Author: David William Pear

Who defeated the Islamic State In Syria?

Before answering that question. What is the ISIS? Can the public overcome its chronic amnesia and think back to the sudden appearance of ISIS dressed in brand new black uniforms, gleaming white NIKE’s and driving Toyota trunks? They seemed to appear out of nowhere in 2014. ISIS looked as if it were a mirage when it appeared, or more likely a CIA staged scene from Hollywood.

No sooner had ISIS appeared than it went on a head chopping binge that repulsed and frightened the US public. Washington officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry rang the alarm that this hoard of Islamic crazies wanted to invade the US and “kill us all”. A well-compliant mainstream media swallowed Washington’s script and regurgitated it to frighten a US public. The public gave its silent consent for more war really aimed at Bashar al-Assad.

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A delegation of 23 members of the women’s peace activist group CodePink just returned to the U.S. after a 9 day tour of Palestine. I was among the delegates that wanted to show my solidarity with the Palestinian people, meet with Palestinian activist groups and learn about conditions on the ground first hand. The trip was organized to coincide with the Canaan 10^th Annual Olive Harvest Festival at Burqin, Palestine.

The itinerary included visits to the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Nus Jbeil, Sebastia, Jenin, and East Jerusalem. In Ramallah we met with the Stop the Wall Campaign, a Palestinian grassroots organization against apartheid and the illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian lands. In Nablus we met with women’s cooperative organizations that manufacture Palestinian organic olive oil soap, maftoul, freekeh, spices and other products.

In Jenin we met with the Palestinian Fair Trade Association (PFTA), and the Freedom Theatre project in the Jenin refugee camp. Other highlights of the tour included overnight homestays with local Palestinian families, picking olives with Palestinian farmers, gathered with Palestinians in singing the national anthem of Palestine, hiking the mountain trails and picnics under centuries-old olive trees. CodePink organized an impromptitude demonstration in front of a Re-Max sign advertising real estate for sale in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Lovona.

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