Palestine’s Al-Nakba: Reflection on continued hardship in hope for freedom

Demonstrators, holding aloft iron keys to homes that no longer exist, poured into the streets of occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel last Monday to commemorate the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948. For them, the keys signify their “right to return” to homes, which were destroyed to pave way for […]

Demonstrators, holding aloft iron keys to homes that no longer exist, poured into the streets of occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel last Monday to commemorate the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948.

For them, the keys signify their “right to return” to homes, which were destroyed to pave way for the creation of the state of Israel.

Last Monday’s demonstration was the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, the “day of catastrophe” which saw over 750,000 Palestinians forcibly uprooted from their homes and the destruction of over 500 villages and towns.

Those Palestinians and their descendants constitute more than 4.8 million refugees whose plight continues to this day and which is at the core of the tragedy of the Palestinian people as a whole. 

They live in United Nations-run camps throughout the region, including in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Over the years, the demonstration has grown rapidly in size in defiance of increasingly suppressive measures from the Israeli authorities, which, in 2011 passed the so-called Nakba Law.

The law allows officials to financially penalise any public institution, including schools and civil society organisations, that mark Al-Nakba, now the largest commemorative event staged by Palestinians. 

“It is with deep regret that we are compelled to commemorate the passage of yet another year since Al-Nakba and to reflect on continued hardships and oppression being endured by the Palestinian people as they continue to strive for realization of their inalienable rights and for the fulfilment of the legitimate national aspiration,” the Palestinian Authority said during the commemoration on Monday. 

“All Israel is doing against the Palestinian people will not stop us. Make no mistake, this will not stop us. Among friends and supporters here and elsewhere, we give you our word of promise that Palestine will resurrect from its ashes. And till that happens, we will not take rest,” it added. 

 

Calls for global action to end Israeli occupation

The 2017 event ended with the Palestinian authority reiterating its calls on the international community to pressure Israel to end occupation of its territory. 

It said, “as we mark this solemn occasion, the Palestinian people and their leadership call once again on the international community to intensify its efforts to implement international law and relevant United Nations resolutions in support of the rights of the Palestinian people and lasting and comprehensive settlement to the question of Palestine in all its aspects. 

“We appeal to all members of the international community, including the United Nations, the Quartet members, EU member countries, to uphold their legal, political and moral responsibility towards promoting the long-overdue achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution with the realisation of an independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, with east Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

“It is our strongest hope that our collective efforts at this critical juncture will bring the Palestinian people and their region as a whole the peace, stability, security and prosperity we have for so long strived for, and bring to a close this tragic chapter in the history of the Palestinian people.”

 

‘Freedom and Dignity’: Hunger striker’s message to Parliamentarians 

This year’s Nakba day also marked the 29th day of a hunger strike launched by 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners, risking their lives in hopes of gaining basic rights in Israeli jails.

According to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Israel has arrested more than 800,000 Palestinians since 1967, equivalent of 40% of the male population in the occupied territory. 

In his letter to fellow parliamentarians across the globe, Marwan Barghouti, jailed Palestinian leader and parliamentarian who leads the hunger strikers, said they (prisoners) resorted to hunger strike “after months of efforts to have our legitimate demands addressed.”

Their demands included; installation of a public telephone to communicate with their families, reinstating bimonthly family visits, better medical treatment, allowing prisoners to take photographs with their families regularly, and installing air conditioning where lacking.

They are also calling for end to the policy of administrative detention, which allows the imprisonment of individuals on “secret evidence” for months and years on end, and to end its excessive use of solitary confinement, which is in direct contravention of international law.

The demands, according to Barghout, who has vowed to continue until they were met, are human rights in their most basic form. 

His letter reads in parts, “Dear Fellow Parliamentarians, I was the first parliamentarian to be arrested in 2002. Since then, Israel has arrested 70 parliamentarians, more than half of the Palestinian Legislative Council. 13 remain imprisoned today. This is an insult to parliamentarians everywhere, to democracy everywhere, to human rights everywhere. This is an insult to freedom and justice, and it must be answered.

“I was convicted by one of these illegitimate courts. I refused to recognize the court, even more so as an elected representative of the occupied people. I was sentenced to five life sentences and 40 years by the occupying Power’s courts for terrorism in what was denounced unanimously by international observers as a political show trial. Not a single country on earth accepted this verdict. 

“We decided to go on hunger strike because we were left with no other choice. Palestinians suffer and sacrifice to be able to enjoy the rights they are entitled to and yet deprived of. Palestinian prisoners are no exception.

“We named this hunger strike “Freedom & Dignity”. These are words that resonate deeply in the hearts of our nation, which has been struggling for 70 years for realization. 

“But they are also words that resonate around the world, as part of universal history, and the struggle against all forms of oppression and servitude. They are values that are at the core of humanity and that are indispensable to the achievement of peace. 

“There is no peace possible between the oppressor and the oppressed, as oppression and peace are mutually exclusive. There is no peace possible between the prisoner and the jailer. Freedom is the way to peace.

“I call on you to speak up for those that Israel is trying to silence. I call on you to stand up for those thrown into dark cells to be forgotten. I call on you to support the legitimate demands of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and to uphold international law. I call on you to support the freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people, so peace can prevail.”

 

Reactions to hunger strike

As the hunger strikers continue to loss body weight, the international community has urged Israeli authorities to meet their demands with which they declare hunger strike.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in a statement, asked Israel to shoulder full responsibilities under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) with regard to family contacts between Palestinians detained in Israel and their families residing in the occupied territories. 

According to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, Palestinians are entitled to these visits, which can only be limited for security reasons, on a case by case basis, but never for strictly punitive or disciplinary purposes.

The European Union Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah expressed concern about the extensive use by Israel of administrative detention without formal charge. 

“Around 500 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention. Detainees have the right to be informed about the charges underlying any detention, must be granted access to legal assistance, and be given a fair trial within a reasonable time or be released,” EU said.   

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said, “Regardless of where or on what legal basis they are held, the treatment of detainees must in any event be consistent with international law, including the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.”

Amnesty International said, “Israel’s decades-long policy of detaining Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza in prisons inside Israel and depriving them of regular family visits is not only cruel but also a blatant violation of international law.”