| Nakba Memorial 2001:
A Message of Palestinian Unity
(E/33/2001) BADIL Resource Center
Today's massive popular rallies and marches in commemoration of 53 years of Palestinian displacement and the demand for the right of return were preceded, last night, by a unique dialogue among the Palestinian and Arab people broadcast by the Bethlehem-based Al-Rou'ah TV station to a West Bank audience of some 40,000. The Palestinian Intifada as an Intifada of popular consciousness and a struggle against the culture of the victim, the defeat and the surrender to the status quo; the Palestinian memory of al-Nakba and the Intifada as the struggle for Palestinian return, a better future and the affirmation of Palestinian self-confidence and unity across checkpoints and borders were central themes raised by Dr. Nayef Jarrad (PNC, Tulkarem), Dr. Ahmad Yussef (High Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, Jordan), Nayef Hawatmeh (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Syria), Hussam Khader (Committee for the Defense of Refugee Rights and PLC, Balata Camp, Nablus), Beshara Daoud and Salah Ta'mari (PLC, Bethlehem), Hashem Mahameed (National Unity Party, Palestinian member of Knesset), Issa Qaraq'a (Palestinan Prisoners Society), Salem Abu Hawwash (activist and head of BADIL board, Hebron), Mahmoud Fannoun (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Bethlehem), Sheikh Abdel Majeed 'Ata (Hamas, Bethlehem), and Nabil al-'Azza (Palestinian People's Party, Bethlehem). This Palestinian message received powerful support from renown Arab artists and journalists calling in from Lebanon and Egypt, who reported about popular activities in the Arab countries in commemoration of al-Nakba and the support of the Palestinian Intifada and the right of return. "The Palestinian Nakba is an issue of the whole Arab people, and the Palestinian Intifada is a struggle for the re-instatement of Arab dignity", emphasized artist and head of the powerful Egyptian Artists Union Yussef Sha'aban, artist and union member Fardos Abdel Hamid, and Ahmad Qa'abour from Lebanon, whose song "Ounadikum" continues to inspire Palestinians and all Arab people in the region. Journalist Suleiman Shafiq, member of the Egyptian al-Tajamo'a party reported about the strong public pressure, lead by the Egyptian opposition, for the cut of official relations with Israel. The program concluded at midnight with a message of solidarity sent by the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish Neturei Karta from Jerusalem and New York: "Judaism and Zionism are diametrically opposed, and the present conflict in the Holy Land is not a conflict between Jews and Arabs, but a conflict between Zionists and Arabs" was the essence of their message read against the background of heavy Israeli shelling which had renewed by that time. (See excerpts of the solidarity message below.) The "Al Nakba - Al Awda" talkshow was
organized by BADIL Resource Center and Al-Rou'ah TV in cooperation with
the Popular Committees-West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Union of Youth Activity
Centers in Palestine Refugee Camps, the Union of Women Activity Centers-West
Bank, and the Society for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced
in 1948 Palestine/Israel. It was moderated by Hamdi Ferraj (Al-Rou'ah)
and Muhammad Jaradat (BADIL).
Neturei Karta International Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People During al-Nakba Commemorations (Excerpts) May the Creator's blessings be upon you, our dear brethren, the long suffering Palestinian people. We, of Neturei Karta International salute you from Jerusalem, New York, London and around the world. As many of you may already know the Zionist movement has been opposed by observant Orthodox Jews from its inception. Orthodox Jews have always believed that it is a Divine decree that the Jewish people are to remain in exile as loyal citizens to their host nations until the Almighty will choose to redeem all of mankind. In 1948, our late Chief-Rabbi Yossef Tzvi Dushinsky sent a cable to the League of Nations in Lake Success, asking them not to incorporate the 60,000 Jewish families residing in Jerusalem into the recently sanctioned sacrilege state "Israel." Thus the Jewish residents were left without a sovereignty to concern itself with the affairs of Neturei Karta. In reality, we were transformed into refugees, because there is no difference between a people who were ousted from its land and a people whose land was removed from underneath them. We appealed to the United Nations for refugee passports, and to date we are still awaiting a positive reply. Today, tens of thousands of Neturei Karta, guardians of Jerusalem meaning the "guardians of the faith," reside in Meah Shearim and is vicinity, which was purchased from Arab land-owners and not occupied by force and against their will. Our late Chief-Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum forbade Jews to settle in the Holy Land, since this constitutes a danger for both soul and body. Naturei Karta welcomed the Palestinian National Authority headed by President Arafat back to Palestine, and Rabbi Moshe Hirsch was appointed "Minister of Jewish Affairs" in a step aimed to demonstrate to the world that the present strife in the Holy Land is not between Jews and Arabs, but rather one between Zionist and Arabs. [...] We see the ongoing oppression and humiliation of the Palestinian people, especially what is happening today through the criminal policies of "Crime Minister" Sharon. [...] It is unthinkable that the Jewish people should appear as the bully, the persecutor or the dispossessor. [...] Throughout the world there are numerous believing Jews who are horrified by the Zionists' criminal and racist treatment of the Palestinians. These Jews regard the Israeli Independence Day as the greatest tragedy in Jewish history, and in history of all mankind. Many fast and recite prayers on that day.[...] We seek the return of all the land, of course including the Al Aqsa compound, to Palestinian rule. We seek the return of all humiliated refugees, young and old, to their rightful land. We seek to live in the land of Palestine as anti-Zionist Jews, to reside as loyal and peaceful Palestinian citizens, the same as our ancestors who lived in Palestine for centuries before the tragic usurpation of this country. May the Creator grant that this memorial day of al-Nakba should be the last one, the current occupying state should end speedily in our days, and again Jews and Palestinians may live joyful and in harmony and peace under Palestinian sovereignty throughout the Holy Land. Sincerely, Rabbi David Weiss, spokesman, Neturei
Karta International, New York rabbiweiss@netureikarta.org
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