Happy Nakba Day to You!

Friday 15 May 2009

Happy Nakba Day to You!

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By Will

Today marks the 61st anniversary of the creation of Israel. And there's a million reasons to be upset about it.

Palestinians around the world commemorate its establishment as Al Nakba, or "the catastrophe." Israel's foundation meant the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of refugees. This created the largest, long-term refugee population in the world.

But, they should not mourn Israel's creation. They should celebrate what a failure it has been.

Israel's record in the region so far has been disastrous. Far from being the "light among nations" its past PR personnel suggested, it earned a pariah status International legal bodies repeatedly came down against it, with its only protection being the corrupt and untenable client relationship with the United States.

It is marked by repeated invasions; hyper-militarization; attacks on the territories of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan; occupation of the territories of its four neighboring states; an active, belligerent colonization program; countless extralegal assassinations; the maintenance of a rigorous occupation regime first in the Palestinian Galilee until 1967, when it expanded it to the newly Occupied Territories; the construction of walls, minefields, checkpoints, roadblocks, etc.; the vilification of Palestinian artists, writers, singers, and so on; and, finally, it has collaborated with, and thereby legitimized, some of the most pungent regimes in the region and the world, from Latin American dictatorships to the South African apartheid regime to "moderate" Arab despots.

Despite the excruciating human cost inflicted on the Palestinians and Lebanese people, Israel has failed to be the Jewish state its ideological forefathers envisioned. More Jews live outside than in, Jews are barely, if at all, a majority in the land they rule. Even non-Jewish citizens are growing at a rate fast enough to cause Israeli officials alarm, motivating the denigrating label, "demographic threat." Finally, Israel claims itself to be bombarded by hate and constantly under threat, undermining its claim to be the protector of the Jewish people -- who remain much safer in Europe and the United States.

Sounds like the project is struggling more than we often think it is.

Palestinians, for their part, are refusing to forget their plight.

Thousands of Palestinians marched through cities across the West Bank yesterday. They carried flags, large wooden keys and images of villages razed by Zionist military forces in 1947 and 1948.

The keys symbolize the homes the Palestinians lost when Israel came to be. Many refugees still hope to return one day. "I came here to show that we believe that one day we will return. If not me, then my son," said Mohammad Hassan, 79.

In Ramallah, demonstrators waved banners reading, "The right of return is sacred," and "Return, Jerusalem And Self-Determination: Our Struggle Will Continue." They gathered at the tomb of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas marked Al Nakba's anniversary by stating in a televised speech that ending the Israeli occupation, establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and resolving the refugee issue, are minimum conditions to begin to lift the injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people 61 years ago.

"We are here, we will stay here, we are rooted in this land," Abbas said, "We will remain steadfast and will remain determined to end this atrocious occupation."

Israel announced a security blockade today. It will halt West Bank traffic into Jerusalem, making public commemorations in the city more difficult to attend.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are also planning Al Nakba events. Akka residents will hold a Nakba parade tonight with the slogan "not another Nakba."

Ahmed Awada, who is also a municipal councilor, said "One of the objectives of Hadash members and Arab residents of the city is to communicate to our youths, to the members of the new generation, that they must never forget what happened to our forefathers in 1948."

Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and his Yisrael Beiteinu Party, are seeking a legal ban on Palestinian citizens marking Al Nakba day. "The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning," said party spokesman Tal Nahum.

Hamas, according to Fateh, barred Fateh's planned commemorations in Gaza. Hamas legislator, Mosheer Al Masry, said it was to ensure security in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas “wants to prevent lawless acts planned by Fateh members in coordination with their leadership in Ramallah."

Nakba events in Gaza did take place, such as one gathering in Beit Hanoun. It was organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Tents were erected in the place ornamented by Palestinian flags, as national songs played.

As Xinhua reported on the event and featured some of the participants,

Fatima Khrawat, a 72-year-old woman who still clearly remembers the Nakba Day, put on her village traditional gown. She said "I came here to say that we still dream to return back to our homes."

She said she was 12 in the Nakba, and "it was a miracle that my family and I survived."

"We all escaped from our village Herebia (near Ashkelon) walking on foot under the heat of the summer sun after the Israeli forces stormed the village and killed many of its residents," said Khrawat as she sat down with her grandchildren.

She added that what happened in 1948 "was not only a Nakba (catastrophe), but it was also a real ethnic uprooting and a real crime. I remember this and all our people will never forget."

Palestinians in the United States also are holding events. For instance, Palestinians in Minnesota are gathering this evening.

Wake up and smell the Nakba

15 May 2009 by الفلسطينية

This day is like any other. Palestine was not lost in a day. It was lost way before May 15 1948. And we are still losing it, bit by bit, massacre by massacre, every single day. Whether its settlement build-up, evictions, land confiscations or our lousy regimes, little has changed in the past few decades. Division? We were never united. Gaza? Like Deir Yassin, like Sabra like Shatila- new name for an old massacre. Refugees? Forgotten. Justice? Still elusive. The future? Call me crazy, but I'm still hopeful.

Posted in: Labels: nakba