VICTORIA SQUARE, BIRMINGHAM
This year, 2008, is the 60th anniversary of what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (i.e. the catastrophe) also known as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. We are commemorating this event on Saturday with an event to highlight the situation of Palestinian refugees and to win support for their right to return.
We will have a tent with displays of photographs, maps and cultural items. We will be leafleting and collecting signatures for a petition. Do come to see us during the day to talk about Palestine and discuss how we can pursue an effective campaign to support the rights of the Palestinian people.
The modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not go back to biblical times.
One of the defining moments of this conflict occurred in 1948. It is in this year, 1948, that the vast majority of the indigenous Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their historical homes and made refugees.
In 1948, according to Ilan Pappe, under Britain's mandatory watch (i.e. up to 15th May), 250,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed and 200 villages destroyed and scores of towns emptied.
In total, in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forcefully exiled from the land which had been theirs for centuries.
In total, in 1948, over 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed by Zionist/Israeli forces.
Before 1948, Zionist colonial settlements had taken up 5.8% of Palestinian land, whereas after 1948, Zionism/Israel controlled 78% of the land.
The exiled and ethnically cleansed refugees who were dispersed through the Middle East in 1948, now make up 70% of the total Palestinian population.
United Nations resolution 194 entitles the dispersed Palestinian refugees to the right to return to their homeland. A resolution Israel refuses to accept to this day.
We hope to see you on Saturday.