Al Nayzak Organization
celebrates its ten year anniversary with the opening of the Saadeh
Science and Technology House. The organization hopes for it to be the
destination for all those seeking knowledge in an interactive and
nontraditional manner, as well as it hopes for it to bring out the ties
between science and technology and our everyday life.
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