Press Releases
May 15, 2012. BADIL Resource Center, in commemoration of the Nakba-64 organized the placement of a tent in Ramallah, at Al Manara Square. The tent was manned by BADIL’s Campaign Unit staff and all the tools produced for confronting the ongoing Palestinian Nakba were distributed. These included the Nakba-64 poster, t-shirts, the latest addition of BADIL’s periodical Haq al Awda, short documentaries of current displacement, children’s stories, and BADIL’s official statement. (See BADIL’s statement here http://www.badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3512-press-eng-21 )
In addition, BADIL arranged for two buses from the Bethlehem area to participate in the demonstration organized by the National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba and the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs. One of the buses was stopped and held for almost two hours at the Jaba Israeli Check point and was not permitted to proceed to Ramallah.
On 14 May in the Khan Younis Refugee Camp of Gaza, various activities took place to commemorate the Nakba. The popular march reached the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza and the participants delivered a memorandum to the General Secretary calling on him to ensure and implement refugee rights embraced in UNGA Res. 194. The participants emphasized refugees rights and they urged the political parties to end the fragmentation.
Nakba commemoration activities were kicked off at BADIL Resource Center with the inauguration of the Ongoing Nakba Education Center (ONEC) which took place on May 10, 2012. The ONEC is a multimedia venue created to raise awareness and document past and present displacement of Palestinians over historic Palestine by the Israeli regime. (www.ongoingnakba.org )
The 64th anniversary of the Nakba signals 64 years of ongoing, systematic, forced displacement of the Palestinian people which began ruthlessly in 1948. The commemoration events taking place indicate that the spirit of the people has not been suppressed and their will to return has not diminished, much to the chagrin of the state of Israel.