A young Palestinian girl participates in Nakba Day Commemorations, Bourj el Shamali Refugee Camp, Lebanon (Photo Credit: Hiba Khalil)
#Nakba70
Palestinians this month mark seventy years since the 1948 Nakba, when approximately 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled or fled their homes for safety as another people sought to remove them to establish their State — Israel. We are again reminded that the impact of this catastrophe continues to affect not only those refugees and their descendants, but also the very fabric of life for Palestinians wherever they may be.
As of Tuesday, more than 100 Palestinians, including 12 children, have been killed in cold blood by Israeli snipers since nonviolent protests began on Palestinian Land Day on March 30, with over 2700 injured. On Nakba day alone, 58 were killed. This is the punishment Israel inflicts on Palestinians for standing up for their rights.
For six weeks, tens of thousands in Gaza have been protesting the twelve-year crippling siege and demanding their right to return to their land and their homes, as part of the “Great Return March.” Meanwhile a mere 50 miles away, the U.S. embassy relocates to Jerusalem, where Israel continues to displace and dispossess Palestinians in the city through home demolitions, arrests of children and adults, and withdrawal of residency rights.
While Zionists thought the old would die and the young would forget, current events demonstrate that Palestinians the world over will always remember and continue to hold onto their resolve to return to their homeland until they are live in freedom and liberation.
Until Return,
Basma Eid, Program Director
Jackson Gzehoviak, Education Director
Resources and Information
Today, we are excited to share the alpha version of Palestine Open Maps, an innovative platform that offers open and immersive access to this set of historic maps and others.
For months, we’ve been downloading, georeferencing and merging hundred of map sheets, and combining them with geospatial data. This alpha platform is the initial result.
Is the right of return possible, or is it just a romantic dream?
By Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch
When I was young most of what I heard about Jarash, my mother’s village, came from her and my uncle. My mother also told me about Zakaria, my father’s village. They told many stories about life before the Nakba, always ending with “Inshallah, soon we will go back.” (Nakba means “catastrophe” and refers to the uprooting of 750,000 Palestinians for the creation of the State of Israel).
The Researchers to return to life
Without words, this powerful five-minute video documents the Gaza return march
Institute for Palestine Studies USA
- Releasing an interactive infographic of all #418Villages that were occupied and depopulated by Israel during the Nakba.
- Offering free access to a Special Virtual Issue featuring articles from the Journal of Palestine Studies, including a forthcoming article examining why U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel could be contrary to international law. The articles will be available through May 31, 2018. You can subscribe to the Journal here.
- Offering the Nakba Collection with $15.00 in savings through May 31, 2018. This collection includes: Before Their Diaspora, All That Remains, and Expulsion of the Palestinians. Together, these books make an excellent gift for people who wish to learn more about Palestine.
How Are Palestinians Reacting to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and violence in Gaza?
Interview with Noura Erakat
The controversial US Jerusalem embassy opening, explained
As the embassy event took place, Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border on Monday.
US blocks UN Security Council draft resolution calling for independent Gaza inquiry
Israel/OPT: Use of excessive force in Gaza an abhorrent violation of international law
Palestinians Mark 70th Anniversary of Nakba After Israel Kills 61 & Wounds 2,700 Protesters in Gaza
Humanitarian Aid
This week, thousands of Gazans are being injured, with some in need of medical care that they will need to go outside of their homeland for. For over 25 years, the PCRF has been the main nonprofit in the world arranging free medical care for sick and injured Arab children from the Middle East, regardless of their nationality or religion. With the war in Syria, the ongoing attacks in Gaza, and the underdeveloped health care services all over the region, we have literally hundreds of children who need to travel for medical care. To help them, we need your generous support.
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is helping to respond to a large number of casualties in Gaza. Hospitals there have been overwhelmed by those injured during recent protests. Supplies of many medical items and medicines are desperately low – and others have run out completely.
We urgently need funds for; trauma supplies, essential supplies for surgery, disposables for Gaza’s Central Blood Bank, limb reconstruction equipment.
Please give what you can today to help MAP respond to this emergency.
Nearly one million Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip are relying on UNRWA food assistance to meet their basic daily needs. Food assistance packages come four times a year to families living under the poverty line.
Your $150 donation can put food on the table for a refugee family in Gaza for the entire summer. By supporting UNRWA food assistance, you’re providing a lifeline to Palestine refugees. Thank you for showing them that you care.
