[van-announce] Nakba Vancouver - Hundreds mark 64th anniversary of occupation of Palestine

[Charlotte Kates]

Thank you to all who attended and supported last week's events
commemorating the Nakba - two inspiring events of resistance and ongoing
struggle in the face of displacement and dispossession. Your involvement in
these events, on the 64th anniversary of the Nakba in 1948, not only stood
to commemorate a historical tragedy, but to struggle against the ongoing
Nakba that continues to face Palestinians today through occupation, land
confiscation, home demolitions, apartheid laws, and continued ethnic
cleansing - as well as the ongoing denial of 7 million Palestinian
refugees' right to return home.

Please watch and distribute the following videos and photos about the
events, and contact us at nakbavancouver at gmail.com to reach out to the
organizations that built these events to get involved in the ongoing
campaigns and actions in Vancouver in solidarity with Palestine and the
Palestinian people.

VIDEO:
http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2012/05/features/watch-live-tuesday-vancouver-end-nakba-sharing-stories-creat
(Livestream
of May 15 dinner by Jase Tanner and Rabble.ca)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ukb3HYKCiE (Video of May 19 rally by Devin
Gillan)
http://youtu.be/8WXlR_9MJXg (Video of both events by Hamoudi Ghareeb)

PHOTOS:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108372588540838322157/VancouverMarchToCommemorateTheNakba
https://picasaweb.google.com/108372588540838322157/VancouverMarchToCommemorateTheNakbaSusanStout?authuser=0&feat=directlink

PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS:
http://youtu.be/iIn9oGT-Ghk
http://youtu.be/CqgmQsy0K94

Hundreds of people came together in Vancouver to commemorate 64 years of
the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1947-1948 that forced
800,000 Palestinians from their homes and homelands in order to create the
state of Israel on Palestinian land, as over 300 marked the occasion at two
events on May 15 and 19, 2012.

On Tuesday, May 15, over 160 came together at Vancouver's Unitarian Church
Hewett Centre for a free community supper organized by the Vancouver
Coalition to Commemorate al-Nakba, a strong coalition of Palestine
solidarity and social justice organizations in the Vancouver area. The
serving table brimmed with pita, tabbouleh, hummus, baba ghanoush,
makloubeh, mujaddara, lamb tagine, lentil soup, salads, harissa and baklava
as the Palestinian and Arab community and solidarity activists joined
together to share food, remembrance and struggle. The evening was emceed by
Nadine Kallas of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-UBC and Khaled
Barakat, a Palestinian community activist, as those who had experienced the
Nakba in their own life shared their experiences, and discussed the ongoing
Palestinian struggle against occupation and oppression, and for return to
their homeland, Palestine, a right denied for 64 years.

As Kallas noted, "the Nakba is not only a Palestinian story. The experience
of displacement, dispossession and colonization is also the story of the
indigenous people of this land, as is the experience of resistance and
steadfastness." Longtime indigenous activists Frank Martin and Helen
Michell spoke of their own experiences with displacement, dispossession and
ongoing indigenous struggle in the face of a Canadian state that has been
built on the denial of indigenous land and rights.

Abdelmajeed Mustafa recounted the struggle for al-Birwa, his own village in
Palestine, during the Nakba and his and his family's experience of
displacement and exile. Sireen al-Nashar discussed her experiences as a
stateless refugee, a third-generation Palestinian refugee born in Beirut,
Lebanon, the experience of her ancestors during the Nakba, and her
continued dedication to return.  A Palestinian refugee, first to Iraq, and
then to Canada from Iraq following the war on Iraq, Khalil Tayem, shared
his story and experiences of multiple displacement over years, while
Ibrahim Assaf, a Palestinian elder from Haifa, shared his own experience of
Nakba and resistance in Palestine and being forced from Palestine to
Lebanon by Israeli forces on ships from Haifa port. Bassam Abdel-Dayem put
together a video showcasing facts and life in Palestine before the Nakba,
and Palestinian inalienable rights.

The evening was not only one of speakers, but also one of cultural
resistance. Oud, tabla, poetry and song performances by Ghassan Hijazi,
Yazan Shehadeh, Hassene Tmar and Abdullah Khalifeh were highlights of the
evening as they played Palestinian music, traditional songs and poetry set
to music. Palestinian poet Walid Mohammed Abdelhadi read a poem of his in
English and Arabic, and Palestinian filmmaker Sobhi al-Zobaidi discussed
and screened his film, "My Very Private Map." The evening closed with
enthusiastic chanting for a free Palestine and refugees' rights to return,
and a celebratory traditional Palestinian dabkeh dance at the front of the
room.

Vancouver's Nakba commemoration continued on Saturday, May 19 as large
crowds marched down Commercial Drive from Clark Park to Grandview Park
bearing signs and banners, commemoratiing the 64th anniversary of the Nakba
and demanding the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Nadine Kallas
and Khaled Barakat again emceed the rally, beginning in Clark Park, and led
chants alongside Palestinian and Arab student and community activists
Hattaw al-Hayali, Noor Attar and Omar Shaban.

Large keys of return, the symbol of Palestinian displacement and commitment
to return to their stolen land and homes, towered over the march, designed
by the Puppet Liberation Front. Chants rang out calling for freedom for
Palestine and for indigenous rights, "From BC to Palestine, occupation is a
crime!" Marchers called for justice and Palestine as they distributed
flyers and information to Commercial Drive passers-by.

Hanna Kawas, chair of the Canada Palestine Association and host of Voice of
Palestine radio program, spoke about Canada's long-time complicity and
involvement in the occupation of Palestine, on arrival at Grandview
Park. The rally also included three songs from labour choir Solidarity
Notes, highlighting international struggle for freedom and liberation, and
a talk by Frank Martin and Helen Michell about indigenous rights, land and
struggle, and concluded with music, song and debkeh, in a dance of
steadfastness and resistance.

The Vancouver Coalition to Commemorate Al-Nakba includes the Alliance for
People's Health, Arab Students Association - UBC, Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Campaign, Canada Palestine Association, CPSHR - Canada-Philippines
Solidarity for Human Rights, Canadian Boat to Gaza, CanPalNet, Canadian
Union of Postal Workers, Independent Jewish Voices, No One Is Illegal -
Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, RAGA (Race, Autobiography,
Gender & Age Studies) Centre at UBC, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner
Solidarity Network, Seriously Free Speech Committee, Simon Fraser Public
Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), Solidarity For Palestinian Human
Rights-UBC (SPHR-UBC), SANSAD - South Asian Network for Secularism and
Democracy, and Stopwar.ca.

For more information please contact nakbavancouver at gmail.com.



-- 
Charlotte L. Kates     charlotte.kates at gmail.com



-- 
Charlotte L. Kates     charlotte.kates at gmail.com