AL NAKBA - or "The Catastrophe "
of 1948-9
When four out of five Palestinians were forced by Zionist militia and gangs to flee in terror from what is now Israel. In the first video, a female refugee speaks of her wish for a One State solution in which they can can return to live together, Jews and Arabs, with equality and justice. This is the personal story of a woman living in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus on the West Bank - but the same feelings were expressed by those we spoke to in 2007 in this camp. These include rarely seen archival photographs of the Palestinian towns that once existed where the suburbs of Tel Aviv have since been built.
These contain original photos that illustrate what Palestine was like before the Israel project started - and more about the Catastrophe. At the beginning of the 20th Century Jews and Arabs lived together far more peacefully in a Palestine that was linked to Syria as part of the ancient Ottoman Empire. They grew what we now know of as "Jaffa Oranges" - the people who developed these and live in Jaffa were terrorized into fleeing and now live in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. We went to visit the camp in 2007 - and building everywhere have bullet holes. The night before we arrived, we were told Israeli armoured vehicles had destroyed the sidewalks or pavements of one street in this refugee ghetto. We passed sites where shops had been demolished by the Israeli army - and many posters showing Paletinian young men killed fighting against this army. It reminded me somewhat of the "Free Derry" of the troubles in Northern Island. There was a far stronger feeling of the presence of an Palestinian Resistance here than anywhere else we went on the West Bank. Next a very fine short film - highly recommended for the way it merges cartoons, historical and current photographs and interviews.
Demolitions of the homes of Palestinians, as illustrated in these films, are still happening in the remaining Palestinian territories. The excuse now given is that the buildings do not have Israeli government building permits (so much for the separate Palestinian state) - but for a long time now the Israelis have refused to issue such permits to Palestinians while building very fine homes for nearly half a million Jewish Israelis (not for Arab Israelis) within these same Palestinian territories. in other words - the project begun by Zionists in Israel in 1948 is still very much underway. Five large villages have recently been condemned to demolition in the southern part of the West Bank.
We went to visit the town in this video in 2007. It is now totally surrounded by the Israeli Wall and Watchtowers. Nearly all its rich farmland and all its greenhouses are now on the Israeli side of the Wall - and expropriated by Israeli farmers. However the army left itself its own gate through the Wall - through which it conducts raids on the town and generally intimidates people at night. It controls also the main checkpoint through which Palestinian cars enter the town.
I am told that things have got worse over the past three years - but there a few signs of hope - one of these is the 'Israeli Committee against House Demolitions'that has committed itself to build a new home for Palestinians for every one the army demolish - and which believes the future lies with a state in which Jews, Christians and Muslims live as equals. More information on army behaviour here
The Wall that totally surrounds this market town, Qalqily, is clearly visible in the background - with a cleared space in front of the wall where houses have been demolished - as shown in the video above. The rich lands seen beyond the Wall are now enjoyed by Israeli farmers. The loss of agricultural produce has greatly impoverished this large town - and caused much unemployment. Below - the same wall close up - showing it blocking a major road out of the town.
To go to the website on recent Israeli state terrorism