Palestinian Land Day (30 March)

Land Day commemorates the day nearly three decades ago when Israeli security forces shot and killed six Palestinians during demonstrations and a general strike called by the Palestinian leadership inside Israel to protest against ongoing expropriation of Palestinian land to build new Jewish colonies and expand existing Jewish cities. Today Land Day symbolizes Palestinian frustration concerning ongoing expropriation and unresolved claims to housing and property restitution.

Anniversary of the 1948 Massacre of Deir Yassin (9 April)

On 9 April 1948 Jewish military forces killed more than 100 men, women and children in the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin on the western outskirts of Jerusalem. Deir Yassin was one of more than 100 reported massacres of Palestinian civilians that contributed to the mass displacement of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948. Commemoration of the Deir Yassin massacre symbolizes the Palestinian struggle for respect for human rights and rule of law, including investigation of and remedies for past violations.

Anniversary of the 1948 Nakba (15 May)

Nakba is an Arabic word meaning ‘catastrophe’. It is the most important date commemorating the Palestinian refugee experience. The Nakba refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in 1948. More than two-thirds of the Palestinian people were displaced and dispossessed of their homes and properties. Commemoration of the Nakba symbolizes the massive losses of 1948 and the continuing demand of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to return and repossess their homes and properties. 

Anniversary of the 1967 Naksa (6 June 1967)

The Naksa commemorates the second mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians that took place during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In Arabic Naksa literally means ‘setback’ or ‘relapse’ and refers to the second Nakba experienced by Palestinians. Palestinian refugees displaced for the first time in 1967 are unable to return due to Israel’s protracted military occupation of the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Anniversary of the 1982 Massacre of Sabra and Shatila (15-16 September)

On 15-16 September 1982, right-wing Lebanese allies of Israel's occupation forces headed by then Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, entered the Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila under the eyes of Israeli military forces and slaughtered several thousand Palestinian refugees. Over the past two decades, the massacre of Sabra and Shatila has come to symbolize Palestinian suffering rooted in mass forced displacement, military occupation, the demand for investigation and remedy of gross human rights violations, and the denial of the right to self-determination and the right of refugees to return to their homes and properties.

UN Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November)

November 29 marks an anniversary illustrative of the international community's ambivalent relationship with the Palestinian people.  In 1947 the United Nations General Assembly recommended partition of Palestine into a "Jewish" and an "Arab State" (UNGA Resolution 181/1947) in violation of international law and against the express wish of the majority of Palestine's inhabitants. Thirty years later, the United Nations declared 29 November the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination (UNGA Resolution 32-40B/1977).  Today, the Palestinian people continue to live in an environment characterized by exile and forced displacement, increasing racism and an emerging Israeli apartheid regime.

Anniversary of UN Resolution 194/Right of Return (11 December)

UN General Assembly Resolution 194 is the primary United Nations resolution concerning Palestinian refugees and IDPs displaced in 1948. Paragraph 11 of the resolution affirms the right of all refugees displaced during the 1948 war in Palestine to return, repossess their homes and properties, and receive compensation for losses and damages. Refugees not wishing to return are entitled to compensation and should be provided with resettlement assistance. The resolution was adopted one day after the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right of all individual to leave and return to their country of origin.