|
·
Popular
Festival:
Palestine,
60
Years
of
Exile
cultural
heritage
celebrated
in
Bethlehem
and
Ramallah
·
Palestinian
protest
during
Nakba
Commemoration
attacked
while
demonstrations
all
over
the
world
fill
the
streets
Events
in
Palestine
·
Al-‘Awda
Camp,
Ramallah.
Activities:
The
May
13th
‘Awda
Camp
activities
will
include:
Art
activities
for
children,
photo
and
heritage
exhibits
(all
day);
Eyewitness
accounts
of
the
ethnic
cleansing
of
Al-Lydd
by
Haj
Mahmoud
Al-Attal
(3:30pm);
Forum
on
Internecine
Palestinian
Fighting
and
its
Effect
on
the
Right
of
Return
Struggle,
by
Dr.
Adel
Samara
(5:30pm);
Dabka
performances
(7pm);
and
a
film
screening
(8pm).
Contact
uyac@uyac.org
“Have
We
Not
Suffered
Enough?”:
Nakba-60
Commemoration
Festival.
1-3pm
at
the
Bethlehem
University
Auditorium.
Events
will
include
music,
dance
poster
and
photo
exhibit,
and
talks
by
three
generations
of
Palestinian
refugees.
More
information
at
http://www.bethlehem.edu,
contact:
normah@bethlehem.edu
Events
internationally
·
Popular
Festival:
Palestine,
60
Years
of
Exile;
Iraq,
5
Years
of
War.
12-14
May,
Madrid,
Spain.
Musical,
theatrical,
cultural,
and
educational
events
featuring
Rene
Aquarone,
Azmi
Bishara,
Leila
Khaled,
Jaber
Suleiman,
Teresa
Aranguren,
Rafael
Escudero,
Hana
Al-Bayati,
and
many
more.
For
more
information,
visit
www.culturaypaz.org.
·
Screening
of
Ilan
Pappe
talk
'The
Ethnic
Cleansing
of
Palestine'
7pm,
BCGEU
hall
v5h2l9,
Victoria
(BC),
Canada.
Organized
by
CAIA-Victoria.
[Coalition
Against
Israeli
Apartheid],
contact:
George
Mc
Fetridge,
georgemcfetridge@gmail.com
Report
on
previous
events
·
Nakba
demonstration
attacked
in
Shufa:
Ten
Palestinians
were
injured
on
10
May
in
Shufa
village,
south
of
Tulkarem,
when
Israeli
forces
attacked
a
demonstration
on
the
occasion
of
the
sixtieth
anniversary
of
the
Nakba.
The
protestors
attempted
to
dismantle
the
roadblock
that
has
effectively
closed
the
entrance
to
the
village
for
the
last
four
years
and
were
fired
on.
For
more
information,
see:
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1648.shtml;
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/05/10/9-activists-injured-as-israeli-army-attacks-demonstration-in-shufa-tulkarem/
·
Thousands
Mark
the
Nakba
and
call
for
refugee
return
in
London
on
10
May.
Notable
participants
in
the
demonstration
included
Tony
Ben
and
Mustafa
Barghouti,
in
addition
to
recorded
messages
by
the
elected
Palestinian
Prime
Minister
Ismail
Hanieh
and
Palestinian
Legislative
Council
member
from
Gaza
Dr
Jamal
Al-Khudairy.
The
Demonstration
was
organized
by
the
Palestine
Solidarity
Campaign
in
the
UK (www.palestinecampaign.org).
·
Toronto
Demonstration
to
Commemorate
the
Nakba,
and
calling
for
the
Right
of
Return
of
Palestinian
refugees
draws
over
1000
people.
Many
of
those
who
participated
in
the
10
May
demonstration
were
among
those
who
witnessed
and
survived
the
Nakba.
The
demonstration
was
organized
by
Palestine
House
(www.palestinehouse.com)
and
the
Coalition
Against
Israeli
Apartheid
(www.caiaweb.org).
Pictures
of
the
demonstration
can
be
found
at:
http://johnb.smugmug.com/gallery/4911220_SJ4Wx#293286484_iarT7
·
Over
4000
people
demonstrated
against
the
Turin
book-fair's
“celebration”
of
Israeli
writers.
The
fair
has
come
under
a
great
deal
of
pressure
from
progressive
authors
around
the
world
who
have
publically
boycotted
the
book-fair,
while
others
have
come
under
pressure
from
their
readers
to
cancel
their
participation.
One
of
the
media
reports
on
the
10
May
demonstration
can
be
found
at:
Video
can
be
watched
at
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=5MYYd3Fe3pk;
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=xSnSTTb1RjA
Pictures
can
be
seen
at:
http://www.corriere.it/gallery/Cronache/vuoto.shtml?2008/05_Maggio/torino/1&1
English
language
media
article
at:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/05/10/turin-fair-protest.html
·
Dozens
of
Palestinians
forcibly
expelled
from
their
homes
in
Jerusalem,
took
to
the
streets
in a
silent
vigil
in
Jerusalem
on
12
May,
commemorating
the
60th
year
since
they
were
uprooted.
The
vigil
took
participants
on a
tour
of
1948
occupied
Jerusalem,
where
manty
of
the
Nakba
survivors
pointed
out
their
homes
and
described
their
memories
living
in
them,
and
being
forced
out
of
them.
Jerusalem's
Nakba
survivors
can
be
contacted
at:
nakbasurvivors@gmail.com
The
Reuters
report
on
the
vigil
can
be
found
at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1122227920080511?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true;
The
Palestinian
Nakba
on
the
ground
On
this
day,
1948
-
In Gaza, the people of Beit Daras, Sawafir as-Samaliah, Betanyah, Bashit, and Nebi Rubin were expelled with around 7,000 people fleeing the villages. Only a few remained behind.
-
Zionist forces also carried out attacks in al-Ramla district. In Abu Shusha, the 870 villagers fled from mortar attacks. The village was subsequently occupied and its buildings dynamited.
Nakba
Today
Jaffa
(The
Bride
of
the
Sea)
was
Palestine's
largest
and
most
vibrant
metropolis.
Its
centrality
to
the
Arab
Palestinian
society
and
economy
forced
the
UN
to
include
it
in
the
proposed
Arab
state
in
the
1947
partition
plan.
This,
however,
did
not
stop
5,000
Zionist
troops
from
besieging
the
city
for
three
months
leading
up
to
Israel's
declaration
of
statehood.
The
poorly
armed
and
untrained
defenders
of
Jaffa
included
tens
of
international
volunteers
who
came
to
defend
Palestine,
notably
from
Yugoslavia.
The
majority
of
Jaffa's
inhabitants
were
pushed
into
the
sea,
forced
to
flee
using
boats
and
ending
up
in
other
Palestinian
coastal
cities
like
Gaza,
or
further
in
Egypt
and
Lebanon.
Soon
after
its
occupation
on
this
day
(13
May)
in
1948,
Zionist
forces
blew
up
and
bulldozed
three-quarters
of
Jaffa's
Arab
section.
The
remaining
Arab
areas
were
officially
confiscated
by
Israel,
and
the
property
was
transferred
to
Israel's
public
housing
organization,
Amidar.
Since
then,
these
areas
(the
poorest
in
the
Jaffa-Tel-Aviv
municipality)
have
experienced
soaring
property
prices.
Amidar
now
hopes
to
reap
in
the
profits
of
the
high
prices
by
evicting
the
remaining
rightful
Palestinian
owners
of
the
homes.
Through
Amidar,
Israel
also
threatens
to
sell
off
most
of
the
land
of
the
historic
Tasso
cemetery
in
Jaffa.
The
result
is
an
escalation
of
the
ongoing
Israeli
practice
of
Judaizing
and
de-Arabizing
Jaffa,
Palestine's
economic
and
cultural
capital
just
sixty
years
ago.
For
more
information,
see
the
Arab
Association
for
Human
Rights
report
at:
http://www.arabhra.org/Hra/SecondaryArticles/SecondaryArticlePage.aspx?Language=2&SecondaryArticle=1670
Listen
to
an
audio
documentary
about
the
Land
Day
2008
demonstration
highlighting
the
struggle
of
Jaffa's
Palestinians
to
stay
in
their
city:
http://www.imemc.org/attachments/apr2008/the_land_day_feature_ready.mp3
Visit
the
official
website
of
the
Popular
Committee
to
Defend
the
Right
to
Housing
and
Land
in
Jaffa:
http://yaffastruggle.wordpress.com
Background
Resources:
·
For
resources
on
the
history
of
the
Nakba,
information
about
Palestinian
refugees,
and
their
right
of
return
under
international
law,
see
the
Nakba-60
Resources
Info-Packet
at:
http://www.badil.org/Publications/badil-nakba-60-info-packet/index.html
·
For
information
about
selected
cases
of
ongoing
diaplacement,
please
visit:
http://www.stopthewall.org/activistresources/1583.shtml
·
For
information,
resources
and
links
to
organizations
working
on
the
growing
campaign
for
Boycotts,
Divestment
and
Sanctions
on
Israel
until
it
dismantles
its
military
occupation's
colonial
apartheid
system
in
the
West
Bank,
Gaza
and
Golan
Heights;
ends
systematic
discrimination
against
its
Palestinian
citizens;
and
implements
the
Palestinian
refugees'
right
to
return
to
their
homes
and
properties,
please
visit
the
website
of
the
Boycott
Divestment
Sanctions
Campaign
National
Committee
(BNC):
http://www.bdsmovement.net
-------------------------------------
For
more
information,
please
contact:
Palestinian
Grassroots
Anti-Apartheid
Wall
Campaign
Email:
global@stopthewall.org,
Tel.:
+972-2-297-1505
Badil
Centre
for
Palestinian
Refugee
&
Residency
Rights:
Email:
mediaenglish@badil.org,
Tel.:
+972-2-277-7086
*The
week’s
events
coordinated
by
the
National
Committee
to
Commemorate
the
Nakba.
The
National
Committee
represents
national
movements
and
networks,
including
the
Council
of
National
and
Islamic
forces,
the
Global
Palestine
Right-of-Return
Coalition,
the
Popular
Committees
and
youth
centers
of
the
refugee
camps
all
over
Palestine,
the
Anti-Apartheid
Wall
Campaign,
Badil
Center
for
Palestinian
Residency
and
Refugee
Rights,
Palestinian
NGO
Network
(PNGO),
the
Civic
Coalition
for
the
Defense
of
Palestinian
Rights
in
Jerusalem
and
the
PLO
Department
for
Refugee
Affairs
(DORA). |
