On May 15th each year, Palestinians and their allies around the world mark the Nakba ( Cataclysm) the time when more than 750,000 Palestiians, about half of the Arab population in Palestine at that time, were forced out of their homes and lands and saw Palestinian villages wiped off the map to establish the state of Israel in 1948. Thousands of people were brutally massacred in Deir Yassin, Lydda, Tantura and many other areas, by gangs which later became the Israeli Defence Force.
The vast majority of Palestinian refugees, both those outside the 1949 armistice lines and those internally displaced, were barred by the newly declared state of Israel from their right to return to their homes or the reclaiming of their property, and in doing so Israel violated international law. Ii is the defining event that formed and solidified the Palestinian liberation struggle
This period of remembrance also now marks the anniversary of those killed during the Great Return March in Gaza last year. Thousands of Palestinians, stuck in the blockaded Gaza strip, initiated protests that started in Gaza at the end of March as a way to draw attention to the living conditions in Gaza, where currently more than 1,3 million Palestinian refugees live, but more importantly as a march for the right of return. This Great March characterizes the use of peaceful activism by Palestinian citizens since the early 2000s. These mobilizations aim to defend land rights, rights to resources, mobility through non-violence and sometimes innovative actions to attract international attention demanding their right to return to their homes from which they were expelled in 1948. They were also condemning the continued occupation and siege. Hundreds of people have been killed during the marches, including children, disabled protesters, journalists and paramedics.
Photographer Mohammed Zanoun's profiles of Great March of Return participants, picked up by the Electronic Intifada, explained why the March is necessary and why they keep going back every Friday.
One participant, 20 year-old Shireen, commented: "With the Great March of Return, the world has become aware that there is a nation demanding its rights and that we will not stay silent. The world should support us. I want to live in a developed, free society, which has no occupation, killing or destruction. We are looking for freedom and we will seize it."
In the aftermath of an Israeli election in which candidates vied for who could threaten Palestinian lives the most, and in which Netanyahu promised to annex the West Bank and Golan Heights, starting with the 57th Friday of the Great March of Return and continuing over the weekend of May 4–5, a number of Israeli bombing raids resulted in a devastating number of Palestinian casualties,including at least 25 people killed. The deaths of two Palestinian toddlers and their pregnant mothers were particularly horrific.According to Tareq Baconi from the International Crisis Group, Palestinians were being shot at long before any rockets were fired back. Much has been made of Palestinian responses to the attacks in the international press, whose coverage has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Israel's initiation of the hostilities, or the incomparable force and destructive power it unleashed on the starved and fenced-in population in the Strip.
There
is no peace in stolen lands, especially when people still cry for
liberation and the right to return to their lands.The fact is the Nakba
never ended. It continues every day as Palestinians are evicted from
their homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to be replaced by
illegal Jewish-only settlements. It continues as Israel’s occupation
obstructs and
severely restricts Palestinians’ attainment of rights and fundamental
freedoms, including: the right to life, the right to liberty and
security of person, and their right to an adequate standard of
living,amongst others. Notably, Israel also violates Palestinians’ right
to freedom of movement within and from the Occupied Palestinian
Territories
through its closure policy made up of the Annexation Wall and its
associated permit-regime in the West Bank, and its prolonged
closure of the Gaza Strip, which has made Gaza uninhabitable for
Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip, in particular,
Palestinians continue to be severely deprived of their liberty as a
result of Israel’s unlawful closure, amounting to collective punishment.
In Gaza, Palestinians are trapped in a humanitarian crisis without adequate water or
electricity as they are prevented from returning to their lands inside
what is now Israel.It continues with sniper attacks on Palestinians in
Gaza, encroachment of illegal settlements across the West Bank and
extreme limitations placed on Palestinians' movements within and between
towns, courtesy of IDF-staffed checkpoints and all in violation of international human rights law and in
denial of the fundamental aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
which sought “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy …
freedom from fear and want”.
Palestinians still have no
state and no equality, Refugee camps still exist all over the world and a
majority of Palestinians live in the diaspora. Palestine is occupied
in the most brutal way possible. For the nearly six million Palestinians who live between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, the nakba remains an ongoing process, as Israel uses a range of tools to restrict their livelihoods.
They remain vulnerable to expulsion, watching an ever-increasing share of their land become off-limits. About half of the occupied West Bank is already inaccessible to Palestinians, designated as military zones or nature reserves, or set aside for future Israeli settlements.The Israeli military control large parts of the West Bank and Gaza is completely sealed and “monitored” by Israeli ships, fighter planes and tanks.
Against their will, the Nakba has divided the Palestinian people between Gaza and the West Bank. Still searching for justice and dignty, rememberance acts as resistance to their occupiers who still try to bury and hide their history. The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has turbocharged the ongoing Nakba, including a recent announcement Netanyahu that a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights will be built named after Trump.
As
Palestine continues to endure al Nakba, this years commemoration
coincides with the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in the Israeli
city of Tel Aviv, during which Israel will parade a supposed
normalcy, despite its ongoing military occupation, oppression and
blockade. The Israeli government has used Netta Barzilai's win
in the 2018 competition as a huge PR opportunity. The singer, who has
been described by Netanyahu as the "best ambassador of Israel", has served to art-wash the country's continued oppression of the Palestinian people. Palestinians are unable to attend due to Israel’s apartheid wall, and
Israel has said it will deny entry to any activists supporting the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions)
campaign.
Israel's dreams for the peerless success of
the Eurovision Song Contest have not matched reality. The expected
ticket sales and tourism boom have not materialised and the Palestinian call for a boycott of the event has been answered by campaigners around the world, including over 60 queer and trans liberation organisations from over a dozen countries.There are alternatives to Eurovision this year' rather than endorse a blatant Israeli propaganda exercise, fans can tune in to Globalvision, which will coincide with Eurovision though it has not received the corporate mainstream media coverage being given to the event in Tel Aviv. Palestinian artists will feature among acts from around the world in an ambitious, live-streamed event. There is also the No to Eurovision: Party for Palestine concert on 18 May in London, as well as protest actions are expected to take place across the world in the lead up and during the airing of the event. https://boycotteurovision.uk/apartheid-free-eurovision/
Despite the international attention that the Nakba has received over the years, especially considering the recent deadly peaceful demonstrations in Gaza, Israel has not yet recognized the Nakba, nor their responsibility in 1948. The right of return for Palestine refugees is a right guaranteed by international law and enshrined in UN General Assembly resolution 194. Knowing that the displacement of Palestinians is still being practiced by Israel today in the West Bank and Gaza, the question of the ongoing Nakba needs to be addressed to achieve justice and peace in the region. The right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land must be the precondition for a dialogue for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine.
Also today an international coalition are demanding that Airbnb delist properties for rent in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.Campaigners are calling on people across the world to deactivate their Airbnb accounts to mark today's Nakba Day in relation to the international home-renting company, for reversing its decision to delist properties in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
The coalition, which includes SumOfUs, Codepink, American Muslims for Palestine, the US Palestinian Community Network, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace, was angered over the global accommodation website’s reversal of its November 2018 decision to delist properties in the illegal settlements.
“If Airbnb wants to continue to allow rental suites on the ruins of Palestinian lives and land then they will continue to get pressured to do the right thing,” the coalition said.“There’s no ‘two sides’ of a so-called conflict in the settlements. It’s stolen land from Palestinians, plain and simple.”
Airbnb initially agreed to stop listing properties to rent in the illegally occupied West Bank and Jerusalem after pressure from human rights groups and a global petition that garnered more than 150,000 signatures.
However, in April the multibillion-dollar company backpedalled, saying it would “not move forward with implementing the removal of listings in the West Bank from the platform.”
An Airbnb statement said it understood “the complexity of the issue,” claiming to take “no profits from this activity in the region.”
The statement added: “Any profits generated for Airbnb by any Airbnb host activity in the entire West Bank will be donated to non-profit organisations dedicated to humanitarian aid that serve people in different parts of the world.”
The development of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine is deemed a breach of international law.
“By doing business in these settlements, Airbnb and other international companies are contributing to the economic viability of settlements and are normalising Israeli annexation of Palestinian land,” the coalition said, accusing the company of “directly promoting discrimination, oppression and injustice.”
Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy spokesman Salem Barahmeh said: “International companies are complicit in perpetuating this injustice and must be held accountable.
“Through the #deactivateAirbnb campaign, people can choose whether to be complicit in supporting war crimes or ending them here's no neutrality in situations of injustice. There's no neutrality in situations of injustice. Airbnb cannot simply donate profits they know are contributing to inequality, land theft and discrimination to keep their hands clean of illegal occupation. The fact remains: Palestinians cannot regain their homes and land, whereas settlers can rent out homes built on Palestinian land with the help of Airbnb.
Tell Airbnb to stop listing Israel-occupied Palestinian homes now!
Despite the international attention that the Nakba has received over the years, especially considering the recent deadly peaceful demonstrations in Gaza, Israel has not yet recognized the Nakba, nor their responsibility in 1948. The right of return for Palestine refugees is a right guaranteed by international law and enshrined in UN General Assembly resolution 194. Knowing that the displacement of Palestinians is still being practiced by Israel today in the West Bank and Gaza, the question of the ongoing Nakba needs to be addressed to achieve justice and peace in the region. The right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land must be the precondition for a dialogue for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine.
The Nakba still reverberates today because Al Nakba is constant and continuing, felt through all aspects of Palestininian life, whether in Israel. the Occupied Territores, the refugees camps, or even in settled Palestinian communities abroad. Today, as we observe the sad sombre event of the Nakba and it's ongoing resonance, lets be stronger and more determined than ever to stand up to Israeli policies of apartheid. It is more important than ever that the international community keep defending Palestinian human rights, support Palestinian protests against forced housing demolitions and land theft and put real pressure on Israel to end its occupation and comply with international law. To take all measures within international law to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing strategy resulting in ongoing human rights violations and international crimes committed against the Palestinian People, including forcible transfer, colonization and apartheid. Today therefore is an occasion to reaffirm the inherent dignity and rights of Palestinians and to assert the right of the Palestinian people, as a whole, to self-determination, which includes the right to permanent sovereignty over natural wealth and resources and the right of return of Palestinian refugees, in order to achieve justice and durable peace for the Palestinian People.
The ongoing occupation of Palestinian land makes the BDS campaigns all the more urgent and necessary. Palestinians are not going to give up and be content to mourn the ghost of Palestine. Today we remember this. The Palestinian people still belong to their land, where they still remain, in their hearts and spirits, still holding and caring for the keys of their houses for the people who left. Time drifts, but for many memory is never erased, still belonging to the land of their ancestors, where hearts and minds can never leave. It is time for the leaders of the world to understand that there is no homeland for the Palstinians except Palestine.
