Press Releases

55 Years of the Palestinian Nakba 1948: "2003 Nakba Memorial Events in Palestine"

BADIL Resource Center
5 May 2003
For Immediate Release


In this period of great concern about new political initiatives aimed at de-legitimizing Palestinian refugees’ demand for their rights (return, restitution and compensation) as enshrined in international law, Palestinian refugees in all parts of Palestine/Israel have taken the lead in organizing public events to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba. These events will not only commemorate the massive Palestinian displacement and dispossession in May 1948 caused by the establishment of Israel, but also raise the ongoing demand for recognition and implementation of Palestinian refugees’ right of return.

Several Jewish-Israeli initiatives will, for the second time, participate in the annual commemorations inside 1948 Palestine/Israel and raise the slogan, “No Independence without Acceptance of Moral Responsibility and Recognition of the Debt – No Independence without a Just Solution of Return, Repatriation and Restitution!”

PROGRAM

Thursday, 1 May

Launch of all-Palestine TV Awareness-Raising Campaign to Commemorate 55 Years of the Palestinian Nakba: daily broadcasts (1 – 15 May) of documentary films and video-clips (Palestinian TV Network Ma’an).

Monday, 5 May

Tulkarem: 2003 Al-Nakba planning and organizing meeting of community organizations.

Tuesday, 6 May

Hebron District: Launch, WORKSHOP SERIES on ‘The Palestinian Nakba in the Current Political Context’ (6 – 13 May): five workshops in Idhna, Hebron, al-Arroub Camp, Doura and al-Fawwar Camp will discuss three topics: Palestinian Refugees’ Right of Return and Proposals Presented in the Political Negotiations; U.S. Policy in the Region and its Impact on the Palestinian Issues; and, The Road Map – How Do We Relate to It? (public institutions, local community centers, Anqa Cultural Society, a.o.)

Wednesday, 7 May: Israeli Independence Day/Day of the Palestian Nakba (Hebrew calendar)

10:00 a.m.: VISIT AND SIGN-POSTING at the Depopulated Palestinian Village of MISKA (on the Tira-Kfar Saba road): Internally displaced residents of Miska will tell their story to Jewish-Israeli visitors. Together they will re-post signs marking important sites in the village, which were removed since the last visit and raise the demand for the villagers’ return to their lands. (Zochrot and the Committee of Miska Displaced; contact: Eytan, 056-314229; transportation will depart from the Arlozorov train terminal in Tel Aviv at 9:15 a.m; participants will then join the return march to Umm al-Zeinat.)

2:00 p.m.: 6th ANNUAL MARCH to the Palestinian Village of UMM AL-ZEINAT: the march will conclude with a memorial ceremony in the village located on Mount Carmel. (Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced with the participation of Palestinian public and popular institutions, political parties and social movements and several Jewish-Israeli initiatives, such as Zochrot, Bat Shalom, a.o. Participants will gather at the Beer el-Haramees (Elyakim) Junction. Transportation is available from numerous locations. For further information contact ADRID: Daoud Badr, 068-641066 or Soliman Fahmawi, 050-267679.

Hebron District (al-Arroub Camp, Sourif, Doura): Launch, AL-NAKBA ACTIVITY PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN, 7 – 15 May; a series of workshops will introduce children to the history of al-Nakba; children will produce 550 paper kites and a large balloon carrying the names of the 1948 depopulated and destroyed Palestinian villages (Youth Center/Arroub Camp, ‘Anqa Cultural Society/Hebron, Doura Cultural Center, Hebron Municipal Library, a.o.).

Thursday, 8 May

Nablus: PUBLIC DEBATE, “The Right of Return – Consensus and Controversy,” at the Youth Activity Center/Camp No. 1 (Local Committee for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled).

Saturday, 10 May

Nurshams Camp/Tulkarem: WORKSHOP, ‘The Palestinian State and the Refugee Issue’ at the Youth Center/Nurshams Camp (Popular Service Committee; date to be confirmed).

Tulkarem: Launch, WEEK OF JERUSALEM AND RETURN (10 – 16 May); each day is dedicated to a main theme (refugees, prisoners, injured, martyrs). Activities include lectures, debates, film screenings and exhibitions at the al-Quds Open University, Tulkarem (student organizations, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, Palestinian Martyr’s Society, Popular Committees, a.o.);.

Nablus: PUBLIC CALL-IN DEBATE with refugee activists and Palestinian politicians on: ‘al-Nakba Commemorations and Proposed Solutions for Palestinian Refugees;’ in the studio of Afaq TV.

Sunday, 11 May 2003

Tulkarem: ‘REFUGEE DAY/Week of Jerusalem and Return,’ al-Quds Open University, including a workshop on: ‘The Palestinian Refugee Issue and International Protection.’

Wednesday, 14 May 2003

Askar Camp, Nablus: ‘Palestinian Children Reflecting on al-Nakba;’ a gathering and discussion (Local Committee for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled).

Tulkarem: ORGANIZING WORKSHOP, ‘Problems of Palestinian Refugees in the Tulkarem District’ at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Popular Committee and community organizations from the Tulkarem District);

Nurshams Camp/Tulkarem: AL-NAKBA – AL-AWDA TORCH MARCH.

Thursday, 15 May 2003: Al-Nakba Day

Tulkarem: WORKSHOP, ‘The Road Map and the Fate of Palestinian Refugees’ Al-Arroub Camp, Sourif, Doura (Hebron): Palestinian children FLY THEIR PAPER KITES and BALLOON on Nakba Day;

Bethlehem District: Dissemination and discussion of UN Resolution 194 in Palestinian public schools;

PUBLIC RALLIES and MARCHES in commemoration of 55 years of the Palestinian Nakba and for the Palestinian right of return (Tulkarem, Balata Camp/Nablus, Bethlehem, and elsewhere).

Balata Camp, Nablus and Tulkarem Camp: TORCH MARCHES in commemoration of the Nakba.

 

Please note that this program is incomplete. It does not include all 2003 Nakba memorial events, and additional activities are still being organized, especially in the Gaza Strip.

 


For additional information about events organized in the West Bank contact BADIL at: 02-2747346 or [email protected]