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June 2003: 36 Years of Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Commemoration of the Depopulation and Destruction of Palestinian Villages in 1948 and 1967

(E/28/03)

BADIL Resource Center
03 June 2003
For Immediate Release

INVITATION issued by Zochrot, Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam and the Association of the Palestinian Villages of Yalu, Imwas and Beit Nuba:

“Let’s Have the Courage to Get to Know and Share the Pain of our Collective Memory, in order to Set the Basis for Better Neighborly Relations, Cooperation, Reconciliation and Peace.”

Friday, 6 Jun 2003, 06:00 p.m.

In the context of the activism festival to be held at Ofer forest, Zochrot (Remembering) will organize a TOUR to the 1948 DEPOPULATED PALESTINAN VILLAGE OF AYN GHAZAL located on Mount Carmel south of Haifa. The tour will be guided by a Palestinian refugee originating from Ayn Ghazal, who will tell the story of pre-1948 village life and the eviction of the villagers. A pamphlet with information about the Palestinian village will be distributed, and the visitors will post memorial signs at historical village sites.

Participants will gather at 18:00 at the entrance to Ofer village from Road No. 4; Transportation is available from the Arlozorov train terminal, Tel Aviv, at 16:15 (optional contribution to transportation expenses: NIS 40). For further details, please contact: 056-314229 (Eitan).

Saturday, 7 June 2003, 03:30 p.m.

COMMEMORATION of the CONQUEST and DISTRUCTION OF THREE PALESTINAN VILLAGES in the Latrun Area: IMWAS, YALU and BEIT NUBA

(Organized by Neve Shalom-Wahat Al Salam, Zochrot and the Association of the Three Villages):

15:30: Gathering in Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam

  1. Exhibition and slide show by photographer Yosef Hochman, an eyewitness of the 1967 destruction and depopulation of the three villages;
  2. Personal testimonies by villages residents (Nihad Abu Ghosh of Imwas, a school principle at the time of the occupation; Ahmad Abu al-Rob of Yalu; Ismail Zaid of Beit Nuba), the Abbot of the Trappist Abbey of Latrun, Israeli writer Amos Keinan, who participated in the occupation as a soldier, a.o.;
  3. Distribution of information materials and refreshments;

    4. 17:30: Visit of the Village Sites (now located in the so-called ‘Canada Park’):

  4. Together with the Palestinian inhabitants of the villages, refugees since 1967, visitors will post signs to mark historical villages sites.

Meeting point for the visit: the entrance to ‘Canada Park’ at 17:45 (optional contribution to costs: up to NIS 40). For further details, please contact:

056-314229 (Eitan), 068-505133 (Dorit); 067-479430 (Diana).

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Zochrot: www.NakbaInHebrew.org, info@NakbaInHebrew.org

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