Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid have sent me the following.
Wednesday 15th May is AL-NAKBA DAY.
This day marks the time in 1948 when 750,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homes and villages by the Haganah [armed Zionist groups], and into tents in refugee camps in Gaza, in the West Bank and in nearby countries such as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, following the United Nations’ decision in November 1947 to partition the land of Palestine to make way for the new state of Israel.
Sahar Awadallah, Palestinian and local doctor in Barnsley: “My Dad came from Asdod and my Mum is from Almajdal, villages in historic Palestine. In 1948 my Dad was 13 and my Mum 6. Their families left their homes under threats from Israeli gangs and went to live in tents in Gaza. They met in Gaza in a refugee camp. After 1967 it was clear there would be no return to their homes, My Dad was forced to leave Gaza and they moved to Jordan where I was born. Then we moved to Syria where I grew up living in Alyarmouk refugee camp. In 1994 after the Oslo agreements my family went back to Gaza where I met my husband and worked in Al Shifa hospital now completely destroyed in the current genocidal attacks on Gaza.”
Today most Palestinians still live in refugee camps, in Gaza, the West Bank and neighbouring countries arising from the 1948 Al-Nakba. The power of Al-Nakba in modern Palestinian culture is exemplified by the use of the key as a symbol of a constant yearning to return. Many families still hold the keys to the properties they were evicted from in 1948.
Al-Nakba however continues with tens of thousands of Palestinians forced out of Israeli-controlled areas every year since 1967 into refugee camps.
The current crisis in Gaza marks, for many, a second Nakba even more deadly than the first. Over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the last few months; all hospitals and schools have been destroyed, half the buildings in Gaza destroyed and over a million people driven from their homes and forced to live in tents. A modern “Al-Nakba”.
March: Saturday 11th May at 11am
In Sheffield, the “Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid” will be marking Al-Nakba, and protesting at the continued genocide taking place in Gaza today, by a march on Saturday 11th May from Endcliffe Park to the Town Hall, leaving Endcliffe Park at 11am.
We will be joined by the “Sheffield Campus Coalition For Palestine” of staff and students from both Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Universities who are currently encamped at Sheffield.
Boycott Eurovision: Saturday 11th May at 7.00pm
There will also be a demonstration outside the Light Cinema on the Moor, which is screening live the final of Eurovision, to protest at the continued involvement of Israel in the contest. “Yes to music, No to genocide”.
Flying High for Al-Nakba Day: Tuesday 14th May
On the evening of Tuesday 14th May at 6.00pm, Sahar will be “^Flying High for Nakba Day” in a hot air balloon taking off at from the Sheffield Amphitheatre behind the train station flying the Palestinian flag and raising funds for the children of Gaza. Come and join us from 5.45pm on.
Sahar again says: “On the 14th of May, I will fly in a hot air balloon raising the Palestinian flag across South Yorkshire. This is to raise funds urgently needed to support children of Gaza and to commemorate Al-Nakba day.I’m the daughter of Al-Nakba survivors, my parents were made refugees by the creation of Israel in 1948. My parents, like hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, were forcibly expelled, dispossessed from their homes and towns. The ongoing Nakba has now expelled the rest of my family from the North to the South of Gaza. In my capacity as a human, a Palestinian, and as a doctor and member of the Health Workers 4 Palestine in Sheffield, I am hoping to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the killing of innocent children and women, and the targeting of healthcare workers, facilities and infrastructure.”
Al-Nakba Day, Wednesday 15th May: Rally outside the Town Hall, 10.30am
There will be a rally outside the Sheffield Town Hall, where the new City Council will be holding it’s first meeting and AGM.
In March, the Coalition presented a petition with 7,500 signatures, collected in just two weeks, calling on the Council to issue a statement of solidarity with Palestinians, support the work of the International Court of Justice investigating genocide in Gaza, and work to make Sheffield an “Israeli Apartheid Free Zone”.
They refused to debate the petition and have issued a very disappointing statement which fails to mention solidarity with Palestinians.
The overwhelming victory of an Independent pro-Palestine candidate in Darnall, their failure to win in Nether Edge, and similar elections elsewhere in the country, provide some hope that the Labour Party will reconsider its position and support these demands in the new Council.
It’s disappointing that the Coalition against Israeli Apartheid haven’t acknowledged that the Green Party fully supported the demands of the petition. The Greens successfully defended seats in Nether Edge, City, Gleadless Valley, Broomhill and Sharrow Vale and Hillsborough and won in Ecclesall for the first time taking a seat from the Lib Dems. It is a shame the Coalition have not celebrated this as well as the amazing independent win in Darnall especially as the Greens are members of the Coalition.
Tell the Truth Sheffield 
There’s a lot to say about this. The roots are way further back than 1948.This is not so simple. One of these days soon let’s have a conversation.Linda x
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