#University of Basel

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Atomic Friction Defies Expectations

An experiment reveals that frictional forces can have a surprisingly complex velocity dependence at the nanoscale. [...] According to conventional models of friction, the frictional force between two solid surfaces sliding against each other is independent of the sliding velocity. But in the past few decades, experiments at the atomic scale have demonstrated that this frictional force can strengthen as the sliding velocity increases. Now Yiming Song at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and his colleagues have observed an even more intricate velocity dependence of atomic friction [1]. The researchers say that their work could help scientists design material interfaces with desired frictional properties.

Read more.

[thinkingimages]

Catholic peasant girl in Baščaršija, Sarajevo, Baščaršija, 1939, photo by Akšamija, Alija M.

Description: Blurred snapshot of a young Catholic peasant girl in Baščaršija, taken over her shoulder with her face in profile. She is wearing festive costume, including a wide skirt, a white blouse with short sleves, a gold-braided jelek and a white scarf fixed in her plaited hair and falling down her back like a bride's veil. She wears flowers and other ornaments in her hair. Another girl is standing to her left, similarly dressed. In front of her, on the picture's right margin, a woman in urban European dress is crossing some tram tracks.

Comment: The headgear suggests that the girl is unmarried. Her costume is from the surroundings of Sarajevo. Analogue photographic process, negative-positive (Agfa Isopan 17 DIN). Original preserved as a negative and a positive on silver bromine paper, stored as a print, negative and digital record.

[oatzmeal]

basel, switzerland

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Studies show that patients with irritable bowel syndrome tend to have high levels of the fungus Candida albicans (illustrated here) in their gut. In recent years, scientists have started to take a closer look at how the fungi in ​your gut microbiome affect your health.

COLORIZED SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE IMAGE BY MARTIN OEGGERLI

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL BASEL, SWISS NANOSCIENCE INSTITUTE, BASEL

[the-chomsky-hash]

[mafaldaknows]

HOW IT STARTED:

Instagram: ramseyart 1.13.2021

HOW IT’S GOING:

Instagram: ramseyart

Instagram: petertunney

“DON’T GIVE UP BEFORE THE MIRACLE!” ✨💪💙🔥

#EGBA

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

every time i have to send an application and have to write a cover letter or send my cv or whatever i realize. i actually have done a bunch of things. like i'm not a lazy worthless piece of trash. maybe i even have a chance! and then i never hear from then again <3

[karmaalwayswins]

Now Reading:

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme “The Incidental Insurgents” (2016)

[xcalable24]

Juniper JNP304MX304 BASE CHASSIS MX304 BASE

[travelella]

FHNW Campus Muttenz, Muttenz, Basel-Landschaft Canton, Arlesheim District, Switzerland

Ricardo Gomez Angel

[materialsscienceandengineering]

2D layer of phosphorus pentamers shows semiconductor properties on silver surface

Phosphorus is a vital component of every organism and plays a key role, for example, in energy transfer in the body and within cell membranes, bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also special because it occurs in numerous different forms (allotropes). For example, there is the highly explosive, toxic white phosphorus, the more stable red phosphorus known from match heads, or the crystalline, semi-conducting black phosphorus. The latter has numerous applications in electronic devices. The variety of phosphorus compounds and their physical and chemical properties can be further extended by the self-assembly of two-dimensional phosphorus structures on surfaces.

Read more.

[botanical-gate]

Basel, Switzerland

Botanic garden of the University > 7000 plant species Reopenning of the big greenhouse in 2023

[3cosmicfrogs]

Update:

after activists' demands continued to be unmet by the university, the building remained occupied until the afternoon. today at 14:00 police in riot gear (including pepper spray, rubber bullets, batons, and hand-held guns) entered the occupied building, at which point the entire sit-in peacefully left the premises. the university of basel governing body called the police on their students, staff, and associated activists. the cause with which the police were called was the accusation of the sit-in with 'tresspassing', which was not communicated to activists before police action. this follows pressure on the university by the right-wing conservative party SVP. one member of the socialist party SP condems the university's actions in an interview. one member of security personell from the uni basel is being accused of sexual harrassment. university basel governing body also barricaded two emergency exit doors, which is a significant endangerment of public safety - as far as i know the legal advice team of unibas4palestine is pursuing this matter further.

activists then tried to march to an assembly point (around 200 people), but the front of the demonstration was cut off from the back. we tried to evade the police, but were surrounded and brought to still-stand. the kanton police administered excessive force to the very front of the demonstration by use of batons and rubber bullets. 43 activists were finally surrounded and lawfully identified ("Identitätsfeststellung"), to which we complied peacefully. the surrounded activists were supported by the remainder of the protest standing just outside the closed zone where we were held.

During the indentification itself the police proceeded to treat People Of Colour, particularly hijabi protestors, with more prejudice. surrounded activists were given a temporary ban ("Platzverweis") from official buildings of the university basel until tonight at midnight, for "tresspassing and unautorized demonstration". with the exception of one person, we were not charged with anything.

i am incredibly proud of the other 42 activists with whom i had the honour of standing today. a group of beautiful, kind-hearted people, whose masterful conduct today showed the strength of the basel student, staff, and associates' body!

international solidarity with the Palestinian people.

as of yesterday the Uni Basel has joined major swiss universities in organized student protests against the genocide of palestinians by the apartheid settler state of israel. One buidling is occupied. the goals of the protest are for the university to cut ties with the hebrew university of jerusalem and tel aviv university. additionally the university basel must return the freedom of speech, expression of opinion, and the right to public gathering to its students and staff.

[mindblowingscience]

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience exclusion more frequently than heterosexual people. This is the finding of a recent study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by researchers from the University of Basel and the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. According to the study, people who are perceived as less gender-conforming are more frequently socially excluded. This could also affect heterosexual people if they deviate from traditional gender roles. In three studies with a total of more than 3,200 participants in Germany and the U.S., the research team investigated the experiences of exclusion of sexual minorities.

Continue Reading.

[zvaigzdelasas]

One IDF member had a wheelchair, two carried a doll in a baby carrier, several wore nurses' clothing, another wore doctors' clothing and several others were dressed in civilian clothing, Sebehat said. Doctors and patients are granted "protected status" in armed conflict under the Geneva Convention.

The experts cautioned that ultimately the International Criminal Court is the body that can determine if international law was violated during the raid, but they pointed to elements of the Rome Statute, the governing treaty of the ICC, and the study on the rules of customary international humanitarian law the IDF may have violated in conducting the raid.[...]

Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects the court's jurisdiction, but the ICC prosecutor has investigated Israel's actions toward Palestinians before.

It's a violation of international law to feign protected status, in this case, by dressing up as a doctor or patient, "in order to invite the confidence of the adversary and then proceed to kill or injure them," Aurel Sari, associate professor of public international law at the University of Exeter, told ABC News. This violates the prohibition to kill or injure the adversary by resorting to perfidy, Sari said.

"The rule is part of customary international law in both international and non-international armed conflicts, which means Israel is bound by it," Sari said.[...]

The other possible violation of international law the IDF may have committed in this case is violating the prohibition on attacking combatants who have been incapacitated by wounds or sickness, or attacking persons "hors de combat," associate professor of international law Tom Dannenbaum told ABC News.

One of the Palestinian men who was killed, Basel Ghazawi, was being treated in the Ibn Sina Hospital and was paralyzed, Sebehat said. [...]

Ghazawi had been in the hospital undergoing treatment for three months. He was injured after a drone attack in Jenin in October, Sebehat said. His older brother, Muhammad Ghazawi, and their friend, Muhammed Jalamneh, were in the hospital room with Basel Ghazawi when all three were killed by the IDF, according to Sebehat.

"Combatants who have been incapacitated by wounds or sickness are protected from attack as persons 'hors de combat,'" under international law, Dannenbaum said. "Clearly, someone who is paralyzed is incapacitated in that respect, so an attack on that individual would be prohibited. Violating that prohibition would be a war crime."

30 Jan 24

[aronarchy]

A copy of the reading list, if you dislike clicking on Google docs links:

The Popular University of the Palestinian Youth Movement Presents Our History of Popular Resistance: Palestine Reading List 

As Palestinians, we are bearers of a rich and beautiful history. Our history is not defined by Zionism, but by our people’s steadfast popular resistance to Zionist colonization and imperialism. For over 75 years, our people have faced Zionist ethnic cleansing and for over 75 years we have risen in struggle against it. Even prior to the 1948 Nakba, Palestinians consistently rose up against British imperialism and the Zionist movement, as exemplified in the 1936-9 Arab Revolt. Our history and struggle, therefore, cannot be defined by victimhood. Instead, they are defined by a relentless persistence toward liberation, even under the most brutal colonial conditions.

Today is no exception. In a moment when the word is rising up for Palestinian freedom, we must emphasize that popular uprisings across Palestine are deeply and firmly rooted in our history. For this reason, our recommended reading list offers historical context on Palestine through the prism of popular resistance, which continues to be our main resource in the fight for land, return, and liberation. We include sources in English and Arabic on popular resistance ranging from political histories, interviews, memoirs, poetry, films, and primary documents. By popular resistance we refer to all forms of resistance taken up by Palestinians: in the form of economic resistance, women’s organizations, unions and labor organizing, and military/armed resistance.

As the Popular University, a committee of the Palestinian Youth Movement, we believe that education must be wielded in service of struggle. Our viewpoint finds inspiration and guidance from the Popular University in Palestine, of which the martyred Basel al-Araj was a part. In our meeting with an educator in this project, Khaled Odeitallah, he emphasized how the political role of pedagogical strategies inspired the objective and vision of the Popular University. He asked: “What is the political role that knowledge production must play?” From this perspective we seek to motivate, engage and facilitate a robust engagement on the history and present of our struggle. Study and struggle are intimately tied to one another.  We do not learn and produce knowledge on Palestinian history for academic or careerist pursuits; we produce knowledge in service of our political struggle for Palestinian liberation.

We encourage you to use this reading list to educate yourself on the history of Palestine beyond the objective facts of colonial domination. This is a political responsibility for anyone concerned with Palestine’s liberation. Through engagement with our history of resistance, we may join the struggle armed with knowledge and a continued commitment not to our suffering, but to our collective strength.

Note: We included a number of texts in Arabic that offer analysis and context for this battle that is rarely offered in the English media outlets. Even if you do not read Arabic, we recommend copy pasting the texts in Arabic into Google Translate or another translation service. The translation, while imperfect, will provide you with an overall sense of the arguments and main points being made.

Introductory and Archival Materials

Decolonize Palestine 

(مكتبة سبيل (الصفحة العربية 

Sabil Library (English Site) 

Learn the Revolution

باب الواد - الجامعة الشعبية 

Revolution and Rebellion under the British Occupation:

The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine: Background, Details, and Analysis, Ghassan Kanafani

(ثورة 1936- 1939: خلفيات وتفاصيل وتحليل.“ غسان كنفاني (1972”

Memories of Revolt: The 1936-1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past, Ted Swedenburg (1995)

أبو جلدة والعرميط Abu Jilda & Al ‘Armit

“Abu Jilda, Anti-Imperial Hero: Banditry and Popular Rebellion in Palestine,” Alex Winder (2015)

“A century of Palestinian resistance: the legacy of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam,” The East is a Podcast (2021)

Palestine: A Modern History, Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali (1978) 

Palestinian Resistance 1948 - 1993

Palestinian history doesn’t start with the Nakba by PYM (May, 2023)

Armed Struggle and the Search for a State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1948 - 1993, Yezid Sayigh (1997)

(معنى النكبة“ قنسطنطين زريق (1948”

Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries, Rosemary Sayegh (1979)

(2006) “من التحرير إلى الدولة: تاريخ الحركة الوطنية الفلسطينية، 1948-1988” هيلغا بوبغارتن

Green March Black September: The Story of the Palestinian Arabs, John Cooley (1973)

“Interview with Fr. Shehadeh Shehadeh on the First Land Day Protest,” Sharif Hamadeh (2005)

Gender in Crisis: Women and the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Julie Peteet (1991)

“What the Uprising Means,” Salim Tamari (1988)

“The Stone and the Pen: Palestinian Education During the 1987 Intifada,” Yamila Hussein (2005)

Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment, Mazin Qumsiyeh (2011)

(وقع الانتفاضات الشعبية الديمقراطية - تاريخ المنظمة و الحر كات“ جميل هلال (2011”

“Fighting on Two Fronts: Conversations with Palestinian Women” Soraya Antonius (1979)

“100 Years of Palestinian Popular Resistance” by Nasreen Abd Elal (May, 2023)

Contemporary Palestinian Resistance 

Zionism in crisis: Palestinian resistance forges a new horizon (April, 2023)

“The Palestinians’ inalienable right to resist,” Louis Allday (2021)

“No Choice but to Break Free: An Interview with Ahmed Abu Artema,” Ahmed Abu Artema and Lara Sheehi (2019) 

Interview with Ahmad Saadat, Leading from Prison, Ending Negotiations, and Rebuilding the Resistance (2013) 

“Palestinian Resistance and Sheikh Jarrah,” Devyn Springer, Mohammed el-Kurd, and Abu Shuwarib, Groundings Podcast (2021)

Notes from the Great March of Return w/ Tareq Loubani, The East is a Podcast (2022)

(هبّة باب العامود: نصر جديد وتحدٍّ جديد 2“ خالد عودة الله (2021”

(حراك «طالعات» الفلسطيني: لا وجود لوطن حرّ إلّا بنساء حرّة“ حلا مرشود (2019”

Operation Sword Edge [2018] - Sayaret Matkal’s Covert Operation, Silah Report (2021)

Battle of Shujaiya - The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza

The Evolution of the Palestinian Resistance and Its New Strategy (October, 2022)

On the Joint Operations Room

Palestinian Institutions and Political Parties

PLO: History of a Revolution - Six-part documentary series about history of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (2009)

The PLO: The Struggle Within, Alain Gresh (1985)

“The Joy of Flying 1967-73” in The Palestinian Liberation Organization: People, Power, and Politics, Helena Cobban (1984)  

“The Palestinian National Covenant,” published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement, Leila Kadi (ed.) (1969)

“PLO Institutions: The Challenge Ahead,” Jamil Hilal (1993)

“A New Hamas Through Its New Documents,” Khaled Hroub (2006)

Worker Mobilization, Labor Movements, and Economic Resistance 

“When pickles become a weapon: Economy of the first Intifada,” Palestinian Journeys

(أداء المؤسسات الاقتصادية في المناطق المحتلة قبل الانتفاضة وخلالها“ عادل سمارة (1990”

“Developing a Palestinian Resistance Economy through Agricultural Labor,” Rayya El-Zein (2017)

Resistance in Zionist Prisons

(2021) كلام الأسرى.. عيون الكلام 

Video: Steadfastness and Resistance — the Palestinian prisoner’s movement and the case of Ahmad Sa’adat

“One Man as a Whole Generation: The Unfinished War of Zakaria Zubeidi,” Ramzy Baroud (2021)

“Liberating a Palestinian Novel from Israeli Prison,” Danya Al-Saleh and Samar Al-Saleh (2023)

“The Prisoner Walid Daqqah: a stubborn conscience that cannot be seared,” Wisam Rafeedie (2023)

“Freedom or Martyrdom: Walid Daqqah’s fate is in our hands,” PYM (2023)

“Resistance and Revolutionary Will: Soha Bechara and Nawal Baidoun’s Testimonies of Khiam Prison,” Mary Turfah (2023)

Role of Palestinian Women in the Resistance

Interview with Samira Salah (2013)

Behind the intifada: Labor and Women’s Movements in the Occupied Territories, Joost R. Hiltermann (1991)

Palestinian Women and the Intifada, Rana Khoury (1995)

“The Palestinian women’s autonomous movement: Emergency, dynamics and challenges,” Rabab Abdulhadi (1998)

“Women of the Intifada: gender, class and national liberation,” Nahla Abdo (1991)

Women, War, and Peace: Reflections from the Intifada, Nahla Abdo (2002)

Palestinian Women’s Activism, Islah Jad (2018)

Memoirs and Personal Profiles 

“Committed to Liberation: Remembering Soha Bechara’s Clandestine Mission” (includes chapter 7 of Resistance: My Life for Lebanon by Soha Bechara)

My People Shall Live, Leila Khaled (1971)

Liberation, Wonder, and the “Magic of the World”: Basel al-Araj’s I Have Found My Answers, Hazem Jamjoum (2021)

(وجدت أجوبتي: هكذا تكلم الشهيد باسل الأعرج“ باسل الأعرج (2018”

(مذكرات نجاتي صدقي“ ،تقديم وإعداد حنّا أبو حنّا، (2001”

“I Went to Defend Jerusalem in Cordoba: Memoirs of a Palestinian Communist in the Spanish International Brigades,” Najati Sidqqi (2015)

“Two Portraits in Resistance - Abu ‘Umar and Mahjub ‘Umar,” Jehan Helou and Elias Khoury (2012)

My Life in the PLO: The Inside Story of the Palestinian Struggle, Shafiq al-Hout and Jean Said Makdisi (2019)

Lightning through the Clouds: ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Mark Sanagan (2020)

جيفارا غزة - القصة الكاملة لبطل فلسطيني حارب الاحتلال ببسالة

جيفارا غزة - وثائقي الميادين 

Historical fiction, literature, and poetry 

The Trinity of Fundamentals, Wisam Rafeedie

“Live Like a Porcupine, Fight Like a Flea,” A Translation of an Article by Basel Al-Araj

“Here We Will Stay,” Tawfiq Zayyad (1966)

Poetry of Resistance in Occupied Palestine, translated by Sulafa Hijjawi (Baghdad, Ministry of Culture and Guidance, 1968)

Returning to Haifa, Ghassan Kanafani (1969)

الأدب الفلسطيني المقاوم تحت الإحتلال 1948ـ1968“ ,غسان كنفاني”

“Resist, My People, Resist Them,” Dareen Tatour (2015) 

(نظرية اللعبة“ خالد عودة الله (2018”

Rifqa, Mohammed El-Kurd (2021)

“A Place Without a Door” and “Uncle Give me a Cigarette”—Two Essays by Palestinian Political Prisoner, Walid Daqqah (2023)

On Zionist Literature, Ghassan Kanafani (1967 original, 2022 English translation)

Films

Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight (2021)

Naila and the Uprising (2017)

Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory (2015)

When I Saw You, Lamma Shoftak (2012)

Slingshot Hip Hop (2008)

Leila Khaled: Hijacker (2005)

Jenin Jenin (2002)

Naji al Ali An Artist With a Vision (1999)

Tell Your Tale Little Bird (1993)

Everything and Nothing (1991)

They Do Not Exist (1974)

Palestine Books Library

To search for the book you’d like: