15 mei Nakba herdenkingsdag

Vele duizenden Palestijnen hebben dit weekeinde massaal de Nakba (Catastrofe) herdacht, de oprichting van Israël in 1948, die gepaard ging met de verdrijving van honderdduizenden Palestijnen. Hele Palestijnse dorpen werden toen van de kaart geveegd. Veel Palestijnse gezinnen wonen al generaties als vluchtelingen in Libanon, Jordanië en andere Arabische landen. Israël weigert gehoor te geven aan VN-resoluties over hun recht op terugkeer, die sinds 1948 110 keer zijn herbevestigd door alle lidstaten behalve de VS.

• UN General Assembly Resolution 194 has been affirmed by the UN over 110 times since its introduction in 1948 with universal consensus except for Israel and the U.S. This resolution was further clarified by UN General Assembly Resolution 3236 which reaffirms in Subsection 2: "the inalienable right of Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their return."

• Israel's admission to the UN was conditional on its acceptance of UN resolutions including 194. Denying the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands is a war crime and an act of aggression which deserves action by the international community. The international community can apply sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law.

(bron)

Hoe had de wereld gereageerd wanneer de Palestijnen 14 ongewapende Israëlische burgers, waaronder kinderen, hadden gedood en honderden gewond op de Israëlische Onafhankelijksdag, of Holocaust Rememberance Day (Yom Hashoah)? Denkt u zich de verontwaardiging eens in. Politici zouden in de Tweede Kamer over elkaar heen vallen en om harde sancties roepen. Dat gebeurt nu niet, omdat wij, in het Westen, Palestijnen als minderwaardiger mensen zien.

YouTube: Qalandiya checkpoint 15 mei

Qalandiya checkpoint

Al-Roub refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron

Rafah, along the border between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip

An eldery refugee sits under a mural bearing images to Palestinians killed in Israel's 2002 offensive in Jenin at the West Bank city's refugee camp on, May 15, 2011, the day Palestinians across the world marked the 'nakba' or 'catastrophe' of Israel's 1948 creation, as a result of which more than 760,000 Palestinians -- estimated today to number 4.7 million with their descendants -- were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes.

Rafah

Maroun el-Rass, Lebanon. Two Lebanese security officials say four people in Lebanon were killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire at protesters who approached the border with Israel.

Maroun el-Rass, Lebanon

Israeli soldiers stand guard at a border fence as demonstrators cross from Syria into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the Druze town of Majdal Shams on May 15, 2011 during a mass show of mourning with Palestinians over the 1948 creation of the Jewish state known in Arabic as the 'Nakba' or 'Catastrophe.'

Shufat refugee camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem

Majdal Shams, Golan Heights

An undercover Israeli policeman dressed as a Palestinian woman opens a car door after detaining a Palestinian protester during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp, in the West Bank near Jerusalem May 15, 2011.

Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah