14 may 2020
On the eve of the Palestinian people’s catastrophe or Nakba anniversary, the Ramallah-based higher national committee for marking the Nakba, called on all Palestinian masses to commemorate the Nakba anniversary digitally and not on the ground.
“As we are marking such a historic significant moment of our Palestinian history, the entire world, including our Palestinian territories, is facing the threat of Coronavirus, that has so far impacted lives of many world nations.
Therefore, we would urge our people, everywhere, to mark the Nakba anniversary by digital means such as social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others”, a statement by the higher committee read.
Noteworthy, in previous years, Palestinians used to mark the Nakba by holding demonstrations, organizing exhibitions or concerts that all reflected on the Palestinian people’s plight.
The statement noted that the 72nd anniversary of the Nakba comes this year while the Israeli occupation, with the total support from the US, is going ahead with more restrictive measures against Palestinians in the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem as well as the rest of the West Bank.
These measures are definitely part of the recently-announced US plan for peace, known as the deal of the century.
The higher committee also called on the Arab nations to uphold their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people’s cause by defying Israel’s current plans to annex the Al-Aghwar area of the Jordan Valley and put the whole West Bank under full Israeli control.
It also called on the United Nations to help the Palestinian people realize the right of return to their historical Palestinian homeland, from which they were expelled by Israel, back in 1948.
Regarding assistance to the Palestinian people, the committee demanded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, (UNRWA), continue providing vital services for the more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in the region. For this, it called on all donor countries to live up to their financial commitments to the UNRWA.
Back in May of 1948, Israeli paramilitary groups, attacked more than 450 Palestinian villages in historical Palestine, and engaged in a war with some Arab countries’ armies at the time.
The war led to the defeat of the Arab armies and the ensuing expulsion and mass displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinian residents to nearby Arab countries including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Many of those Palestinians fled to the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Right after that war, Israel was created on more than 70 percent of the lands of historical Palestine.
Currently, there are more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in the near east, including those in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
“As we are marking such a historic significant moment of our Palestinian history, the entire world, including our Palestinian territories, is facing the threat of Coronavirus, that has so far impacted lives of many world nations.
Therefore, we would urge our people, everywhere, to mark the Nakba anniversary by digital means such as social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others”, a statement by the higher committee read.
Noteworthy, in previous years, Palestinians used to mark the Nakba by holding demonstrations, organizing exhibitions or concerts that all reflected on the Palestinian people’s plight.
The statement noted that the 72nd anniversary of the Nakba comes this year while the Israeli occupation, with the total support from the US, is going ahead with more restrictive measures against Palestinians in the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem as well as the rest of the West Bank.
These measures are definitely part of the recently-announced US plan for peace, known as the deal of the century.
The higher committee also called on the Arab nations to uphold their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people’s cause by defying Israel’s current plans to annex the Al-Aghwar area of the Jordan Valley and put the whole West Bank under full Israeli control.
It also called on the United Nations to help the Palestinian people realize the right of return to their historical Palestinian homeland, from which they were expelled by Israel, back in 1948.
Regarding assistance to the Palestinian people, the committee demanded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, (UNRWA), continue providing vital services for the more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in the region. For this, it called on all donor countries to live up to their financial commitments to the UNRWA.
Back in May of 1948, Israeli paramilitary groups, attacked more than 450 Palestinian villages in historical Palestine, and engaged in a war with some Arab countries’ armies at the time.
The war led to the defeat of the Arab armies and the ensuing expulsion and mass displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinian residents to nearby Arab countries including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Many of those Palestinians fled to the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Right after that war, Israel was created on more than 70 percent of the lands of historical Palestine.
Currently, there are more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in the near east, including those in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
13 may 2020
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On the occasion of the 72nd anniversary for the Palestinian dispersion and expulsion from their homes and land in Palestine on May 15, 1948 in what is now known as the Nakba, or catastrophe, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said that the Palestinian population has doubled nine times since the 1948 Nakba.
The Nakba resulted in the displacement of 800,000 Palestinians out of the 1.4 million Palestinians who lived in historical Palestine in 1948 in 1,300 villages and towns. The majority of the displaced Palestinians ended up in neighboring Arab countries and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and other countries in the world. Furthermore, thousands of Palestinians – who stayed in the area controlled by the Israeli occupation in 1948 – were driven out of their homes and lands, which were seized by the occupation. |
According to the documentary evidence, the Israel occupation controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba. The atrocities of Zionist forces also included more than 70 massacres in which more than 15,000 Palestinians were killed.
The population of Palestine in 1914 was around 690,000; of whom only 8% were Jewish, said the PCBS. In 1948, the number of Palestinians in Palestine exceeded 2 million; 31.5% of them were Jews as the number of Jews doubled more than six times during this period.
Between 1932 and 1939, the largest number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine reached 225,000 Jews. Between 1940 and 1947, more than 93,000 Jews poured into Palestine. Palestine received around 318,000 Jews between 1932 and 1947 and 540,000 from 1948 to 1975.
Despite the displacement of more than 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, and the displacement of more than 200,000 Palestinians (majority of them to Jordan) after the 1967 war, the Palestinian world population totalled 13.4 million by the end of 2019, which means that the number of Palestinians in the world has doubled more than nine times since the events of the Nakba of 1948, and more than half of them live in historical Palestine by the end of 2019, where their number reached 6.64 million (1.60 million in the territories occupied in 1948).
Population estimates indicated that the number of population by the end of 2019 in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, was 3.02 million and around 2.02 million in Gaza Strip. As for the population of Jerusalem Governorate, it was about 457,000 people of which approximately 65% (about 295,000 people) live in those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967 (J1).
Hence, data showed that Palestinians represented 49.7% of the population living in historical Palestine, while Jews constituted 50.3% by the end of 2019.
The Israeli occupation continues its control over 85% of the area of historical Palestine, which amounts to 27,000 square kilometers (km2). The remaining areas continue to endure further attempts of usurpation and control. It should be noted that Jews under the British Mandate used only 1,682 km2 of historical land of historical Palestine which represents 6.2%.
Records of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees reported on 2019 that the total number of Palestinian refugees was around 5.6 million, 28.4% of whom live in 58 camps (10 in Jordan, 9 in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank and 8 in Gaza Strip).
Estimates, however, indicated that this is the minimum number of refugees since many of them are not registered. This number does not include the Palestinians displaced in the period from 1949 till the June 1967 war.
The UNRWA definition of refugees does not cover Palestinians who migrated or those who were displaced after 1967 because of the war and who were not registered refugees.
The population of Palestine in 1914 was around 690,000; of whom only 8% were Jewish, said the PCBS. In 1948, the number of Palestinians in Palestine exceeded 2 million; 31.5% of them were Jews as the number of Jews doubled more than six times during this period.
Between 1932 and 1939, the largest number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine reached 225,000 Jews. Between 1940 and 1947, more than 93,000 Jews poured into Palestine. Palestine received around 318,000 Jews between 1932 and 1947 and 540,000 from 1948 to 1975.
Despite the displacement of more than 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, and the displacement of more than 200,000 Palestinians (majority of them to Jordan) after the 1967 war, the Palestinian world population totalled 13.4 million by the end of 2019, which means that the number of Palestinians in the world has doubled more than nine times since the events of the Nakba of 1948, and more than half of them live in historical Palestine by the end of 2019, where their number reached 6.64 million (1.60 million in the territories occupied in 1948).
Population estimates indicated that the number of population by the end of 2019 in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, was 3.02 million and around 2.02 million in Gaza Strip. As for the population of Jerusalem Governorate, it was about 457,000 people of which approximately 65% (about 295,000 people) live in those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967 (J1).
Hence, data showed that Palestinians represented 49.7% of the population living in historical Palestine, while Jews constituted 50.3% by the end of 2019.
The Israeli occupation continues its control over 85% of the area of historical Palestine, which amounts to 27,000 square kilometers (km2). The remaining areas continue to endure further attempts of usurpation and control. It should be noted that Jews under the British Mandate used only 1,682 km2 of historical land of historical Palestine which represents 6.2%.
Records of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees reported on 2019 that the total number of Palestinian refugees was around 5.6 million, 28.4% of whom live in 58 camps (10 in Jordan, 9 in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank and 8 in Gaza Strip).
Estimates, however, indicated that this is the minimum number of refugees since many of them are not registered. This number does not include the Palestinians displaced in the period from 1949 till the June 1967 war.
The UNRWA definition of refugees does not cover Palestinians who migrated or those who were displaced after 1967 because of the war and who were not registered refugees.
24 feb 2020
Early in 2004, the Israeli army took control of Wadi al-Natuf (or Natufian Valley), in the north Ramallah village of Shuqba, under the pretext it was state-owned.
The valley was quickly zoned as an industrial area. Israeli quarries took advantage of this decision and immediately began to pillage the rocky archeological site taking advantage of its rich soil.
Almost 3,000 dunums of land, some of it agricultural, was quickly ruined.
The archeological landscape of the valley has changed from the explosions and roads built in it. Two Israeli quarries were set up at the site to excavate the land with an Israeli army tower to protect them.
What has survived thousands of years of the historical Natufian Valley, was wiped out in just 16 years of Israeli control.
The Natufian culture existed thousands of years before Christ, according to historians. Its communities were the ancestors of the builders of the first Neolithic settlements of the region that founded the city of Jericho in the West Bank, the oldest inhabited urban area on earth.
Dorothy Garrod, a British archeologist, discovered the Natufian culture after excavating Shuqba cave, known as Wadi al-Natuf, in 1928.
The explosions in the valley for the quarrying factories caused damage to nearby homes. Residents complained to the Israeli military government but all their attempts to put a stop to the quarries have failed. Instead, they were not allowed to reach their lands near the quarries or to build on them, and anyone who builds there would have his building demolished.
The daily explosions in the mountains to shatter the rocks have damaged many homes in that area, said Adnan Shalash, head of Shuqba village council, not to mention the noise, disturbance and pollution they cause to the environment as a result of the dust they generate.
“All this is to force the residents to leave their homes,” he said, adding that the valley, which once was a scenic area, has become dangerous due to the big holes in the ground, some of them more than 15 meters deep.
“Previously, Wadi al-Natuf was an agricultural area with trees and pastures. It was the only recreational area for the village. Water would flow from Shuqba toward the western villages. Eventually, the Israeli occupation diverted the water to prevent it from reaching the nearby villages,” said Shalash.
Residents fear the nearby illegal Israeli settlements would eventually be linked to Wadi Natuf, which means it would become off to the Palestinians inhabitants of that area.
Shuqba has a population of 5000 people, who, like most Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, have to bear daily Israeli army harassment, including closure of roads that force residents to take longer and rougher alternative routes to reach their destinations.
The valley was quickly zoned as an industrial area. Israeli quarries took advantage of this decision and immediately began to pillage the rocky archeological site taking advantage of its rich soil.
Almost 3,000 dunums of land, some of it agricultural, was quickly ruined.
The archeological landscape of the valley has changed from the explosions and roads built in it. Two Israeli quarries were set up at the site to excavate the land with an Israeli army tower to protect them.
What has survived thousands of years of the historical Natufian Valley, was wiped out in just 16 years of Israeli control.
The Natufian culture existed thousands of years before Christ, according to historians. Its communities were the ancestors of the builders of the first Neolithic settlements of the region that founded the city of Jericho in the West Bank, the oldest inhabited urban area on earth.
Dorothy Garrod, a British archeologist, discovered the Natufian culture after excavating Shuqba cave, known as Wadi al-Natuf, in 1928.
The explosions in the valley for the quarrying factories caused damage to nearby homes. Residents complained to the Israeli military government but all their attempts to put a stop to the quarries have failed. Instead, they were not allowed to reach their lands near the quarries or to build on them, and anyone who builds there would have his building demolished.
The daily explosions in the mountains to shatter the rocks have damaged many homes in that area, said Adnan Shalash, head of Shuqba village council, not to mention the noise, disturbance and pollution they cause to the environment as a result of the dust they generate.
“All this is to force the residents to leave their homes,” he said, adding that the valley, which once was a scenic area, has become dangerous due to the big holes in the ground, some of them more than 15 meters deep.
“Previously, Wadi al-Natuf was an agricultural area with trees and pastures. It was the only recreational area for the village. Water would flow from Shuqba toward the western villages. Eventually, the Israeli occupation diverted the water to prevent it from reaching the nearby villages,” said Shalash.
Residents fear the nearby illegal Israeli settlements would eventually be linked to Wadi Natuf, which means it would become off to the Palestinians inhabitants of that area.
Shuqba has a population of 5000 people, who, like most Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, have to bear daily Israeli army harassment, including closure of roads that force residents to take longer and rougher alternative routes to reach their destinations.
26 jan 2020
The Fateh International Relations Commission said, in a statement commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, that the Palestinian people, ethnically cleansed by Jewish militias since 1948 and occupied by Israel since 1967, are like the victims of the Nazi occupation of Europe.
Fateh said that open or tacit acceptance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism and the suppression of the legitimate critique of the State of Israel is tantamount to complicity with the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by apartheid Israel against the Palestinian people.
“Yad va-Shem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, stands just 1.3km away from the lands and the meager remains of the ethnically cleansed and massively massacred Palestinian village of Deir Yasin.
This year, the Yad va-Shem commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz coincides with the 72rd anniversary of the Deir Yasin Massacre,” Fateh said in a statement.
Fateh said that open or tacit acceptance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism and the suppression of the legitimate critique of the State of Israel is tantamount to complicity with the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by apartheid Israel against the Palestinian people.
“Yad va-Shem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, stands just 1.3km away from the lands and the meager remains of the ethnically cleansed and massively massacred Palestinian village of Deir Yasin.
This year, the Yad va-Shem commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz coincides with the 72rd anniversary of the Deir Yasin Massacre,” Fateh said in a statement.
