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May 15, 2011:
Thousands March at United Nations in New York for
Palestinian Right to Return
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, May 16, 2011
Thousands to March at United Nations in New York for Palestinian Right
to Return Part of Worldwide Coordinated Actions to Mark May 15th Nakba,
the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Sunday, May 15, 2011, 1:00 PM -
4:00 PM
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th and First Avenue, New York, NY
March at 2:30 pm to Times Square
*** The face of the Middle East is changing daily, and the
force of people’s demands for justice and freedom have overwhelmed the
dictators that have been holding the hopes and dreams of their citizens
hostage. But for Palestinians, this changing world has yet to
become their reality. 63 Years after Al-Nakba, Palestinians across the
globe are still facing catastrophic oppression. We are calling for
the implementation of Right of Return for Palestinian refugees to their
homeland, and for the UN and the associated global community to live up to
their responsibilities, as expressed in countless unimplemented and
unenforced resolutions and statements affirming that right. Resolutions
are nothing but words if no action is taken to honor them. Declarations of
peace and peace processes mean nothing when negotiated by dictators and
occupiers. On May 15th, refugees will march from camps in several
Arab countries to the borders of historic Palestine, demanding to be
allowed to return to the homes from which they were ethnically cleansed in
1948. Early estimates say at least 500 buses will transport an estimated
35,000 persons — mostly Palestinian refugees — from across Lebanon to the
village of Maroun al-Ras on the boundary with Israel. In response to
a call from refugees in the camps of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and the
West Bank, thousands will march that same day to the UN, coming from all
over the Northeast US and as far away as Michigan and Ohio, as well as in
dozens of cities around the world. On that day, Egyptians plan to
march to Palestine under the slogan “Cairo’s liberation will not be
complete without the liberation of Al-Quds [Jerusalem].” That march, going
from Cairo to Gaza, is being coordinated by a broad coalition including
many of the groups which led the movement to oust Egyptian dictator Hosni
Mubarak. The action, in addition to supporting Return, will also push for
Egypt to change its foreign relations policies, including the permanent
opening of the Rafah border to allow the movement of people and goods;
ending the export of Egyptian gas to Israel; ending all “humiliating
agreements with the Zionist state;” and releasing all Palestinians in
Egyptian prisons. The spirit of determination to return is shown
in the announcement for the Jerusalem action, whose sponsors said: “63
years after we were forced out of our beloved lands and homes, …63 years
of continuous massacres, we, who are called the Palestinian Refugees,
refuse to be called as such any longer. We are THE PALESTINIAN RETURNEES.”
“We have the right to return to our homeland. We have every right to
live peacefully in that land. And not a soul has the right to STOP us. Not
a soul has the right to sell us out. Not a soul has the right to negotiate
on our right of return or on how much land we could get back.”
Some have termed these days of action a “Third Intifada.” Regardless of
the label applied, as one Egyptian analyst told the Electronic Intifada,
this day of action, unlike the first two Palestinian uprisings, “is meant
to involve the entire Arab world,” a real possibility now that the masses
in the Arab world have shown this year that they will let no-one - not
US-and Israeli-supported dictators, nor the US or Israel themselves - stop
them from fighting for their rights. During the recent controversy
over whether CUNY should grant an honorary degree to playwright Tony
Kushner, CUNY Trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who explicitly told the Times
that Palestinians “are not human,” wrote in a letter to the editor that
the heart of his problem with antiZionist activists is their labeling the
expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 “ethnic cleansing.” We agree with
Wiesenfeld that 1948 is the core of the issue. Justice will never be
served until what was in fact an ethnic cleansing is reversed by allowing
the return of ALL refugees and all their descendants. Locations
where actions will occur include: Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Amsterdam,
London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, Cleveland, Boston, Rome,
Brussels, Washington, DC, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Miami, Dublin,
Bern, Houston, Paris. For a complete list see shababnetwork.com
Sponsors of the NYC UN action include:
Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American
Muslims for Palestine- NJ, American Muslims for Palestine NY, US
Palestinian Community Network, WESPAC Foundation, Existence is Resistance,
Hunter Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia Students for Justice in
Palestine, Brooklyn College Palestine Club, International Action Center,
National Lawyers Guild – International Committee, Campaign to Free Ahmad
Sa’adat – North America, New York City Labor Against the War, Labor for
Palestine, United National Anti War Committee NYC, International Jewish
AntiZionist Network, Women in Black, New Rochelle, NY, Middle East Crisis
Committee, Connecticut, May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights,
Al-Nakba Awareness Project, Siege Busters Working Group, Free Palestine
Movement, ISM – Northern California, BAKA: Students United for
Middle Eastern Justice, International Socialist Organization, Socialist
Action, NYC Chapter National Lawyers Guild
Organizing Committee for Al-Nakba Commemoration 2011 in New
York Contact person: Nada Khader
Phone 914 449-6514, or email: may15rally@gmail.com
http://uspcn.org/2011/04/20/may-15-join-the-call-to-demand-the-right-of-return-in-new-york-city/
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