Article 74 June 1998, Issue No.24
June 1998, Issue No.24 (9)
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Written by Badil-AICWhy the New Name?
Projects and activities currently coordinated by BADIL were developed and implemented in the framework of the Alternative Information Center (AIC) until 1997. At the end of that year, the AIC Board decided that the scope and diversity of AIC projects could no longer be handled properly by one organization. It was thus decided that former AIC projects focusing on Palestinian residency and refugee rights should become the responsibility of a separate organization. This decision was implemented on 1 January 1998, when BADIL began operating as an independent Palestinian non-profit NGO, temporarly using the name of BADIL Alternative Information Center.
Israeli Authorities Evict Residents of SUMOUD Camp
Written by Badil-AICOn 31 March 1998, one day after the evacuation date set for SUMOUD Camp (ARTICLE 74/23 March 1998) Israeli authorities arrived at the camp to inform the remaining Palestinian families at the site that their tents and shacks were constructed without permits and would be demolished within 5 days. The following day, 1 April, Israeli municipal officials along with a large contingent of Israeli police arrived at the site accompanied by 4 bulldozers to evict the residents of the camp. Approximately 10 families had already moved their belongings to an unfinished concrete building in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The building is also owned by the Islamic waqf. The remaining families at the camp were given 3 hours to remove their belongings.
ID-Card Confiscations in Jerusalem Continue in 1998
Written by Badil-AICThe confiscation of ID-cards of Palestinian Jerusalemites has become normal, as normal as land confiscation, house demolition, and settlement construction. Efforts in 1996 and 1997 to raise this issue among local and international decision makers powerful enough to pressure Israel to stop the forceful eviction of the native Palestinian population from their hometown have failed due to lack of concern and over-riding political considerations. In 1997, more than 600 Jerusalemites and their families thus lost the right to live in the city (see ARTICLE 74/23, March 1998). A yet unknown number of Jerusalemites are slated for a life in exile in 1998, the year of public commemorations suggesting that the Palestinian Nakba is an issue of the past ...
New Effort at Tackling Jerusalem ID-Card Confiscations in the Israeli Legal System
A group of Israeli organizations and lawyers (Hotline Center for the Defense of the Individual, ACRI-Association for Civil Rights, AIC-Alternative Information Center, DCI-Defence for Children International-Israel Branch, and Atty. Lea Tsemel) are attempting to challenge - once more - the Israeli policy of ID-card confiscations by taking the issue to the Israeli court system. Their petition was submitted to the Israeli Court on 6 April 1998.
Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights & Development Activities
Written by Badil-AICThe Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights & Development was launched by the Union of Youth Activities Centres and BADIL in 1997 due to the need for continuity and ongoing work on behalf of Palestinian refugee rights. The Campaign is based on the principle that refugee rights cannot be achieved without the active involvement of the refugee community in Palestine and in the diaspora. It is also based on the principle that an ongoing program for the defense of refugee rights must serve the immediate and long term needs and interests of the refugee community. The Campaign’s 1998 program was designed to meet these principles:
Palestinians Commemorate 50 Years of al Nakba:
Written by Badil-AICCultural Revival of the Past Catastrophe - Militant Confrontation of Ongoing Denial of National Rights
The year marking the 50th anniversary of the Palestinian loss of their homeland was the first year since 1948, in which Palestinian national forces and institutions engaged in a joint effort for organizing memorial activities and rallies around the unfulfilled rights and demands of Palestinian refugees. On May 14 and 15, cultural and protest activities took place wherever Palestinian refugees live today, however the center of activity was in those countries in the Middle East that host large refugee communities, especially Lebanon and Jordan, and in Palestine, mainly in its 1967 occupied territories. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, refugees and non-refugees, demonstrated by means of these two-days of activities - held at the same time in the region and the world -strength, unity, and determination to stand up for their rights, i.e. the right of return and self determination.
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Academics, NGOs and Government Officials Discuss Palestinian Refugee Issue
Between March 22 - 24, academics, representatives of NGOs and government officials met at Warwick University in Britain to discuss the issue of Palestinian refugees. The conference, “Resolving the Palestinian Refugee Problem: What Role for the International Community,” part of the so-called “Ottawa process” (following a similar conference in December 1997 in Ottawa, Canada, see ARTICLE 74/23, March 1998), brought researchers together with government observers to share ideas about current and future research concerning the issue of Palestinian refugees and, through dialogue, to attempt to make research “relevant” to the political process.
Opinions on the Right of Return Inside the Refugee Communities:
Written by Badil-AICCommentary on a Seminar Regarding Refugee Rights and Opinion Polls
Salah Abed Rabbo
UYAC - Spokesperson (West Bank)
On 20 March 1998, SHAML, the Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Center, located in Ramallah, hosted a discussion among NGOs, other institutions, and activists focused on the issue related to refugees. The session was organized to discuss and analyze the significant number of questionares about the refugee issue. A paper, entitled, “The Problem of Opinion Polls Among Refugees in the Camps: Statistics Department & Pollsters,” was presented by the Director of the Palestinian Department of Statistics, Dr. Hassan Abu Libdeh.
Jerusalem 1948: Interview with Rashid al-Khalidi
Written by Badil-AICInterview by Nathan Krystall (Chicago, March 1998)
Rashid al-Khalidi is Professor of Middle East History and Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago. He was an advisor to the Palestinian delegation in the Madrid peace negotiations. His family is from Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous books, the most recent entitled Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness.
Jerusalem 1948: Interview with Bahjat Abu Ghourbiya
Written by Badil-AICInterview by Muhammad Jaradat (Amman, March 1998)
Bahjat `Alayan Abu Ghourbiya (Abu Sami) was born in 1916 in Khan Younis/Gaza Strip, Palestine where his father held the office of Head of the Khan Younis Directorate of the Ottoman administration. His family originates from Hebron where he remained until 1925. In that year, Abu Sami moved to Jerusalem where he spent the major part of his life, studies, and struggle. In the war of 1947-48, he served as one of the commanders of the Palestinian fighting forces of al Jihad al-Muqaddas in Jerusalem and participated in most of the historical battles against the Zionist forces.
Réfugiés palestiniens et les déplacés internes (IDP)
Centre d’éducation sur la Nakba en Cours
Mobilisation et Intervention
