|
A Week of Awareness of
the Palestinian Nakba and Return
For Immediate Release
| No.
(E/14/05) |
10
May 2005 |
10-17 May 2005: 57th
Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
A Week of Awareness of
Palestinian Displacement and Eviction and Refugees'
Right of Return
On 15 May, Palestinians commemorate their forced displacement and
dispossession resulting from the establishment of the state of
Israel.
Commemorations of this year's 57th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
(catastrophe) aim to draw attention to the need to halt
Israel's ongoing
expropriation of Palestinian land and the necessity to recognize and
implement Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homes and
properties
in accordance with international law and UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
In Palestine, this year's memorial is coordinated by the Committee
for the
Commemoration of the 57th Anniversary of the Nakba, a body composed of
representatives of Palestinian refugee community organizations in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, members of the global Palestine Right of Return
Coalition, as well as Palestinian unions, political groups, national
institutions, NGOs and the PLO Department for Refugee Affairs. Until
mid-May,
numerous events will be organized by local organizations in West Bank and
Gaza Strip to be followed by a national memorial ceremony in Ramallah on 15
May.
(Contact:
camp@badil.org, tel. +972-2-2747346)
The annual Return March of internally displaced Palestinians in
Israel will be
held on Israel's
Independence Day, 12 May. Jewish-Israeli initiatives, among
them Zochrot, who have taken on the difficult task of bringing the
Palestinian Nakba to the attention of the Israeli public will join the march
of internally displaced Palestinians to the 1948 depopulated villages of
Hawsha an dal-Kasayer (Haifa).
(Contact:
adrid@palnet.com; tel.: +972-4-600 1765)
In Lebanon,
the public is invited to a photo exhibition, "Memory of the Nakba-Memory of
Exile",
organized by the Aidun Group (Palestine Right of Return
Coalition) and the Palestinian Cultural Club of the Beirut Arab University.
The exhibition held under the patronage of former Prime Minister Dr. Salim
Al
Hoss and supported by the Norwegian People's Aid will be open for the public
between 13-16 May at the Ministry of Tourism, Hamra, Beirut.
(Contact:
jsleiman@inco.com.lb, tel: +961-7-753507)
In Canada,
the Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians will hold an
information session about the Palestinian Nakba at Carleton University (Bell
Theater), Ottawa,
in the evening of 14 May. The event will include a lecture and discussion
with Dr. Isamil Zayid and a screening of the film "Palestine
is Still the Issue", by John Pilger.
(Contact:
apac@apacottawa.com; tel: +1-613-863-5452 or +1-819-923-9981)
Zochrot
Nakba
Learning
Center,
Tel Aviv: A series of events aimed at
'discussing what is excluded from Israeli national memory' and raising
awareness of the human cost and consequences of the Palestinian Nakba among
[UTF-8?]Jewish-Israeli society will be organized from 10-17 May by Zochrot
in
conjunction with Beit Nashim Feministi, al-Rabita Jaffa, filmmakers and
Palestinian eyewitnesses of the events in 1948.
(Contact:
www.zochrot.org; tel: +972-50-5924158 or +972-050-631-4229)
BADIL: A special Nakba memorial issue of BADIL's Arabic languagae magazine
Haq
al-Awda (The Right of Return) will be released on 14 May and distributed as
a
supplement to local press in
Palestine. Electronic
copies will be published
on the BADIL website. (For information about additional 2005 Nakba memorial
events, see the BADIL webiste and press release E/13/05, 28 April 2005.)
-----------------------------
BADIL Resource Center
for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
PO Box 728, Bethlehem,
Palestine
Telefax: 00972-2-2747346
info@badil.org -
www.badil.org
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