JAI Call for Action – Remembering al-Nakba: Collective Dream and Unalienable Right

JAI Call for Action – Remembering al-Nakba: Collective Dream and Unalienable Right

2017 is a year of significant anniversaries. 1947-1948 were the years, which Palestine was depopulated through ethnic cleansing. Over 800,000 Palestinians were made refugees and over 500 villages were depopulated. There were more than 70 massacres in which over 15,000 Palestinians were killed.

The Nakba, The Great Catastrophe, however was not a one-time event. The depopulation and forced transfer of Palestinians is an ongoing tragedy, which affects everyone but especially women and children who are the most vulnerable.

June marks the 50th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation in which Israel seized another 22% of historic Palestine forcing more people to flee their homes and become refugees or internally displaced persons.

Registered Palestinian refugees constitute 42% of the total Palestinian population, which is now close to 12 million worldwide. These refugees live in 58 refugee camps throughout Middle East and inside the West Bank and Gaza.

As we enter the fourth week of the hunger strike for Freedom and Justice, and as Israel continues to settle, confiscate, and annex more Palestinian land, the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine asks that you support the Right of Return for Palestinians. Peace with justice demands that all human rights and international laws be upheld. This is an unalienable right and not a bargaining chip for peace negotiations to allow or deny. Equally important it is a collective dream that needs your support to make it a reality.