For Immediate Release

 
Educational events beginning today in Ramallah highlight the importance of informed resistance.

"I see myself as a creative teacher because I had many bad teachers. I want to make successful students who will go back to build Palestine. I do not remember Gaza as I was too small, but it is not about memory, it is about heart.” - Saeed (17), a Palestinian refugee from Yaffa, whose mother was expelled to Gaza in 1948, and who lives with his family in Al-Wihdat refugee camp in Jordan – from the Spring 2008 Nakba-60 Special issue of al-Majdal, Badil's quarterly publication. More at: http://www.badil.org/al-majdal/al-majdal.htm

Events in Palestine

• Education campaign: Beginning of educational campaign at the al-‘Awda Camp in Ramallah. Contact: Wajih Atallah, Union of Youth Activities Centers in the Refugee Camps, tel.: 0599-255584, mail: [email protected]  

Events internationally

• “Ila Haifa”: an adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani's Returning to Haifa by PSC and the al-Zaytouna Dabka group continues today in London, UK. Contact: PCS UK, mail: [email protected]  

Report on previous events

• The Al-Awda Award: On May 3, Badil honoured art and research projects with the 2nd Al-Awda Annual Award. The ceremony included an exhibition of the best posters submitted for this year's contest. The award was established by Badil in 2007 to raise the profile of Palestinian refugee rights, particularly the Palestinan refugees' right to return to their homes and lands. For more see: http://www.badil.org/Publications/Press/2008/press465-08.htm

On this day, 1948

• A Zionist militia occupied the village of ‘Akbara.  ‘Akbara, located in the Galilee region, was one of the many villages that fell in the ethnic cleansing operations that occurred during May. 
• Akbara was used by Zionist forces as a dumping ground for Palestinian refugees who were displaced from their homes in other areas of the Galilee. These refugees became known as “internally displaced”, meaning that while they remained inside 1948 Palestine (Israel), they were barred from returning to their homes. Today, there are 274,000 so-called internally displaced Palestinians.

Nakba Today

• Nu’man village: Located north east of Bethlehem, Nu’man is completely isolated by the Wall, the Har Homa settlement and a settler-only road.  Occupation forces control the only entrance, allowing only those with “Nu’man-Mezmuria” marked on their identity papers inside. Everyone else, including health workers and first-degree relatives, is prohibited from entering.
• “We turned out to be the 21^st century refugees with peoples’ life at stake.  The issue is not security but rather the creation of an atmosphere for silent transfer, to create a situation where we ourselves reach the conclusion that our lives are unliveable” – Jamal Der’awi, Nu’man village 
• For more on Nu’man village, see: Jamal Darawi from Nu’man: “We Are the Refugees of the 21st Century” at http://stopthewall.org/communityvoices/1260.shtml or Palestinian Towns and Villages: Between Isolation and Expulsion at http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/1583.shtml

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: http://www.bdsmovement.net

For more information, please contact:

Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
Email: [email protected], Tel.: +972-2-297-1505

Badil Centre for Palestinian Refugee & Residency Rights:
Email: [email protected], 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).