A grim anniversary

Palestinians have been under military occupation from 1948 until today. The suffering has continued, and is becoming increasingly acute for six decades. Millions of Palestinians remain refugees encamped in squalid living conditions. Interpal’s Chairman has issued the following statement to mark this very grim anniversary and the launch of Interpal’s Nakba Appeal:

 

Palestinians this year are marking a grim anniversary – 60 long years since the Nakba, the catastrophe that saw hundreds of them killed and 750,000 expelled from their homeland as part of what Israeli scholar Dr. Ilan Pappe has called “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine”. Those who left took the keys to their homes believing that they would soon return. Today the number of refugees stands at about 7.5 million. As yet another anniversary year passes, the desperate events of 1948 are etched into their minds, and many still remain refugees.

 

According to UNRWA about one third of Palestinian refugees live in camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria with limited access to clean water, education and job opportunities. The majority lead poverty-stricken lives with little or no prospects.

 

Although a great majority of Palestinian refugees live in appalling conditions, none have been subjected to greater hardship recently than those in the Gaza Strip which has effectively been turned into what many commentators have called “the largest open prison in history”. They have had to endure escalating violence and the most degrading levels of deprivation. All agree that the situation is deteriorating to the extent that the humanitarian crisis is reaching epic proportions.

 

For a besieged people, the killing and destruction are nothing new. What is different now is that the current blockade comes after months of what has amounted to collective punishment – illegal under international law – during which 1.5 million people have been systematically deprived of the means to heal their wounded, rebuild their destroyed homes and medical facilities, and sustain hope for the living, particularly young people.

 

Since June 2006, the near-total siege of Gaza and its people has reduced the influx of the most basic goods including food and medicine by 90 percent. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s population is now dependent on food aid for survival. And vital medical services have all but ceased. The situation in the West Bank is little better, despite the nominal rule of the Palestine National Authority. It is being suffocated by the Israeli Wall, while there are concerted efforts to close Palestinian NGOs based in the West Bank that have been providing essential services to the poor and needy for decades.

 

There is not a single Palestinian living in the diaspora, in over-crowded refugee camps or enduring the daily humiliation of occupation, who is not constantly reminded of the Nakba. It occurred with the connivance of the great powers of the day, and under the noses of the British who were, technically at least, the rulers of Palestine at the time. How ironic, therefore, that the current situation is also occurring largely with the connivance of the great powers of today.

 

Palestinians born into this deeply unjust situation are now in late middle age – and little, if anything, has changed for them. Yet this is the year, sixty years after the Nakba, earmarked for a real political breakthrough. There is scant sign of it yet.

 

For Interpal, the challenge to bring humanitarian assistance to Palestinians increases rather than diminishes as we face politically-motivated opposition. Despite the formidable obstacles constantly placed in our way, with your support we will continue with our task, God-Willing.

Ibrahim Hewitt
Interpal Chairman

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