Washington Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba

Washington D.C. – A coalition of interfaith and peace organizations is sponsoring a solemn commemoration on the National Mall on May 17 from 2-4 p.m., to mark the 60th anniversary of the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands, and the destruction of over 400 of their villages, to make way for the state of Israel.

This 1948 massive forced exile from historic Palestine is referred to in Arabic as the Nakba, “Catastrophe.”  More than 4.5 million Palestinian refugees still live in exile, many in deteriorating refugee camps, prevented by Israel from exercising their right to return to land their families owned for generations.

The Washington, D.C. Nakba commemoration is one of many taking place around the United States, organized by Americans who cannot recognize the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation without acknowledging its impact on the Palestinian people.

The May 17 event, being held west of the reflecting pool in view of the U.S. Capitol, at Jefferson Drive and 3rd St, SW, will include remarks by Nakba survivors and their children, and the reading of the names of  Palestinian villages that were destroyed or overrun.  A large map of the area traced on the ground will pinpoint the villages that were lost to Israel.  A Palestinian-crafted quilt composed of squares with the names of some villages, will also be displayed.

The Washington, D.C. Nakba commemoration, to which all members of Congress and representatives of the diplomatic community have been invited, is open to the media.  It is being sponsored by the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace (WIAMEP), Sharing Jerusalem, the Vineeta Foundation, the American-Palestinian Women's Association (APWA), and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

Washington Commeration of the Palestinian Nakbah

EYEWITNESS TO ETHNIC CLEANSING

The speakers who will tell their stories at the Nakba commemoration Saturday, May 17^th, are all eyewitnesses or their descendants. These are the people of the Nakba, the violent dispossession of people who had lived in historic Palestine for centuries, generations.

Most are Palestinians who were driven out of their villages, towns and cities in 1948, when preparations were being made to clear the land for a new population for the new state of Israel.

The notable Dajani family, which is still prominent in Palestinian, were eminent custodians of holy places in Jerusalem, where they have lived for centuries. Dr. Taher Dajani, who now lives in Virginia, is author of From Palestine to America. At age ten, he fled with his family from Jaffa in 1948.

Nawal Dajani, a distant relative in this far-flung extended family, lived with her family in the "German Colony" of East Jerusalem. When she was 14, her family, including four brothers and eight uncles, was driven out and ended up in Egypt, where they lived for many years. Her mother died in Egypt, her father in Jordan. She emigrated to the US in 1998.

Fadya Kerdasi and her large family were driven from the city of Haifa, leaving all their earthly possessions behind, as they had been told they would be able to return in two weeks. They never returned. They fled on foot to Syria, where they lived in a wretched refugee camp near Aleppo. Many of their fellow walkers died of thirst and hunger on the trek. The remainder of her family still lives in Syria.

Mark Bravermann, a Jewish-American, is the great- grandson of an orthodox Jewish family who had lived in the Old City for five generations, and built their own synagogue there. His grandparents had never left the Old City, where they lived their entire lives, in harmony with their Palestinian neighbors. They, too, were evacuated from the Old City, by the Jordanian Arab Legion, in the fighting of 1948.

Grace Said, a member of the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace

( WIAMEP), is the sister of the eminent scholar Edward Said. She will read from one of his many books on Palestine.

John Salzberg, is co-chair of WIAMEP.

George Hishmeh is a Washington columnist whose family, sixty years ago this month, experienced the exodus from Haifa, a port on the Mediterranean Sea. They were driven to the port by armed Jewish groups, and families crowded the port hoping to find a boat to take them to Beirut. George remembers the deafening sound of gunfire and the blankets that covered the windows to keep out stray bullets and broken glass.

Philip Farah was four years old when his Christian family, originally from Gaza, was driven out of the Holy Land in February 1948. His father, Gregory, kept a diary, from that day to the day he died. Following are some of his entries:

2/12 - "I pray the Lord that peace may abide in this Holy Land. It is so critical and dangerous here, but I pray the Lord for peace.....No more safe to go to Bethlehem; buses are shot at daily from the Jewish colony, Ramat Rahel."

3/29 - "A cloudy day. Critical situation ....and all the people leaving the country. Turkey hatched today (17 chicks). I was busy looking after them."

4/20 - "People leaving Jerusalem. It is getting worse daily. It is too late for us to go to Gaza. There is no benzine, no kerosene, people are really suffering."

4/24 - "Terror and war all over the country. Haifa was beaten by the Jews. People are leaving the country and leaving their houses and effects."

4/29 – Took the Holy Communion...Oh my God, may by thy Grace and Mercy we be able to receive it every year on this same day. All government officials were paid three months with letter of termination."

5/2 - "Easter. Such woes and Troubles. We were obliged to leave the house suddenly under volleys of fire. Slept all in the Old City, while Georgina and her sister slept somewhere; God knows where."

5/15 - "This is "15", the infamous day. Bombs, fire, and mines all day. Oh God have mercy upon us, miserable sinners. Little Samir is still ill and weak. May God heal him. Martha is not well....Cast care aside; lean on your guide."